Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Finale - "Hegemony"

Summary

  • "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds retcons canon by featuring Lt. Spock battling a Gorn 7 years before Kirk's iconic fight in TOS."
  • "In the finale, Spock and Nurse Chapel face a Gorn on a planet, surviving through teamwork and defeating the reptile."
  • "Spock's knowledge of the Gorn wasn't shared with Kirk in TOS due to the circumstances set by the Metron, but he likely shared it later."

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 has retconned canon so that Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) battled a Gorn 7 years before Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) famous fight with a Gorn in Star Trek: The Original Series. Kirk's combat versus the Gorn in the TOS season 1 episode, "Arena," is legendary, as it was the first appearance of the fearsome humanoid reptiles in Star Trek. However, Strange New Worlds has turned the Gorn into the show's primary alien adversary, and Spock is just one of Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) USS Enterprise crew who have had terrifying Gorn encounters.

In Strange New Worlds season 2's finale, Pike's Enterprise responds to a distress call from Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scorfano). Batel's starship, the USS Cayuga, was destroyed by the Gorn, and the reptiles invaded the colony world of Parnassus Beta. When Pike's landing party is trapped on the planet, Lt. Spock takes on a dangerous mission to propel the Cayuga's derelict saucer section down to Parnassus Beta to destroy a Gorn interference field preventing communications and transporter signals. But Spock also found a fully adult Gorn in the wreckage of the Cayuga's bridge, and the Vulcan faced the massive lizard with the help of Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush).

Strange New Worlds' Spock & Chapel Gorn Fight Has Differences To Star Trek: TOS' Kirk Vs. Gorn

Spock Gorn Tail

Spock and Chapel facing the Gorn in Strange New Worlds canonically happens in 2260, 7 years before Kirk's battle with the Gorn in Star Trek: The Original Series' "Arena," which happens in 2267. Spock and Chapel's conflict with the Gorn is also under wildly different circumstances. Spock was surprised by a Gorn hiding in the Cayuga's wreckage, just as the Vulcan didn't expect Nurse Chapel to be alive to help him. The Gorn and Spock tangled wearing space suits in zero-G, and the Vulcan almost died had Chapel not fired upon the Gorn. This gave Spock the chance to crack the Gorn's face shield, and the reptile died from exposure in the vacuum of space. It was a team effort for Spock and Chapel to survive the Gorn.

In contrast, Captain Kirk was whisked away from the Enterprise to the desert planet Cestus III by the godlike Metron. There, Kirk was forced to face a Gorn Captain in a battle of wits, with the first to form a crude cannon out of the planet's minerals was the victor. Kirk found himself physically outmatched, but the Captain of the Enterprise managed to cobble together his weapon and incapacitate the Gorn. Yet Kirk chose not to kill his enemy, which impressed the Metron. In a life-or-death struggle with the Gorn, Captain Kirk chose life and proved humanity's great potential to the Metron.

Why Spock Didn’t Help Kirk Against The Gorn In TOS

Spock Enterprise Bridge Arena

Following ' Gorn retcons, it turns out Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and other Enterprise crew like Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Scotty (James Doohan) knew a lot more about the Gorn than Captain Kirk did thanks to their previous battles with the reptiles years prior. Yet the circumstances established in Star Trek: TOS' "Arena" actually prevent breaches in canon. When "Arena" begins, Kirk and Spock don't know the identity of the aliens who annihilated the Starfleet base on Cestus III. It's not until the Metron interfere and magically send Kirk back to Cestus III that they learn they are facing the Gorn.

At that point in "Arena," the Metron prevented Kirk from communicating with the Enterprise, and he was on his own against the Gorn. Thus, Spock couldn't advise his Captain against the alien reptile. It's best to view Spock and the Enterprise bridge crew as so concerned with Kirk's safety that they didn't share their knowledge of the Gorn with Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), either. After a triumphant Kirk is returned to the Enterprise, perhaps then Spock shared the story of his own victory against the Gorn in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's finale.

All episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 are streaming on Paramount+.