Ephraim and Dot

Now this was just fun. Sure, there were a few inaccuracies with the animation that Michael acknowledged following the release (the saucer decals being off center as one glaring anomaly) but I can overlook those for the pure joy that this animation brought us.

We saw a tardigrade – the last appearance in the franchise of the creature? – traveling along the mycelial network trying to keep up with the Enterprise after she lay her eggs in the warp core. We’re treated to flashbacks including Apollo’s hand, the “planet killer”, the Tholian web, the recreation of Abraham Lincoln, the battle of the Mutara Nebula, and finally the fatal encounter with the Bird-of-Prey.

It seems that Tardigrades experience time in a non-linear fashion, like a few other species we’ve encountered in Trek. This was a fun penultimate episode to this season of Short Treks.