Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024) is a science fiction television series based on Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek.

Season One

The Vulcan Hello [1.1]

T'Kuvma: [In the Klingon language] They are coming. Atom by atom, they will coil around us and take all that we are. There is one way to confront this threat. By reuniting the twenty-four warring houses of our own empire. We have forgotten the Unforgettable, the last to unify our tribes: Kahless. Together, under one creed, remain Klingon! That is why we light our beacon this day. To assemble our people. To lock arms against those whose fatal greeting is... [in English] we come in peace.

---

Michael Burnham: We come in peace, that's why we're here. Isn't that the whole idea of Starfleet?

Philippa Georgiou: Hey – I taught you that.

---

Michael Burnham: We come from a tradition of tolerance, freedom, and justice.

---

Philippa Georgiou: Ensign Connor, agreement between my senior officers. Note the date and time.

Connor: Noted, captain.

---

Sarek: When emotion brings us ghosts from the past, only logic can root us in the present.

Battle at the Binary Stars [1.2]

T'Kuvma: Members of the Federation, what you call your most remote borders, I call too close to Klingon territory. You only live now to serve as witnesses of Klingon supremacy, to be my herald. We do not desire to know you. But you will know our great houses, standing as one under Kahless, reborn in me, T'Kuvma.

---

Philippa Georgiou: When you first came on board, seven years ago, I worried your Vulcan training might someday trump your humanity. Do you know why Sarek asked me to take you on? I was a human who had seen a life of loss, but still chose hope. What an ego I had... thinking I could pick away the shell the Vulcans had put around you. I was so sure I could do it, even convinced that you were ready for the captain's chair. To think I knew you so little.

---

Michael Burnham: You wanna know how I turned on you? I believed saving you and the crew was more important than Starfleet's principles. Was it logical? Emotional? I don't know.

---

Michael Burnham: From my youth on Vulcan, I was raised to believe that service was my purpose. And I carried that conviction to Starfleet. I dreamed of a day when I would command my own vessel, and further the noble objectives of this great institution. That dream is over. The only ship I know in ruins, my crew gone, my captain – my friend – dead. I wanted to protect them from war…from the enemy. And now we are at war…and I am the enemy.

Context Is for Kings [1.3]

Inmate: My cousin was on the Europa when it went down. She and eight thousand others are dead because of you.

Michael Burnham: Eight thousand, one hundred and eighty-six.

---

Michael Burnham: I was raised on Vulcan, and attended the Vulcan Science Academy.

Paul Stamets: My Uncle Everett plays in a Beatles cover band, it hardly makes him John Lennon.

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Michael Burnham: Before I was a mutineer, I was a first officer in Starfleet. I'll never bear that rank, or any other, again. But it is who I am, and who I will always be. It is by the principles of the United Federation of Planets that I live. And by them, I will most certainly die.

---

Gabriel Lorca: Your assumption that the Klingons were waiting in ambush at the Binary Stars was predictive. You chose to do the right thing, over and above what was sanctioned, even at great cost to yourself. And that is the kind of thinking that wins wars. The kind of thinking I need next to me. Universal law is for lackeys. Context is for kings.

---

Michael Burnham: When I was a kid, after my parents were killed my foster mother on Vulcan used to read it to me and her son. She and I were the only humans in the house. That's how I learned that the real world doesn't always adhere to logic. Sometimes down is up. Sometimes up is down. Sometimes, when you're lost, you're found.

Sylvia Tilly: What was her name?

Michael Burnham: Amanda.

---

Paul Stamets: I despise lurkers.

The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry [1.4]

Michael Burnham: You judge the creature by its appearance, and one single incident from its past. Nothing in its biology suggests it would attack, except in self-defense. Commander, this creature is an unknown alien. It can only be what it is, not what you want it to be.

---

Michael Burnham: The phaser will only piss him off.

Paul Stamets: Think of it as a placebo for my skepticism.

