This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers for “Scavengers.”
As Star Trek: Discovery continues to boldly go where no 23rd Century crew has gone before, the tapestry of the rest of the Trek franchise continues to get slightly redefined. In Discovery Season 3, Episode 6, “Scavengers,” a rogue mission from Burnham literally puts her and Georgiou in a scrapyard that contains a ton of old Star Trek Easter eggs, even if we only glimpse a few. Along the way, the USS Discovery gets an interesting upgrade, and more details about the Mirror Universe are teased out for the first time in a while. Plus, was that an homage to The Empire Strikes Back? Here’s every Easter egg and reference in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 6, “Scavengers,” that we were able to catch…
USS Discovery NCC-1031-A
As Saru mentions the various retrofits and upgrades the USS Discovery has received — including detached warp nacelles — we see a few bots putting finishing touches on the outside of the hull. The registry number of the Discovery now reads NCC-1031-A. And yep, that “A” is brand new. This is a slight change from Starfleet’s older operating procedure. Back in the day, you only got a new letter on a ship’s registry if it was a new version of the ship, effectively replacing one that had been destroyed. The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A was the first onscreen version of this practice, seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Several Classic Trek Planets on the Big Map
Just like in Episode 5, Admiral Vance’s giant holographic map includes the names of countless “known” Star Trek planets. In this brief sequence, there are almost too many to count, and most of the names are mirrored backward, because Vance is reading them from his vantage point, opposite the camera. Anyway, we caught a few classic names including:
- Talos: This is an easy one. The Talos system contains Talos IV, the “first” Trek planet ever visited in the TOS pilot “The Cage” and the episode “The Menagerie.” Burnham and Spock went to Talos IV in the Discovery Season 2 episode “If Memory Serves.”
- Beta Niobe: The Beta Niobe system comes from the TOS episode “All Our Yesterdays,” which featured some accidental time travel for Kirk, Spock, and Bones. Oddly, the star in the Beta Niobe system went nova in that episode, circa 2269. What’s in that “star” system now? Well, in an episode of The Animated Series — “The Counter-Clock Incident” — the remnants of the Beta Niobe supernova was a conduit to an “anti-matter universe.” This caused the TOS crew to get turned into little babies. Seems like Vance has an eye on that. Don’t want anyone else ending up “half a Rascal.”
- Camus: The Camus system probably refers to the planet Camus II, which was first visited in the TOS episode “Turnabout Intruder,” otherwise known as the last regular episode of TOS, and possibly the worst Trek episode of all time. In the TNG episode “Legacy,” the Enterprise-D was supposed to go to this planet, but then got diverted.
Multi-function Badges
The crew’s new badges are now basically every famous Star Trek technology thing, rolled into one. With the holographic interface, the badges are communicators, tricorders, and personal transporters.
“I was on my way to the Bajoran exchange”
In Book’s re-recorded holographic message, he tells Burnham he was on his way to the Bajoran exchange. Does this mean Book was going to Bajor itself? Could the Bajoran exchange be on Deep Space Nine, which is 100 percent in Bajoran space? Unclear, but cool if so!
Georgiou’s flashes
Georgiou appears to be having memories of her time as Emperor of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe. The first time we met this version of Georgiou was in the Mirror Universe at the very end of the episode “The Wolf Inside.” Read more about Georgiou’s flashes here.
Old ships seem to be Starfleet from “The Battle at the Binary Stars”
Many of the ships in the salvage yard appear to be similar to ships we saw during the Discovery Season 1 episode, “Battle at the Binary Stars.” Could this planet be located near Gamma Hydra near the old Klingon border?
Do Tilly and Burnham still share a room?
Starting with the Season 1 episode “Context Is For Kings,” Tilly and Burnham were roommates on the USS Discovery. While this tradition seemed to be reversed in Season 2, it was later actually not clear if they were still roommates or not. In this episode, Burnham puts Grudge in Tilly’s quarters before going after Book. Tilly calls these quarters “my quarters,” but she also seemed to know Grudge was already in the room. If Tilly and Burnham still share a room, it’s clearly out of their need to chat with each other all the time. They’re certainly high-ranking enough to have their own room, right? Then again, the USS Discovery is sleek enough, with a crew of less than 200, so it’s possible there’s still not enough space for Tilly, Burnham and now, Grudge, to have separate sleeping quarters.
