Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 7 – “Erigah”

The Progenitors’ technology in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 could potentially resurrect at least 5 different characters by the end of the series. Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery crew have been following clues to obtain the Progenitors’ treasure before the criminal team of Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis), who would hand the technology over to the Breen. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, “Erigah”, written by M. Raven Metzner and directed by Jon Dudkowski, Moll and L’ak come to a dead end the Breen Imperium faction led by Primarch Ruhn (Tony Nappo) arrive at Federation Headquarters, demanding L’ak’s return.

With the Breen threat looming, Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) doubles down on working with the USS Discovery team to analyze Betazoid scientist Marina Derex’s clue and get the treasure hunt’s final clue to finding the Progenitors’ technology. In addition to creating all humanoid life in the Star Trek galaxy and rewriting the DNA of existing life forms, the Progenitors’ technology is believed to have the ability to resurrect the dead. With that kind of power on the table in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, and given how bringing back the dead has been repeatedly mentioned, it’s almost certain that the Progenitors’ technology will be used to bring someone back to life. Here are the most likely candidates.

5

Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green)

Burnham’s Death Would Invoke Two Star Trek Tropes

Star Trek: Discovery could repeat a relatively recent Star Trek trope if the series is bold enough to kill off and immediately resurrect its lead character, Captain Michael Burnham, before the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 5. Star Trek: Picard season 1, episode 10, “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2,” saw the end of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) life and also Picard’s resurrection in a new synthetic body. Star Trek Into Darkness killed Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) in a pivotal scene that was intentionally evocative of Mr. Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, only to bring Kirk back before the end of the film.

Echoing another Star Trek trope, Michael Burnham’s death and immediate resurrection as a result of the Progenitors’ technology in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 would also make Michael just like Spock, her adoptive brother. Star Trek: Discovery‘s Progenitors’ technology is comparable to the Genesis Device in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Spock’s resurrection began the moment that Spock’s body landed on the Genesis planet, right when energies from the Genesis Device were still actively creating new life.

4

Cleveland Booker (David Ajala)

Death & Resurrection Could Complete Book’s Redemption Arc

If Cleveland Booker is resurrected with the Progenitors’ technology, it wouldn’t be the first time that sufficiently advanced alien technology has saved Book’s life. In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 13, “Coming Home”, Michael Burnham thought Book was lost when Book’s ship crashed into the hyperfield surrounding the homeworld of Species 10-C, who created the Dark Matter Anomaly that unintentionally destroyed Book’s homeworld, Kwejian. Species 10-C had actually intercepted Book’s transporter signal, however, and saved Book’s life despite Book’s vengeful quest to hunt down and destroy Species 10-C.

Although Cleveland Booker is making solid strides to redeem himself in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 after being indicted for using an illegal isolytic weapon against Species 10-C, Book’s renegade behavior in Star Trek: Discovery season 4 caused an emotional rift between Star Trek power couple Michael Burnham and Book that still hasn’t fully healed. Book and Burnham are able to work together on the USS Discovery, but both are holding each other at arm’s length, as though afraid to admit they still have feelings for each other. Book’s redemption arc may culminate in his death (perhaps in the form of a heroic sacrifice?) and Michael resurrecting him. Burnham and Book may realize that they can’t live without each other, and get back together.

3

Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp)

Coming Back From Death Gives Stamets Something In Common With Culber

Commander Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) have faced death and resurrection before, after Hugh was killed in Star Trek: Discovery season , and revived through the mycelial network in Star Trek: Discovery season 2. Instead of being forgotten like so many brief Star Trek deaths before, coming back from the dead has been a huge factor in Dr. Culber’s character development throughout Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Discovery season 5 sees the doctor reconciling science and faith. While Paul undoubtedly supports Hugh’s spiritual journey, Stamets doesn’t really understand it on a visceral level.

Paul Stamets’ death and revival in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 would flip the script, with Culber being the one to resurrect Stamets this time. The closest thing Paul Stamets has to spirituality is a deep connection to the mycelial network. Starfleet isn’t developing Stamets’ spore drive in the 32nd century, so Paul is going through his own personal crisis in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. Desperate for a new purpose, Stamets throws himself into decoding the clues in the search for the Progenitors’ technology. Spending time on the other side could help Paul discover what purpose really means, and truly understand Hugh’s spiritual experiences, and bring Stamets and Culber even closer to understanding one another.

2

Ambassador Saru (Doug Jones) or President T’Rina (Tara Rosling)

Death Would Put A Real Damper On Saru & T’Rina’s Wedding

The death of either Ambassador Saru (Doug Jones) or President T’Rina (Tara Rosling) of Ni’Var would be heartbreaking but could lead up to an emotional last-minute resurrection before Saru and T’Rina’s wedding. After a slow-building romance, T’Rina proposed to Saru in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, “Red Directive”, setting the stage for their Star Trek wedding before the end of Discovery‘s final season. The match was met with skepticism by Vulcan Purists who failed to find logic in the union of a Vulcan and a Kelpien, so Saru understands the relationship is already a deterrent to T’Rina’s political popularity. Saru’s decision to resurrect T’Rina would confirm, once and for all, that love is stronger than any political machination and give Saru a satisfying resolution in a season that Saru has largely been absent from.

Saru’s demise could put T’Rina in a difficult position that would make a great Star Trek story, with ethical questions at stake. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, “Erigah”, the Federation council debates whether to keep Moll in custody and potentially start a war with the Breen, or allow Moll to go with the Breen, who will almost certainly kill Moll. Looking at millions of potential deaths, or one certain death, T’Rina argues for the latter, establishing T’Rina’s logical position. If the Progenitors’ technology could only be used either to revive Saru or bring life to a whole planet, could T’Rina make the same call?

1

L’ak (Elias Toufexis)

L’ak Is An Obvious Choice For Resurrection, But Is It Likely?

The obvious candidate for resurrection with the Progenitors’ technology in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is the one who’s already dead: L’ak. The Breen Scion on the run from the Imperium with his human lover, Moll, L’ak was already in bad shape when the Imperium came knocking at Federation Headquarters, where L’ak was recovering from injuries sustained fighting Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, “Mirrors”. As part of Moll’s plan to break out of Federation custody, L’ak’s intentional tricordrizine overdose was supposed to be a distraction but caused L’ak’s death in Star Trek: Discovery.

Moll and L’ak only saw the Progenitor technology as a bargaining chip to erase the Erigah, the Breen blood debt, on their heads by trading it to the Breen. Knowing that Progenitor technology can bring L’ak back, Moll will stop at nothing to get her hands on the Progenitor technology and resurrect her lover. The catch is that Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery team currently have the lead in discovering the Progenitor technology, so whether Moll would even be allowed to use the Progenitors’ technology to bring L’ak back is an ethical question that Star Trek: Discovery may have to answer by the series’ end.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.