Star Trek Just Made A Captain Kirk & Pike Original Series Moment Impossible

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds just further complicated Star Trek canon regarding Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). James Kirk has been mostly absent from Strange New Worlds season 3, but he makes a triumphant return in episode 6, "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail," which was brilliantly directed by Valerie Weiss.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 6 opens with a personal log from James Kirk, who laments the monotony of the USS Farragut's current planetary survey mission. Kirk soon gets his wish for more excitement when an explosion on the nearby planet cripples the Farragut, severely injuring Captain V’Rel (Zoe Doyle). As First Officer, Kirk must then take on the role of acting captain.

The USS Enterprise soon arrives to offer assistance, but Kirk struggles with the realities of command. At the end of the episode, Captain Pike sits down with Kirk to offer advice in a great scene that nevertheless contradicts Captain Kirk's (William Shatner) claim in Star Trek: The Original Series' "The Menagerie" that he had only met Pike when he was promoted to Fleet Captain.

Star Trek: The Original Series’ Kirk & Pike Moment Is Now Impossible After Strange New Worlds

Kirk Already Knows Pike Better Than He Claimed On TOS

In "The Menagerie," Captain Kirk appears to view Pike as little more than a passing acquaintance. Kirk is, of course, aware of Pike's accomplishments as captain of the Enterprise, but he was unaware of Pike's tragic accident, even though it had happened months previously.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 had already complicated Kirk's statement that he barely knew Pike, but their scenes together in "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail" make the discrepancy even more obvious. After Kirk and his crew successfully destroy the Scavenger Ship that damaged the Farragut, they learn that the crew was made up of humans descended from Earth astronauts.

This devastating reveal shakes Kirk, who admits that he didn't see the Scavengers as people until it was too late. In the episode's final scene, Pike checks in with Kirk, offering advice about command and the impossible decisions that captains sometimes have to make. Based on this scene alone, Kirk and Pike clearly have more history than was implied in TOS, and they already appear to trust and respect one another.

Why Strange New Worlds’ Kirk & Pike Relationship Retcon Is Better Than What TOS Showed

Strange New Worlds Adds Necessary Depth To Pike & Kirk's Dynamic

While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has altered official Star Trek canon on more than one occasion, many of those changes have been for the better. The television landscape of the 1960s was very different from that of today, and Star Trek: The Original Series was not overly concerned with building a canon that would hold up for decades to come.

Realistically, it makes more sense that James Kirk would know Captain Pike fairly well, especially considering he kept many of the same crew members in his Enterprise crew. "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail" explores Captain Kirk's still-developing command style, and it seems fitting that he would look to Pike as a mentor.

As a young officer who will one day command the Enterprise, it makes sense that Kirk would seek advice from Pike, and that Pike would want to know the man who takes over his ship. Kirk will eventually develop a command style much different from Pike's, but Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already made the dynamic between the two Enterprise captains much more interesting than it was on Star Trek: The Original Series.