As the crew of the Discovery is still struggling to find a way out of the orb that contains the ship, Tarka approaches the power source, with Book and Reno as prisoners. Meanwhile, the evacuation of Ni'Var and Earth has begun, with Federation Headquarters staying in Earth's orbit to deflect debris and buy the fleet more time for the evacuation. Yet, Vance estimates that only some 450,000 inhabitants of each planet can be saved. On the Discovery, General Ndoye admits that she released the plasma to allow Book and Tarka to escape. She is confined to her quarters. T'Rina tries to send a telepathic message to 10-C that the two are acting on their own, but she is overwhelmed by the connection with what seems to be a collective mind. Stamets comes up with an idea to break out of the orb with the spore drive, but it would burn out the system and couldn't be repaired, upon which the ship would need decades to get home. Burnham agrees with the plan. Book manages to escape from confinement by opening a cat door in the forcefield and knocks down the surprised Tarka. He is not in control of the ship again, however, as the procedure to rip off the power source can't be stopped and communications are down. Reno manages to beam over to the Discovery, and tells Burnham that Book wants her to do whatever is necessary to avert the disaster. Detmer volunteers for a suicide mission on a shuttle, but Ndoye says it is her duty. When her shuttle collides with Book's ship, Ndoye can be beamed out in time. Tarka transfers all available power so at least Book can beam out. However, the ship explodes before he materializes on the Discovery. At Federation Headquarters, only Vance and Tilly still hold out as rocks are impacting the shields, making further evacuation efforts futile. Another orb approaches the Discovery, and in order to demonstrate their connection, several of the crew enter and are transferred to the homeworld of Species 10-C. Rillak and Burnham successfully communicate that 10-C did great harm, upon which the species promises they would move the DMA to uninhabited regions of space. When they notice Burnham's sadness, they release Book, whose transporter beam they intercepted. Book speaks out, and he says that just moving the DMA is not enough. He proposes that 10-C should shut down the DMA for good and give up the hyperfield. They agree. The hyperfield dissipates and the wormhole, which was used to create the DMA, opens to allow the Discovery to travel home. The damage on Earth and Ni'Var was limited. Earth rejoins the Federation, and several more planets are in talks. Book is sent on a mission to aid people who were displaced by the DMA.

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