Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 12 - "There Is A Tide..."
Star Trek: Discovery season 3's Osyraa (Janet Kidder) had an audacious villain plan that seemed too good to be true - and much of it had genuine merit - but it all boiled down to the Orion warlord's lust for power. As the leader of the Emerald Chain, which is the Orion and Andorian galactic crime syndicate, Osyraa emerged as the fascinating Big Bad of Star Trek: Discovery season 3, and she is the franchise's most prominent female villain since the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Female Changeling (Salome Jens).
After The Burn, Osyraa's ruthless and opportunistic leadership turned the Emerald Chain into a galactic power to rival the collapsed United Federation of Planets itself. The Chain claims to be a web of mercantile exchanges, but they traffic in stolen goods, contraband, and slavery while Osyraa personally suppresses numerous planets like Kwejian for their resources. But like the Federation, the Chain is running out of dilithium and can't sustain its operations. When Osyraa realized the USS Discovery-A has a spore drive, Captain Saru's (Doug Jones) starship became the focal point of the Orion warlord's boldest scheme. Taking advantage of Saru leaving Acting First Officer Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) in command while he was in the Verubin Nebula, Osyraa commandeered Discovery, held the crew hostage, and took possession of the spore drive.
Shockingly, Osyraa's gamble involved taking Discovery right into Federation headquarters to meet with the President, although Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr) handled the negotiations. Osyraa then unveiled her proposal: she wants the Emerald Chain to unite with the UFP to form a new Federation as equal partners. As Osyraa laid out her offer, even the Admiral had to admit it was impressive. While no armistice was reached between the two, here's why the Orion villain's idea would have actually been a boon to the Federation and the Emerald Chain, although it ultimately could never succeed.
Osyraa's New Federation Plan Explained
Osyraa's unification plan for the Federation and the Emerald Chain would have immediately ended hostility between the two powers so they could share resources. But the mitigating factor is Discovery's spore displacement hub drive, which Osyraa plans to replicate because the Chain has the best scientists in the sector, and she believes they could build more spore drives, freeing the galaxy from dependency on dilithium, and opening up instantaneous interstellar travel and trade once more. Osyraa also committed to cease all violations of the Prime Directive going forward and a 15-year walk back from oppressing planets like Kwejian.
Under Osyraa's plan, the New Federation would become what the UFP was before The Burn, the galaxy would be reunited, and the Federation would have access to the Chain's vast resources and advanced technology, and vice versa. For Osyraa and the Chain, forming a New Federation is crucial so that the syndicate is no longer considered a criminal enterprise, and essentially becomes half of the galaxy's new government.
Why Osyraa's New Federation Plan Could Never Work (But It Was A Good Idea)
As enticing as Osyraa's proposal is, there are serious issues that couldn't be overlooked, starting with the fact that the Chain hijacked a Federation starship in order to enter these negotiations, and they continued to commit atrocities aboard the Discovery. The Federation also cannot abide by the Emerald Chain's system of slavery, and Osyraa made no concessions in that regard, as it would rob many of her people of their wealth. It was vital for Osyraa that the Federation acknowledges and embraces the Chain's capitalism, and she noted that one starbase cut off from the Federation had to trade with the Chain in order to survive. But one of the Federation's core tenets since its inception was the rejection of the pursuit of wealth and the two entities' value systems are on different sides of the fence.
Further, Osyraa herself was the most glaring problem, because she obviously wanted to be front and center in this New Federation and control it. Vance wisely sussed out that any "face" for the Emerald Chain Osyraa installed, such as her ally Invigilator Aurellio (Kenneth Mitchell), would merely be a proxy for the Orion leader. When the negotiations broke down, Osyraa reverted back to her true nature as a ruthless killer. She murdered Ryn (Noah Averback-Katz), resumed hostilities with the Federation, and she intends to keep Discovery and the spore drive no matter what.
Osyraa may have been sincere about her overall objectives - she does want the Chain and her people to survive and flourish - but she was deceitful about her true intentions, and she outright balked at Vance's insistence that the Chain places her on trial for her numerous atrocities, although that would prove to the Federation that the Chain is sincere about no longer being a criminal enterprise. In the end, Osyraa's plan was really just an elaborate bid for personal power - but it's also a shame because parts of her plan for a New Federation really could have benefited the billions of people across Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd-century galaxy.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 streams Thursdays on CBS All-Access and Fridays internationally on Netflix.