One of the overarching key elements of ST: Discovery's second season is the hunt for a couple of so-called "red bursts", powerful light (?) signals that were/are registered throughout the galaxy (?) and that appear to be meaningful in some way. Now, while they are supposed to be a guiding plot device that directs the journeys of the Discovery and thus provides some kind of a structure to the season, I seem to be losing track of how many there are altogether.
Let's look at some quotes from the episodes so far (I am relying on the accuracy of springfieldspringfield.com's transcripts Aqui):
2x01: Irmão
Over the past 24 hours, Federation sensors picked up seven red bursts spread out across more than 30,000 light-years. They appeared in perfect synchronization just long enough for us to get a reading and then, just as suddenly, disappeared. Except for one.
So, at this point, seven signals had appeared, six of them had disappeared again, and
the Discovery has travelled to the location of one of the signals.
2x02: New Eden
Another signal has just appeared.
This sounds like there is an eighth signal.
At that point, Burnham also remark the following:
The transmission is too faint to determine the exact coordinates.
This limitation is overcome soon after by some witty sensor modifications.
2x06: The Sound of Thunder
We have detected a new signal.
Where is it this time?
Outside of Federation space.
This sounds like another entirely new signal, i.e. the ninth one in total.
2x10: The Red Angel
Burnham comments on "the seven signals" by stating:
But the first three signals appeared on the asteroid, Terralysium, and Kaminar, with four left to reveal themselves.
Now, it suddenly sounds as if signals #8 and #9 had been #2 and #3 out of a total seven signals that gradually "reveal" themselves.
2x11: Perpetual Infinity
This new signal is the fourth of seven
At that point, they completely lost me. How can be both "new" e the "fourth" in a (known, thus not new!) set of seven?
2x12: Through the Valley of Shadows
This episode contains various mentions that seem to confirm we are only dealing with seven signals in all, among them:
The three last signals have yet to reveal themselves.
So, what is going on here? Was there a mid-season change in premise, or am I missing something that would explain this confusing topic? At how many different locations did Starfleet pick up the "red bursts"?
