It’s confirmed by Number One (Rebecca-Romijn) during her initial briefing in this week’s episode that it’s been five years since the mission to Rigel VII. If we’ve got our star dates in check, this means we still have another eight years to go before Pike’s inevitable defeat with some delta rays in “Star Trek: TOS” (Season 1, Episode 16 “The Menagerie Part I”). That’s a long time before his fateful heroic act for more significant encounters to occur. Ones that could vary between another reunion with his forgotten yeoman and more time to bond with Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck).
While Pike expresses his sorrow for his forgotten yeoman, Nguyen, he does acknowledge that it doesn’t condone his former shipmates’ actions and that Starfleet will decide on Zack’s future. What that could be is anyone’s guess, but it’d be interesting to see if the inevitably disgraced officer returns somewhere down the line. Doing so could highlight a pivotal part of Pike’s past just as it did with his future and, in turn, lead to the inevitable friendship that Pike builds with Spock that canonically was held as highly by the Vulcan as was his eventual bond with Kirk. We’ll be sure to keep our channels open as “Strange New Worlds” continue to deliver the goods next week.
