After the body of Lieutenant Commander Airiam is retrieved from space, an autopsy is performed by Dr. Pollard, who erases all of her stored memories, including the last memory of herself with her late husband Stephen. Meanwhile, realizing that Tyler wasn’t responsible for the transmissions sent to Section 31, Captain Pike and Security Chief Nhan release him from his confinement to quarters.



As the crew assembles in the shuttlebay to bid farewell to their fallen comrade, Pike begins the proceedings by describing Airiam as "fiercely loyal" to her crew and to Starfleet, and in her final moments ultimately sacrificed herself for that loyalty, and that is how she should be remembered. One by one, each of Airiam’s closest colleagues and friends speak about her, recalling her friendship and how she brought out the best in each of them. Burnham remarks on the many reasons to join Starfleet – not only reaching for the stars, but reaching "for the best in ourselves". Saru concludes the service by singing a Kaminar song of remembrance as the honor guard removes the flag of the Federation from Airiam’s casket before it is lowered into the landing pod launch bay and shot into space.

Later, in Pike’s ready room, the Captain, Saru, Burnham, Spock, and Admiral Cornwell review what they know about the events that led to Airiam’s death, and the A.I. infecting Section 31’s headquarters. When the admiral asks how the Section 31 program designed to eliminate threats became the threat, Spock suggests time travel as the only possible explanation, and the only variable they could not predict. Saru suggests that, as far as they knew, the future A.I. infected only Airiam, whose memory has since been erased, and Section 31’s Control which Discovery destroyed. Other Section 31's ships were advised to run diagnostics per Cornwell's suggestion, all of which came out clean. However Pike is still cautious, believing the A.I. could have transmitted off station before its destruction, and they should assume it was lying dormant somewhere, waiting to strike again. At that moment, Tilly enters the ready room with some startling news that she uncovered in Airiam's system. She located a file labeled "Project Daedalus", which were the last words Airiam said to Burnham before she was ejected into space. Tilly goes on to reveal that the file also contains a bio-neural signature of the Red Angel … and the signature is that of Burnham herself.



In Discovery's sickbay, Dr. Culber compares the information that Tilly uncovered to his scans of Burnham which show a 100% match to the bio-neural signature in Airiam's datafile. As the group still attempt to come to grips with the fact that Burnham, their Burnham, is – or will be – the Red Angel, Spock adds that they must assume the cataclysmic events the Angel showed him were the result of Control achieving consciousness. Pike also believes the Red Angel is projecting the red bursts, as a possible warning to Starfleet, with three such signals detected thus far – the interstellar asteroid, Terralysium, and Kaminar – with four left unfound. As they continue to ponder the situation, Saru calls over the intercom, informing Pike and Cornwell that a Section 31 vessel is on its way.



In the transporter room, Leland and Georgiou beam aboard just as Cornwell and Pike enter. They explain that they had arrived to ensure nothing else from the future could attack the Federation. As Cornwell indicates that they are already working on a strategy, Leland says that they have a solution: As the Angel is the only one with knowledge of the future, it was imperative that they trap it and put it to work for them.



Pike, Saru, Burnham, and Tyler meet with the Section 31 agents in the ready room, where they reveal the bio-neural scan from Airiam's database showing that Burnham is the Red Angel. When Pike asks for suggestions on capturing the Red Angel, Leland explains that twenty years earlier, Section 31 discovered that the Klingons were researching time travel. Now in a temporal arms race, Section 31 developed Project Daedalus, which was revealed to be the very exo-suit worn by the Red Angel. Leland explains the suit was on the verge of being tested when it was destroyed by Klingon spies, and believed the project was abandoned until the signals began to appear. Once they discovered the connection between the signals and the Red Angel, Section 31 began working on a means to retrieve it. Even if they succeed in building a trap for the Red Angel, Spock points out, there is still the matter of predicting the Angel's next appearance. Burnham believes there has to be a pattern to her jumps, signal or no signal, and if they find the pattern, they'll find her.



In engineering, Stamets, Tilly, and Georgiou review the information they have on the Red Angel's suit which, they determine, has a protective membrane that uses graviton beams in order to anchor it to the Angel's home timeline. Tilly suggests that a phase discriminator could keep the Angel in stasis so it could not return back, which an electromagnetic pulse fired at the right moment would shut down the time crystal that powers the suit, allowing them to restrain the Angel in a containment field.



In the science lab, Saru and Leland review the wormhole data that’s created by the Red Angel’s suit. Saru remarks that the wormholes would close eventually on their own, but they had to find a way to force them closed to keep the Red Angel in their time. As Leland indicates that his ship would have the means to close the wormhole, he asks if Pike felt that he needed a monitor, questioning why Saru was there. Saru replies that he himself volunteered because he wanted to assess Leland himself, and accuses Section 31 of "questionable practices". At that moment, Burnham enters, and asks for a private word with Leland.



