At the end of the final episode of Star Trek: Discovery, there’s a time jump, and we find that now-Admiral Burham is taking the USS Discovery on a final mission. Many viewers are likely wondering why the ship has been returned to its original configuration, who or what “Craft” is, and what the point of abandoning it could be. However, we already got the answer to this question all the way back in 2018.
Where does Burnham take the USS Discovery at the end of the series?
In the last episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Burnham takes the ship to an unknown location and leaves it there. The purpose behind this is so that one day a man named Craft will discover it and be saved by the supplies onboard.
We can see the story of what happens to the USS Discovery a thousand years later in the Short Trek episode “Calypso.” In it, Craft is adrift in an escape pod when he finds the Discovery. Zora, the ship’s AI, brings him aboard and tends to his needs before eventually falling in love with him. However, Craft desires to return to his family, and Zora outfits him with the ship’s remaining shuttlecraft. After he leaves, the Discovery remains in position, waiting for the Federation to eventually recover it.
Why does the Discovery get refit?
Before it leaves on its final voyage, the USS Discovery is refitted to its original configuration. We’re not given an in-universe explanation for why this happens. Quizzically, neither Burnham nor Zora comment on the process during their conversation at the end of the episode.
However, we know the out-of-universe explanation for Discovery reverting to its prior form. “Calypso” premiered shortly before the second season of the show. At this point, the jump to the future wasn’t planned. So, the ship remained in its 23rd-century form despite the episode taking place thousands of years in the future. So, to maintain continuity, the Discovery had to be returned to its original design in the final episode.