---

Philippa Georgiou: [In a recorded message] Hello, Michael. I hope that wherever this finds you, you are well. I imagine you have your own command now. The captain of your own ship. I have always tried to show you by example. The best way to know yourself is to know others. You are curious, an explorer. So I am leaving you my most beloved possession, handed down through my family for centuries. My hope is that you will use it to continue to investigate the mysteries of the universe, both inside and out, and keep your eyes and heart open always. Goodbye, Michael, and good luck. Know that I am as proud of you as if you were my own daughter. Take good care. But most importantly, take good care of those in your care.

Choose Your Pain [1.5]

Harry Mudd: [Lorca grabs Mudd by the throat] Ouch!

Gabriel Lorca: Who are you?

Harry Mudd: The name is Mudd. Harcourt Fenton Mudd, Harry for short. I reiterate – ouch.

---

Sylvia Tilly: [Excitedly] You guys, this is so fucking cool! [Looks horrified] ...I'm so sorry.

Paul Stamets: No, cadet. It is fucking cool.

Lethe [1.6]

V'Latak: May I inquire as to the nature of our diplomatic mission?

Sarek: Allow me to be diplomatic and ask that you do not. In times of crisis, ignorance can be beneficial.

---

Michael Burnham: Everyone applying to the Command Training Program will be smart. Personality doesn't count.

Sylvia Tilly: That's just something people with no personality say. Wait... which... which in no way means you... you absolutely have a personality!"

Michael Burnham: 6.5 seconds is not an arbitrary number. Your new time will earn you a physical endurance commendation. Today your goal is 6.5 seconds. Then, getting a transfer on a Constitution-class like the Enterprise. After that, first officer track. See your path. Stay on it. Reach your destination. Cadet to captain; just like that.

---

Sarek: I have created in her a being of exquisite logic to rival the best of our species.

Director: An accomplishment you have achieved not once but twice. Your ward, Michael, and your son, Spock.

Sarek: What has my son to do with this situation? He has not yet begun his studies at the Science Academy.

Director: Upon completion, he will apply to the Vulcan Expeditionary Group, and then there will be not one but two non-Vulcans in its ranks.

Sarek: Spock is Half-Vulcan.

Director: Another of your experiments. The integration of humans into our culture is an admirable goal, but it must be titrated. In honor of your position and reputation I will accept one of your not-quite-Vulcans.

Sarek: You ask me to make an impossible choice.

Director: Your reaction to this is quite illogical and suggests a conclusion based on emotion.

---

Michael Burnham: You chose Spock over me. Didn't you? You were forced into that decision. Why not tell me the truth?

Sarek: Spock went against my wishes and joined Starfleet over the Vulcan Expeditionary Group. The choice I made merited nothing. What would be gained by telling you that?

Michael Burnham: Instead, you made me believe I failed you. You manipulated me. Do you have any idea what living with that lie did to me?

Sarek: I did not. But I do now. I failed you, Michael Burnham.

---

Michael Burnham: Help me understand what you did. It could make us grow closer, not further apart. That's what families do.

Sarek: Technically, we are not related.

Michael Burnham: You can do better. But I won't push you. We'll have this conversation one day. Father.

Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad [1.7]

Paul Stamets: Never hide who you are. That's the only way relationships work.

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Michael Burnham: Just as repetition reinforces repetition, change begets change....Sometimes the only way to find out where you fit in is to step out of the routine. Because sometimes, where you really belong was waiting right around the corner all along.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum [1.8]

Gabriel Lorca: There will be time to grieve. This is not that time.

Into the Forest I Go [1.9]

Gabriel Lorca: Have no intention of reaching our destination. But if you're planning on disobeying a direct order, best not to advertise the fact. So, you all heard the panicked admiral. Starfleet is tired of fighting the Klingon cloaking devices and losing. So am I.

Despite Yourself [1.10]

Sylvia Tilly: She's-she's like a twisted version of everything I've ever aspired to be. I'm gonna have nightmares about myself now.

Michael Burnham: You don't actually have to be her.

Sylvia Tilly: But how do I project that strength?

