Lorca, Lorca, in the booth, what you up to? Tell the truth.

After "Despite Yourself" (SPOILERS AHEAD), it's more obvious than ever that Lorca has brought Discovery to the mirror universe intentionally, and that he has an agenda there. We learn that mirror-Lorca (who may or may not be the Lorca we've been watching all along) has been on the run after mounting a coup against the mysterious emperor (who people seem to feel might be Philippa Georgiou, and I guess that makes a certain amount of sense). Obviously, he's known all along that he needs Burnham to accomplish whatever he's trying to accomplish, because he's gone out of his way to get her on his ship and make sure she doesn't get herself killed.  He needs something that only Burnham can get, that much is clear. Presumably, he knows that mirror Burnham is dead, so he has to bring this Michael back with him. (ETA: Come to think of it, there's no reason to assume this, only that he knows mirror Burnham wouldn't get him what he wants, but this one will.) What exactly he needs from her, I don't know.

And what is he trying to accomplish, exactly? Could he be an agent of the anti-Terran rebels planning to use Discovery to overthrow the empire? Was that the nature of mirror Lorca's coup, and he's out to finish the job? If so, he won't succeed, because we know the empire will still be there when Kirk & co. arrive a decade or so later. Or does he simply want to seize power for himself? Maybe, but I don't think so (I'll get to my reasons in a minute).

I think it's far more likely that he has a smaller, more specific agenda, and, as I've been saying for ages, it has to do with the Buran. As I pointed out previously, when Burnham brings up the mirror-Buran, Lorca jumps at the chance to ask if the crew is alive, and he seems genuinely not to know. Whether the Lorca we've been watching originated in the mirror universe or ours, it seems clear that whatever happened to the Buran is the driving force behind everything he does. It's the only thing we know about him, really.

From "Choose Your Pain," he says of the Buran crew's fate: "Degradation. Torture. Slow, public death. It's the Klingon way to spread terror. Not my crew. Not on my watch." (Was he really talking about the Klingons there? Or the Terran Empire? Noteworthy similarity.)  And there's this: "Tyler: Your eyes. That happened when you destroyed the Buran, didn't it? Lorca: We choose our own pain. Mine helps me remember." There's a sincerity and a depth to this part of Lorca's story that is missing from every other aspect of him. I feel it has to be the key.

Whether this is a rescue mission and the crew is not actually dead (my preferred theory), or this is simply an attempt to avenge them, or he's after something else related to his crew's fate, I feel sure this is about the Buran. That's why I don't think we're watching mirror-Lorca just making a power grab. Everything about this guy's motives feels personal; his loyalty to his crew feels utterly sincere. I have drunk that Kool Aid. I'm buying it. It's why, no matter how devious he is and how much he manipulates events, you can't quite despise him. Leastwise, I can't. I just can't shake the feeling that, whatever it is he wants, it's not for himself. And if I prove to be wrong -- well, boy howdy, will I be disappointed.

The burning question is, which Lorca is this? Have we been watching mirror Lorca all along, and if so, will Discovery return to its own universe with him, with his doppleganger, or with no Lorca at all?

I just can't shake the feeling that this is not mirror Lorca. I know there are lots of sign pointing to yes, but I have a gut feeling that it's intentional misdirection. As Spock said in "Mirror Mirror": "It was far easier for you as civilized men to behave like barbarians, than it was for them as barbarians to behave like civilized men." Could a mirror-universe barbarian pull this off in command of the most important ship of the fleet through an entire war? Doesn't seem likely. And there's something else. If there's one thing we learn in "Despite Yourself," it's that Terrans don't apologize. But what's the first thing Lorca says when startled awake by Cornwell in "Lethe?" "I'm sorry. I'm not used to having anyone in my bed." Maybe mirror Lorca is so good at playing the part that, even in an unguarded moment, he thinks to apologize, but again, doesn't seem likely. So much about Lorca just doesn't fit the Terran mold, especially if I'm right about the authenticity of his feelings about the Buran. Because another thing we know with certainty about mirror Terrans, other than that they don't apologize, is that they are treacherous, self-serving back-stabbers, and they don't make captain by being fiercely loyal and self-sacrificing. They're not the types to voluntarily step into an agony booth so that others may live. So either this Lorca is a freakishly deviant mirror-universe native -- or he isn't, and there's some other explanation for the scars, the deceit, and Cornwell's conviction that he's not himself.

