WHY is Star Trek: Discovery is on hiatus until January? We have a few burning questions that we need answered immediately.

Michael Burnham, the new avenger? Star Trek: Discovery ends it’s 2017 run with “Into the Forest I Go.” A mission to gain enough intel on the Klingons’ cloaking technology takes Burnham and Tyler off ship and onto the Ship of the Dead. In order to obtain enough data to create an algorithm, the Discovery has to utilize its secret weapon — the spore drive.

This means Stamets — who has been experiencing side-effects of displacement, hallucinations, and more — has to make 133 jumps. This drives a wedge between himself and Dr. Culber as his “dear doctor” uncovers some of the damage the jumps have been inflicting during an exam ordered by Lorca.

As the jumps and battle ensue a few positives come of the fall finale. Michael transports gets some semblance of peace with the leader who killed Georgina left dead aboard the Klingon ship. With that she and Saru appear to reach a neutral place in their relationship. L’Rell is in Starfleet custody. Admiral Cornwell is alive. And there appears to be some progress with tracing the universe via the mycelial network.

But there are more questions than answers set up in “Into the Forest I Go.” Including even more questions, under our major headlines!

Does L’Rell want something from ‘Discovery’?

We saw what L’Rell did to Tyler. The torture and violation of Tyler by a Klingon woman triggers his horrible memories of his over 200 days as a prisoner. He found a way to stay alive, by sacrificing his body and mind.

But now L’Rell has followed him onto the Discovery. That was, if we are to believe what L’Rell told Admiral Cornwell, her intention. But she still seems oddly fond of her prisoner as the roles of reversed. What does she believe she is protecting Tyler from?

Tyler attempts to confront his captor, but he can only get one question out, “what did you do to me?” There is a lot of emotional work to be done. Michael appears to be able to provide Tyler with some semblance of comfort and safety. But now that they are stranded with L’Rell, will they need to use her thereby forcing her and Tyler together?

Could this provide the key to unlocking the theory that Tyler is actually Voq? If so, is Ash Tyler a real person trapped with Voq suppressed inside or is he not real at all?

Is the war with the Klingons nearly over?

Kol is dead. Right? A great battle between Kol and Burnham on the Klingon bridge culminates with the Ship of the Dead exploding. Pretty good indicator that the leader trying to unify the Klingon houses under his rule is no more. However, I also thought Admiral Cornwell was dead, so what do I know?

Discovery will only be at war for one of its chapters. Halfway through chapter 1 and we are still at war with the Klingons. There are advances on the Starfleet side — Klingon clocking technology cracked, leader removed — but the war seems far from over.

The Discovery, on its way to Star Base 46 safety, is dropped out of a jump and into unknown territory surrounded by Klingon wreckage. Are they in another battle zone? An alternate battle zone? Which leads us to our next question…

Where is ‘Discovery’?

The time loop episode, “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” explored idea of existing outside of time. Stamets, thanks to his new mycelial DNA exists on various planes of reality. In an even early episode we saw the him remain in the mirror as his physical body went to bed.

So, what goes on? Where did they land outside of the jump? In the wreckage of another Klingon battle, the sensors aboard the ship are not working, but they, for the most part, seem to be alright. Are we in a mirror-verse?

What is happening to Stamets?

The only person who may be able to tell the crew anything about their location is Stamets. Unfortunately, his story is set up for tragedy in this episode. “One more jump.” That phrase kicks off a lot of hopeful promises for Stamets. Naturally, none of them are going to come to fruition.

Instead, we see the toll that the 141 jumps takes on the science officer. But was this final jump because of a spore drive malfunction or a Stamets malfunction? Whatever happened to force the ship to drop from the jump, clearly rearranged something inside of Stamets.

We see him lying on the ground, his eyes completely white, muttering about being able to see everything so clearly now. In the teaser for the show’s return in 2018, we see him push Dr. Culber across the room with minimal effort. After such a beautiful episode for these two, it’s going to be quite a different road for them to travel when we return.

But until then, enjoy this historic Star Trek TV moment.

What is Lorca truly after?

The data from the mycelial network is “the veins and muscles that hold our galaxies together,” as Stamets says. And, as Lorca, reveals this week, with more data and more tracking it could open up the entire galaxy to endless possibilities.

“Into the Forest I Go” revisits a thread running under this entire season — the Discovery is a science vessel not a war ship. The crew is now a group of warriors. And we know that Lorca is still interested in harnessing the power of his enemies. Take a look at his weapon collection.

But the science of the spore drive still fascinates Lorca. And the map he is creating from the data of the jumps appears to make him wish for peace so the science can continue.

It’s pointed out in this episode that his methods are not exactly conventional. With Admiral Cornwell alive and his ship due to report to Starfleet, his days as Captain may be numbered. Discovery will likely be studied and replicated within Starfleet for duplication.

How long with Lorca work to ensure that his ship remains with him in Federation space and not docked for research?

—

The first nine episodes of Discovery took me by surprise. It’s rooted in character, deeply committed to the science, and rides the nostalgia wave without giving in too much.

Unfortunately, we do not have the technology to use a spore drive to jump to 2018. We’ll have to settle for warp and find out answers to these questions and more in January!

Star Trek: Discovery returns January 7, 2018.