The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery began with a compelling premise. Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) receives a Red Directive from the Federation's top official, Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg), tasking her with a secret mission. There's an abandoned 800-year-old Romulan science ship lost in deep space, and Burnham is sent to retrieve a mysterious object on board. However, it appears that a pair of mysterious marauders named Maul (Eva Harlow) and Luck (Elias Toufexis) found the item first. After a few games of planet hopping cat and mouse, Captain Burnham retrieves the object from them and discovers that it is a diary, written by scientists from the 24th century, that points to the location of incredibly ancient technology built by the Progenitors.

Trekkies will be able to tell you that The Progenitors are possibly the first humanoid species to evolve in the galaxy. Alone, the progenitors seeded millions of worlds with their DNA, causing evolution in each one. This means that every humanoid species on Star Trek has a common ancestor. The rest of season five follows an Indiana Jones-esque adventure as Burnham and her colleague Captain Rayner (Colum Keith Rennie) try to uncover the mysterious Progenitor technology before Maul and Luck can. Of course, there are a few plot twists along the way.

But it's a "Red Directive" to hell. Its name implies that it's a mission of the utmost importance, of course, but, strangely, the term wasn't used in Star Trek until this episode. It seems to extend from the higher ups in Starfleet having the capacity to order any ship to any mission at the moment, and that the mission must remain top secret. Dr. Kovich, it seems, has a lot of influence in Starfleet. This adds an additional mystery: what is Kovic's rank?

Through dialogue, Trekkies can only deduce what the Red Directive actually is. We know that the Red Directives can only be given in a super secret location called the Infinity Room, a secret location deep within Starfleet headquarters, making them the most exclusive type of orders, given only in person. Certain star captains seem to receive Red Directives frequently, as Captain Rayner notes that he is now participating in his eighth.

Fast forward to the end of Star Trek: Discovery, and Captain Burnham has completed his mission, having located the Progenitor accessory and stashed it safely beside a black hole. She announces that the Red Directive has been shut down and that all details of her mission will be immediately classified. So it seems that the red directive is just a fancy term for a top secret mission, as can be heard on "Mission: Impossible".

And who is Kovic who can hand out Red Directives? His ability to do so even undermines the authority of Fleet Admiral Vance (Odd Fair), one of the service's most senior officers. It appears that Kovic's background was more complicated than originally thought. In the 32nd century, Kovich appeared to be a vague CEO of sorts, overseeing various aspects of the Federation bureaucracy. In the fifth season of Discovery, however, he will be revealed to be a very long-lived time traveler named Daniels, who has interacted with various Star Trek ships throughout his life. Daniels famously appeared in several episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, playing Matt Winston. His research into events in Star Trek history seems to give him a lot of appeal at HQ.

"Discovery" ends with Burnham receiving another Red Directiveand she is on her merry way. The adventures, it seems, will continue.