Star Trek: Discovery Reveals Lorca's Shocking Secret

[Warning: This post contains spoilers from Episode 12 of Star Trek: Discovery, "Vaulting Ambition." Read at your own risk.]

Something has been off about Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) on Star Trek: Discovery and now know exactly what it was. As the series trekked further into the Mirror Universe, his shocking secret finally came to light: Our Lorca is actually from the Mirror Universe! Wait, what?!

The big reveal came in a frank conversation between Emperor Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) about the brazen captain of the USS Discovery while he was being held captive in a torture chamber. As it turns out, Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) wasn't the only one with a secret identity.

Georgiou confirmed that Lorca's sensitivity to light wasn't a battle wound but actually a trait seen in all Mirror Universe humans. We also learned that the Mirror Universe versions of Burnham and Lorca were not only close friends, but they were also lovers. According to Georgiou, they conspired to kill her and claim the throne. However, Burnham died in battle before they could complete their plan, forcing Lorca to go into hiding.

Star Trek: Discovery Finally Confirms Ash Tyler's Real Identity

While we don't know exactly how he made it to our universe, this does explain why he was so interested in our Burnham. It's not just because he saw something special in her, he also needed her to get to Georgiou. Now that Georgiou is within reach and he has escaped his torture chamber, he just might finish what he and Mirrorverse Burnham started. That is, unless our Burnham and Emperor Georgiou join forces long enough to stop him.

But Lorca wasn't the only one to deliver a shocker in Sunday's episode. Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) finally woke from his coma thanks to Tilly's (Mary Wiseman) excellent spore therapy and a much-needed pep talk from his husband Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) (whose essence is now in the spore network after being brutally murdered by Tyler). Now that he's back, he'll need to save the network from the darkness that's spreading in order to save the universe.

Plus, Tyler's unstable mind may have finally found some peace. His violent behavior concerned Saru (Doug Jones) who then went to the Klingon L'Rell (Mary Chieffo) for help. She reluctantly reversed the process that altered his brain but it looks like she may have also killed Voq for good. So does this mean Ash Tyler is free to be himself again? Only time will tell.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Sundays at 8:30/7:30c exclusively on CBS All Access.

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