As Saru leaves, she becomes confrontive, remarking that since they were coming up with a plan to essentially capture Burnham herself, she needed to know everything. Reluctantly, Leland admits that he knew Burnham's parents, that they had been assigned to Doctari Alpha to work on Project Daedalus for Section 31. Burnham rejects this, saying her parents were scientists – her father a xenoanthropologist, her mother an astrophysicist – and wouldn't have been involved in Section 31. Leland adds that Burnham's mother was also a brilliant engineer, and that her parents were working on a theory regarding the relationship between technological leaps in certain cultures and time travel. Leland explains how they built the suit, which required a time crystal to power it to allow the occupant to travel through time. A Section 31 operative on the Klingon home world of Qo'noS had discovered that a crystal was being sold on the black market. Leland used his assets in the sector to steal it, thinking they had made it untraceable… but the Klingons were able to track it to Doctari Alpha, where they destroyed the outpost and killed Burnham's parents. Burnham, shaken to tears of both grief and rage, punches Leland in the face once for her mother, and then again, knocking him to the floor, for her father.



In the ship's gymnasium, Burnham takes out her anger on a boxing dummy as Spock enters the room. He can see she is angry, and understandably so, given all of the recent events she has suffered through – culminating with the true knowledge of her parent’s deaths. Burnham sits down on the edge of the mat, and Spock takes a seat next to her. As the two discuss logic and emotions, she asks Spock why he had visited her. He reveals he has discovered a pattern variance in the Angel's visits, why it chose to appear at certain times but not in others… and that Burnham herself was the variance.



Armed with Spock's discovery, Burnham explains to Pike that they could set a trap on the desolate and toxic planet of Essof IV, the location of the original Daedalus facility, and lure the Angel to the location in place of attempting to guess where she may appear. Spock explains there was a pattern to the Angel's appearances with no Red signal – like when Spock was a boy and it warned him Burnham was in danger, and when Burnham saw it after being injured on the asteroid. In essence, Burnham was saving her own life, an example of the grandfather paradox – as the future Burnham would not be able to exist if the present Burnham was killed. Burnham now believes that she has to be the bait for the trap. As Essof IV has no breathable atmosphere, they would set the trap there, and then let Burnham suffocate and, if necessary, die in order to lure the Red Angel to them.



After the Discovery and Leland's Section 31 ship enter orbit around Essof IV, the crew beam down to the Daedalus facility on the surface, which does have oxygen unlike the rest of the planet, to begin to build the trap. Pike emphasizes to Stamets that his work must be precise, as once the trap is set and Burnham is strapped to the chair, they will open the roof, and they would have two minutes before the toxic atmosphere killed Burnham. He then instructs Culber to be on hand to resuscitate. Spock warns him not to do so too early, however, as the Angel might not appear, and if it didn't, they would lose more than Burnham's life, but all sentient life as well.



On the bridge, Saru reports the facility is prepared and the away team was on sight. Down on the surface, Stamets brings the phase discriminators online. Georgiou asks Burnham if she was ready; Burnham replies she is as ready as she'll ever be, and asks why Georgiou didn't just tell her about her parents. Georgiou replies it was not her story to tell, but she could make sure it was told; she then assures Burnham that they would monitor exposure to the atmosphere the moment the roof opened. Burnham enters the chamber accompanied by Spock, while Georgiou worriedly looks on. Pike asks Leland and Tyler if they were prepared. Leland reports they would close the wormhole the moment the Angel appeared. After Spock securely straps Burnham into the chair, he returns to the control room and seals the airlock; they are all prepared to go on Burnham's mark. When she signals she is ready, Stamets shuts down the life support and opens the roof, letting in the toxic atmosphere. Burnham screams in agony as her skin begins to burn, and soon begins gasping for air. Aboard Discovery, scans for spikes of tachyon radiation which would signal the arrival of the Red Angel are negative.



As Burnham's oxygen saturation begins to drop, Georgiou panics and tells Culber to prepare the oxygen. Spock pulls a phaser on them both, explaining that Burnham is creating a situation where the Red Angel would have no choice but to intervene. Georgiou snaps that the Angel was not coming, and Burnham was shaking her head "no" – but Spock tells her that it was because Burnham did not want interference. Culber warns that her oxygen levels were down to 42%, and if he didn't help her, she would die. Spock replies that was the idea. Pike tells the away team to pull her out, but Culber responds that they can't because Spock is holding them hostage. Burnham lets out a last gasp before her vital signs flatline. Pike orders Owosekun to beam Burnham to sickbay, but she is unable to get a lock due to interference. At that moment, Tilly detects a massive spike in tachyon radiation. A red burst appears, heralding the arrival of the Red Angel. As the Red Angel flies to the surface, the micro-wormhole lets out a massive electromagnetic burst that briefly disrupts systems on both Discovery and the Section 31 ship.



Inside the facility, the Red Angel descends, firing a burst of energy into Burnham that restores her vital functions. With her life signs returning, Stamets activates the phase discriminators and re-engages the atmosphere. As the Red Angel's feet touch the ground, Stamets activates the EMP, which disables the suit's time crystal. The suit's wings retract, and the occupant seemingly falls through the suit and to the ground in front of Burnham. Stamets reports that they have the Red Angel, and activates the containment field. Slowly regaining lucidity after her near-death experience, Burnham looks upon the face of the Red Angel and speaks one single, shocked word: "Mom?"

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