While patrolling Federation space, the U.S.S. Shenzhou encounters an object of unknown origin, putting First Officer Michael Burnham to her greatest test yet.

Sonequa Martin-Green (Cmdr. Michael Burnham)
Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru)
Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler)
Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets)
Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly)
Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca)

Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou)

Mary Chieffo (L'Rell)
James Frain (Ambassador Sarek)
Chris Obi (T'Kuvma)
Maulik Pancholy (Dr. Nambue)
Terry Serpico (Admiral Brett Anderson)
Sam Vartholomeos (Ensign Danby Connor)

Arista Arhin (Young Michael Burnham)
Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer)
Justin Howell (Torchbearer/Rejac)
Javid Iqbal (Voq)
Ali Momen (Lt. Kamran Gant)
Bonnie Morgan (Crepuscula)
David Benjamin Tomlinson (Or'eq)
Tasia Valenza (Computer Voice)
Chris Violette (Lt. Britch Weeton)
Romaine Waite (Lt. Troy Januzzi)

• Stardate 1207.3 is given as Earth date May 11, 2256.
  
• Captain Philippa Georgiou is commanding officer of the Walker-class starship U.S.S. Shenzhou NCC-1227. The Shenzhou is named for China's first spacecraft program.
  
• Commander Burnham has been serving as first officer for seven years.
  
• Though credited in the title sequence, Shazad Latif (Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Tilly), and Jason Isaacs (Lorca) do not actually appear in this episode. The U.S.S. Discovery also does not appear in this episode.
  
• This episode was broadcast on CBS for free. Episodes 1 and 2 were available on the CBS All Access streaming service immediately after.