Saru was the name given to a male Kelpien slave who acted as a servant aboard the ISS Shenzhou.
Biography[]
Because he was a slave, the Kelpien did not actually have a name. However, in the mid-2250s Michael Burnham of the prime universe decided she was going to call him Saru, in honor of a respected friend.
While Burnham communicated with the primary universe Saru, he asked if there were any Kelpiens on board the Shenzhou. Burnham decided not to tell Saru about the existence of his mirror counterpart.
Later, the mirror Saru saved Burnham's life when Ash Tyler attempted to kill her. (DIS: "The Wolf Inside")
According to the plaque on the ISS Enterprise, Saru would go on to become a rebel leader by the time of the Terran High Chancellor's death. Saru told the crew of the Enterprise about the visitors that he had met from another universe that was a mirror to their own helped the crew of the Enterprise and their refugees escape to the prime universe. The crew was forced to abandon ship when the Enterprise became stuck in a wormhole, at least most of them surviving to start a new life in the United Federation of Planets. Saru himself remained behind in the mirror universe to continue his work. (DIS: "Mirrors")
In 3191, Burnham and Cleveland Booker rediscovered the ISS Enterprise and a plaque revealing the story of the crew. The two quickly realized that the Kelpien slave turned rebel leader was Saru and were impressed that their friend was "Action Saru" in any universe. (DIS: "Mirrors")
Alternate timeline and realities[]
In an alternate timeline created by Philippa Georgiou via the Guardian of Forever, Michael Burnham threatened to send the Kelpien to the butcher after he tried to help a fellow Kelpien servant who was going through vahar'ai. However Georgiou intervened, taking him from Burnham's possession. While helping Georgiou get ready for a public appearance, Saru told her what he knew about about Burnham's planned coup. Georgiou then said that he would be her eyes and ears for anything happening on the ship. (DIS: "Terra Firma, Part 1")
He remained as Georgiou's servant for the next three months he was on the ISS Discovery. While brushing Georgiou's hair Saru told her that his vahar'ai had started and he wished to be culled. Georgiou refused, instead telling him that vahar'ai isn't the end of life, instructing him to lock himself away in a room until vahar'ai passed. She also told him of another Kelpien named Saru, who had lived through vahar'ai and became the captain of a starship. He was shocked by the revelation that everything he had been taught was a lie and that his entire family had been killed for a lie and he remarked that Georgiou wasn't Terran.
Saru urged Georgiou to return where she had come from, but she refused. Saru was later present when Burnham put her coup into action; he rushed into the brig along side Sylvia Tilly, Joann Owosekun, and another Kelpien shooting down Burnham's rebels. Saru himself killed Hugh Culber by throwing him into the ceiling. Saru held a dying Georgiou in his arms after her fatal duel with Burnham. Before she died, Georgiou noted that Saru had passed through vahar'ai.
After Georgiou returned to 3189, Carl revealed that what while she had failed to save Burnham, the mirror Saru in Georgiou's alternate timeline would go on to "save others, a lot of them." As a result of Georgiou saving Saru when she didn't have to and trying for peace, she passed Carl's test. (DIS: "Terra Firma, Part 2")
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
Background information[]
Like his primary counterpart, this version of Saru was played by actor Doug Jones.
External link[]
- Saru (mirror) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works