One last point. Tyler and Lorca's stories of subterfuge are set up in parallel. One of them is such a nice, sensitive guy that he earns Michael Burnham's affection. The other is such a sneaky bastard that he alienates Kat Cornwell's. I'm guessing that, by the end, we'll be meant to see some irony there.

Random thoughts and speculation: Despite Yourself

Before I get into my usual bananas-cuckoo speculation, a few things (SPOILERS AHEAD):

1. All hail Captain Tilly!

2. What have you done to Rickie, you bastards?!?! (Is this the end for the Dynamic Duo? Tune in next time…Same bat time, same bat channel…)

3. Lorca in the agony booth: If you didn’t believe he was working for some greater good before, that should change your mind, because it takes some serious commitment to something to volunteer for that duty.

4. This isn’t going to end well for Tyler, is it? Poor Burnham.

5. Am I the only one who caught the reference to Organia? Lorca: “What happened, here? I don’t remember reports of battles anywhere near Organia.” So apparently Starbase 46, to which they had intended to jump, is near the future birthplace of the Organian Peace Treaty. Significant plot point, or just a passing nod to canon?

Now that that's out of the way, let's look a this snippet of dialogue:

Burnham: I was the captain of the Shenzhou, and you had the Buran here, too, Sir.
Lorca: My crew? Are they alive?
Burnham: No.
Lorca: Well, there’s me hoping hoping I’d find a better version of myself over here.

If that doesn’t support my theory that Lorca brought the Discovery to the mirror universe to rescue the crew of the Buran, I don’t know what does. A better version of himself – i.e., one who didn’t get his crew killed, the way this Lorca got the mirror-universe Buran crew killed in his own universe. 

We learn that this Discovery probably got switched with its mirror twin, which suggests that the same thing could have happened with the Buran. If my theory is correct, Lorca, having figured it out and brought Discovery to the mirror universe on a rescue mission, obviously believes the Buran crew to be alive. But if they are, why does the Klingon ship’s database say they’re not?

The secret to returning to their own universe lies in whatever the Defiant did – which involved not just universe hopping, but also time travel. Soooo…the Buran crews from both universes may be dead now – but now may not be where this story ends up, if you see what I mean. With a little time-travel magic, the Buran crews might be returned to their native universes before they die. What’s more,  they’re saying the Stamets/Culber story isn’t over yet. Given that little…incident…in sick bay, perhaps the Discovery is destined for a little time travel as well. Though, if they return to a time before the Buran is destroyed, they’ll have to do a lot over again. Hmm.

ETA: I just realized…duh…if Discovery’s return to its own universe involves time travel, that could not only solve Culber’s little neck problem and bring the Buran crew back to life, but also explain why Kirk & co. never heard of the mirror universe. The Discovery crew may return and remember nothing about it. For that matter, Ash Tyler may not remember having been Voq – or intimate with Michael Burnham. That would be one really big reset button.

A page ripped from the comics

If "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" establishes anything, it's that Stamets' sporegasms give him a kind of superpower to perceive things others can't, like being trapped in a time loop. Anything else?

Well, he does have a weird, seemingly throwaway line in this episode. After colliding with Burnham and giving her a sweet hug ("Why would you apologize for a random act of physical interaction? Y'know, these are the moments that make life so gloriously unpredictable!"), he turns to Tyler and, for no apparent reason, says, "You're a very tall man." Only...he's not. Tyler is on the tall side, but he doesn't seem to tower over other men around him. Saru towers. Tyler doesn't. But Stamets thinks he does.

Klingons are pretty tall, though. Hmm.

And then Stamets follows up with this: "May I say, you're astonishingly grounded for having endured seven months of torture." It's almost as though something he sees triggers this observation about the extreme unlikelihood of Tyler's story. Hmm again.

So Stamets has a superpower. Does it let him see Tyler's secret identity? Stay tuned...