Battle at the Binary Stars ( episode ) Face to face with Klingon vessels , the USS " Shenzhou " prepares for the possibility of war if negotiations fail . Amidst the turmoil , Burnham looks back to her Vulcan upbringing for guidance . Summary . Teaser . A flotilla of Klingon ships surrounds the . Before they can engage , however , several Starfleet ships arrive to provide reinforcements for their sister ship . Act One . Aboard his flagship , T ' Kuvma persuades the leaders of the various Houses of the Klingon Empire ( appearing in holographic transmissions on his bridge ) that he can lead them to victory over the Federation . Captain Philippa Georgiou tries to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict started by her now - former first officer , Commander Michael Burnham , but the Klingon s attack nonetheless . The " Shenzhou " is severely damaged , leaving Burnham trapped in the brig with half the deck blown away and only a force field between her and open space . Admiral Brett Anderson arrives aboard the and tries to broker peace , only to be rammed by a Klingon vessel under cloak . Saru aboard the " Shenzhou " reports that the " Europa " is deliberately breaching their antimatter containment field to destroy the attacker and the crew is evacuated in escape pod s as both ships blow apart . Act Two . As T ' Kuvma orders the gathering of his ship ' s dead from the surrounding space , Burnham receives a telepathic communication from her former mentor , Sarek , in which she apprises him of the situation and seeks his counsel . She then uses ethical logic to persuade the computer controlling the brig security systems to allow her to escape across the vacuum between her and the nearest intact compartment by opening a hole in the force field and venting air from it to propel her across . Act Three . With the battle now joined and much of the Starfleet flotilla destroyed or damaged , Georgiou is determined to kill T ' Kuvma and avenge the deaths of her fellow officers . Burnham suggests to the captain that they instead sneak aboard T ' Kuvma ' s ship and kidnap him , so as to shame him before his people , rather than killing him and making him a martyr . They devise a scheme to penetrate the enemy ship ' s shielding by sending one of the floating Klingon corpses armed with a photon torpedo warhead to penetrate the ship ' s hull . Act Four . Burnham and Georgiou beam aboard T ' Kuvma ' s ship to capture him . A struggle between Burnham and Voq ensues when they encounter him . Burnham overpowers Voq , and they locate T ' Kuvma , but in attempting to capture him , Georgiou is killed . Burnham shoots T ' Kuvma with a phaser , killing him , and then tries to recover her captain ' s body , but is beamed back to the " Shenzhou " by order of Saru before she can do so . Voq vows to his leader ' s corpse that his legacy will be carried forward . Aboard the " Shenzhou " the order is given for all hands to abandon ship . Dozens of escape pod s launch from the doomed vessel . Back on Earth , days later , Burnham stands before a Starfleet board of court martial and pleads guilty to charges of mutiny , assault ing a fellow officer , and precipitating war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire . Offering no defense of her actions and mourning the death of her lifelong dream to serve in Starfleet and command a starship , she is sentenced to be stripped of all rank and honors and imprisoned for life . Memorable quotes . " " Members of the Federation , what you call your most remote borders , I call too close to Klingon territory . You only live now to serve as witnesses of Klingon supremacy , to be my herald . We do not desire to know you . But you will know our great houses , standing as one under Kahless , reborn in me , T ' Kuvma . " " " " When you first came on board , seven years ago , I worried your Vulcan training might someday 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 had 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 . " " " " You wanna know how I turned on you ? I believed saving you and the crew was more important than Starfleet ' s principles . Was it logic al ? Emotion al ? I don ' t know . " " " " 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 – dead . I wanted to protect them from war . . . from the enemy . And now we are at war . . . and I am the enemy . " " " " ( In Klingonese ) Whom do we seek ? " " " " Kahless . " " " " How do we find him ? " " " " Together . " " " " Give us light to see . " " " " Forever . " " " " Will he hide from us always ? " " " " Never . " " Links and references . References . Andorian s ; antimatter containment ; au ; ; battle stations ; Beacon of Kahless ; Black Fleet ; blast door ; brig ; bulkhead ; containment field ; ; Donatu V ; ; ; ; escape pod ; ethical protocol ; ; evasive maneuvers ; flagship ; Great House ; ; House of D ' Ghor ; House of Mo ' Kai ; Human s ; Kahless ; " katra " ; ; Klingon ; Klingon children ; Klingon cleave ship ; Klingon High Council ; lateral vector transporter ; ; ; messiah ; mutiny ; ; phaser pulse rifle ; photon warhead ; Qo ' noS ; ; " Sarcophagus " ; self - destruct ; shock ; ; ; ; ; " Sto - vo - kor " ; Sun Tzu ; suffocation ; suicide mission ; Tellarite s ; T ' Kuvma ' s father ; ; Var ' Hama candle ; Vulcan s ; Vulcan Expeditionary Group ; Vulcan Learning Center ; Vulcan Science Academy ; ; ward ; worker bee ;