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Will the Burn mystery end with a damp squib?

Options are:
1. Natural disaster that (a) will recur or (b) be unlikely to recur,
2. Accident that (a) can be repeated if careless or (b) not,
3. Hostile act that (b) might be repeatable or (b) not.

Burnham's point is that the Federation and its neighbours need to know which of these categories the Burn actually falls into. And then, they can all plan their futures accordingly.

Dramatic "squib" or not from our POV in the audience once we see it, it's definitely an important answer to seek.
 
Options are:
1. Natural disaster that (a) will recur or (b) be unlikely to recur,
2. Accident that (a) can be repeated if careless or (b) not,
3. Hostile act that (b) might be repeatable or (b) not.

Burnham's point is that the Federation and its neighbours need to know which of these categories the Burn actually falls into. And then, they can all plan their futures accordingly.

Dramatic "squib" or not from our POV in the audience once we see it, it's definitely an important answer to seek.

1. Highly doubtful.

2. If this is the case, the accident will have been caused by Burnham and will be subsequently fixed by her.

3. By far the most likely scenario.
 
Options are:
1. Natural disaster that (a) will recur or (b) be unlikely to recur,
2. Accident that (a) can be repeated if careless or (b) not,
3. Hostile act that (b) might be repeatable or (b) not.

Burnham's point is that the Federation and its neighbours need to know which of these categories the Burn actually falls into. And then, they can all plan their futures accordingly.

Dramatic "squib" or not from our POV in the audience once we see it, it's definitely an important answer to seek.
I am hoping that it is number 1, leading them to develop workarounds to reestablish the Federation now that they no longer need fear it happening again.
 
The cause of the Burn finally appeared to have some importance after we found out about the Ni'Varans.... six episodes after the show started insisting that it was important.
 
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For whatever its worth, I think Vance knows exactly what caused the burn. I think Starfleet and/or the Federation were behind it. He is letting Saru and Burnham figure it out, and hoping that whatever the reason is will be sufficiently justifiable and convincing that they fall in line. If you think about it, it fits with everything we've seen, everything is the opposite of what it was. Why is Starfleet and the Federation still a bastion of good? Who are the remaining member worlds?
 
Bumping this to review my predictions.
  • I said the Burn would be a damp squib. And it is. It's apparently just some completely accidental thing that happened due to total happenstance (the temper tantrum of a child conceived on a planet of dilithium.
  • The Burn could have theoretically repeated, so I guess dealing with Su'Kal is something that needed to happen. But chances are if he wasn't disturbed, things would have continued in much the dame way.
  • On the other hand, given there's an entire planet made of dilithium in the nebula, meaning the search for the cause could actually have a major impact on the Federation.
 
Damp squib is relative I guess. I was truly hoping it would be something our heroes had nothing to do with, it wasn't the Federation being evil, or some sort of time travel BS necessitating time travel fixes.

It was an accident. Something to be changed to avoid happening again. Not what I would have written but completely unexpected, which is my preference.
 
Damp squib is relative I guess. I was truly hoping it would be something our heroes had nothing to do with, it wasn't the Federation being evil, or some sort of time travel BS necessitating time travel fixes.

It was an accident. Something to be changed to avoid happening again. Not what I would have written but completely unexpected, which is my preference.

I thought this was pretty unsatisfying (and the
“dangerous powerful child”
was a tired trope even by TOS season three), but I still found it preferable to some of the alternatives, I guess.
 
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I thought this was pretty unsatisfying (and the “dangerous powerful child” was a tired trope even by TOS season three), but I still found it preferable to some of the alternatives, I guess.
Unsatisfying will depend on how it is resolved, I guess.

But, at the risk of doing the "whataboutism" that I often get accused of, I think the dangerous child is a trope that is interesting to revisit. I mean, there are always going to be tropes to had in Trek. This is one that I think is really in line in TOS spirit of a wide open, dangerous, galaxy filled with possibility. That type of possibility is something I find so adventurous, trope or not. Mileage obviously varies but I really would hope that the magic of possibility isn't missed because it feels unsatisfying.
 
Unsatisfying will depend on how it is resolved, I guess.

But, at the risk of doing the "whataboutism" that I often get accused of, I think the dangerous child is a trope that is interesting to revisit. I mean, there are always going to be tropes to had in Trek. This is one that I think is really in line in TOS spirit of a wide open, dangerous, galaxy filled with possibility. That type of possibility is something I find so adventurous, trope or not. Mileage obviously varies but I really would hope that the magic of possibility isn't missed because it feels unsatisfying.

Yeah, I don’t object to tropes if they’re used in the service of a good story. But to make one the payoff of a season-long arc — that’s a hard sell. Hopefully there’s more to this than first appears.
 
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Yeah, I don’t object to tropes if they’re used in the service of a good story. But to make one the payoff of a season-long arc — that’s a hard sell. Hopefully there’s more to this than first appears.

I think there has to be. For burman to be right (and she always is) the spice of the burn must be found to rebuild the federation. Unless that is the dilithiun planet nothing revealed here about the source of the burn helps rebuild the federation.
 
Yeah, I don’t object to tropes if they’re used in the service of a good story. But to make one the payoff of a season-long arc — that’s a hard sell. Hopefully there’s more to this than first appears.
It seems more than enough at this point. At least it isn't just a random fluke in subspace. It is something that is preventable.
 
Unless that is the dilithiun planet nothing revealed here about the source of the burn helps rebuild the federation.

All those worlds seceded because the Federation originally 1) didn't know what caused the Burn, and 2) couldn't confirm it wouldn't happen again. Now they DO know those things. That can't hurt...
 
i hope that’s not all.

I expect we’ll get a twist where the Child turns out to be that fan-tailed goldfish monster. But, yeah, if this is the big reveal, this will be the third straight season where I thought Discovery fumbled the main arc. Fingers crossed they give us something that pays off in the last couple of episodes.
 
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