So if 'Carl' is supposed to be the guardian as was intended by Harlan Ellison, what the fudge is RMB's problem exactly?
It's my understanding that Ellison's original intention was apparently that there would be multiple Guardians for the time portal with very alien personalities. "Carl" -- or, as I prefer to call him, "Karl" -- as an avatar adopting 20th Century Human cultural markers, seems to be a different concept per se.
Trying to wrap my mind around what a Mirror Universe Genghis Khan would look like.
Probably the same. I doubt the Mirror Universe diverged until around World War I.
What was with the upside down credits? Another mistake?
Just lazy editing I think.
The color inversion and the upside down images are an abstract representation of the Mirror Universe's status as an inversion of Prime Universe morality. That's neither laziness or a mistake, it's just an artistic choice you didn't enjoy.
Just lazy editing I think. They could've been more creative with it and actually add Mirror Universe elements to it like they did with Enterprise "In A Mirror Darkly".
Except that that would go against the entire concept behind DIS's opening credits sequences. DIS opening credits are abstract representations of the Star Trek Universe, not ships-flying-through-space.
One of the worst episodes of television I've seen in years.
You have
terrible taste and I don't want to be your friend.
RMB doesn't like that the new GoF is very different from the one we knew. The TOS GoF was limited, could only answer questions, was built to offer the past only one way. The Disco GoF now knows what you want before you even know what to ask, makes jokes, smokes cigars, and is much more human-like and less like a machine.
Okay, so, first off, the Guardian in "City" was not limited and only able to answer questions. Rather, it was an intelligence so advanced that it found communicating verbally with Humans and Vulcans to be difficult.
Obviously, the Guardian has learned a bit about how to interact with Humans by the 32nd Century. Having the Karl avatar be personable, prone to making jokes, have a sense of compassion and empathy -- these are not necessarily the choices I would have made in bringing back the Guardian, but they're not
bad choices either. Honestly it boils down to whether you want to depict the Guardian as this ancient, incomprehensible
thing, or if you want the Guardian to be a
character. Neither choice is objectively better than the other. I subjectively prefer the Guardian-as-incomprehensible option, but Guardian-as-a-character was well-executed in "Terra Firma."
No longer sci-fi, but fantasy.
Oh pish posh. The Guardian in "City" was no more realistic than the Guardian in "Terra Firma."
I wonder if the term coalition was a reference taken from the novels. There that was the precursor to the Federation. An alliance between the five powers before they joined completely to become the Federation.
Well, the Coalition of Planets originated in the ENT two-parter "Demons"/"Terra Prime" before being further developed in the post-finale ENT novels. There was also a
Myriad Universes novella featuring the Interstellar Coalition as a rival to an isolationist United Earth.
Can't say this was my favorite trip to the Mirror Universe. I'm glad that it wasn't all in Georgiou's mind, though in a way it was. It left me wondering did she change the past so that the events of DISCO in Season 1 now didn't happen, or just happened differently?
I think either the Guardian placed her back into the MU and thereby created a new alternate MU timeline, or he created some sort of pocket-universe fantasy for her to live in for three months where all the characters behaved as the actual MU persons would have.
I was glad we got an answer about Carl. I was okay with that explanation. I liked the interplay in Engineering and also enjoyed the eulogy at the end. When the ensemble is given moments, their characters show off more personality, it's good because the ingredients are there for a likable crew.
I was hoping we would get a glimpse of where Emperor Georgiou was now. I'm guessing she is taking the place of Prime Georgiou in the 23rd century, like she did before, but will be better at it.
It would be interesting if she returned to
Discovery's point of departure from the 23rd Century. Presumably, she would be working under Section 31 Director Ash Tyler.
Some notes and stuff:The "Coalition"? Nice to give the Denobulans a shout-out, but I really wanted the Alliance to be an evolution of the same Vulcan-Andorian rebel alliance seen in Enterprise that would evolve into the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance seen in DS9. Event mentioning the Cardassians (perhaps right after Klingons) would help cement the connection to the latter series. Right now, it's just a third random rebellion amongst a litany of rebellions.
I think that's the point -- the Terran Empire is in a state of constant instability because its tyrannical nature breeds eternal retalliatory rebellions. This particular rebellion wasn't the point.
I don’t think there’s a way for us to know if they’re really bringing in significant numbers of new viewers
ViacomCBS has to report things like that each quarter to their shareholders. If they don't, it's securities fraud.
Their most recent report indicates strong growth. They're not at Disney+ levels, but they're doing fine.
But do I get the sense that these shows are having a big cultural impact outside the existing fan community?
The media landscape is so fragmented that that's virtually impossible for anyone other than
Star Wars or Marvel (that is to say, for anyone other than Disney). You might as well complain that a well-to-do comfortable middle-class family hasn't won the lottery yet.
Can anybody explain to me, how these episodes fit in with Season 1 Mirror Universe episodes? Given where they end, these events don't seem to... and isn't that a problem?
It's either a new branching MY timeline that diverged from the MU we've seen before, or it was a pocket fantasy dimension the Guardian created where the characters all behaved like the real MU people. We'll probably never know which, but it also doesn't really matter from a drama standpoint.
Man these 2 episodes were stupid. Overly violent yet nothing happens,
A character realizing how deeply she has changed and how much she loves someone doesn't constitute compelling drama to you?
just stupid boring dialog like that firefly scene - what the hell was that.

It was Phillipa trying to reach Michael with a reminder of the bond they forged during Michael's childhood. It's a mother trying to reach her daughter.