Star Trek: Discovery stars hint at massive twists in episode nine

“I absolutely adore episode nine," Harberts says. "There’s a clash of characters, there are several reckonings that happen. There are a couple of things that I don’t think the audience is going to see coming. The back half of the season is all about dealing with what happens next week. We really put the pedal to the metal.”

Sonequa Martin-Green (who plays lead Michael Burnham) also spoke about the mid-season finale and subsequent episodes: “Things really kick into high gear. They also get very very very emotional as well. I love there’s going to be a bit of a break for everyone to think about things before the punch of the last half of the season.”

So, why does Martin-Green think fans will need time to recuperate after the next episode? And what does Harberts think viewers won’t see coming? Although we can’t be sure, the chances are it’ll heavily involve a showdown with Klingon Kol and his Ship of the Dead, which beamed alongside the Discovery at the end of episode eight.

However the finale unfolds, it’s likely to heavily feature Lieutenant Ash Tyler. When we asked the Chief of Security himself, Shazad Latif, what was his favourite upcoming episode, he replied, “I really love episode nine, ten and 11 because I’m in it a lot”. He also went on to highlight episode 11 as "really special", saying "A lot comes to a head in it […] It’s sad, cool and dark”.

In other words, expect some big reveals over the next three episodes, with Latif becoming even more central to the plot. And although we can be pretty sure he won’t die until at least "special" episode 11, Ash Tyler looks set to be part of something pretty explosive. Will his budding romance with Burnham be torn apart by the Klingons? Or could an extremely convincing fan theory about Tyler’s past be proven true?

Star Trek: Discovery continues on Monday on Netflix