J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) fixed one of the saddest aspects of Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) life in Star Trek‘s Prime Timeline. Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto) lives a different life in the alternate Kelvin Timeline than the Prime universe’s Ambᴀssador Spock, who he met at the end of Star Trek (2009). Quinto’s Spock suffered an unimaginable loss when the villainous Romulan time traveler, Nero (Eric Bana), blew up Vulcan. Yet Quinto’s Spock also seemingly doesn’t share one lifelong regret of Nimoy’s Vulcan.
Spock is the son of Ambᴀssador Sarek, played by Mark Lenard in Star Trek’s Prime Timeline and Ben Cross in J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin Timeline. Star Trek: The Original Series revealed that Spock and Sarek were estranged for 20 years because of the son’s decision to join Starfleet instead of the Vulcan Science Academy. Star Trek: Discovery retconned Spock’s family, adding Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) as Sarek’s human foster daughter. Burnham and Sarek were revealed to have a closer relationship than Spock and his father ever did.
J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Fixed Spock’s Estrangement From His Father, Sarek
Spock & Sarek Have A Different Relationship In The Kelvin Timeline
Fascinatingly, Spock and Sarek don’t seem to share the broken relationship in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek as the two Vulcans have in the Prime universe. Early in Star Trek (2009), Sarek counsels a young Spock (Jacob Kogan), who is ostracized and bullied by his peers for being half-human. Sarek understood that his decision to marry a human, Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder), resulted in Spock’s dilemma. Yet Sarek told Spock, “You are fully capable of deciding your own destiny.”
When the adult Spock informs the Vulcan Science Council that he has chosen to join Starfleet, Sarek glares at his son. Yet there is no indication in Star Trek (2009) that Sarek gives Spock the cold shoulder over his decision. Sarek and Spock don’t have many scenes together in Star Trek (2009), which focuses instead on Spock’s friendship with Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), and romance with Lt. Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana), but Sarek doesn’t seem to hold Spock’s Starfleet career against him.
Amanda’s death and Vulcan’s destruction seem to be the Kelvin Timeline’s subsтιтution for Spock having a broken relationship with Sarek in Star Trek’s Prime Timeline.
The tragic death of Amanda Grayson in Star Trek (2009) is also another huge difference in the lives of Zachary Quinto’s Spock and his Prime timeline counterpart. Leonard Nimoy’s Spock didn’t lose his mother or his home world. Amanda’s death and Vulcan’s destruction seem to be the Kelvin Timeline’s subsтιтution for Spock having a broken relationship with Sarek in Star Trek‘s Prime Timeline.
What Happened To Spock & Sarek’s Relationship In Star Trek’s Prime Timeline
Sarek & Spock Were, Sadly, Never Close
After Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock and Sarek came to an accord, although they still never became particularly close. In his later years, Spock stepped away from Starfleet and followed in Sarek’s footsteps as an Ambᴀssador to the United Federation of Planets. Meanwhile, the aging Sarek’s health decreased. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Sarek died of Bendii Syndrome while Spock was on Romulus working toward unification with the Vulcan people.
However, Sarek mind-melded with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) before his death. When Picard met Spock later in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Spock mind-melded with the Captain of the Enterprise and felt the deep affection Sarek had for him but didn’t show. J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness and Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond don’t shed any more light on Spock and Sarek’s relationship, but they evidently lack the same animosity between father and son in Star Trek‘s Prime timeline.
