7 Biggest Star Trek Secrets Spock Kept

Star Trek‘s Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) kept a surprising number of secrets over the course of his long life. In Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock volunteered very few details about his own life, and the crew of the Starship Enterprise rarely pried into the Vulcan’s private affairs. Those who did ask generally received sideways answers or a raised eyebrow that said enough. Instead, Spock only disclosed personal information if it was relevant to the Enterprise’s current missions, if people from Spock’s past came back into his life as a plot point, if it was a matter of life and death — or, in at least one case, all three.

The inclusion of Ethan Peck’s younger Lieutenant Spock in the streaming era of Star Trek, starting in Star Trek: Discovery season 2, and continuing in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, all but assured that more new stories featuring Spock would translate into more secrets for Spock to keep in order to maintain continuity with Star Trek: The Original Series. Obviously, the things that were invented for new shows couldn’t be referenced in Star Trek: The Original Series, so there had to be reasons that Spock never spoke again about meetings with new characters, insights into the future, and even some of Spock’s own relationships. Fortunately, Mr. Spock has always been relatively tight-lipped.

7

Commander Una Chin-Riley Is A Fan Of Gilbert & Sullivan

Spock kept Number One’s love of old musicals a secret until her hearing.

Admittedly, it’s not one of Star Trek‘s biggest secrets, but by keeping Number One’s secret love of theater to himself, Lt. Spock proves his trustworthiness to Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) and Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Spock keeps this tidbit of personal information about Number One locked tight until Una’s hearing in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 2, “Ad Astra Per Aspera”, when Spock is asked if he ever believed that Una was hiding something. Lieutenant Spock is beholden to the truth, so he must answer in the affirmative: Commander Chin-Riley is hiding the fact that she loves old musicals.

In Star Trek: Short Treks season 2, episode 1, “Q&A”, Commander Una Chin-Riley encourages a fresh-faced young Ensign Spock to ask questions to the point of being obnoxious. Spock takes that advice to heart when he finds himself trapped in a turbolift with Number One shortly thereafter. While Spock’s questions steer clear of digging for personal information about Una herself, the time in the turbolift drags on, and Number One willingly confesses her love for Gilbert & Sullivan musicals with a rendition of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General”, which Spock is ordered to forget.

6

Captain Pike Will Suffer A Tragic Accident

Spock kept his knowledge of Pike’s future in a wheelchair a secret.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 2, episode 8, “If Memory Serves”, Captain Christopher Pike encounters a Klingon time crystal in the temple on the planet Boreth, and learns of the horrifying future that awaits him after Pike saves Starfleet Cadets during a terrible accident. Pike’s knowledge of his future becomes a major theme in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, as Chris ruminates on whether his fate is actually sealed or if it can be changed.

Rather than bear the burden of this knowledge alone, Captain Pike decides to tell Commander Una Chin-Riley and Lieutenant Spock about the vision of Pike’s future in a wheelchair that the time crystal revealed in the Klingon Temple. It’s a risk, but Pike trusts both Spock and Number One to keep the secret of Pike’s future, so they can help Pike navigate the present.

5

Spock Met Star Trek: Lower Decks Ensigns Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler

Spock kept meeting the 24th-century ensigns from Star Trek: Lower Decks a secret.

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2’s crossover episode, “Those Old Scientists”, the USS Enterprise crew under Captain Pike come face to face with Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ 24th-century Ensigns Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome). After Mariner and Boimler accidentally activate a time portal that takes them into the 23rd century, both Starfleet Officers end up on the 23rd-century Starship Enterprise. What could have been a temporal catastrophe is, thankfully, avoided.

Of course, Boimler can’t help being excited about working with Spock, one of his personal heroes, and Mariner says young Spock is hot with a certain amount of surprise, implying that Spock’s legacy lasts well into the future. Although the Temporal Prime Directive hasn’t been invented yet, Spock knows that he’ll have to keep anything that Mariner and Boimler say about the future a secret, and won’t even be able to speak of the meeting after they return to their own time.

4

Spock Knows About Talos IV

Spock risks his career to give Captain Pike peace on Talos IV.

In Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episodes 10 & 11, “The Menagerie”, Spock comes under fire for violating Starfleet’s General Order 7, which states, “No vessel under any condition, emergency or otherwise, is to visit Talos IV.” Spock is one of the few officers to have actually been to Talos IV before its very existence was classified as Top Secret, and the ban on landing there was established, having previously visited Talos IV with Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) and the USS Enterprise. In keeping with the spirit of General Order 7, and to disavow anyone but himself from coming under scrutiny for violating it, Spock remains tight-lipped about what is actually on Talos IV, and why Spock must take Captain Pike there after Pike’s disfiguring accident.

Spock’s motive for committing mutiny by taking Fleet Captain Pike (Sean Kenney) to Talos IV is sound, however. The Talosians’ are powerful psychics who would allow Christopher Pike to live the rest of his days peacefully in an illusion instead of in agony after his accident. Because Spock also knew that Captain Pike’s accident would happen, it’s likely Spock had the return trip to Talos IV already planned well before the accident actually occurred.

3

Star Trek: Discovery’s Michael Burnham Is Spock’s Adopted Sister

Spock kept the USS Discovery’s fate a secret after Star Trek: Discovery season 2.

Star Trek: Discovery reveals that Spock’s adoptive sister, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), comes to live with Spock’s family on Vulcan after Michael’s scientist parents were killed by Klingons. Although Spock is originally skeptical of Michael’s presence in his family’s home, Spock and Michael eventually come to regard each other as siblings, thanks in part to the intervention of Spock’s human mother, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner).

Spock’s visions of a lifeless future play a crucial role in Star Trek: Discovery season 2’s Red Angel mystery, which reunites Spock with Michael after years apart. In the final battle against Section 31’s threat assessment AI, Control, the USS Discovery leaps forward in time, so Discovery’s crew, including Michael Burnham, are officially declared dead. All information about Discovery is classified by Starfleet, ensuring that Spock would have to keep Michael Burnham a secret after Star Trek: Discovery season 2.

2

Spock Has A Vulcan Fiancée, T’Pring

Spock kept T’Pring a secret from Kirk’s Enterprise until “Amok Time”.

One of Spock’s closely-guarded secrets is revealed early in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 1, “Amok Time”, when Spock’s mysterious illness turns out to be pon farr, the onset of the 7-year Vulcan mating cycle. The existence of pon farr isn’t widely known at this point, which is how Spock would prefer it, but Spock also knows that he must redirect the Enterprise to Vulcan in order to cure this ailment, so Spock has to come clean about another secret: Spock has a wife, T’Pring (Arlene Martel), who lives on Vulcan.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds explores Lieutenant Spock’s doomed relationship with T’Pring (Gia Sandhu) before TOS. Thus far, Strange New Worlds takes care to preserve the fact that most of the officers serving on Captain James T. Kirk’s (William Shatner) USS Enterprise, including Kirk himself, don’t know that T’Pring exists in Star Trek: The Original Series.

1

Spock Has A Rogue Half-Brother, Sybok

Spock kept Sybok a secret until Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the USS Enterprise is pulled out of drydock to pursue a renegade Vulcan who has kidnapped ambassadors on Nimbus III, and the target of the chase turns out to be Spock’s half-brother, Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill). With Sybok’s existence now relevant to the current mission, Spock is a little more forthcoming with information about his previously unmentioned sibling, who rejects the traditional, logical teachings of Surak in favor of unbridled emotion. Spock’s half-brother Sybok was disowned by their father, Sarek, for his dangerous philosophy, and Spock was instructed to do the same. Because Sybok had no place in Spock’s family due to his beliefs, it makes perfect sense for Spock to keep the secret that he even had a brother in the first place.

As a private person by nature, Spock is predisposed towards keeping his personal life secret to focus on the matters at hand, from missions to cultivating more current friendships. Spock’s exemplary record as a Starfleet officer also demonstrates that Spock will abide by orders from superior officers to keep their personal secrets, as well as secrets that are necessary to ensure the safety of the timeline. Between Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Mr. Spock shows that he can be trusted with Star Trek‘s important secrets, regardless of the reason for keeping them.

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is streaming on Max.