Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 Episode 14 Easter Eggs & References

Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, Episode 14, “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2.”

The emotional and action-packed Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 finale is full of plenty of obvious Easter eggs and references to all versions of the Star Trek canon. Of course, if you’ve seen the episode, you noticed that certain someone shaved their beard, and is wearing a very familiar blue uniform. But, that’s the obvious stuff!

In terms of deep-cuts, there were some more even more subtle nods to classic canon in this episode, too. From a weird shout-out to a Starfleet captain everyone hates, to quotes from Neil deGrasse Tyson, and two huge references to Scotty, this episode had it all.

Here are all of the nods, winks, and Easter eggs we caught in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, Episode 14, “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2″…

Pike quotes everyone’s least favorite captain of the Enterprise.

When Pike issues orders at the top of the episode, he says: “Get it done.” This was the catchphrase of Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox) who briefly captained the USS Enterprise-D in The Next Generation two-part episode “Chain of Command” while Picard was on a secret mission.

The funny thing here is that in “The Cage” Captain Pike was the first Trek captain to say “engage” which we mostly associate with Picard. In Discovery, Pike says “hit it” instead of “engage.” And now, he’s saying “get it done” instead of “make it so.” It’s like Pike is going out of his way to avoid referencing Picard!

Reno goes full-on Scotty.

When Burnham asks Reno if the time crystal can be charged any faster, Reno quips back and says, “Violate the basic laws of physics? Uh…no.” This references a famous Scotty axiom from The Original Series, specifically the episode “The Naked Time.”

In that episode, Kirk needs Scotty to do a cold start of the warp engines, which Scotty says can’t be done quickly. “I can’t change the laws of physics…I’ve got to have 30 minutes!” Scotty tells Kirk. In the new Discovery episode, Reno also needs 30 minutes to not change the laws of physics.

Saru quotes The Art of War, which references “The Vulcan Hello.”

Before the USS Discovery enters into a battle to the death with the Section 31 fleet, Saru says,“Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness,” Georgiou completes the quote by saying, “Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.”

As Georgiou points out, this references Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. In the very first Discovery episode ever — “The Vulcan Hello” — the Prime Universe version of Georgiou quotes Sun Tzu, which, is probably where Saru learned about it in the first place.

Swarm ships reference Krall’s fleet in Star Trek Beyond.

When Georgiou says that the good guys have more individual ships than the Section 31 fleet, Leland/Control says “Count again.” At this point, tiny ships seem to break off from one of the Section 31 starships. Visually, this is reminiscent of the Swarm ships used by Krall in the 2016 film Star Trek Beyond, which, in turn, was probably inspired by the Star Trek: Voyager episode “The Swarm.”

Enterprise phasers are blue beams.

In a huge reference to classic canon, the primary phaser blasts from the USS Enterprise are solid blue beams. This checks with nearly all of original series canon, and the sound effects are consistent with old school Trek, too.

Relevantly, most of the phaser blasts on Discovery have been — up until this point — small bursts rather than solid, phaser beams. In short, this is the first time phasers beams have really looked like phaser beams on Discovery!

Burnham’s Suit Evokes Star Trek Into Darkness.

When Burnham gets ready to jump out of the shuttlebay, her helmet heads-up-display lights up in way that is very similar to Kirk’s spacesuit in Star Trek Into Darkness. In that film, Kirk and Khan had to cross the vacuum of space to get between the Enterprise and the USS Vengeance. The movie was also co-written by Alex Kurtzman, who is the Discovery co-creator, and has direct writing credit on this episode, too.

“A Good Day to Die.”

L’Rell, Tyler and all the Klingons chant “today is a good day to die!” This Klingon battle cry was probably inspired by a similar Native American war chant in real life, but originates in Trek canon in The Next Generation episode “Sins of the Father.” Fans mostly associate the phrase with Worf, who famously bellowed “Today is a good day to die- prepare for ramming speed!” in the film Star Trek: First Contact.

“Regular” Klingon.

On the bridge of the Klingon flagship, there appears to be one Klingon who feels very in-step with the aesthetics of the Klingons of the original series movies and The Next Generation. In the credits, tis Klingon seems to be named “K’Vort,” which is a reference to a certain type of Klingon Bird-of-Prey in TNG. K’Vort is also played in this episode by Glen Hendrick, the make-up supervisor for Star Trek: Discovery.

Green Blood on Spock’s Face.

When Spock talks to Michael Burnham from inside his shuttlecraft, there are green smudges on his cheek. The fact that Vulcans have green blood was first established in the TOS episode “The Man Trap.”

Torpedo detonation explains why Enterprise conference room looks different in TOS.

The undetonated photon torpedo from the last episode lodges itself in the front end of the saucer section of the USS Enterprise. When it blows-up (taking our beloved Admiral Cornwell with it!) this rips out a chunk of the front part of the Enterprise.

