When an old enemy resurfaces as an existential threat to the Federation, Nahla must outwit a vengeful foe with a personal vendetta against her.
Assuming this isn’t just an “AI” hallucinated word salad, this really sounds like a twofer on the bad guy front.
“Old enemy”/“existential threat” would be Braka and his mines, right? But “vengeful foe with a personal vendetta” against Ake could be a confirmation that Anisha is an opponent. Tying back neatly with the episode 1 double trial against her and Nus, headed by Ake.
The note at the top of the article has got me speculating on the meaning of the word play:
Episode 10 of season 1 of Starfleet Academy is titled “Rubincon,” and no, that is not a typo for “Rubicon.”
The suffix con leaps out.
Brakka seems a full on dark triad kind of villain. With that comes the Machiavellian manipulation and deceit, including cons.
For rubin, the first part of the word, the dictionary definitions I find say that it’s an obsolete word for ruby (alternative spelling is rubine).
So literally, the title of the episode means, well, “ruby + con”.
Which gets us back to a sound-alike for rubicon…
Clearly the writers are making a point here with this double entendre.
My money’s on the red wall of omega-47 being a grossly gigantic con where the isolation of the Federation is not quite the threat it seemed at the end of episode 9.
However, is it only Brakka who is responsible for the con, or is and has Anisha Mir been part of a long con of both Ake and her son from the start?
And, what is it that Brakka and Anisha Mir are really after with all this?
However, is it only Brakka who is responsible for the con, or is and has Anisha Mir been part of a long con of both Ake and her son from the start?
I like where you’re going. My own hunch is we’ll learn that Anisha (at Nus’ behest after he rediscovered Caleb) agreed to embed malicious code in her encrypted messages to Caleb (and that she only begrudgingly agreed because she lost hope he would read them) and that’s how Nus will snatch victory from the jaws of defeat from Capt. Ake at the very last moment, that he actually won the moment Caleb opened that first message from his Mom.
Probably not exactly that, but something along the lines of discovering that Nus has always been 2 steps ahead.
My money’s on the red wall of omega-47 being a grossly gigantic con where the isolation of the Federation is not quite the threat it seemed at the end of episode 9.
It would be very funny if Braka only had two omega molecules, and detonated them both last week as a show of force.
Looking again at the production photo of Tatiana Maslany as Anisha Mir, there may be an entirely different long con going on from the Federation side.
Could be a coincidental styling choice but, Anisha seems to be dressed in something close to a Section 31 uniform!
So, speculation…
We know from Discovery that Starfleet and the 32nd century Federation have some kind of shadowy espionage and covert operations organization.
Could it be possible that Anisha, who was known to Nahla Ake, was more than a desperate mother looking to trade her skills to the Venari Ral for sustenance for herself and her child?
Was there some kind of deep covert mission that went profoundly wrong? If so, was Ake read in?
If Anisha is somehow a Federation operative, how will Caleb deal with his being put at risk, then sacrificed for an operation?
Anisha may be less morally culpable for her actions as an infiltrator of the Venari Ral, but as a mother putting her child in the line of harm, there is a completely different calculus.
That’s a bit far fetched… I love it and I’m rooting for your take.
I like it better than the theory that Anisha Mir was always truly Vendari Ral and will betray everyone, and likely die, in the finale.
Instead of “Rubin con”, it could split as “Rub in con”. If Nus pulled off a good con he’d for sure rub it in.
As predictable as it is, I still believe Anisha is working with Nus(topher). I’m not engaging in the pictures or anything because I don’t want to be spoiled.
Possible silly idea but could the reference to a gemstone be a possible nod to the Emerald Chain having some angle here? I realize they were only namedropped maybe once, but they are an active player in the region and could be part of the scaffolding for the villains in season 2.
I’ve been wondering about the Emerald Chain too.
While there is a treaty and détente, it seems odd that only the Venari Ral have been mentioned as a threat this season.
The picture of Anisha looks to me like she’s betrayed everyone and the dude in the background with what seems to be a weapon is with her.
Lura is back. I feel like it’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen her.
I was very relieved to see Lura back
I hope we’ll see much more of her in season two.