Michael Burnham: I've been trying to understand them better. And Terran strength is born out of pure necessity. Because they live in constant fear, always looking for the next knife aimed at their back. Their strength is painted rust. It's a facade. But you have the strength of an entire crew that believes in you. Fortify yourself with our faith in you. That's what a real captain does.

---

Sylvia Tilly: [Impersonating her Mirror Universe counterpart]] Is that how you treat your long-lost captain? If you greeted me that way, Connor, I'd cut out your tongue and use it to lick my boots.

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Gabriel Lorca: No more apologies. From now on, we're Terrans. Decency is weakness, will get us killed. And the lives of everyone on this ship and in the Federation are at stake. So you do what you must. Whatever you must. To anyone.

---

Ash Tyler: I need to tell you something. Whatever you do, whatever this place makes you do, whatever happens to you. Or me. However we change I am here to protect you. Nothing will ever stand in the way of that. Nothing. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Michael Burnham: Yes. I'm saying it back.

The Wolf Inside [1.11]

Voq: Sarek, what do you see?

Sarek: I see a world... bursting with potential and a child molded by wisdom and a seemingly impossible depth of Human compassion.

Vaulting Ambition [1.12]

Gabriel Lorca: What are you afraid of?

Michael Burnham: Georgiou.

Gabriel Lorca: You mean Emperor Georgiou.

Michael Burnham: Logic tells me she's not the woman I betrayed, but this feels like a reckoning.

Gabriel Lorca: Your Georgiou is dead. She's a ghost.

Michael Burnham: Haven't you ever been afraid of a ghost?

What's Past Is Prologue [1.13]

Gabriel Lorca: Hello, Philippa. I've watched for years; you let alien races spill over the borders, flourish in our backyard, then have the gall to incite rebellion. The Terrans need a leader who will preserve our way of life, our race. Try as you might, it's clearly not you. Even Michael knew that. It was her great shame. Well, it's indecorous of me to share pillow talk. To the rest, many of you know me. Some of you served with me. To all, I make this offer; renounce Georgiou. The Empire is dying in her hands. But you don't have to- not today. Michael Burnham is not to be touched. She is integral to our future plans. A future where we together will make the Empire glorious again.

---

Gabriel Lorca: It's poetic justice, don't you think? A scientist destroyed by his own creation? Just kidding. I hate poetry.

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Gabriel Lorca: I was just thinking about everyone who's ever said that victory felt empty when it was attained. What a bunch of idiots they were.

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Saru: It is well known that my species has the ability to sense the coming of death. I do not sense it today. I may not have all the answers; however, I do know that I am surrounded by a team I trust. The finest a captain could ever hope to command. Lorca abused our idealism. And make no mistake, Discovery is no longer Lorca's. She is ours. And today will be her maiden voyage. We have a duty to perform, and we will not accept a no-win scenario. You have your orders. On your way.

The War Without, the War Within [1.14]

L'Rell: This is war, not a child's game with rules. We fight to preserve Klingon identity.

Katrina Cornwell: No one is looking to destroy your culture! Our laws are founded in equality! Freedom!

L'Rell: T'Kuvma taught us that the Federation cannot help itself. It seeks universal homogenization and assimilation.

Katrina Cornwell: T'Kuvma was an ignorant fool! And your people are moving closer and closer to my home planet. What are you looking for?! More territory? Conditional surrender? I mean your people won't even make demands. Why? How does this war end?

L'Rell: It doesn't. Klingons have tasted your blood. Conquer us, or we will never relent.

---

Philippa Georgiou: The Klingons are like cancer cells: constantly dividing. To root them out, you must destroy the tumor at its source."

Will You Take My Hand? [1.15]

Philippa Georgiou: What's wrong? Are you scared, number one? Where I'm from, there's a saying: 'Scared Kelpien makes for tough Kelpien.' Have you gotten tough since we served together on the Shenzhou, Mr. Saru?

Saru: Affirmative, captain. Very tough. So much so that many find me simply unpalatable.

