Summary
- Star Trek: Discovery surprised fans by tying up its story with Short Treks' "Calypso".
- Discovery's final mission leads to Zora's thousand-year wait to meet Craft in the 43rd century.
- Setting up "Calypso" as the real ending completes Star Trek: Discovery's saga with a tragic yet poignant conclusion.
Star Trek: Discovery came to a powerful and emotional conclusion with its season 5 finale, but Discovery's coda establishes that the series' real ending actually happened in 2018. Written by Kyle Jarrow and Michelle Paradise, and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 10, "Life, Itself", wrapped up Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery's hunt for the Progenitors technology. But the finale's stunning epilogue flashes forward 30+ years to Admiral Burnham launching Discovery on her final mission - to synch up with the 2018 Star Trek: Short Treks episode, "Calypso".
Before Star Trek on Paramount+ expanded into multiple Star Trek TV series and a streaming movie, Star Trek: Short Treks was intended to bridge the gap between Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2. (A second Short Treks season in 2019 continued filling in gaps from Discovery and set up Star Trek: Picard season 1.) Written by Michael Chabon and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, Star Trek: Short Treks' "Calypso" was set a thousand years in the future where the USS Discovery was long abandoned, and Zora (Annabelle Wallis), Discovery's sentient A.I., meets and falls in love with a human soldier named Craft (Aldis Hodge). However, there were doubts for years whether "Calypso" was actually part of Star Trek: Discovery's canon or if the Short Trek was set in an alternate timeline.
Star Trek: Discovery Made 2018’s Short Trek’s “Calypso” Its Real Ending
Discovery's final mission leads to "Calypso"
Star Trek: Discovery's final, shocking twist in its series finale was to ensure that the USS Discovery spore jumps toward its destiny, which is Star Trek: Short Treks' "Calypso", making "Calypso" Star Trek: Discovery's real ending. In the 33rd century, Admiral Michael Burnham commands the USS Discovery on its final, Red Directive mission. Burnham tells Zora when they reach their ultimate destination, she and the crew will leave Discovery. Zora's mission is simply to wait for "Craft". Afterward, Discovery can come home to the United Federation of Planets.
Zora waits roughly a thousand years for Craft, meaning the Star Trek: Discovery finale's 33rd century starting point sets Star Trek: Short Treks' "Calypso" to happen sometime around the 43rd century.
Star Trek: Discovery's jump to the 32nd century initially made it doubtful that Star Trek: Short Treks' "Calypso" was canon. In Star Trek: Discovery season 3, the USS Discovery was refitted with 32nd-century technology, programmable matter, detached nacelles, and rechristened the USS Discovery-A. But "Calypso", which was produced before Star Trek: Discovery season 2, showed the USS Discovery in its original 23rd-century design. This gave credence to the "Calypso" is an alternate timeline theory. But then, Zora was also introduced in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, and "Calypso" became a lingering mystery audiences assumed the series would simply ignore as a remnant of previous or abandoned creative plans.
Why Star Trek: Discovery Had To Make “Calypso” Its Canon Ending
Discovery addressed its biggest mystery
"Calypso" was one of the most striking, evocative, and memorable episodes of Star Trek: Short Treks, but why did Star Trek: Discovery ultimately conclude by setting up its events? According to Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise, Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman wanted Discovery to answer the "Calypso" question. Had Star Trek: Discovery season 6 happened, "Calypso" would have been its endgame. But when Paramount+ set season 5 as Star Trek: Discovery's final season and allowed the cast and crew to film a coda to wrap up the series, it was decided that Star Trek: Discovery's season 6's plan to lead into "Calypso" would be the conclusion of the coda and the series itself.
Star Trek: Discovery synching up to "Calypso" brings the saga full circle.
Star Trek: Short Treks weren't as widely seen as Star Trek: Discovery so many fans may have been confused about where the USS Discovery was going and why at the very end of the series. However, Star Trek: Short Treks is streaming on Paramount+, and Star Trek: Discovery synching up to "Calypso" brings the saga full circle. As such, the ending for the USS Discovery and Zora is a tragic one, where the compassionate A.I. will have to wait hundreds of years for the fleeting experience of love and loss with Craft. It's just a shame that Star Trek: Discovery season 6 didn't happen, which could have fully built up exactly why Zora is destined to meet Craft in Star Trek: Short Treks' "Calypso".
