Star Trek Fan Has A Controversial Take On One Character's Mutiny

Star Trek: Discovery's unique protagonist and premise are a source of immense critical acclaim for the franchise. However, one fan has taken to critiquing one of the major points of the protagonist’s characterization to understand the series better.

Star Trek: Discoveryfeatures one of the franchise’s most interesting protagonists in Sonequa Martin-Green's Michael Burnham, Starfleet's first mutineer and the most drastic example of character redemption that Star Trek offers. After letting her emotions and concern for her compatriots get the best of her, Burnham finds herself being let off of a crushing life sentence to serve in active duty once again–but the disdain and vitriol from her contemporaries don’t go anywhere. This dynamic and Burnham's struggle to redeem herself are the driving forces behind some of Star Trek: Discovery's best episodes.

While many Star Trek: Discovery fans accepted this overwhelmingly negative attitude towards the protagonist as part of the hurdles to Michael Burnham's eventual ascension to the rank of Captain, one fan had a bone to pick with the writer’s choice here. Reddit user NatAwsom1138 took to the platform’s r/startrek board to query his confusion in a post titled “What exactly do people blame Michael Burnham for in Discovery season 1?” In the post, the user notes that they are rewatching the series and states that everyone in the Federation and Starfleet seemingly blames Burnham's mutiny for the tragic losses from the Klingon war. As NatAwsom1138 sees it, the only issue is that Burnham's mutiny is not responsible, as it completely failed.

Other Star Trek: Discovery fans quickly pointed out the severity of her mutiny, assault of a superior officer, and murder of a guard before open hostilities kicked off, and how her overly emotional actions could be seen in an ominous light by others. These two things, taken together, create a fertile situation for Burnham to get all the hate and animosity she does, made all the more poignant by her