When the prison transport shuttle carrying the disgraced former Starfleet officer Michael Burnham was brought aboard the USS Discovery for repairs, Saru escorted the former officer to engineering so that she would work as a 'data cruncher' under Lieutenant Paul Stamets. Saru stands watch on the bridge of DiscoveryĪbout six months later, Saru had been promoted to commander, transferred to the command division, and made first officer of the USS Discovery under Gabriel Lorca. The Federation-Klingon War First officer of the USS Discovery That year, Saru participated in the Battle of the Binary Stars, and later evacuated the Shenzhou with the remaining crew after the death of Captain Georgiou. ( DIS: ' Battle at the Binary Stars')īy 2256, he had been promoted to lieutenant commander and worked as the ship's chief science officer. He was present when Michael Burnham arrived on the starship. In 2249, Saru had obtained the rank of lieutenant and was serving in the sciences division aboard the USS Shenzhou under Captain Philippa Georgiou as a bridge officer. ( DIS: ' New Eden', ' An Obol for Charon') He had a first contact specialist qualification. ( DIS: ' The Vulcan Hello') As such, he felt pressured to perform well, which led him to attempt to learn 94 Federation languages to the detriment of his personal health. Saru was the first Kelpien to join Starfleet. Listening to their stories and aspirations, Saru resolved to join Starfleet to help those in need, as he had been helped.

( DIS: ' An Obol for Charon')Īfter being granted refugee status by the Federation, Saru was processed at Starbase 7, where he saw for the first time a diversity of lifeforms.

( ST: ' The Brightest Star' DIS: ' The Sound of Thunder') He took with him a handful of seeds and a knife that had belonged to his sister. As his people were a pre-warp civilization, Saru accepted the caveat that he could never return (and potentially contaminate his culture), and departed with Georgiou for the USS Archimedes. Saru follows Georgiou to the stars, expecting to never see his people again.Īfter corresponding with Saru, Georgiou was given special permission by Starfleet to retrieve Saru. Saru instead built an interstellar communications device, identified by Lieutenant Philippa Georgiou as the first of his species to show the technical capability of doing so. On one occasion, Aradar instructed Saru to dispose of debris fallen from the Ba'ul ship. Though discouraged by his father, Saru contemplated his people's place in the universe and questioned the ritual sacrifice of his people to the Ba'ul. Saru remembered listening to children's stories told by village elders around a fire, including one about a kelp monster. Saru and his family were scared of the Ba'ul's watchful eye, as it took Kelpiens as they experienced the vahar'ai. In his youth, Saru lived an agrarian life on his home planet Kaminar, with his sister, Siranna, and father, Aradar.

2.2.2 Mirror universe and captain of USS Discovery.

2.2.1 First officer of the USS Discovery.

2.1 Science officer of the USS Shenzhou.

( DIS: ' The War Without, The War Within', ' Will You Take My Hand?') For his part in ending the war, Saru was awarded the Starfleet Medal of Honor, the first Kelpien to be so honored. ( DIS: ' Choose Your Pain', ' Despite Yourself', ' What's Past Is Prologue')įollowing Discovery's escape from the mirror universe and Lorca's death, Saru commanded the vessel's mission to Qo'noS in mid- 2257, where it successfully forced a truce with the Klingons. Saru eventually took command permanently, albeit as acting captain, after Lorca surreptitiously took the Discovery into the mirror universe, where it was discovered that Lorca was in fact his mirror counterpart. On more than one occasion, he took command of the Discovery in place of the captain, Gabriel Lorca. The first Kelpien to have voluntarily left his homeworld, and the first of his species to enter Starfleet service, Saru served aboard at least two Federation starships, the USS Shenzhou and the USS Discovery, and served through much of the Federation-Klingon War of 2256- 57. – Saru to the crew of the Discovery, 2257 (' What's Past Is Prologue')Ĭaptain Saru was a male Kelpien Starfleet officer from Kaminar who lived during the mid- 23rd century.

Doug jones actor star trek