Hidden DSC connection to TOS? (Spoiler ep 6)

Jim Raynor

Interesting possible connection between Discovery and TOS. Is Admiral Cornwell actually Lethe from TOS?

While this sounds crazy at first, there are a few striking details that lend credence to this theory. The name of the episode is an obvious clue, which could be written off as a coincidence, but it seems too on-the-nose to be an accident. Also, in this episode, Cornwell alludes to the fact that she started her Starfleet career as a therapist, which is what Lethe becomes at the insane asylum in “Dagger of the Mind.” Finally, because the episode ends with Cornwell being captured by the Klingons, it’s possible when they give her back to Starfleet she’s gone totally insane. In the original episode “Errand of Mercy,” we learn the Klingons have a brain-torture device called the Mind-Sifter. Kor also calls it a “Mind-Ripper,” and though Spock is able to withstand it, it might drive a human crazy.

If all of this turns out to be legit, then it’s possible that when Cornwell returns she’ll be totally insane, possibly to the point where she needs to be locked up — which will turn out to be very convenient for Captain Lorca. The last time these two saw each other, Cornwell threatened to take away his captaincy. But if she’s driven insane by the Klingons, maybe that will never happen.

Of course, all of this could be totally wrong, and Cornwell might escape unscathed. Because if Discovery has taught fans anything so far, it’s that each episode is almost never what we expected.

https://www.inverse.com/article/37820-star-trek-discovery-original-series-lethe-corwnell-theory

Astrometrics

It's actually quite an interesting notion.

That said, Cornwell seems to be older at the time of Discovery than Lethe was at the time of TOS (I'd guess that Cornwell is at least 20 years older than Lethe, if not 30), so that does ruin the theory a bit. If the show wanted to pull a trick like that, they should have picked Lethe to be in her twenties, not in her sixties.