Tilly encounters the ghost of May while running the Command Training Program half-marathon. She argues with her and then runs away, winning the race.

The Discovery is hailed by a vessel requesting to beam one aboard sight unseen. The vessel turns out to be Sarek's cruiser. Burnham and Pike discuss what he might be there to talk about. Burnham is sent to greet him in the transporter room but is surprised to see Amanda beam aboard instead.

Amanda tells Burnham that she tried to see Spock on Starbase 5 but they wouldn't tell her anything. She stole his medical records and begs Burnham to decrypt them.

L'Rell faces continued opposition from the Klingon Houses, led by Kol-Sha. Tyler feels shut out by everyone, even the Klingons who are supposed to support him.

Pike meets with Burnham and Amanda and says that he can't open the files Amanda stole. He contacts the captain on Starbase 5 to discuss Spock but the captain won't tell him anything because Spock is a fugitive after killing three doctors and running off. After finding this out, Pike orders Burnham to decrypt the stolen file.

The file shows Spock was diagnosed with psychopathy. Burnham and Amanda discuss the possibilities. Amanda blames herself for Spock's mental illness. They embrace just as the screens downloading Spock's files show the angelic figure Burnham has seen before. Amanda identifies it as the Red Angel that Spock saw as a child.

Burnham gets a call from Tyler who informs her that the Klingon Houses are in a volatile state. He wants her to let Starfleet know. They talk.

On the bridge of the Discovery, Tilly and other Command Training Program candidates begin a shadow exercise. May is loud and intrusive, trying to get Tilly's attention and upset that Pike is not the captain she is looking for. Tilly finally cracks under the pressure, has a major outburst, and immediately quits the program, leaving the bridge.

L'Rell's uncle reveals that she had a son with Voq. L'Rell and Ash bond over the truth of the child.

Amanda and Michael discuss Spock's childhood experiences with the Red Angel. Michael tells her that she's seen the Red Angel as well. She also confesses to hurting Spock in order to keep him safe from the Logic Extremists.

She vows to find Spock but Amanda insists that she will and storms off.

When L'Rell and Tyler go to retrieve L'Rell's child, they find that he has been taken, her uncle murdered. Kol-Sha appears by hologram and demands L'Rell sign over the chancellorship in exchange for the child.

Tilly and Burnham meet in their room and Tilly tells Burnham about May. Burnham helps Tilly logically deduce that May is something other than a ghost or a hallucination. They realize the dark matter reacted to spores and they need to find Stamets.

L'Rell meets with Kol-Sha and he demands she sign over control of the Empire. She and Tyler take out his guards but he paralyzes them both and uses her fingerprint to sign over the chancellorship. Before he can execute Tyler, a cloaked figure appears, disintegrates the remaining guards and traps Kol-Sha in a floating membrane. L'Rell and Tyler are released from their paralysis and L'Rell takes the opportunity to kill Kol-Sha. The cloaked figure reveals herself to be Georgiou.

Georgiou insists on speaking with L'Rell. Once Tyler is gone, she points out that both he and the baby are liabilities and endanger L'Rell's authority over the Klingon Empire.

Stamets examines Tilly and discovers she is hosting a eukaryotic organism which is appearing to her as May. He uses a dark matter fragment to suck the organism out of Tilly. May has identified Stamets as the ship's captain.

L'Rell addresses the Klingon High Council and declares that Tyler was a traitor and killed her child. She claims that he would've killed her too but for the aid of Kol-Sha who died defending her. She rejects the title of Chancellor and takes on that of Mother.

Aboard a Black Ops vessel, Georgiou meets with Tyler holding the Klingon baby. They will be delivering the boy to a sect of Kahless monks to be raised by them. Georgiou invites Tyler to join Section 31.