How Discovery’s Zora Fulfills Star Trek’s Core Mission (Like Data)

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 7 – “…But To Connect”.

Zora (Annabelle Wallis) fulfilled Star Trek’s core mission in Star Trek: Discoveryseason 4 just as Data (Brent Spiner) did on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Zora was introduced in the Short Trek episode “Calypso” but Star Trek: Discovery seasons 2 and 3 set up her creation from the merging of the 100,000-year-old Sphere Data with the USS Discovery’s computers. Zora came online as her feminine self in Star Trek: Discovery season 3 and she chose the name “Zora” in season 4. However, the fact that the Discovery’s A.I. was sentient and developed emotions was understandably worrisome to Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and her crew.

The android Lt. Commander Data’s rights as a sentient lifeform were established in the classic TNG season 2 episode, “The Measure of a Man.” One of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Measure of a Man” saw Data put on trial because Starfleet wanted to classify the android as its property. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) defended Data in the hearing and they won, with the USS Enterprise-D’s Operations Officer’s right to self-determination determined for all time. Picard’s stirring argument unforgettably declared that “Starfleet’s mission is to seek out new life. Well, there [Data] sits.” More than an excellent TNG episode, “The Measure of a Man” was also a powerful allegory that Starfleet ruling against Data’s rights equates its future use of androids as slavery, which Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) helped Picard realize.

Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 7, “…But To Connect,” was, essentially, its own version of “The Measure of a Man” with Zora’s right to exist on the line. In the touching episode, Zora refused to turn over the coordinates to Species 10-C, the creators of the Dark Matter Anomaly AKA the DMA. This raised the Discovery’s crew’s fears about the dangers Zora poses to the starship and everyone aboard. Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) joined Saru (Doug Jones), Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), and Gray Tal (Ian Alexander) to debate what Zora has become and what to do about her. In the end, Kovich determined that Zora is a new lifeform and has the right to choose her own destiny, just as Picard advocated for Data 800 years prior.

Star Trek: Discovery‘s solution to allay Stamets’ justified fears that Zora could go rogue in an instant and kill everyone aboard the starship was also clever. Stamets proposed that Zora join Starfleet as a Specialist, the same status Michael Burnham held in Star Trek: Discovery season 1. This way, Zora would swear an oath to Starfleet and be subject to the same chain of command as every other officer aboard Discovery. It redefined what a Starfleet Officer can be since Zora is an A.I. and her “body” is, basically, the USS Discovery. Stamets’ tidy fix to the Zora problem fully made the sentient computer a part of the Discovery’s crew, just as Data was on TNG‘s Enterprise. Although, “…But To Connect” skirted around the other problematic issue that Zora can see, hear, and record everything and everyone on the ship, even the crew’s private and intimate moments, which Data would never do.

Star Trek’s mission is to seek out new life and Zora was there as a new lifeform all along. It’s gratifying how much of Star Trek: Discovery season 4 thus far has downplayed the series’ trademark serialized action in favor of stories that highlight moral and ethical quandaries that echo Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s best episodes. Zora’s transformation was seeded throughout the last few seasons of Star Trek: Discovery and her Data-like episode that determined Zora’s rights, “…But To Connect,” was satisfying, if not quite at the same level as “The Measure of a Man.” Zora has obviously been built up to be a key player in Star Trek: Discovery and now that Zora has fulfilled Star Trek’s core mission, the Discovery’s passionate A.I. will likely play a key role against the DMA in the second half of Star Trek: Discovery season 4.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 returns February 10, 2022, on Paramount+.

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