History Recap / StarTrekDiscoveryShortTreksE03TheBrightestStar

* {{Irony}}: In this episode, we see Saru being one of the boldest and most inquisitive Kelpiens among his society. Even so, years later as a senior officer during the first season of ''Discovery'', he is still one of the most cautious Starfleet officers portrayed in ''Star Trek''.

* RankUp: Inverted. Since this episode is set years or even decades before the first season of ''Discovery'', Philippa Georgiou is still a lieutenant, while Saru is a young civilian who has yet to enter Starfleet Academy.

We learn the story of how Saru first came into contact with Starfleet. The son of a village priest, Saru is uneasy with the arrangement his people have with the Ba'ul, namely that in return for the Ba'ul not hunting the Kelpiens, regular offerings of Kelpiens are made as sacrifice. Saru wonders if there might be someone out there other than the Ba'ul, and when a piece of advanced technology falls from a visiting Ba'ul ship, he tries to reach anyone he can by building a transmitter.

* ForegoneConclusion: We already knew from the first season of ''Discovery'' that Saru left his homeworld to join Starfleet. What we didn't know is ''why'', or that he's not allowed to ever return home or communicate with his people again thanks to the Prime Directive.

* {{Irony}}: In this episode, we see Saru being one of the boldest and most inquisitive Kelpiens among his society. Even so, by the time he is a senior officer during the first season of ''Discovery'', he is still one of the most cautious Starfleet officers portrayed in ''Star Trek''.

* MissingMom: Saru, his father (Aradar) and his sister (Siranna) appear in the episode, but no mention or appearance is made of Saru's mother. Given the nature of the Kelpiens' arrangement with the Ba'ul, she may well have been sacrificed some time before when the episode is set.

* TheReveal: The person Saru has been communicating with is Lieutenant Philippa Georgiou, Saru's future captain aboard the U.S.S. ''Shenzhou''.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Played with; Georgiou mentions how hard she had to lobby for an exception to be made in the PrimeDirective for Saru (and Saru alone) to be contacted and allowed to leave Kaminar.

** Georgiou never directly mentions what ship she serves on at the time. "The Sounds of Thunder" establishes that she was serving aboard the ''Archimedes'' at the time.

** Georgiou never directly mentions what ship she serves on at the time, but given that the shuttle she arrives and departs in is designated "SHN 03", it's likely that she is already part of the crew of the U.S.S. ''Shenzhou''.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Georgiou offers to take Saru away from his homeworld, but if he accepts, he can never come back again due to the dictates of the PrimeDirective.

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: As Lieutenant Georgiou explains, the PrimeDirective prevents Starfleet from interfering with a pre-warp society. As a rule, such cultures are not typically successful at initiating FirstContact.
* TheEngineer[=/=]GadgeteerGenius: Saru proves to be quite clever, studying the lost bit of Ba'ul technology to create a communications beacon, which he uses to make FirstContact with the Federation.
* ForegoneConclusion: We already knew from the first season of ''Discovery'' that Saru left his homeworld to join Starfleet. What we didn't know is ''why'', or that he's not allowed to ever return home or communicate with his people again thanks to the PrimeDirective.

* MeaningfulName: The Kelpiens spend much of their time on Kaminar harvesting kelp.

* MissingMom: Saru, his father and his sister appear in the episode, but no mention or appearance is made of Saru's mother. Given the nature of the Kelpiens' arrangement with the Ba'ul, she may well have been sacrificed some time before when the episode is set.

* TheReveal: The person Saru has been communicating with is Lieutenant Philippa Georgiou, Saru's future captain aboard the ''Shenzhou''.

* StrictParentsMakeSneakyKids: Saru's father is one of the village priests, so naturally Saru manages to conceal his beacon inside their home.

** Georgiou never makes any mention of what ship she serves on at the time.

** The Ba'ul never appear in person, nor is it ever explained why or exactly how they take Kelpiens from Kaminar (or for what purpose).

We learn the story of how Saru first came into contact with Starfleet. The son of a village priest, Saru is uneasy with the arrangement his people have with the Ba'ul, namely that in return for the Ba'ul not hunting the Kelpians, an offering of Kelpians is made as sacrifice. Saru wonders if there might be someone out there other than the Ba'ul that he can try to reach when a piece of advanced technology falls from a Ba'ul ship during one of their visits.

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: As [[spoiler: Lieutenant Georgiou]] explains, the Prime Directive prevents Starfleet from interfering with a pre-warp society. As a rule, such cultures are not typically successful at initiating FirstContact.
* TheEngineer: Saru proves to be quite clever, studying the lost bit of Ba'ul technology to create a communications beacon, which he uses to make FirstContact with the Federation.
* ForegoneConclusion: We already know Saru will leave his homeworld and join Starfleet. What we don't know is the details [[spoiler: or that he's not allowed to ever return home or communicate with his people again.]]
* FirstContact: Saru manages to initiate this with the Federation, despite being from a world without warp travel. [[spoiler: The latter detail causes complications for Starfleet when they have to decide what to do about it.]]
* HumanResources: The Kelpian villages are PeopleFarms for the Ba'ul. They live freely enough, but from time to time a selection of them are volunteered as tribute as part of some agreement.

* TheReveal: The person Saru has been communicating with is [[spoiler: Lieutenant Philippa Georgiou, Saru's future captain.]]

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: [[spoiler: Georgiou]] offers to take Saru off of his homeworld, but he can never come back again if he does.

* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: Saru's father collects a piece of something that falls from the Ba'ul ship during an offering, and orders Saru to dispose of it. Naturally, Saru does nothing of the sort.
* StrictParentsMakeSneakyKids: Saru's father is one of the village priests, so naturally Saru manages to conceal his beacon inside their home.

* FirstContact: Saru manages to initiate this with the Federation, despite being from a world without warp travel. This causes complications for Starfleet when they have to decide what to do about it.

* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: Saru's father collects a piece of something that falls from the Ba'ul ship during an offering, and orders Saru to dispose of it. Naturally, Saru does nothing of the sort.