'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 3 Episode 5: What is the connection between a common lullaby and the Burn?
Spoilers for 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 3 Episode 5 'Die Trying'
Throughout the season, discovering the origins of the Burn has been Michael Burnham's (Sonequa Martin-Green) primary mission, one that took precedence above all others. On the latest episode of 'Star Trek: Discovery', Burnham has stumbled upon another clue as to what may have happened, though it's one that raises a lot more questions than it answers as Burnham tries to connect a lullaby to an event of universal destruction.
The thing that makes the Burn such an impossible, inexplicable event is that it happened all across the universe, simultaneously. There is no strategy that could possibly be coordinated to have that set off all at once, the coordination that that would take would require a kind of universal harmony that even the Federation could have dreamed of. However, there are several established things in the 'Star Trek' universe that are somehow connected to all things at once, no matter what the distance. The Discovery's mycelial network, for instance, that allows them to teleport across the universe no matter what the distance. We've also discussed the Omega Particle and how it may have had its own contributions to the Burn across subspace.
The latest episode of 'Discovery' reveals another thing that seems to have resonated across all of space in ways that should be impossible - a lullaby. Burnham first heard the notes when Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio) played them on the cello after recovering the memories of the past lives of her symbiont. She heard it again this episode, from a Barzan family living an isolated life aboard a seed vault. Coming from the past, Burnham had never heard the lullaby before but it appears to have been something everyone in the future is familiar with.
This immediately strikes Burnham as strange, especially given how isolated societies have become in the century since the Burn. Different cultures and species all appear to have heard this melody, enough to be deeply familiar with it, meaning that, like the mycelial network, it's possible that this lullaby is somehow connected through the universe regardless of distance. It's a weak thread to pull on, but there's one important factor - it's a lead that nobody else in the future has thought to investigate, as they all take the melody for granted. Given that the Federation of the future has been exploring all avenues they can while investigating the Burn, a brand new theory that no one else has looked into might just be the lead that Burnham needs to solve the Burn.
If she can find out how a single melody can transmit itself universally, across hundreds of isolated cultures, she may be able to find out how it's possible for all dilithium supplies to explode at once and more importantly, she may just be able to trace the cause of the accident right back to its source.
The next episode of 'Star Trek: Discovery' airs November 19, on CBS All Access.