Who Was Ash Tyler? A Star Trek Discovery Personnel Report

“The one you call "Tyler" was captured in battle at the binary stars. We harvested his DNA, reconstructed his consciousness, and rebuilt his memory. We modified Voq into a shell that appears Human. We grafted his psyche into Tyler's, and in so doing, Voq has given his body and soul for our ideology”.

L'RELL TO SARU, 2256

 Ash Tyler, who was once a Klingon bearing the name Voq, is a synthetic combination of both Klingon and Human DNA.

He was brought up by his mother who was a third grade teacher at Issaquah Elementary which was located twenty-four kilometers outside of Seattle, Washington. He never got to know his father, but he was told by his mother that he really “didn't miss much there”.

 While Tyler was attending Starfleet Academy, his mother took her first vacation in twelve years. On her way to the moons of Grazer, she was killed by a rogue comet.

 Ash Tyler was a twenty third century Klingon combatant who had undergone the choH'a.

 The choH'a was a form of species reassignment protocol used by the Klingon House of Mo'Kai during the Federation-Klingon War. It was particularly formulated to gather intelligence and commit espionage on Starfleet.

ChoH'a involved surgically altering a Klingon to resemble a donor Human. This Klingons' DNA, memories and consciousnesses would be  acquired and added on top of the Klingon identity, which was actually believed to remain unscathed and waiting to be reactivated.

 This method was not discernible or even noticeable by Starfleet even with an ample set of physical and biological scans.

These scans which were performed revealed alot of scar tissue surrounding the organs, but this was associated to torture and torment.

Even the Klingon personality and temperament weren't detected by the highly significant manchurian test, which is intended for detecting brainwashing, commands or personality engrams which might be underneath a functioning consciousness.

 However, additional advanced testing which included Chondroblast-cell scans, disclosed a more troubling picture, hinting at procedures like marrow-diminutions or neurological therapy.

Before the modification…

 

 

After the modification.

 

Ash Tyler was apprehended at the Battle of the Binary Stars. His DNA was then collected, his consciousness reassembled and his memory fabricated.

He was then adjusted into a "coating" which looked like Tyler. The surgery surrounding this was quite traumatic.

His skin was stripped and his heart was cut into fractions. His limbs were exposed and his radius, femurs and even his spinal cord were amended and reduced. The tips of his fingers were shaved down, his bones cracked open and crushed. As a result of these procedures, scar tissue surrounded those organs.

This method was so extensive and comprehensive that his whole body became like that of the Human body, and the internal scans which were carried out showed enough evidence that his organs had been modified as well.

Anatomically, he was completely evolved into a Human. His main mission and goal was to become a sleeper agent, and by the time the process was complete, Tyler's personality had completely absorbed that of Voq's.

Now Ash Tyler had become the chief of security of the USS Discovery, where he started a relationship with Michael Burnham.

His recollections of his memories as Voq then started to rematerialize after his acquaintance L'Rell was captured by Discovery.

But this was hindered  by Ash Tyler's personal feelings and attractions for  Micheal Burnham. These feelings that were harboured inside of him prevented the memories of Voq from being restored completely.

 Still, after the Discovery was hauled to the mirror universe, Ash Tyler met Voq's counterpart who was known as Fire Wolf,  which resultedin Tyler's full Klingon personality being revived.

Voq attempted to murder Michael Burnham but was unsuccessful and was therefore detained by the Discovery crew. Since the surgery had affected the two personalities, (that is Voq's Klingon personality and Ash's Human personality) this left the surviving personality, that of Tyler, guilt-ridden and ashamed.

 Ultimately, when L'Rell left to take over the management of the Klingon High Council, Tyler then chose to leave the Discovery to aid both the Federation and the Klingon Empire, having reached the conclusion that he was no good for either side alone.

 While under the appearance and disguise of Ash Tyler, Voq assumed that he was confined and held captive for two hundred and twenty seven days.

During his confinement his cellmate was Harcourt Fenton Mudd. With the time he spent with Mudd, he listened to Mudd's story of how he robbed a bank on Betazed.

 Ash Tyler was then extricated along with Captain Gabriel Lorca by the USS Discovery. This went all according to L'Rell's plans and schemes.

A week after this, Captain Lorca  appointed Ash Tyler as his new chief of security aboard the Discovery. Captain Lorca was deeply impressed by his skill and mastery for herding a stolen Klingon raider during their getaway, as well as his impressive marksmanship in Discovery's holographic combat simulator.

