Star Trek TV series to ruffle feathers, Discovery nonetheless became notable for generating controversy in its early seasons. Despite being set shortly prior to Star Trek: The Original Series, Discovery disrupted continuity with alterations to the Klingons' design, culture and history, the introduction of Spock's adoptive sister, and a spore drive that made warp 10 look prehistoric.

Star Trek's timeline. Evidently, Discovery was one of the more ambitious Star Trek properties on the market, but the bravest aspect of the show, even after considering the Klingon rewrites and mid-show relocation, was Sonequa Martin-Green's Michael Burham.

Michael Burnham Completely Changed Over The Course Of Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery Season 1's Burnham Is Unrecognizable

The story's protagonist and hero, Burnham broke tradition by starting Star Trek: Discovery as a first officer and working her way to the captain's chair, whereas most main characters had already attained the captaincy by the time their shows began. Even with this approach, however, Star Trek: Discovery would do something even more daring with Michael Burnham. From season 1 to Star Trek: Discovery's ending in season 5, Burnham transformed into a completely different character.

Burnham started Star Trek: Discovery as the type of officer who would defy orders because of her commitment to logic, but ended the story as the type of captain who would defy orders because of her commitment to following her heart.

When first introduced, Burnham's personality leaned far more heavily toward her Vulcan upbringing than her Earthling biology. Burnham was detached, ruthlessly logical, calculated, and driven by a sense of professional duty. Not a natural in social situations, Burnham's allies within Starfleet were few and far between. Only flecks of Burnham's human side revealed themselves during Star Trek: Discovery season 1's early episodes - in her relationship with the original Philippa Gerorgiou, for example.

Across the seasons, Michael Burnham's personality performed a complete 180-degree flip. By the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Burnham had become one of the most emotionally mature, open, endearing, heart-on-sleeve characters in the entire Star Trek franchise. Burnham might have started Star Trek: Discovery as the type of officer who would defy orders because of her commitment to logic, but she ended the story as the type of captain who would defy orders because of her commitment to following her heart and doing the right thing.

Naturally, Burnham's evolution meant she gained more interpersonal relationships along the way. Martin-Green's character became the closest friend and confidante of both Sylvia Tilly and Saru, overcoming initial friction in both cases. Burnham later sparked up a meaningful romance with Cleveland Booker, and generally earned the trust of Discovery's crew via her immense capacity for empathy and kindness.

Burnham's Evolution Was The Biggest Risk Star Trek: Discovery Ever Took

Discovery Did Many Wild & Unexpected Things During Its Run

Fundamentally altering the character of Michael Burnham was huge for Star Trek: Discovery. Effectively, Star Trek was asking the audience to invest in a brand-new protagonist before stripping away all of said protagonist's core traits and replacing them with new ones. Clearly, the hope was that viewers would still be championing Burnham afterward.

Discovery had to portray Burnham's dramatic evolution from cold and stiff to warm and fuzzy without it coming across as contrived or unearned.

Altering Burnham's characterization to such a great extent could also have resulted in a disconnect between the audience and a main character whose entire persona was in flux. Starting out by giving Michael Burnham the Vulcans' trademark lack of emotion, Star Trek: Discovery also ran the risk of making her unlikable and difficult to root for during those fledgling episodes. Executing such a long-term character arc, therefore, required a big leap of faith on Star Trek: Discovery's part.

If those obstacles weren't enough to overcome, Discovery had to portray Burnham's dramatic evolution from cold and stiff to warm and fuzzy without it coming across as contrived or unearned. For proof of the challenge Star Trek: Discovery faced, one need only look at the franchise's prior protagonists, none of whom attempted the same kind of character revolution.

Avery Brooks' Benjamin Sisko more obviously shifted his demeanor over the course of Deep Space Nine, it was nowhere near as drastic as with Burnham. Those previous Star Trek releases all subscribed to the popular notion that a main character should be a consistent touchstone for the audience, their nature and values defined from the beginning and remaining largely unshakable. Dropping that rule was the most outlandish decision Star Trek: Discovery made.

The canon retcons would prove controversial - and not without reason - but such changes were hardly unusual for a long-running franchise. The 900-year time jump was gutsy, but provided an antidote to any continuity restrictions and turned out to be a cosmetic overhaul more than anything. By putting Michael Burnham, the new lead character, on a path of total change, Discovery went where no Star Trek series had gone before.

Burnham's Growth Shows What Made Star Trek: Discovery Special

Did Discovery's Big Risk Pay Off?

Whether Star Trek: Discovery's Burnham turnaround should be considered successful largely hinges on how much one enjoyed the show as a whole. Nevertheless, it can be said that Discovery accomplished what it set out to do with Sonequa Martin-Green's character.

As Burnham moved through these stories and found closure on each chapter, it made perfect sense that her robotic exterior softened over time.

The question of whether audiences remained invested in the character despite her personality morphing so greatly is tricky to answer. In truth, Burnham is unlikely to trouble Kirk and Picard in the debate over Star Trek's greatest main captain. At the same time, Burnham led Star Trek: Discovery for an impressive five seasons, helping the series find its place in the franchise amidst dissenting voices and an eventual cancelation.

Michael Burnham did stray into unlikable territory at times during the early phases of Star Trek: Discovery, pushing audiences to emphasize more with other crew than the show's primary hero. But this was sort of the point, as it established the reason Burnham needed to change in the first place. Despite her less crowd-pleasing moments, Star Trek: Discovery also made noticeable attempts to highlight Burnham's inner turmoil - the war between her Vulcan and human sides - at every turn. Knowing Burnham was flawed and conflicted made her a more relatable figure in comparison to Star Trek's typical captains.

Star Trek: Discovery found a way to make Burnham's stark before and after process believable too. The Vulcan vs. human dilemma was central to Burnham discovering herself in the beginning, but subsequent Star Trek's Mirror Universe. As Burnham moved through these stories and found closure on each chapter, it made perfect sense that her robotic exterior softened over time.

Star Trek has always been a franchise that teaches tolerance and acceptance, but Discovery wore its heart on its sleeve like no other. Every Star Trek story is ultimately about a group of characters who come together and make each other better, but Discovery adapted that notion through various lenses relevant to modern life: mental health, LGBTQ+ issues, discrimination, etc. A modern show for modern times, Star Trek: Discovery's ability to show Burnham's road to becoming a good captain, rather than arriving as a ready-made good captain in episode 1, optimizes the message the show was always trying to tell.