10 Crazy Ideas For Seasons 4 & 5 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
3. Pike's Fate Is Changed
This one is probably going to tease viewers right up to the final reel of Strange New Worlds' final episode. We know that Kirk will command the Enterprise, but what we don't know is exactly how that's going to come to pass. Is he a sudden replacement for a critically injured Pike, or will he take the big chair another way, circumstances be damned?
Star Trek: Discovery established that Pike was aware of the accident that would cripple him, effectively choosing to ensure this fate so as to protect all life in the galaxy. That is a noble path, though Strange New Worlds then teased that it may not, in fact, be so certain. A Quality Of Mercy offered a look at a timeline ruined by his changed fate, though, now armed with that knowledge, Pike has been given another opportunity to change things.
The Menagerie depicts Pike being kidnapped by Spock and forcibly brought back to Talos IV, living out the rest of his days with Vina. Vina herself appeared in If Memory Serves, now played by Melissa George, originally played by Susan Oliver. While Pike's relationship with Batel has ended, statue appreciation notwithstanding, the showrunners of Strange New Worlds have suggested that they may not be following the original path.
In saying that, there is wiggle room here. If Pike's accident is a fixed point in time, the outcome may not need to be. We, the audience, have seen him return to Talos IV, though the Enterprise then zooms away. With a canvas that blank, the future may look a little rosier for Pike than one might originally assume.