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Star Trek: Discovery's Lead Is Spock's Half-Sister

L

LordOfLore

Banned
Link.

The cast and creatives of Star Trek: Disocvery made a major announcement at today's Comic-Con International: San Diego panel.

At the panel, it was revealed that series lead Michael Burnham (played by Sonequa Martin-Green) is the half-sister of Mr. Spock from Star Trek: The Original series.

Burnham is the entirely human daughter of Amanda Grayson, Spock's human mother. She was raised on Vulcan by Grayson and Spock's father, Sarek, who acted as a surrogate father to Burnham after her birth-father died.

Fans may wonder why Spock never mentioned a sister before, and executive producer Alex Kurtzman is aware of this and says there's a reason for it. "We're aware. You'll see where it's going, but we are staying consistent with canon."
Click to expand...
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
Feels a little on the nose, but at the same time... it's one of those 'oh there's a secret sibling' twists that feels like it can make some sense? Like yeah, Spock's family tree is unusual, so a sibling by his mother's side is actually kind of neat in that regard. I imagine she was the um, unfavoured child though.

Edit: Oh shit I'd blocked out Star Trek V. Um, hopefully it won't be as bad as that...?
 
H

Hagi

Member
Seems a bit overwrought but whatever if they make it work kudos to them, I'll be watching the series anyway.
 
H

hobblygobbly

Member
So we know of his half-brother Sybok... but not his half-sister?

Yeah no.

"We're aware. You'll see where it's going, but we are staying consistent with canon."

This is just another way of saying "retcon". This has nothing to do with staying "consistent with canon" when you're interjecting made up shit into a prequel just because it has never been mentioned in the rest of the timeline.

The major issue is at what point in the timeline this is happening.

This is the exact issue I feared months ago when they announced it would be 10 years before TOS.

I would not be surprised if they bring in new alien races suddenly yet for some reason has never been known for the hundreds of years in the timeline the other shows take place in...

I'm still looking forward to the show, always have been and like the cast, but it's things like this + 10 years before TOS that's disappointing.
 
S

Sad Affleck

Member
I liked the trailer but this is bad news. Star Trek as a universe is much bigger than the characters of any series, you don't have to have everything revolve around members of the original cast like the Star Wars movies are doing with the Skywalkers. It's "magic blood" level of bad writing. Trekkies are used to following the adventures of different crews and people. This feels shoehorned in as a desperate attempt to have a connection with TOS or the movies.
 
S

Succinct Verbosity

Member
I don't know. Being the adopted sister of Spock may be a big issue for some, but ignoring all that having a human brought up in the deeply emotionless -or emotionally controlled- Vulcan system seems like it could be quite interesting.
 
H

hobblygobbly

Member
Succinct Verbosity said:
Yeah it's not like Spock has ever had a sibling he's never discussed before. Overreaction in this thread.
Click to expand...

Nope, the issue is at which point this is happening in the timeline to reveal. It's just a shitty interjection and this is the sort of thing that always happens with prequel-like entries and why they're shit. I don't see the reason why she has to be a half-sister of Spock, or even why Spock is of much relevance, but then again this is why I hate this 10 years of TOS timeline instead of just moving the timeline forward. There is no reason to go back in the timeline of Star Trek, I've never seen anyone that is interested in the franchise care about going back in the timeline. People want the timeline to advance and create new stories like the franchise has always done.

It's still a retcon when they interject it into essentially a prequel just because whether he has a sister or not has never explicitly been said throughout the franchise's history.
 
W

watershed

Banned
I don't like it when spin-offs feel they have to tie themselves to the main series in order to be interesting or have a sense of legitimacy. There is no good reason for Spock to have a half-sister but here we are anyways. Bad, pointless retcon.
 
E

eizarus

Banned
Wait is she called Michael in the show or is there a typo? (Never heard of Michael being used for a girl, is it usually Michaela?)
 
P

Prophaniti

Banned
What's up with Star trek relying on these same characters? Do they have no faith in the universe they created? Why keep all these tie ins and cameos and just desperate attempts at having a direct connection to characters who've already had their arcs?

Lord of the Rings does this to a lesser extent with all the licensed games.

I just don't understand it at all. It's a universe full of rad lore and rad shit. Let the old characters go.
 
N

nubbe

Member
two half-brothers actually

kHpbfuI.png
Click to expand...
 
S

Succinct Verbosity

Member
I mean, when Sarek was introduced didn't Kirk have to twist Spock's arm to even get him to acknowledge their relationship?

Spock seems to have issues disclosing all members of his family.
 
A

aadiboy

Member
Yeah, this seems...unnecessary. What is the point of making her related to Spock? It was already annoying that this was taking place right before TOS, and now they're adding this? Do they have no desire to bring something new to the table?
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
They could have made her brought up on vulcan without bringing in ~SPOCKS HALF SISTER!!! OMG!!!!

Succinct Verbosity said:
I don't know. Being the adopted sister of Spock may be a big issue for some, but ignoring all that having a human brought up in the deeply emotionless -or emotionally controlled- Vulcan system seems like it could be quite interesting.
Click to expand...

I mean, it should be easier for her then it is for a Vulcan. The whole reason Vulcans turned to logic was because their standard emotions were so passionate. We already had the "vulcans bullying" thing with Spock anyway.
 
F

FyreWulff

Member
eizarus said:
Wait is she called Michael in the show or is there a typo? (Never heard of Michael being used for a girl, is it usually Michaela?)
Click to expand...

I know women named Michael. My mom also had a female friend in school named Michael.

also the actress Michael Michele, who was named after her mom's female best friend who was also named Michael

it's my name too

it's Michaels all the way down
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
god, I'm tired of this half this, half that, seems so fucking cheap. Show some fucking balls and tread new territory, it was already a bad enough decision to set it in the past
 
M

mAcOdIn

Member
Spectone said:
What is the population of Vulcan? Why can't she be related to someone else.
Click to expand...
Eh.

From what we've seen of Vulcans on Federation ships I guess the better question is "what's the total amount of Vulcan families willing to serve on Federation ships?"

I don't care. I still think Trek canon sucks anyways. Now, I don't know that they'll do it any better here, Enterprise sure as hell didn't, but I'll give them a shot.
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
Ehhhh... A bit necessary, but not deal-breaker.

This move makes Sarek more personally invested into her life/career, which can raise tensions in the show a bit, which can be a good news.
 
C

Cipherr

Member
I love everything about the way it looks so far, but the response to this is: Why?


Is it really needed? The show is Star Trek, stuff like this seems like its begging the audience to believe that its REALLY Star Trek for no reason. Like.... we fucking get it dude. Chill. Such an unnecessary connection.
 
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