The tragic future awaiting Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) is central to Star Trek: The Original Series.
Pike saw his own future thanks to a Klingon time crystal. When Strange New Worlds season 1 begins months after the USS Enterprise helped the USS Discovery save the galaxy and permanently time travel 930 years into the future, Pike took a leave of absence to cope with his trauma. Chris contemplated quitting Starfleet, thereby avoiding his catastrophic future, but he returned to the Enterprise's Captain's chair. As Strange New Worlds season 1 continued, many more details were revealed about the tragedy awaiting Captain Pike in 2266.
6 Pike Knows The Full Details Of His Future Accident
Strange New Worlds expanded upon the vision Pike saw of his future on Boreth, and although what Pike saw appeared to be just a glimpse to viewers, Chris actually experienced the full horror of the accident awaiting him. In fact, Pike knows the exact date and time of the accident as well as the names of all of the Starfleet Cadets he saves (and those he fails to save) when the battle plates rupture aboard a J-class freighter during a training exercise. Naturally, Pike remains haunted by the sight of himself deformed and cursed to be trapped in a wheelchair that can only blink a light once to say 'yes' and twice for 'no.'
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4 Who Pike Saves In The Future (& Who Dies)
The names of the Starfleet Cadets Pike saves are Dusty Swender, T'quiel Dawn, Muliq Al Alcazar, Yuuto Hoshide, and Andrea Lopez. All of them are citizens of the United Federation of Planets who are about 9-10 years old during Strange New Worlds season 1. In "A Quality of Mercy," Strange New Worlds season 1's finale, Pike meets Maat Al-Salah (Chris River), who is one of the Cadets who dies in the accident (there are two Pike is unable to save).
Maat is the son of Commander Hansen Al-Salah (Ali Hassan), the head of Earth Outpost 4 guarding the Romulan Neutral Zone. Pike decides he must warn Maat of the tragedy that will befall him until Chris learns that doing so would create a future timeline that would plunge the galaxy into a devastating generational war with the Romulans. Adding to Pike's burden is the knowledge that he cannot save the two Cadets who are doomed along with himself.
3 Pike Told People He Trusts About His Future
Crucially for Pike's mental health, he didn't keep the knowledge of his future to himself. Chris wisely sought the counsel of those closest to him who he trusts, and he confided in his Number One, Lt. Commander Una-Chin Riley (Rebecca Romijn) and Spock (Ethan Peck). Una doesn't believe Pike is doomed to walk this straight line toward his tragedy, and she suggested the Klingon time crystal gave him the vision so that he can change his fate. Pike questioning if Una could be right paid off in "A Quality of Mercy."
Along with Spock and Number One, Pike also told Alora (Lindy Booth) about his destiny. Alora was his former lover who reunited with him in Strange New Worlds episode 6, "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach," and he is the Minister of Majalis, a technologically advanced non-Federation world. Alora suggested Majalis as the medical technology to heal Pike from his future injuries, but Chris won't accept their help after he discovers their society is based upon murdering children. Curiously, Pike has chosen not to confide in his girlfriend, Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano), or in iral Robert April (Adrian Holmes), his old friend and former commanding officer, for reasons yet unknown.
2 Can Pike Change His Future (& What Happens If He Does)
When Captain Pike attempted to warn Maat Al-Salah that he is doomed to die in 2266, a visit from iral Pike thanks to another Klingon time crystal answered Chris' question of what happens if he tries to change his fate and evades the accident: Pike would remain Captain of the Enterprise, and he would be the one facing the cloaked Romulan Bird-of-Prey in the Star Trek: TOS episode, "Balance of Terror." Although Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) of the USS Farragut would be there to help, Pike would sue for peace with the Romulans as opposed to Kirk (William Shatner) destroying the Bird-of-Prey in TOS. This would lead to the Romulan Praetor declaring war on the Federation, and their conflict would last decades and kill millions.
Worse, Pike learns that his fate is immutable; if Chris doesn't live through his delta ray accident, the tragedy will transfer to Spock. The Vulcan First Officer will be severely wounded at the hands of the Romulans in the alternate future. This, in turn, will negatively alter the fate of the galaxy because of what Spock is destined to accomplish, which includes sparking the Vulcan and Romulan unification in the 24th century. Pike decided he can't in good conscience condemn Spock in his place.
1 What Pike Will Do Next In Strange New Worlds Season 2
By the end of Strange New Worlds season 1, Captain Pike has reconciled himself to his tragic destiny, and he chose to make the best use of the years he has left. Pike "accepted his fate," and although it will remain a Sword of Damocles hanging over him, perhaps Chris won't be so haunted by his future in Strange New Worlds season 2. "A Quality of Mercy" inspired Pike to consider James T. Kirk as his potential replacement as Captain of the Enterprise. Kirk is a Lieutenant aboard the USS Farragut in 2259, and Pike is likely to groom him to command his ship in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2. For Captain Pike, the future is set and unavoidable, but he can give the Starship Enterprise the next Captain it's destined to have.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 premieres in 2023 on Paramount+.