Honestly, if you watched the first season of Star Trek: Discovery as it aired, you probably remember the "Javid Iqbal" mystery. It was a whole thing. Fans were scouring IMDb, trying to figure out why this unknown actor playing a Klingon had zero credits and no headshot. The internet correctly guessed the twist weeks before the big reveal: Ash Tyler was actually the Klingon zealot Voq. But even with the cat out of the bag, the actual execution of that storyline remains one of the most polarizing, gruesome, and philosophically messy arcs in the history of the franchise.
It wasn't just a simple "spy in the midst" story. It was a full-body horror transformation.
The Brutal Reality of the choH'a'
We've seen Klingons disguise themselves as humans before—shoutout to Arne Darvin in the classic "The Trouble with Tribbles"—but Discovery took it to a level that makes The Wrath of Khan’s ear-slugs look like a spa treatment. Ash Tyler didn't just wear a mask. He was the result of the choH'a', a Klingon procedure that is basically extreme, agonizing reconstructive surgery on a genetic and cellular level.
L'Rell, the Klingon scientist and later Chancellor, essentially hollowed out Voq. They crushed his bones to fit a human frame. They shaved his fingerbones. They reduced his spinal cord. It’s some of the most visceral stuff Trek has ever put on screen.
But here is where it gets weirdly complicated. Ash Tyler wasn't a fake person. According to actor Shazad Latif, the Klingons used a real Starfleet officer—the actual Lieutenant Ash Tyler—who was captured at the Battle at the Binary Stars. They didn't just copy him; they harvested his DNA, his memories, and his consciousness to "overlay" them onto Voq's mangled body.
So, when we meet Ash Tyler in that Klingon prison cell with Harry Mudd, he isn't "pretending" to be human. He is Ash Tyler. He believes he has a mother in Seattle. He remembers Starfleet Academy. The Voq persona was buried so deep that it took specific Klingon triggers—mostly recited prayers from L'Rell—to wake the "sleeping giant" inside.
Why the Tyler/Burnham Romance Still Sparks Debate
The relationship between Michael Burnham and Ash Tyler is the heart of the first two seasons, but man, is it heavy. You've got two people bonding over shared trauma, only for one of them to realize his entire identity is a lie designed to kill the other.
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When the Voq personality finally snaps into place, it’s a disaster. He tries to kill Michael. He murders Dr. Hugh Culber in a hallway—a move that still stings for fans of the Stamets/Culber pairing. It was a brutal way to end the "honeymoon" phase of the show's central romance.
What’s fascinating is that even after L'Rell "fixed" him—using a second procedure to basically lobotomize the Voq personality and leave only Tyler behind—the trauma didn't go away. He was left as a man who was neither fully human nor fully Klingon. He had the memories of a Klingon warrior who loved L'Rell, but the heart and mind of a Starfleet officer who loved Burnham.
He was essentially a living ghost.
Section 31 and the Unfinished Story
By the time Season 2 rolled around, Tyler was an outcast. The Discovery crew didn't trust him (understandably, since he killed their doctor), and the Klingons saw him as a freak. This made him the perfect candidate for Section 31.
The black badges of the Federation's shadow ops were the only ones who could use a guy with his specific set of skills. His chemistry with Michelle Yeoh’s Mirror Georgiou was a highlight of that season. They were both outsiders—people who didn't "belong" in the Prime Universe's version of Starfleet.
When the USS Discovery jumped 930 years into the future at the end of Season 2, Tyler stayed behind. He was put in charge of rebuilding Section 31, ostensibly to turn it into something less... well, murdery.
But here is the kicker: we never really got to see the payoff.
For years, fans expected Shazad Latif to headline the Section 31 project alongside Michelle Yeoh. However, as the project shifted from a series to a standalone movie, Tyler was left out. Director Olatunde Osunsanmi recently mentioned that while they love Latif, the story they ended up telling simply didn't have room for him. It's a bummer for anyone who wanted to see how a "Human-Klingon-Sleeper-Agent" actually runs a spy agency.
Ash Tyler’s Legacy in the Star Trek Canon
Whether you loved the character or found the Voq twist too "grimdark," you can't deny that Ash Tyler pushed the boundaries of what Star Trek could be. He wasn't a clean-cut hero. He was a victim of war who became a weapon, and then had to try and find a soul in the wreckage.
He also gave us some of the best Klingon-centric world-building in decades. Through his eyes, we saw the religious fanaticism of the "Son of None" and the political minefield of Qo'noS.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Writers
- Revisit Season 1 with a "Sleeper" Lens: If you rewatch "Choose Your Pain" knowing Tyler is Voq, his reactions to L'Rell and his "PTSD" flashbacks take on a completely different, much darker meaning.
- The Identity Theme: Tyler represents the ultimate "Other." If you're interested in sci-fi tropes about identity, his arc is a masterclass in the "Ship of Theseus" paradox—if you replace every part of a person, are they still the same person?
- Section 31 Lore: While Tyler doesn't appear in the Section 31 film, his leadership in the 23rd century is still technically canon. It explains why the organization became so deeply entrenched in the era of The Original Series.
Ash Tyler remains a haunting reminder that in the world of Star Trek, the final frontier isn't just space—it's the internal map of who we are when everything else is stripped away. We might not see him on screen again soon, but the shadow he left on the Discovery bridge is permanent.