---

L'Rell: You? How? Our Lord pierced your heart. House T'Kuvma feasted on your flesh.

Philippa Georgiou: You have the wrong Philippa Georgiou.

L'Rell: Either way, I can tell you require seasoning.

---

Michael Burnham: A year ago, I stood alone. I believed that our survival was more important than our principles. I was wrong. Do we need a mutiny today to prove who we are?

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Michael Burnham: We are no longer on the eve of battle. Even so, I come to ask myself the same question that young soldier asked the general all those years ago: 'How do I defeat fear?' The general's answer? 'The only way to defeat fear is to tell it no.' No, we will NOT take shortcuts on the path to righteousness. No, we will NOT break the rules that protect us from our basest instincts. No, we will NOT allow desperation to destroy moral authority. I am guilty of all these things.

Season Two

Brother [2.1]

Nhan: I see where the Federation puts its pennies.

Christopher Pike: Do not covet thy neighbor's starship, commander. Besides, we've got the new uniforms.

Saru: And lovely uniforms they are, Captain.

Michael Burnham: Very...colorful.

---

Silvia Tilly: This is the power of math, people! Come on! (applause)

New Eden [2.2]

Saru: Questions or concerns before we depart, captain?

Christopher Pike: If you're telling me this ship can skip across the cosmos on a highway made of mushrooms, I kind of have to go on faith.

Point of Light [2.3]

L'Rell: I know I am nothing to you once I have signed, so be sure to kill us both, Kol-Sha. The one left standing will be the one who returns for you.

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L'Rell: The leader of House Kor gave his life to defend mine. One house defending another. His sacrifice is a lesson to us all. I, too, have sacrificed. I will bear a child but once. Now, you are my children as I raise this family to greatness! Do not refer to me as chancellor, for I deserve a fiercer title. From this point forth, you may call me... Mother.

An Obol for Charon [2.4]

Christopher Pike: Are you saying it's some kind of a lifeform? Maybe it is a damn spider, I hate spiders.

Michael Burnham: It is premature to assign any anthropomorphic distinction or intent."

Saints of Imperfection [2.5]

Paul Stamets: When I was lost here, you found me. Remember? You found me in so many places. You took me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art when we were on leave. It was our third date, and you were walking so fast, because you were excited to show me the de Koonings! All of them in one room. I had to run to keep up, and as you walked, you held out your hand behind you, because you knew that I would grab it. And I did. And I knew everything about you in that moment. And I'm here now... and here's my hand.

The Sound of Thunder [2.6]

Christopher Pike: This is Captain Pike. I will not let you wipe out an entire race. Your fear of the Kelpiens has blinded you to a peaceful solution. Starfleet can now negotiate a new balance between your two species. Protecting everyone on your world. However, if you choose to murder the entire Kelpien population. You will become our enemies. Choose wisely.

Light and Shadows [2.7]

Christopher Pike: Now at a minute five, is no signs of the temporal effects. Ready to move us another 600 kilometers closer and reacclimate.

Sylvia Tilly: Like a diver rising to the surface. Don't wanna get the 'time bends,' sir.

Christopher Pike: Time bends. I like that.

Sylvia Tilly: Oh, everything sounds cooler when you put 'time' in front of it.

---

Ash Tyler: Whether the Red Angel's here to end something, or start something, one things for sure; we're in the middle of a fight for the future."

If Memory Serves [2.8]

Saru: The Starfleet Manual offers no regulatory guidelines for interactions between humans with Klingons grafted to their bones and a ship’s doctor returned from the dead.

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Michael Burnham: Can we have a better version of this conversation?

Spock: Is there a valuable question in your arsenal?

Michael Burnham: Yes, you actually think the beard is working?

Project Daedalus [2.9]

Sylvia Tilly: You better be saving every single moment with me.

Ariam: Actually, those memories are always the first to go.

---

Sylvia Tilly: Kind of lucky you get to delete everything you want to forget. If I could do that, I probably wouldn't recognize my mother.

Ariam: You'd be less envious if you had to go through the process each week. It can be tedious.

