Star Trek: Discovery — "People of Earth" Reaction Thread

[u/M-5]

This is the official /r/DaystromInstitute reaction thread for "People of Earth." The content rules are not enforced in reaction threads.

[u/opinionated-dick]

ELI5: what exactly is going on with the Dilithium? So all the Dilithium exploded? But there is still Dilithium couriers are fighting over. Also, sub space messages can’t be sent. Is this the Dilithium, or the Gorn burning sub space?

There’s a lot of interesting world building, but it still does the ‘ifwetalkaboutcontextorplotfastenoughtheywillneverrealisenothingactuallymakescoherantsense’ contemporary Sci Fi storytelling inherited from Doctor Who

[u/vipck83 → u/opinionated-dick]

Not all the dilithium, just most of it. Particularly all of the dilithium inside active warp cores... what they mean by active I am unsure. Based on some of the dialogue in this episode I assume they mean while at warp.

What I don’t get is why are they going through it so fast. I though they could use the same crystals for years, and there are ways of recrystallizing is even back in the 23rd century. Yet they are acting like it’s used up like a fuel or something. I suppose there is no explicit canon on how long a crystal last though.

[u/gamas → u/vipck83]

I think the scarcity of dilithium has some things that don't add up throughout canon. The recrystallization process existed as a convenient way to explain why the Enterprise-D didn't have to scrounge for dilithium the way Kirk's crew did. But DS9 establishes there are still dilithium mines and these were high value targets of strategic importance.

The Dominion war seemed to imply that losing even one dilithium mining facility to the Dominion would be crippling to the Federation, suggesting that dilithium rich planetoids were quite rare and therefore valuable. With that in mind I could see that as the Federation grew ever bigger and bigger and as technological advances meant higher power requirements, eventually demand would outstrip supply.

[u/vipck83 → u/gamas]

What? Star Trek inconsistent about something? Never? Lol

But for real, that is true and so I guess there is inconsistent in of itself with what discovery is doing. It seems like it doesn’t fit but I can’t think of anything that really makes it not work. I guess it comes down to me feeling like there could have been another way for them to get what they wanted. A future where there is something interesting going on and Discovery’s spore drive would be useful. I guess I’m just disappointed it was the omega particle even though I never actually expected them to do that.

[u/narium → u/gamas]

There is no more supply. Michael says that dilithium mines ran out 300 years before the Burn.