 He appeared to have suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a consequence of rape, assault, torture, and the  medical experimentation and examination which was inflicted upon him during his imprisonment by his Klingon captor, L'Rell.

Likewise, he sheltered and harbored an internal rage, resentment and bitterness towards Klingons. He wanted to hurt them exactly the way they had hurt him.

 During his mission with Micheal Burnham to place sensors in the Klingon Ship of the Dead, Ash Tyler met face to face with L'Rell in a room of corpses, and afterward fell into a state of catatonia.

He was revived and brought back to a conscious state by an injured Admiral Katrina Cornwell, who was a prisoner on the ship, and was able to defeat incoming Klingon warriors who were closing in on their position.

L'Rell was taken prisoner and transferred to USS Discovery's brig.

 Ash Tyler was still troubled and tormented by nightmares, flashbacks and terrors from his violations.

This was later discovered to be caused by his surgical transformation from Voq to the Human form of Tyler. He took comfort in his rapidly flourishing romantic relationship with Micheal Burnham, who had shared trauma from the loss of her parents, her ephemeral death, and the events from the Battle of the Binary Stars.

 When the USS Discovery launched itself into the Mirror Universe, Ash Tyler who was still experiencing nightmares of surgery being performed on him, went to confront L'Rell in the prison.

 L'Rell said a Klingon prayer to him, which appeared to incite a reaction.

Disturbed by this, Ash Tyler' asked Doctor Hugh Culber to perform a medical examination on him to see if he was fit for duty.

Doctor Hugh Culber found out that, opposite to initial examinations, Ash Tyler's skeletal system and organs had been surgically altered and that his personality had been overlaid with the personality of someone else.

The doctor said he had to keep a hold on Ash Tyler because he was not sure that he was who he claimed to be.

 In response, Voq took over and became self-aware. He broke the doctors neck before joining Michael Burnham and Captain Gabriel Lorca on a mission to the ISS Shenzhou.

 While aboard the Shenzhou, Ash Tyler and Michael Burnham were able to attain the trust of a rebel council accused of leading the rebellion against the Terran Empire, which included Sarek and Voq.

 Just hearing the mirror Voq speak was enough to trigger dormant and stagnant memories in Ash Tyler's mind.

This aided in awakening the truth in him that he was, in fact, Voq. Having certified  his Klingon personality, he physically attacked his counterpart, the mirror Voq but was defeated in combat.

Since Sarek confirmed, through the use of a mind meld, that Michael Burnham's motives were selfless and altruistic, she and Ash Tyler were allowed to return to the Shenzhou.

After they returned to Shenzhou, Micheal Burnham confronted him in her quarters and learned the truth of his Klingon origins.

 Ash Tyler then attacked her, with the aim to kill her but was hindered by the intervention of Saru. Facing execution for clearly endeavoring to kill the ship's captain, according to standard Empire orders, Ash Tyler was sentenced to be beamed into space.

 Micheal Burnham, took control of the transporter herself to confirm that he could be quickly beamed aboard the Discovery instead.

She had hidden stolen files about the USS Defiant on his person, which the Discovery crew planned to use to return to their universe.

Ash Tyler was then confined to the medical bay where Dr. Pollard and her medical staff examined and assessed him.

The results of their scans confirmed that he was Human, even with the sort of strength that he exhibited.

L'Rell disclosed that Voq was given Tyler's personality and memories in order to penetrate Starfleet as a spy.

Seeing Ash Tyler in pain, L'Rell decided to help him. She started to perform a treatment which eliminated Voq's personality completely and left Tyler's personality in control.

L'Rell commemorated Voq's passing with the traditional Klingon ritual.

 Upon his recovery and Discovery's return to their universe, Ash Tyler, with Voq's memories, told Saru how Voq had approved and decided to undergo the choH'a'.

 Despite this revelation, Tyler was accepted by his fellow crewmates such as Cadet Tilly and Lieutenant Detmer.

 After the conclusion of the war, Ash Tyler had decided his place was on the planet Qo'noS. He aided L'Rell in maintaining her hold on power. However, his human guise proved a political detriment.

L'Rell had initially safeguarded Tyler, but when Kol-Sha found out about the infant son of L'Rell and Voq, she decided then to fabricate the deaths of both the child and Ash Tyler/Voq.

 Ash Tyler and the baby were taken away from Qo'noS by Section 31; the baby was left to be raised anonymously by the monks of Boreth and Tyler was recruited by Section 31.