I'd forgotten that someone in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds learned about Lieutenant Spock's (Ethan Peck) biggest secret in season 1. The highly anticipated Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 premieres July 17 on Paramount+. The next ten genre-bending voyages of the USS Enterprise commanded by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) promise adventure, romance, and mystery, but could Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 also address a significant moment for Spock from season 1?
Even in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' prequel era, Lieutenant Spock is a keeper of secrets. Almost no one aboard the Starship Enterprise knows Spock has an older brother, Sybok, who is a prisoner of a Vulcan rehabilitation center overseen by Spock's ex-fiancée, T'Pring (Gia Sandhu). Spock also doesn't speak to his father, Ambassador Sarek (James Frain), after their falling out.
However, the biggest secret Spock carries involves the truth about what happened to his adopted sister, Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, which Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) discovered.
I Forgot La’an Found Out About Spock’s Sister In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
La'an Has Kept Spock's Secret Ever Since
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 4, "Memento Mori," is one of the crucial episodes needed to understand Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh, but it's also when La'an learned Spock has a sister. During a crisis against the Gorn, Spock mind-melded with La'an to comb through her memories of her abduction by the alien reptiles as a child. However, Vulcan mind-melds are a two-way street, and La'an subsequently found out about Spock's secret sister.
How much La'an learned about Michael Burnham, or even anything beyond Spock having a sister he never speaks of, isn't clear. Yet La'an's discovery of Michael Burnham could have provoked the USS Enterprise's Security Chief to investigate Burnham further. La'an would have learned what Starfleet believes: that Michael Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery died when the starship was destroyed in 2258. The truth, however, was redacted by Spock to protect his sister and the galaxy.
Why Spock Is Keeping Michael Burnham A Secret From Starfleet
Does Michael Burnham's Secret Matter Anymore?
Star Trek: Discovery season 2 ended with Commander Michael Burnham donning the Red Angel time suit and leading the USS Discovery on a one-way trip 930 years into the future. Burnham and Discovery's time jump was necessary to protect the galaxy from Control, Section 31's threat assessment A.I. from becoming sentient and genocidal. The USS Discovery's computer interfaced with the Sphere, which contained 100,000 years of galactic data. Control merging with the Sphere Data would turn it malevolent.
Michael Burnham is believed dead, and the USS Discovery is destroyed.
Of course, the real-world reason for Spock keeping his sister a secret is also to protect Star Trek canon, as Star Trek: Discovery's original 23rd-century setting made its innovations like the USS Discovery's spore displacement hub drive impossible to reconcile with known Star Trek history. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Michael Burnham is believed dead, and the USS Discovery is destroyed. Only a select few, like Spock's parents, Captain Pike, and now, La'an, know Spock even had a sister.
What La’an Knowing Spock’s Secret Means For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
La'an & Spock Have Kirk In Common
