With last week’s reveal of the Red Angel’s identity fan speculation immediately began about how this new character will fit into the world of Star Trek Discovery, one theory even puts her in command of the titular ship next season, but it’s not happening.
Warning this article contains spoilers for season 2 of Star Trek Discovery.
With the ending of The Red Angel Michael Burnham’s mother somehow survived the attack on Section 31 last week we learned that many years ago and has been jumping through time in an effort to change the fate of the quadrant and save all sentient life.
Immediately fan theories have been popping up that the newly returned Mrs. Burnham will become Captain Burnham in the near future, but there is simply no data to support this claim.
Mrs. Burnham has a background as a scientist, having most recently (from our perspective) worked covertly with her husband for Section 31 on their own time traveling suit, codename Project Daedalus in an effort to thwart the Klingon’s own time travel plans.
Discovery is a science vessel with strong offensive capabilities.
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We all know that the Discovery was designed as a science ship with the ability to hold its own in a fight, in fact, many systems seem designed to win a war, which on the surface may make a case for a scientist to command the ship, however her Captain would still have to actually BE a Captain and Mrs. Burnham is not. At the time of her supposed death, she was under the command of a young Leland, who is known to be quite ambitious and willing to do anything it takes to achieve his goals, it seems highly unlikely that he has been at the rank of Captain for over twenty years without promotion, therefore the Burnham’s, assuming they carry a Starfleet rank at all, would have to be Lieutenant Commanders or lower.
Data and the temporary command of the USS Sutherland aside Lieutenant Commanders simply don’t Captain starships, especially not starships with entrenched higher ranking officers like Michael and Saru.
Family drama and Section 31
It would be interesting to see the dynamic between Michael and her long-lost mother in command, however with the facts not backing it up there are still several ways we can see this go, assuming Mrs. Burnham survives the season at all, she could easily become a science officer aboard the Discovery working for her own daughter who she barely knows.
In a more interesting, and in my opinion, likely scenario Mrs. Burnham will rejoin Section 31 which will eventually be led by Captain Georgiou,, placing two of Michael’s mother figures under one roof, which could potentially be a dangerous combination and help round out the cast of the upcoming Star Trek Section 31 spin-off show.
No doubt we’ll have more answers by the end of the season, but think about it, The Mirror Empress, The Klingon torch-bearer, The Time-Traveling Red Angel, and limitless resources. Section 31 could do worse.