Mirror Philippa Georgiou finds a new future.

Spoilers below

In Star Trek: Discovery Season Three, Episode Ten ” Terra Firma, Part Two,” directed by Chloe Domont, the Guardian of Forever saves Mirror Philippa Georgiou. Sadly, the tradeoff is that she loses Prime Michael Burnham forever. Carl is revealed to be the Guardian of Forever. Who was first featured in Star Trek: The Original Series Season One Episode Twenty-Eight, ” The City on the Edge of Tomorrow.” Carl is an ancient mysterious alien who can act as a time portal allowing people like Philippa to access different times, places, and dimensions. The Guardian of Forever could send Philippa to the Terran dimension and into the past where he could test her worthiness. Mirror Philippa’s time with the U.S.S. Discovery gave her a new life where she could help form a better world.

Philippa uses her time back in the Terran Empire to attempt to form a world full of light instead of darkness. Philippa’s relationship with Mirror Saru shows how she has a sliver of kindness in her heart. First, the Emperor makes eating Kepliens illegal. She tells Mirror Captain Michael Burnham that it’s because their flesh is high in cholesterol, but clearly that now she has an emotional connection to a Keplien, she can’t consume them. Philippa still strives to make the Terran Empire a more civil space, even though she knows that her daughter sees her compassion as a weakness.

The Guardian of Forever storyline works well in ” Terra Firma, Part Two,” but there is one major issue. It makes sense that Carl could send Philippa back in time and to a different dimension to test her, but everything else falls apart under any scrutiny. Mirror Philippa says she spent months in the Terran Empire. Michael only saw her companion walk through the door, then collapse. Philippa was unconscious for two minutes. At first, I thought Philippa’s experience in the Terran Empire was all in her mind, especially when the Guardian of Forever says it was a test. Then, Carl told Michael and Mirror Philippa that the Emperor made an enormous difference to the Terran Empire. Mirror Saru was going to do some good in that dimension. Does that mean Mirror Philippa traveled back in time? Or did she go to an alternative timeline in the Mirror Universe? Or in this test simulation, that the Guardian of Forever created where Mirror Saru is leading a revolution? Unless the writers go more in-depth into these issues in future episodes or Section Thirty-One Season One, there will always be holes in this storyline.

Mirror Saru tells Philippa that he won’t serve her much longer because he will soon enter vahar’ai. In the Terran Empire, everybody still believes Kepliens need to be culled when their fevers start, or they will go crazy. Mirror Saru wants to have the honor to be culled by his mistress. Philippa instructs Saru to lock himself in his quarters when his vahar’ai starts. He will come out stronger than before. She tells Mirror Saru to order all the other Kepliens to do the same. He sees that Philippa is no longer a true Terran. She is not in the Mirror Universe. But Philippa vows to stay and transform the Terran Empire into a world closer to the Prime Universe. In the end, Emperor Georgiou lies dying in Saru’s arms, but she made her positive impact on the Terran world. Mirror Saru went through vahari’ai. He is a strong, confident Keplien who tries to save her life. He will lead the Kepliens in a revolution in Philippa’s name.

“Terra Firma, Part Two” wraps up the relationship between Commander Michael Burnham and Mirror Philippa beautifully. The Terran Emperor is forced to kill Mirror Michael because she can’t change her essence. Philippa realizes that she raised her daughter to be a power-hungry killer who can’t be broken or re-molded. Mirror Michael tries to stab her in the back the minute she has the opportunity. Mirror Philippa realizes that her feelings for Prime Michael have nothing to do with her real daughter. The cure for the time sickness is for her to go back in time. The Terran Emperor belongs in the Prime Universe, but not in this time. She has to travel back to their original timeline when the Prime and Mirror Universe were closer together. Philippa asks if she can bring Michael with her, but the commander belongs in the present. She gives the commander one last piece of advice. Philippa tells Prime Michael that she is more incredible than she knows and belongs in a leadership position. One day she will be the captain of a Starfleet vessel. Michael confesses to Mirror Philippa the love she feels for the Terran Emperor belongs to her alone. Her emotions toward this Philippa are not linked to the dead Prime one. At the end of the episode, Philippa admits to her Prime daughter that she once had a chance at real romantic love. This lost love might be referring to the dying alien she was having flashbacks about in earlier episodes. Michael encourages her parental figure to find an emotional connection to talk about her painful memories with back in their original time. The two-part “Terra Firma” episodes seem like a back-door pilot to the new Section Thirty-One television show where Georgiou will be the main character.

I will miss seeing Mirror Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek Discovery, but I can’t wait for Section Thirty-One to come out.