Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series)

The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry (2017)

Jason Isaacs: Captain Gabriel Lorca

Photos 

Quotes 

• Captain Gabriel Lorca : [answering a hail]  Admiral Cornwell.

  Admiral Cornwell : I didn't realize you were eating, Captain.

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : Excuse the breach of protocol.

  Admiral Cornwell : We just received a distress signal from the planetoid Corvan 2, a mining colony...

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : Near the Aneto system. I know it.

  Admiral Cornwell : Sending it through now.

  [the message plays] 

  Admiral Cornwell : Corvan 2 generates 40% of the Federation's dilithium.

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : The pipeline's cut off, that's half the fleet grounded.

  Admiral Cornwell : Klingons ambushed the blockade that was protecting the colony, and now, the closest Federation ship is 84 hours away. Yours is the only ship in the fleet with a chance of getting there on time. Is the Discovery read to jump?

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : I told you we'd be ready when you called, and we are. The Discovery's made dozens of small jumps with no issues. We can make it the full distance.

  Admiral Cornwell : You have no doubts?

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : None.

  Paul Stamets : [cut to Engineering]  There is no way in hell we'll be ready to jump that far.

• Captain Gabriel Lorca : How's the patient, Dr. Culber?

  Dr. Hugh Culber : Well, I took care of the skull fractures first. Another millimeter, and the palatine bone would've pierced his cortex.

  Paul Stamets : The frontal lobe is overrated. It only contains memory and emotional expression. It's completely unnecessary.

  Dr. Hugh Culber : Well, I'll save it. You know, just in case you might wanna have a feeling one day.

• Captain Gabriel Lorca : [ending a training simulation]  We're all dead.

  [sarcastic clapping] 

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : Very nice. Very polite. Now, Discovery is now the only Starfleet ship with a displacement-activated spore drive, which means, when it's up and running, we will be able to materialize anywhere in the known universe. Behind enemy lines. Above the Klingon homeworld. Anywhere. But we will be alone. We will not have backup. There is just us, and we get one chance to get it right.

  Commander Landry : We'll do better next time, sir.

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : It will be hard to do worse.

• Captain Gabriel Lorca : We're the tip of the spear in a science vessel filled with wide-eyed explorers. You know what they need us to do, don't you?

  Michael Burnham : They need us to win.

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : They need us to survive, Burnham. Want to know how you're gonna help me do that?

  Michael Burnham : I'm happy to assist Lieutenant Staments with the refinement of the spore drive.

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : Said the xenoanthropologist.

  Michael Burnham : I also studied quantum mechanics at the Vulcan Science Academy, sir.

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : I know, but I'm gonna put you to better use.

• Michael Burnham : These are some of the deadliest weapons in the galaxy.

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : I study war. And this is where I hone my craft. I try to learn from the best. Here. Now, this I think you'll find uniquely interesting. You've met once before.

  [the creature from the USS Glenn approaches and is zapped by the containment field] 

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : It has a natural aversion to light. Same as me.

  Michael Burnham : Why would you keep something so dangerous on board your own ship?

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : That thing killed a dozen Klingons on the Glenn, and there's not a scratch on it from their bat'leths. If we're gonna win this thing, if we're gonna have a chance of saving the Federation and everyone in it, we need the best weapons available. So, what material is in a claw that can shred the hull of a ship? What's a hide made of that can withstand the firepower of a phaser set to kill? I need you to find out... and weaponize it.

• Keyla Detmer : [as the ship hurls toward the planet]  Collision is imminent!

  Captain Gabriel Lorca : [authoritatively]  Collision is not an option.