A distress call from Lt. Noonien-Singh compels Spock to disobey orders and take the U.S.S. Enterprise and its crew into disputed space, risking renewed hostilities with the Klingons in a bid to aid their shipmate.

Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike)
Ethan Peck (Lieutenant Spock)
Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel)
Christina Chong (Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh)
Celia Rose Gooding (Ensign Nyota Uhura)
Melissa Navia (Lt. Erica Ortegas)
Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. Joseph M'Benga)
Rebecca Romijn (Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley)

Adrian Holmes (Admiral Robert April)
Carol Kane (Commander Pelia)

Izad Etemadi (Burly Inspector)
Rong Fu (Lt. Jenna Mitchell)
Emma Ho (Oriana)
Andrew Jackson (Captain D'Chok)
Alex Kapp (U.S.S. Enterprise Computer)
Kyle Kass (Kr'Dogh)
Noah Lamanna (Chief Jay)
Cihang Ma (Livian)
Tiffany Martin (Senior Chief)
Jamillah Ross (Lukata)
Samer Salem (Inspector Gilan)
Hannah Spear (Jen)
Alex Spencer (Greynax)
Nicolas Van Burek (Klingon Extremist)
Abbas Wahab (Ror'Queg)
Laura Wilson (Stell)
Russell Yuen (Commodore Tafune)

• Number One is still in Starfleet custody. Pike leaves Spock in charge of Enterprise while he is on a mission to find legal help for Number One.
  
• La'an is on Cajitar IV, where she reunited Oriana with her parents. (She was found on the U.S.S. Peregrine in "All Those Who Wander".)
  
• Cajitar IV is a dilithium-rich planet located at the edge of the Federation/Klingon border. After the war, a treaty was negotiated where the Federation and the Klingons take turns mining the planet, switching every month.
  
• La'an discovers Klingon extremists (calling themselves The Broken Circle) on Cajitar who want to re-start the war for profit.
  
• The extremists are collecting Starfleet equipment and have built a Starfleet ship. Mitchell identifies it as a Crossfield-class ship. The ship does not quite resemble the Crossfield-class U.S.S. Discovery, however — it has Constitution nacelles with a Crossfield saucer in an NX-01-style configuration.
  
• The U.S.S. Enterprise destroys the rogue ship before it can attack the Klingon D7 in orbit, preventing another war.
  
• This is the first appearance of Carol Kane (Commander Pelia). Pelia is a Lanthanite, a long-lived human species. She taught engineering at Starfleet Academy before serving as chief fleet inspector for Starfleet Operational Support Services at Starbase 1.
  
• Uhura has been promoted to Ensign.
  
• This is the first appearance of the Klingons on Strange New Worlds.
  
• The episode ends with a dedication to Nichelle Nichols, just before the end credits.