WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 9, “Rubicon,” streaming now on Paramount+.
Michael Burnham faced her most personal threat yet in “Rubicon” when her romantic partner Cleveland “Book” Booker opposed her over how to deal with the dark matter anomaly that’s central to Season 4. After losing his home planet of Kwejian in the season premiere, Book was determined to destroy the anomaly and prevent any further tragedy from being inflicted — despite Burnham invoking the Khitomer Accords. To make sure Burnham was committed enough to check her personal feelings regarding Book, Starfleet assigned her a handler who was a familiar face: Commander Nhan.
Nhan was introduced at the start of Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, working as an engineering officer on the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. When Pike assumed temporary command of Discovery following the end of the Federation-Krypton War, Nhan transferred from Engineering to become the Discovery‘s new Chief of Security and remained there after Pike returned to the Enterprise at the end of Season 2. That resulted in Nhan being transported to the 32nd century where she eventually took command of her own vessel, the USS Tikhov, halfway through Season 3.
Nhan was given the authority to supercede Burnham’s command if she felt that Burnham’s decision-making was emotionally compromised while confronting Book to prevent him destroying the anomaly before the Federation could formally make first contact with the civilization responsible for creating it (which could be the Kelvans). While the arrangement wasn’t an ideal one for Burnham, she was genuinely happy to be reunited with her friend, even under the unusual circumstances.
In “Rubicon,” Nhan was never forced to step up and usurp Burnham’s command outright — but she did grow visibly concerned when Burnham continued to avoid destroying Book’s vessel in order to stop him. Burnham sensed this mounting frustration and agreed that Nhan could destroy Book if her last-ditch effort to persuade him to stand down failed. Luckily, Nhan didn’t have to act on that fatal agreement.
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Nhan and Burnham’s mission ends in failure — even though Book came to an agreement with Burham, his partner Ruon Tarka moved forward with their plan anyway and destroyed the anomaly. Nhan didn’t place any blame on Burnham in her return to Starfleet Command, even ticking up for her old friend while Starfleet braced itself for the response.
Having Nhan assigned as Burnham’s personal handler may have played a role in Tarka succeeding, but Star Trek: Discovery also used this plot to underscore how much the two old friends trust each other implicitly, even with Nhan’s deep commitment to duty above all else. Her appearance in “Rubicon” hopefully sets the stage for her return to the Discovery moving forward.
Created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Discovery releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.
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