'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 3 Episode 10: Who is the Guardian Of Forever? Here's what you need to know
'Star Trek: Discovery' returned with the tenth episode of Season 3, which saw the climax of all the ongoing drama taking place in the Mirror Universe between Emperor Georgiou and Michael Burnham. In the previous episode, we saw Burnham accompanying Georgiou to an isolated and lonely planet in the hope of finding a cure for her illness. Georgiou isn't just dying, it's much worse and perhaps more complicated than that. Her body has been pulled apart by her displacement through time and dimensions. Unfortunately, there is a lot of information that isn’t available to save her. But Discovery has Zora, the sphere data powering the ship’s computer. Zora advises that Georgiou should be sent to Dannus V, which is a lonely planet that has all the answers they need. Of course, considering that this is 'Star Trek', the answers are far from easy.
And so after not-so-many-tearful goodbyes, Georgiou leaves with Burhnam and during their little road trip, they meet Carl. You would remember the man, dressed in a bowler hat and tweed suit, reading a fake newspaper who guided her through a portal to the Mirror Universe. Well, your theories about him might just have been right. He provides a portal that could end all Georgiou's misery: Walk through the portal, and everything else is up to her. He is holding a newspaper that shares the news about Georgiou's painful death, and this portal could just change this around. Georgiou walks through, even though Burnham isn't really digging this solution. She finds herself back in the Mirror Universe and uncovers a plot to kill her, while tensions between her and Michael hit a feverish pitch.
However, as she leaves the Mirror Universe, there is a discrepancy between the two lives she has been leading. She meets Carl again, and he reveals himself to be the Guardian Of Forever. He explains that he is a space-time portal, and says that his quadrants have changed over time. He explains that Georgiou wasn't sent back to be cured, she was sent back to be tested, to see if that she could make different choices. He constructs a portal for her, and says that he will send her back to a time where she won't fall apart, where the universes are aligned. And, Philippa walks through, hopefully to a better place.
For those still unclear about who the Guardian is: It was a mysterious construct of an unknown, ancient alien race, which was intended to be a time portal, a gateway to the time vortex where people could access different times and dimensions. It was situated on an ancient planet where the focus of all timelines throughout at least the Milky Way Galaxy were aligned. It was discovered by the USS Enterprise in 2267. Kirk and Spock had encountered it, to explore the past. Thus, the reference to the Guardian Of Forever fits in perfectly with 'Star Trek' Canon.