Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 Episode 3 Easter Eggs

In the third episode of Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, the Klingons make a big comeback, which of course, means a ton of references to the rest of Star Trek canon and the Klingons in specific. (Think purple!) But, this episode also had callbacks to Vulcan history from The Animated Series and even a really hilarious reference to Tribbles. Here’s every hidden reference and Easter Egg we caught in the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Point of Light.”

read more: Star Trek Review — “Point of Light”

More Colorful Hallways!

In the opening scenes of the episode, Burnham walks through the halls of Discovery and we get a few splashes of color on the walls, previously unseen last season. This feels like a nod to the more colorful interior of the Enterprise in the original series.

New special DISCO shirts for the CTP

When Tilly is running through the corridor in the next scene, the “DISCO” shirts return, first seen in the first season in the episode “Lethe.” But, these ones are special! They have a new little golden emblem that says “CTP”; which stands for “Command Training Program.”

read more: Star Trek Discovery Spin-Off Likely Won’t Premiere in 2019

Notably, “Lethe” also began with Tilly running with Burnham, who was encouraging her to apply to the command training program. Burnham also told Tilly that getting better at beating her time on the run would help her get into the program. In this scene — despite interference from a ghost — Tilly does beat her personal best. Which she directly credits to Burnham.

Note: The CTP shirts are already available via CBS’ official merch website.

Owosekun gets a new nickname

When Discovery is on Yellow Alert in the episode, Pike says “Owo, got anything on scans.” Clearly he and Owosekun are buddies now after “New Eden,” and he’s given her a cool nickname.

The Original Series D-7 Klingon Ship

Though we don’t actually see a fully-built Klingon ship, this episode does show a hologram of what Tyler calls the D-7. This is straight-up the Klingon battlecruiser from the original series, and later, most of the movies, too.

Speaking English

Twice in the opening scenes of the episode, references are made to “speaking English” and “speaking in a standard tongue.” This is a small nod to the idea that aliens often speak English in Star Trek, even though they are all aliens. Here, Tyler and others, provide an explanation.

Communicating on Screens

When Pike calls Starbase 5, the captain there gives him grief for communicating on screens, implying it’s only something his grandmother still does. This references the idea that in the first season of Discovery, Starfleet seemed to use holograms to communicate, nearly exclusively. Pike’s reliance on screens makes him old school, which, could explain why everyone on the Enterprise uses screens and not holoprojectors in the original series.

Burnham’s Ringtone for Tyler is Straight-up a Tribble Purring

When Tyler calls Burnham from the Klingon Homeworld, she’s hanging out with her mom, Amanda Grayson, talking about Spock. But, she gets an incoming transmission which is totally the sound of a Tribble purring. This seems like a huge inside joke, because of the fact that Kirk and Bones detected a Klingon spy, masquerading as a human in the classic episode “The Trouble With Tribbles,” by waving a Tribble at that person. Tribbles hate Klingons and are forever linked to detecting Klingon spies. So, it’s a very deep cut that a happy Tribble would be Burnham’s ringtone for a Klingon spy she once loved.

“Chiefs and Captains”

When Saru describes the outcome of the Command Training Program, he mentions “Starfleet’s future Chiefs and Captains.” This seems to reference the fact that being in command doesn’t just mean becoming a Captain. Instead, it could also mean becoming the Chief Medical Officer or Chief of Engineering. Perhaps Star Trek’s most famous “chief” is Chief O’Brien from both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

Pikes joke about “marrying some folks”

Pike jokes with Tilly that they should “marry some folks, even if they’re not that into each other” is hilarious, but it also references the original series, The Next Generation and Voyager in which Captains Kirk, Picard and Janeway all officiate weddings.

Vulcan City of ShiKahr

When Amanda and Burnham talk about Burnham running away from home as a child, she mentions that she didn’t “make it past the outskirts of ShiKahr.” This references a big-deal city on Vulcan, ShiKahr, first referenced in the episode “Yesteryear.” Interestingly, “Yesteryear” is an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, and it depicts Spock briefly running away from home, too.

read more: Spock’s Storyline to Last Entire Season 2

Are Burnham and Tilly Still Roommates?

When Tilly hangs out with Burnham, and they parse out clues about Tilly’s imaginary friend, Burnham is clearly lying down in bed, recovering from her emotional experience with Amanda. Tilly comes in, and Burnham says that “Saru called down looking for you.” Does this mean that even though everyone got promoted that Burnham and Tilly decided to stay roommates, like they were in season one? If so, that’s really adorable.

The Ghost of May

Though it’s not really a one-for-one reference, Tilly’s ghost, the creature who resembles her junior high school friend, vaguely recalls The Next Generation episode “Imaginary Friend.” 

Purple Blood

Famously,  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country showed several Klingons being killed in zero-gravity, and, shockingly, their blood was purple. Since then, Trek has been a little vague about the true color of Klingon blood, but in a few scenes, when L’Rell really takes a few dudes out, it’s really obvious that their blood is…purple!

Georgiou’s cover story

Correctly, Tyler refers to Georgiou as “Emperor,” because she was once the Emperor of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe. But, she corrects him, saying “you have me confused with someone else. I am Philippia Georgiou, retired Captain of the USS Shenzhou.” This is clearly because she has been instructed to not let anyone know the Mirror Universe exists. In Season 1, Admiral Cornwell made it pretty clear that Starfleet was going to “bury” all knowledge of the Mirror Universe.

The Mirror Universe Spore

At the end of the episode, Stamets, Burnham and Tilly figure out that May is really an evolved fungus that maybe have originated in the Mirror Universe. This is interesting because at a few points, May refers to Stamets as “the villian.” If May comes from the Mirror Universe, she would think Stamets was evil, because the Mirror Stamets was a very, very unethical scientist.

read more: Picard Series Set to Premiere in 2019

Section 31

Not exactly an Easter egg, but this episode features the first appearance of “Leland” (Alan Van Sprang) the Section 31 agent who recruited the Mirror Georgiou after the end of the first season. However, the recruitment scene wasn’t actually in the episode, it was a bonus, deleted scene which was screened at conventions after the fact.

Also, when Georgiou takes out her “blank” Starfleet badge it’s the first time, on screen, in which it’s finally confirmed that Section 31 agents were on the USS Discovery in Season 1. Way back in “Context Is For Kings,” everyone was wondering about those badges, and now, in canon, they have been linked to Section 31.

Boreth

The very ending of the episode finds Tyler leaving his child on the planet Boreth. In The Next Generation, Boreth is a well known Klingon Monastery. Which is why Georgiou says “are you sure you want your boy to become a monk?” In The Next Generation episode “Reightful Heir,” Worf seeks the monks of Boreth for spiritual guidance. Which makes us wonder: have we really seen the last of Tyler and L’Rell’s baby?

Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 airs on Thursdays at 8:30 pm ET on CBS All-Access. Read more about Season 2 here.