Mirror Sarek (complete with goatee) makes an appearance in the Star Trek Discovery episode 11 teaser

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the worst facial hair of them all? If you guessed goatee Sarek then congratulations. Star Trek Discovery’s preview for episode 11 showcases not only Sarek’s nefarious parallel universe counterpart, but also the debut of the Andorians, as well as a crew member discovering a dead body on the USS/ISS Discovery in the wake of the previous episode’s emotional events.

You’d be surprised how much the preview fits into 30 seconds, but, then again, Star Trek Discovery is no ordinary show. Arguably the best thing going on television right now, the teaser for next week’s episode hammers home the identity crisis everyone is suffering through after ‘playing’ their devious Terran Empire doppelgangers.

That crisis is probably going to affect Michael more than anyone. She’s about to come face to face with her adopted daddy Sarek but – in a neat nod to the original series – the Vulcan is sporting a goatee and is probably up to no good. Might he be the leader of the rebels we oh-so-briefly glimpsed in the mid-season premiere?

Alongside that brain-melting moment (I’m pretty sure we’ll lose track of who is and isn’t from the parallel universe fairly soon) comes a look at Lt. Stamets finding the dead body of his lover, Dr. Culber, who had his neck brutally snapped by Ash Tyler in one of the show’s biggest shocks thus far.

All in all, then, we’re looking at quite the epic episode, with Discovery showing no signs of slowing down as it hurtles towards its finale in a few weeks’ time. There’s even a first look at a living, breathing Andorian, plus a trip off-ship for Michael. Let’s hope she’s not on the planet that ends up being pulverised by some heavy-duty weapon fire – I still haven’t got over the good Doctor’s death.

Image: CBS

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.