Self-sealing stem bolts
Burnham and Georgiou talk about needing self-sealing stem bolts. This references a commodity frequently mentioned and sought-after on Deep Space Nine.
24th-century phaser
When Georgiou mentions she wants some “pre-2400” tech, the Orion nephew of Osira shows her a late-24th-century-era phaser. This model matches the kind we saw in First Contact, Voyager, and the later seasons of Deep Space Nine. This means it is pre-2400s, but only barely. This style of phaser comes from the 2370s. This is probably why Georgiou says that it’s not what she wants because older phasers and tech would be from the early 2300s or, her time period, the 2250s.
DISCO has a new deflector dish
The pointy, TOS–style deflector dish on the USS Discovery seems to have been replaced with a smoother, flatter version. This upgrade reflects a similar upgrade with the classic Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Bucket of badges, including a Klingon badge
In the scrapyard, Burnham examines a bucket of old badges, some of which seem to be 2250s-ear Starfleet badges. But, she does pick-up one badge that is the classic Klingon Empire emblem. What are the Klingons up-to in the 32nd Century? We still don’t know!
“Since We Served Together on the Shenzhou…”
When Saru talks to Tilly about Burnham’s rogue mission, he says “I have not felt this mistrusting of her since we served on the Shenzhou…” This references the first episode of Discovery, ever, “The Vulcan Hello,” in which Burnham attempted a mutiny in order to attack the Klingons first, before the Klingons deemed Starfleet “weak.” The mutiny didn’t go too well.
Tritanium
Georgiou and Burnham pretend to be looking for Trianium in the scrap heap. This fictional ore comes from the TOS episode, “Obsession,” though it has been referenced throughout the franchise since then. Most classic starship bulkheads are made out of titanium.
The Baryon Sweep
Admiral Vance mentions that a starship that has just returned to Starfleet HQ will be treated with “The Baryon Sweep.” This references a high-tech spaceship cleaning procedure that we first saw in the TNG episode “Starship Mine.” In Picard’s day, everyone had to leave a starship during the Baryon Sweep since the Baryon particles were deadly to organic matter. “Starship Mine” was written by Morgan Gendel, arguably more famous for his other TNG episode, “The Inner Light.”
“Another Michael Burnham”
Georgiou mentions that she remembers “another Michael Burnham” trying to comfort her in a different situation. This references the Mirror version of Burnham, who we actually never met. In the Mirror Universe, the Terran Burnham betrayed Georgiou by allying herself with Lorca. In on-screen canon, we’re led to believe that Mirror Burnham is dead. But, the Star Trek: Discovery comic book miniseries, Succession paints a different picture. Everyone assumes Mirror Burnham died in the Mirror Universe, but what Succession presupposes is, maybe she didn’t? Notably, Succession was co-written by Discovery co-producer and longtime Trek writer, Kirsten Beyer.
Stamets’ connection to Adira
In this episode, Stamets and Adira form a bond over the fact that they both were in love with someone “who died.” This references the obvious fact that Dr. Cubler — Stamets’ partner — was killed in Discovery Season 1, but came back to life in Season 2.
Poorly timed Linus beam-in references Season 2 and…maybe The Empire Strikes Back?
Just as Burnham and Book are starting to get cozy in the turbolift, Linus beams-in by accident, killing the mood. This probably references Discovery Season 2, Episode 1, “Brother,” in which Linus sneezed gross green snot all over the place during a tense moment in the turbolift. But, the way the scene plays out also will remind Star Wars fans of a very famous movie kiss in The Empire Strikes Back. Just after Han Solo and Princess Leia share an intimate moment on the Millennium Falcon, C-3PO interrupts the moment, somewhat innocently. Linus killing the mood here feels very similar. Which means, maybe Discovery’s far future, and the galaxy far, far away aren’t so distant after all; at least not when it comes to romance involving cocky space smugglers and badass women, determined to restore freedom to the galaxy…
Star Trek: Discovery is streaming now on CBS All Access.