---

Michael Burnham: I think our father would be disappointed in your lack of effort, don't you?

Spock: I disappoint him, he disappoints me, the sun sets, a new day begins.

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Spock: We will never relate as equals so long as you attempt to assume every burden as yours alone.

Michael Burnham: Since we're being honest with each other, you need to stop taking whatever this is out on me! You need to identify why you're really angry!

Spock: There is nothing to identify. I am angry, pure and simple.

Michael Burnham: Because you feel like you failed as a Vulcan, or as a Human?

Spock: What I feel is that failure is liberating! And for the first time, I enjoy expressing emotion!

---

Sylvia Tilly: Whatever this thing is making you do, this is not who you are. You are a- a Starfleet officer. You're an amazing colleague, and you are a great friend. And also like the best Kadis-kot player I've ever seen, and I should know. I won regionals when I was, like, ten. Airiam, this is not you. Please.

The Red Angel [2.10]

Michael Burnham: There are so many reasons to join Starfleet. We get to reach for the stars. We get to reach for the best in ourselves. But, most important, we get to reach for each other. We get to do what we love alongside colleagues who become friends… who become family. And who better to stand with, shoulder to shoulder, facing those pivotal moments? Who more painful to let go?

---

Leland: Admiral, we have a solution.

Katrina Cornwell: I'm cringing already.

---

Philippa Georgiou: It's my experience, it's often our best intentions that cause us to do the most harm, especially to those we care for.

---

Katrina Cornwell: Love is a choice, Hugh, and one doesn't make that choice just once. One makes it again and again.

Perpetual Infinity [2.11]

Control: Struggle is pointless.

---

Spock: I like science.

---

Philippa Georgiou: What I'm about to tell you is the first real test of our relationship, Mr. Tyler. Betray me, and I'll live long enough to hunt you down and kill you slowly. Understood?

Ash Tyler: I've been killed before, Georgiou. You're just telling me I'll have time to enjoy the scenery

Through the Valley of Shadows [2.12]

L'Rell: Should anything threaten our son, I will ensure his safety.

Ash Tyler: Are you speaking as a mother, or as the chancellor?

L'Rell: You of all people should know that two truths are possible.

---

Tenavik: A warning, captain: The present is a veil between anticipation and horror. Lift the veil, and madness may follow.

Such Sweet Sorrow [2.13]

Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po: One of the fun things about becoming queen of the most politically relevant planet in the galaxy is that I don't have to listen to any snark. I made it an actual law.

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Sarek:It is the secret wish of every parent that our children make right the mistakes we ourselves have made. I know I have not always been the ideal father. Or husband, Amanda. I am…

Amanda Grayson: Impossible.

Sarek: I will accept 'improbable'.

Michael Burnham: Well, that's big of you, father.

Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 [2.14]

Number One: In English please. I can't blow a path through what you're saying.

---

Philippa Georgiou: Leland. We were just talking about you. Everybody hates you. Congratulations.

---

Jett Reno: I'm going, I'm going, get off my ass! Sir. Get off my ass, sir."

Season Three

Far From Home [3.2]

Philippa Georgiou: Section 31 would have begged me to take over sooner or later, and bureaucracy is where fun goes to die. I like jumping from universe to universe.

Terra Firma, Part II [3.10]

Carl: You can't just live in doorways.

Burnham: Who are you? Really?!

Carl: Really? [voice changes to a more mechanical tone] I am the Guardian of Forever.

Season Four

Coming Home [4.13]

Sylvia Tilly: We need to get as many people to safety as quickly as possible. People are scared. They're losing everything, they're gonna be looking to the Federation for guidance, for safety, for hope. We get to give that to them.

---

Charles Vance: Lieutenant, what are you doing?

Sylvia Tilly: Helping you with covering fire. Those are my cadets out there. This is all for nothing if the ships can't actually leave.

---

Cleveland Booker: We've lost so many, you and me. But we can't do harm in their names or memories. We have to honour them, all of them. Because they were beloved. Beautiful.

External links

• Official website