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How 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 3 Episode 7 paid tribute to late actor Anton Yelchin and left fans teary-eyed

'Do I hear a tribute to #AntonYelchin with a U.S.S. Yelchin that Tilly mentions in 'Unification, Part 3'? @startrekcb@StarTrekRoom,' a fan wrote

'Star Trek: Discovery' has been doing much name-dropping and dropping delightful Easter eggs for hardcore Trekkie fans. The 'Star Trek' universe is expansive and infinite, as it began way back in the 1960s. Since then, there have been more than eight shows, each of them somehow connecting to each other as well as several films that might have changed storylines along the way. So you might forgive yourself for missing out on a few here and there. In one of the episodes, the USS Nog was mentioned, as a reference to mischievous Ferengi who later proved his mettle. And in the latest episode, we got to hear about the USS Yelchin--a tribute to Anton Yelchin, the 'Star Trek' actor who played Pavel Chekov. The actor died in 2016 in a tragic accident, leaving fans heartbroken.

Yelchin, a Russian-American actor, had played Pavel Chekov in three 'Star Trek' films, 'Star Trek; (2009), 'Star Trek Into Darkness'' (2013), and the posthumously released 'Star Trek Beyond'. "The USS Yelchin #startrekdiscovery," a fan tweeted, sharing several crying emoticons. "Do I hear a tribute to #AntonYelchin with a U.S.S. Yelchin that Tilly mentions in “Unification, Part 3”? @startrekcb@StarTrekRoom #StarTrekDiscovery," a fan wrote.

Yelchin's Chekov was seen in the 2009 'Star Trek' film, created an alternate timeline in the franchise. In this timeline, Anton Yelchin's portrayal showed Chekov as a 17-year-old prodigy whose mathematical ability turns crucial in the film. In the sequel, 'Star Trek Into Darkness', Chekov is promoted to chief engineer after Scotty resigns.  In the third film, 'Star Trek Beyond', which was Yelchin's final appearance as Chekov, we saw Chekov with Kirk after the entire crew left stranded on a planet, after the annihilation of the Enterprise, which forced them to destroy the last of the Enterprise, escape and later collude with the rest of the senior staff and get back to an old Starfleet ship, and thwart plans of eliminating the Federation. However, Yelchin was crushed to death by his jeep on June 19, 2016, which was just a month before the film released. 

'Star Trek: Discovery' airs on CBS All Access, Thursdays.