'Star Trek Discovery' Season 3 Episode 7 Preview: What legacy have Spock and Picard left for Michael Burnham?
Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and her brother Spock (Ethan Peck/Leonard Nimoy) were never the closest of siblings, but they do share a unique bond of Vulcan heritage. Both were raised by Sarek (Mark Lenard/James Frain), making them complicated siblings of sorts, but only one of them made their way to the 32nd Century and Burnham is about to find out just what kind of legacy her brother has left behind.
Following the events of the original 'Star Trek' series, Spock made it his life's work to seek unification between the emotionless Vulcans and the passionate, world-conquering Romulans. His dedication to this cause was first seen in the classic 'The Next Generation' two-part episode, 'Unification,' which featured the first time Spock had appeared on the show. Spock remained with the Romulans well up to the point where the planet was destroyed - an event that set several things in motion, such as the alternate timeline that the rebooted films were a part of, as well as the events of the recent 'Picard' series.
The destruction of the Romulan planet would have put a major dent in any plans for reunification, although if Spock had remained, he might have convinced his Vulcan people that helping the Romulans was the best bet for both races. However, since those events, 900 years have passed and though we've seen various species intact in the future, we've yet to see either Vulcans or Romulans. Did Spock manage to convince the two races to unite, centuries later? Or have the two races diverged even further and are now isolated from each other thanks to the Burn?
The next episode, entitled 'Unification III', teases an answer to the question of Vulcan-Romulan peace, but based on how the past few episodes of 'Discovery' have been going, it may be up to Burnham and her crew to bring the peace talks over the finish line. The USS Discovery has certainly been making game-changing waves in the future. Burnham might just be the one to finish the job her brother gave his life to, centuries in the past.
You can watch a preview for the episode below.
This episode of 'Star Trek: Discovery' airs on November 25, on CBS All Access.