Star Trek: Discovery’s Epilogue Had 2 Clever Callbacks To The Series Premiere

Star Trek: Discovery's epilogue had two small callbacks to the series premiere. Discovery wrapped up its final season with an emotional episode that covered Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the USS Discovery's final battle against the Breen for control of the Progenitor's technology. After an action-packed fight, Discovery's cast of characters managed to secure the tech and send it beyond the reach of anyone by jettisoning it past the event horizon of a black hole. However, once the main story was concluded, the show still needed to tie up some loose ends.

Discovery accomplished this with a beautifully crafted coda that jumped forward several decades to show Michael Burnham and Cleveland Booker's (David Ajala) happily married life now living on Sanctuary Four. Star Trek: Discovery's epilogue took place on the day of the USS Discovery's final mission and introduced Captain Leto Burnham (Sawandi Wilson), Michael and Book's son who came to escort his mother to Starfleet headquarters. During Leto's scenes with his parents, Discovery snuck in two callbacks to the show's pilot episode, "The Vulcan Hello."

Star Trek: Discovery's 2 Premiere Callbacks In Series Finale Coda Explained

Discovery had some sneaky callbacks in its epilogue

Leto's shuttle entrance and first lines of dialogue with Michael contained two easy-to-miss Easter eggs that connected back to Discovery's first episode. While the shuttle was coming in for a landing, a shot of Michael and Book's house revealed that their lawn had a Starfleet Delta insignia painted on it, presumably meant as a landing pad indication for shuttles or other craft. This echoed the Delta that Michael and Captain Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) created with their footsteps to help the USS Shenzhou locate them during an away mission in Discovery's pilot.

Similarly, when Leto beamed down from the shuttle to greet his mother, Michael said delightedly that she had thought her son was on a mission to Crepuscula. Leto replied that he had pushed the mission so he could be the one to escort Michael to Starfleet Headquarters. Crepuscula was the planet that Michael and Georgiou had their away mission on in the pilot, and the very first alien planet that Star Trek: Discovery ever depicted. While both moments were small, they made it clear that Discovery's creative team had the pilot in mind while creating the show's final scenes.

Could Captain Leto Burnham Reappear in Star Trek’s Future?

Leto isn't yet confirmed to return, but anything is possible

Leto Burnham was one of the biggest reveals of Star Trek: Discovery's series finale and opened up numerous possibilities for future appearances. The best chance for any Discovery continuation that has been confirmed is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, the upcoming series that is set to take in the 32nd century. With what little is known about the series, it doesn't sound like Starfleet Academy will be set as far in the future as Discovery's epilogue, but the series could contain some flash-forwards as well, ones that could feature Leto again.

More tantalizing, but currently less likely, is the possibility of Captain Leto getting his own series. The Star Trek franchise has put a lot of emphasis recently on its "next generation" of characters, especially in Star Trek: Picard season 3 with the introduction of multiple children of the Star Trek: TNG original cast. If the franchise is focusing on the children of its most popular characters, having a series about Michael and Book's son would fit right in. Ultimately, now that Star Trek: Discovery has concluded, the possibilities are endless for how to use the show's characters in future projects.