Visually, this looks like what happens to the USS Enterprise-E in Star Trek Nemesis. But, in terms of canon stuff, this basically explains why the conference room of Kirk’s Enterprise looks so different than it does in Pike’s era. That part of the ship was destroyed!

Tilly gets inside of a Jefferies Tube, just like Scotty.

When Tilly pulls some last minute repairs, the image will remind TOS fans of Scotty inside of what is called a “Jefferies Tube.” Named for designer Matt Jefferies, versions of the Jefferies Tube has existed across all versions of Star Trek, but Tilly’s repairs mostly evoke the kind occupied by Scotty when he pulled last minute repairs on the Enterprise in episodes like “The Naked Time,” and “The Doomsday Machine.”

Number One’s name?

When Pike heads down to help Admiral Corwell with the torpedo, he says, to Number One, “I’m giving you the conn, Una” This seems to establish that Number One’s real name is, in fact, Una. Though, at the end of the episode, when she’s being grilled by Starfleet, she says her name is “Number One.” The name Una has popped up for Number One in a variety of Trek books, most notably the first Discovery novel, Desperate Hours in 2017. This book also gave Detmer her first name; Kayla. 

Classic Klingon Fleet.

First glimpsed in “Point of Light,” and then again in “ Through the Valley of the Shadow,” this episode shows us classic D-7 Klingon battlecruisers in action. These ships look exactly like Klingon ships from the TOS episode “Errand of Mercy.”

Spock’s “balance” foreshadows his friendship Kirk.

When Spock says goodbye to Michael Burnham, he tells her “you are my balance.” Spock is mostly talking about embracing his Vulcan side over his human side. In The Original Series, we know Spock is a little colder than the man we’ve met on Discovery.

Michael tells him: “There’s a whole galaxy of people out there who will reach for you. You have to let them. Find that person who seems farthest from you and reach for them.” Though Burnham doesn’t know it yet, the person she’s talking about is almost certainly James T. Kirk, Spock’s best friend and the man who will give up everything to save Spock over and over again.

Spock speaks in Vulcan.

Spock tells Burnham he loves her in Vulcan. This is the second time we’ve heard the Vulcan language this season on Discovery. The first time the language was spoken out loud was in Star Trek: The Motion Picture during Spock’s kolinahr.

The wormhole effect references Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

In an very unexpected visual Easter egg, this episode of Discovery gives a huge shout-out to 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. When the USS Discovery enters the wormhole created by Burnham, the faces of Saru, Owo, Detmer, Bryce and the rest of the bridge crew get blurry.

This is the exact same effect from The Motion Picture, which happens when the USS Enterprise accidentally enters a wormhole, which was created by accident. Mercifully, this DISCO episode does not use the sound-effect from The Motion Picture, in which the members of the bridge crew also talked in slow motion, too.

San Francisco.

The ending of the episode finds Pike, Number One and Tyler all being debried at Starfleet Command in San Francisco. Though Starfleet Command has been depicted as being located near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco since The Motion Picture, there is some debate as to its exact location.

Episodes of Voyager and Deep Space Nine seem to suggest that Starfleet Command is located in Presidio, though sometimes — like in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — it looks like it’s located in Fort Baker, across the bay. Either way, this is the first time we’ve seen the exterior of Starfleet Command Headquarters in Discovery.

Spock quotes a regulation that comes from Deep Space Nine.

When Spock quotes the regulation about time travel, it’s taken directly from the Deep Space Nine episode, “Trials and Tribble-lations.” As Spock says in this episode of Discovery, the regulation — 157 section 3 — reads: “Starfleet officers were required to take all necessary precautions to minimize any participation in historical events.”

Ironically, in the episode “Trials and Tribble-lations,” Starfleet officers from the future participate in historical events involving Spock! Another layer of irony here is that those same events from “The Trouble With Tribbles” involve a Klingon surgically altered to look like a human. Which, is exactly what happened to Voq/Ash Tyler in season 1 of Discovery.

Spock quotes Neil deGrasse Tyson.

When Spock says “ the Universe is under no obligation to make sense to me,” he’s paraphrasing the famous physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is also a real life Trekkie.

Spock’s science station is totally retro.

When Spock takes his science station on the bridge of the Enterprise, the entire console is pretty consistent with what he uses on The Original Series. This includes his little personal viewer, as well as the hypnotic scanner effect on his viewscreen. Also, as noted, he’s shaved his beard and is wearing his blue uniform. Duh.

Saucer fade references “The Cage.”

As the camera zooms away from the USS Enterprise bridge, and fades into outer space, this references the exact opposite shot from the very beginning of “The Cage.” In the very first Star Trek pilot episode, the camera zooms in on the top part of the saucer of the Enterprise and fades to reveal Captain Pike and Spock on the bridge, listening to the distress calls from Talos IV.

Now, as Discovery leaves the Enterprise to go on its future adventures, this shot seems to complete the opening shot of “The Cage,” which, is a beautiful and fitting way to so goodbye to Captain Pike, and this specific time period of the Trek universe.