Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Section 31Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) doesn’t appear in Star Trek: Section 31, and Burnham’s absence left a void in Emperor Philippa Georgiou’s (Michelle Yeoh) story that Star Trek‘s first streaming movie couldn’t fill. Burnham and Georgiou both hail from Star Trek: Discovery. Originally, Michelle Yeoh played Captain Philippa Georgiou, Commander Burnham’s superior officer on the USS Shenzhou. Yeoh returned as Georgiou’s Mirror Universe doppelganger in later in Star Trek: Discovery season 1.

Star Trek: Section 31 reveals where Emperor Georgiou ended up after she exited Star Trek: Discovery‘s 32nd century thanks to the Guardian of Forever (Paul Guilfoyle). Georgiou touched down in Star Trek‘s early 24th century “lost era,” where she quickly took over an intergalactic nightclub called the Baraam. Section 31 pulls Georgiou back into action to locate a super weapon called the Godsend from the Mirror Universe that the Emperor commissioned and ordered destroyed.

Emperor Georgiou eventually learns that San (James Hiroyuki Liao), Philippa’s former love from when they were teenagers, planned to use the Godsend to lead the Terran Empire’s invasion of the United Federation of Planets. Star Trek: Section 31 invests in Emperor Georgiou’s new paradigm as Philippa faces the sins of her past as the Terran Emperor. Yet Star Trek: Section 31‘s action and drama don’t obfuscate that Emperor Georgiou is missing the counterbalance Commander Michael Burnham provided on Star Trek: Discovery.

Star Trek: Discovery’s Burnham & Her Importance To Georgiou Was Missing From Section 31

Michael Was The Ying To Philippa’s Yang

No one in Star Trek: Section 31 challenges Emperor Philippa Georgiou the way Commander Michael Burnham did on Star Trek Discovery, and Section 31 is worse off for it. Emperor Georgiou’s personal evolution from a murderous fascist dictator to someone willing to defend the Federation was instigated by Michael’s influence on Philippa. Burnham, a virtuous idealist who constantly sacrifices herself to honor the Federation’s lofty principles, rubbed off on Georgiou, and sparked a change in the former Terran Emperor.

Emperor Georgiou came to understand just how different she was when the Guardian of Forever sent her back to the Mirror Universe in Star Trek: Discovery season 3. Confronted with her lifetime of evil – including the irredeemable and treacherous Mirror version of Michael Burnham who was Philippa’s adopted daughter – Georgiou turned her back on everything she once stood for as the ruler of Terra. Burnham was the better angel who sat on Georgiou’s shoulder and urged her to rise above her authoritarian core beliefs.

Star Trek: Section 31 lacks the yin/yang push-pull of Emperor Georgiou and Michael Burnham’s relationship. No one in Section 31 tested Philippa’s belief system or urged her to grow as a person like Burnham did. Georgiou did the right thing once she realized San was alive and because Philippa felt responsibility for the Godsend. Yet there was no philosophical debate, no meeting of the minds, and no oil and water clashes in Star Trek: Section 31 to replace the compelling тιт-for-tat between Emperor Georgiou and Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery.

Section 31 Tried To Make Alok Sahar Georgiou’s New Burnham

Alok Could Be An Interesting Love Interest For Burnham

To its credit, Star Trek: Section 31 tried something different from Emperor Georgiou’s ersatz mother-daughter relationship with Michael Burnham. Georgiou’s foil in Star Trek: Section 31 is Alok Sahar (Omari Hardwick), the leader of Section 31’s Alpha Team. Alok is the point man for Georgiou’s recruitment in Section 31, and Philippa primarily deals with Alok throughout the film. While Georgiou ridicules Section 31‘s other characters, the Emperor regards Alok more respectfully, and they begin to trust each other by the end of Star Trek: Section 31.

Star Trek: Section 31 even hints at a possible romance between Emperor Georgiou and Alok Sahar. A genetically engineered Augment from the 20th century, Alok doesn’t fear Emperor Georgiou, which is partly why he wins Philippa over to his side. There are fascinating sparks between Alok and Georgiou that Michelle Yeoh and Omari Hardwick lean into, but Star Trek: Section 31 frustratingly doesn’t go deep enough with its character development. While Alok and Georgiou are a curious match in Star Trek: Section 31, they are not the more interesting diametrically opposed cerтιтudes Phillipa and Michael Burnham were on Star Trek: Discovery.

Captain Burnham & Emperor Georgiou Can’t Meet Again In Star Trek

Georgiou Is Stuck In Star Trek’s 24th Century

Unfortunately, the way Star Trek: Discovery designed Emperor Georgiou’s exit from Star Trek: Discovery means that Philippa can never meet Captain Michael Burnham again. Star Trek: Discovery season 3 revealed that Emperor Georgiou was dying because her body was breaking down from the stresses of crossing over from the Mirror Universe and jumping 930 years into the 32nd century. The only cure for Georgiou was sending her back to a point in Star Trek‘s timeline where the Prime and Mirror Universes are still aligned. Any return to Star Trek: Discovery, which is ensconced in the 32nd century, is a death sentence for Georgiou.

However, Star Trek: Section 31 was not well-received by critics or fans. The harshly negative reviews put a sequel to Star Trek: Section 31 in doubt, and this leaves Emperor Georgiou (and Michelle Yeoh continuing as her iconic Star Trek character) in a lurch. Star Trek: Section 31‘s 2324 time frame is too many decades after Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ 23rd century or Star Trek: Prodigy‘s late 24th century for Georgiou to make appearances in either show. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Discovery‘s next spinoff, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, continues the 32nd century, so that timeline continues to be off limits for a Georgiou comeback.

Star Trek: Discovery also ended with season 5, with no known plans for Sonequa Martin-Green to reprise Captain Michael Burnham. The best case scenario would be for Martin-Green and Michelle Yeoh to guest star in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, but without time travel, it would likely be Captain Burnham meeting a hologram of Emperor Georgiou. And even then, that is a lot of Star Trek plot gymnastics to put Burnham and Georgiou back together on-screen.

Sadly, Emperor Georgiou and Michael Burnham’s best days on Star Trek: Discovery are behind them, and there’s no logical way for Michael Burnham to appear in a possible Star Trek: Section 31 sequel.