Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series)

Battle at the Binary Stars (2017)

Sonequa Martin-Green: Michael Burnham

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Quotes 

• Captain Philippa Georgiou : Ambassador Sarek, it's good to see you again.

  Sarek : Thank you for receiving us, Captain Georgiou.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : The pleasure is ours.

  Sarek : As discussed, this is my ward, Michael Burnham.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : Hello, Michael. Welcome to the USS Shenzhou. And congratulations on your recent commencement.

  Michael Burnham : [Philippa extends a handshake]  Respect is earned, as is friendliness.

  Sarek : Yet diplomatic niceties must be observed.

  Michael Burnham : This is hardly a negotiation.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : First contact, then. The only human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center and Science Academy rejoins her own kind. You can see my analogy, more or less.

  Michael Burnham : Less.

  Sarek : I will leave you now. Live long and prosper.

  [to Michael] 

  Sarek : Behave.

• Michael Burnham : You want to know how I turned on you? I believed saving you and the crew was more important than Starfleet's principles. Was it logical? Emotional? I don't know.

• Michael Burnham : From my youth on Vulcan, I was raised to believe that service was my purpose. And I carried that conviction to Starfleet. I dreamed of a day when I would command my own vessel and further the noble objectives of this great institution. That dream is over, the only ship I know in ruins. My crew... gone. My captain... my friend. I wanted to protect them from war, from the enemy. And now we are at war, and I am the enemy.

• Michael Burnham : T'Kuvma has anointed himself the next Klingon messiah. If you kill him, you make him a martyr. Someone they can fight for endlessly. That might even be what he wants. But if you capture him, you make him a symbol of defeat. Of shame. And if you take him as a prisoner of war, you give the Federation leverage to sue for peace.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : How could you have done this?

  Michael Burnham : I believed it was the only way to avoid a full-scale war.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : When you first came aboard seven years ago, I worried your Vulcan training might some day trump your humanity. Do you know why Sarek asked me to take you on? I was a human who had seen a life of loss but still chose hope. What an ego I had... thinking I could pick away the shell the Vulcans put around you. I was so sure I could do it. Even convinced that you were ready for the captain's chair. To think I knew you so little.

• Michael Burnham : Sarek? How is it possible? A mind-meld across a thousand light-years?

  Sarek : More than a mind-meld. Ever since you were a child, ever since the bombing at the Learning Center - that act of terror that forever changed your destiny - a part of me, my katra, has been with you. It also allows us this unique form of connection. I see by your imprisonment that my counsel concerning the Klingons did not yield the results you hoped for.

  Michael Burnham : I couldn't convince Captain Georgiou to strike the Klingons first, so I took matters into my own hands. You're disappointed. As you should be.

  Sarek : I did not come here to judge your actions. I came because I sensed your... your despair.

  Michael Burnham : What's wrong?

  Sarek : Communicating with you in this manner, the physical cost is significant.

  Michael Burnham : Then leave me. Please.

  Sarek : Do you think I came here just to say farewell? I would not put my well-being at risk for such sentimentality. The death and destruction raining down on Starfleet, that was to be expected. What I cannot abide is a waste of resources. You're gifted. You are brave. You must do better. Because I know you can.

  Michael Burnham : You were never one to bolster my self-esteem.

  Sarek : Perhaps that is where I failed you. No matter your shame, gather your strength. Find a way to help those who need you.

  [giving the Vulcan hand salute] 

  Sarek : Live long and prosper.

• Michael Burnham : On Vulcan, lateral vector transporter technology has been discarded due to the massive amount of power it requires.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : Starfleet has phased out that design, as well. Shenzhou is old, but she gets us where we need to go. Is this vessel not up to your standards?

  Michael Burnham : I have no standards when it comes to this ship. It was always my intention to join the Vulcan Expeditionary Group.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : Sometimes the universe allows for the making of unexpected memories.

  Michael Burnham : Emotional platitudes are not what I was hoping for.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : Well, you've really been away from humans for a long time. I'd say you're too confident for your own good, but I've seen your record.

  Michael Burnham : As I have seen yours.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : And your confidence is justified.

  Michael Burnham : As is yours.

• Captain Philippa Georgiou : [flashback, showing Burnham's arrival on the Shenzhou]  Not too shabby, huh?

  Michael Burnham : It appears to be functional.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : I understand your hesitation, Michael. It's hard leaving Vulcan and everything you've known behind. But I assure you, this can be your new home, if you want it to be.

• Captain Philippa Georgiou : How many Klingon vessels have entered the system?

  Saru : Tracking. Twenty-four, Captain.

  Michael Burnham : The Klingon High Council consists of twenty-four houses. That can't be a coincidence. The number of ships, it suggests that someone is attempting to unify the Empire again. Against us.

  Captain Philippa Georgiou : Commander Burnham, you have endangered your vessel and your shipmates. You have attacked a superior officer. You violated the chain of command. You are relieved of duty. Security, remand her to the brig.