Kol ( Klingon ) Kol ( Klingonese spelling : " qol " ) was a Klingon warrior who lived during the mid - 23rd century . Kol represented the House of Kor on the Klingon High Council in 2256 . He also commanded at least two different Klingon starship s . History . When T ' Kuvma rallied the twenty - four Great House s by using the Beacon of Kahless in 2256 , Kol ' s vessel answered the call . Irritated at T ' Kuvma ' s initial absence from the communication between his ship and the High Council , Kol demanded his presence . When T ' Kuvma did appear and belittled their concerns , Kol demanded that he show respect , as T ' Kuvma was not a member of the High Council . As T ' Kuvma laid out his desire for uniting the Klingon people , Kol scorned at the presence of outcasts from Klingon society , and warned T ' Kuvma that he would one day put him in his place , before cutting communication . ( ) T ' Kuvma died before Kol could carry out that threat . However , Kol later transported aboard the " Sarcophagus " and bribed its starving crew with food , causing them to abandon Voq ( T ' Kuvma ' s protege ) and follow Kol instead . Kol ordered L ' Rell to immediately kill Voq . However , L ' Rell was able to convince Kol to exile Voq to the wrecked . ( ) Kol later consolidated his power over the High Council and expelled all Great House s that were not allied with him . Kol spread the rumor that two renegade Houses , the House of D ' Ghor and House of Mókai , were seeking an alliance with the Federation , in an attempt to lure a high - level Federation operative into a trap . Kol had sought to capture Sarek , but Admiral Katrina Cornwell was sent in Sarek ' s place . Kol had Cornwell ' s security escort killed and the admiral was imprisoned aboard the " Sarcophagus " . ( ) Kol remained onboard the " Ship of the Dead " as he prosecuted the war . At some point , he acquired Philippa Georgiou ' s Starfleet insignia , and carried it with him . ( ) He had begun dispersing the " Sarcophagus " cloaking technology to ships loyal to him , enabling the Klingons to ambush three Starfleet ships on patrol . Unlike T ' Kuvma , Kol sought not unity , but his house ' s rule over the Klingon Empire , and the Empire ' s supremacy over the Federation . When L ' Rell returned to the " Sarcophagus " , Kol accepted her offer to take over the interrogation of Cornwell as a way for her to prove her usefulness to his cause . However , he later discovered L ' Rell and Cornwell in one of the ship ' s corridor s , and demanded to know where she was taking the prisoner . When the two fought , he instructed his guard not to interfere and watched as L ' Rell seemingly killed the Starfleet admiral . L ' Rell then reported her findings from her interrogation – that the carried new technology which could be used to the Empire ' s advantage , at which Kol berated her for her recklessness in allowing the admiral to escape . When L ' Rell attempted to leave , Kol ordered her to stop . He noted that a skilled interrogator would be needed in the future , and marked her as a member of House Kor , demanding her loyalty , which she gave . Then , telling L ' Rell that he had seen through her deceit , he instructed two of his people to " " show her how House Kor treats liars , " " after which the pair dragged the Klingon female away . Upon being told of a communication from the planet Pahvo , Kol ordered his ship there immediately . ( ) Arriving at Pahvo , Kol was informed that the " Discovery " had appeared in orbit , an action he considered foolish . He announced his intention to board " Discovery " , eliminate its crew , and capture its technology , before destroying the planet and its inhabitants . His crew expressing its support , the " Sarcophagus " then decloaked and opened fire on the Starfleet vessel . As the " Discovery " began using its spore drive to outmaneuver the Klingon ship , Kol ordered the cloak reengaged . Believing the Starfleet ship ' s actions to be a ruse of some sort – in reality , the ship was engaging in multiple jumps to develop an algorithm to penetrate the cloaking screen – Kol ordered his crew to leave the system . He was prevented from doing so by the appearance of Michael Burnham , who had infiltrated his vessel . Using a universal translator to speak in Klingonese – something which Kol verbally attacked as another attempt by the Federation to subsume Klingon identity – Burnham identified herself as the person who had killed T ' Kuvma . Although goading Burnham using Georgiou ' s insignia , and being goaded in turn about his absence at the Battle of the Binary Stars , Kol recognized the value of Burnham ' s capture to his ongoing consolidation of the Empire , as he expected it would sway the remaining T ' Kuvma loyalists to his side . He ordered her to be imprisoned , but Burnham challenged him to single combat to prove his worthiness to capture her . Kol then tossed one of his " mek ' leth " s to Burnham and accepted her challenge . Kol was quickly able to overpower the Human , disarming her and grabbing her by the throat . He gloated that her death would secure his position as absolute ruler of the Empire ; however , before he could deliver the killing blow , Burnham seized Georgiou ' s insignia and jumped off the bridge ' s mezzanine railing to be beamed away . Meanwhile , Burnham ' s combat with Kol had given " Discovery " enough time to complete the algorithm . With the Klingons ' cloaking technology exposed , the " Discovery " launched a final attack on the " Sarcophagus " , killing all aboard , including Kol . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Kol was portrayed by Kenneth Mitchell . Originally , CBS announced in that Kol , who was at that point going to be a " protégé of T ' Kuvma " , was to be played by Shazad Latif . In the final version , Latif went on to portray Ash Tyler , while the role of T ' Kuvma ' s protégé was given to another Klingon named Voq ; Kol , meanwhile , became the leader of a rival Great House . When he tried out for the part , Kenneth Mitchell wasn ' t completely au fait with the role . " " When I auditioned , I didn ' t know I was auditioning to be a Klingon , " " he clarified . ( " Star Trek Magazine Discovery Collectors Edition " , p . 44 ) During his Klingon makeup application process , Kenneth Mitchell usually concentrated on running over his lines of Klingonese dialogue . His family considered him insane for spending so much time on learning the Klingon speech . However , he believed that those lengths he went to were ultimately worthwhile . ( " Star Trek Magazine Discovery Collectors Edition " , p . 44 ) Kol was originally named Er ' toom . " "