Burnham and Saru help save Ni'Var's talks to rejoin the Federation, while Tilly and Adira are stranded with Academy cadets on a dangerous moon.
Rillak asks Burnham and Saru to help with Ni'Var's negotiations to rejoin the Federation. Tilly, unsure of her place on Discovery, leads a team-building exercise for new Academy cadets along with Adira. After their shuttle crash-lands on a hostile moon, the bickering cadets must work together until they can signal for rescue.
The Ni'Var talks break down until Burnham and Saru propose an independent committee to oversee the union, with Burnham, a citizen of both, serving on it. Dr. Kovich offers Tilly a teaching position at the Academy, and she accepts and leaves the ship. John Ottman directed.