Soval of Vulcan was the Vulcan Ambassador to United Earth from the 2130 to 2154, and then from 2154 to at least early 2155, and had been the Vulcan ambassador to Earth's nations from the 2120s to 2130. Soval was a controversial figure who began his career favoring restricting Humans' attempts to explore space until they "ready," though his position changed in later years.
Early Career
In the 2050s, Soval enrolled at Vulcan Ministry of Security and was made a low-level intelligence operative. One of his first missions was to accompany a Vulcan occupation force to the planetoid Paan Mokar, in an attempt to remove forces of the Andorian Empire from the surface. (ENT episode: "Cease Fire").
Diplomacy and United Earth Politics
By the early 2100s, Soval had ended his career as an intelligence operative and instead began to take an interest in peace and diplomacy. By the early 2120s, Soval was assigned by the Vulcan High Command as the Vulcan ambassador|Ambassador to Earth's nations, based at the Vulcan Compound in Sausalito; with the establishment of United Earth in 2130, Soval became the Vulcan Ambassador to United Earth. Soval often urged caution at the rate of Human advancement into the cosmos, and often took steps to impede the progress of the Warp 5 Project under the direction of Henry Archer. As the official representative of the Confederacy of Vulcan, Soval held strong influence over the government of United Earth; indeed, many came to regard him and other Vulcans as the "powers behind the throne," with United Earth seen as having a puppet government. In particular, Soval's attempts to impede the advancement of the Warp 5 Project caused resentment between Soval and Archer's son, United Earth Starfleet officer Jonathan. (ENT episodes: "Awakening," "Broken Bow," "Terra Prime.") Unbeknownst to the world at large, however, Soval had privately begun to soften his previously hard-line views towards Human development, developing a great deal of affection and admiration for Human progress. Nonetheless, he continued to effectively represent the High Command's rather high-handed policies towards Earth, which reflected its general foreign policy. (ENT episode: "Awakening.")
Enterprise NX-01
Ambassador Soval in 2151.
Following the crash-landing of a Klingon shuttlecraft in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, Soval suggested that the United Earth Starfleet postpone the launch of Enterprise (NX-01), Earth's first Warp 5-capable starship, until the situation with the Klingon Empire could be resolved. However, UES Captain Jonathan Archer managed to convince his superiors, Admiral Maxwell Forrest and Commander Williams, to allow Enterprise to return Klaang to his homeworld. Soval then used his considerable influence to have his aide, T'Pol, stationed aboard Enterprise as science officer as a condition of the UE Starfleet's use of Vulcan starcharts; many regarded it as an attempt to spy upon Human progress or to retain control of their actions. T'Pol later chose to become a permanent member of the crew with the consent of Captain Archer, the United Earth Starfleet Command, and the Vulcan High Command. (ENT episode: "Broken Bow").
In February 2152, Enterprise was accused of destroying the Paraagan colony and its mission was canceled. Soval suggested that the complete Human space exploration program be canceled for twenty years, as they were not ready to explore the galaxy. However, after the Enterprise crew were found innocent and with a statement by T'Pol, the United Earth Starfleet Command ignored Soval's recommendation and the mission was reinstated. (ENT episode: "Shockwave").
Later that year, fighting once again broke out between the Confederacy of Vulcan and the Andorian Emprie over the disputed Paan mokar. Andorian Imperial Guard Commander Hravishran th'Zoarhi (or "Shran") requested that Jonathan Archer, a third party he trusted, to mediate cease-fire talks. Ambassador Soval was ordered by the High Command to contact the United Earth Starfleet and Captain Archer. Soval and Vuclan Subcommander Muroc rendevouzed with Enterprise to relay the message. Soval was not initially in favor of Archer's presence, and was suspicious of the Andorians' request for his mediation. Nonetheless, he agreed to meet with Commander Shran in Captain Archer's company on Paan mokar's surface. Unfortunately, their shuttle was shot down by renegade Andorian forces; Soval initially sought to meet up with Vulcan forces afterwards, but Archer insisted on speaking to Shran. Soval was injured in an attempt to reach Shran's headquarters by the renegade Guardsmen, but nonetheless provided Archer with cover fire while in combat. Eventually, Soval, Archer, and Vulcan Subcommander T'Pol were captured by Shran's forces, leading to the identification and arrest of the renegades. Archer then began to mediate a cease-fire aboard Enterprise -- an agreement that proved mutually acceptable to all, and held for over two years. To celebrate, Shran insisted that they drink to it with Andorian ale. Although reluctant, Soval did not wish to offend Shran, and partook in the gesture. As T'Pol escorted the Ambassador to the Vulcan ship, he admitted to Captain Archer that "[his] presence here has not been... overly meddlesome." Clearly, Soval's view of Captain Archer and of Humanity's role in interstellar space was beginning to change. (ENT episode: "Cease Fire.")
Following the Xindi attack on Earth in March 2153, Soval was skeptical of the information that Captain Archer had obtained from the Suliban Cabal about the perpetrators of the attack. As instructed by his government, he explained that the Confederacy of Vulcan would not become embroiled in United Earth's conflict, nor would it aide in Earth's attempts to locate the attackers. Believing Archer's claims of receiving information from the far future to be quite fantastical, he sent Fer'at, a Vulcan psychologist, undercover to Enterprise to ascertain whether Archer was under mental pressure. When UE Starfleet Command approved Archer's proposal to enter the Delphic Expanse and track down the Xindi, Soval, acting on behalf of the High Command, demanded that T'Pol return to Vulcan for a new assignment. However, she refused and resigned her commission. Soval remained on Earth throughout the duration of the Xindi Crisis. (ENT episode: "The Expanse").
United Earth Embassy Bombing and the Battle of Andoria
Enterprise in the Battle of Andoria.
Upon Enterprise 's successful return from the Delphic Expanse in 2154, Ambassador Soval participated in a UE Starfleet board of investigations which reviewed Captain Archer's mission. Soval initially reprimanded Captain Archer for several concerns regarding the Vulcan ship Seleya, which Enterprise had been forced to destroy during the Xindi Crisis. Soval complained that Archer's boarding party had not retrieved the Seleya's data recorder, so the panel could truly know what happened aboard the ship. However, Ambassador Soval subsequently thanked Captain Archer for saving their region of the galaxy from the Sphere Builders upon learning from T'Pol that the Delphic Expanse would have grown to destroy all of known space, including Vulcan. (ENT episode: "Home")
In June of that year, Soval returned to Vulcan with United Earth Starfleet Admiral Maxwell Forrest to participate in a High Command review of future joint operations between the High Command and the UE Starfleet. After both gave testimony, Soval confessed to Admiral Forrest his opinion that the Vulcan High Command would likely suspend future joint operations out of fear of Humanity's rapid technological and societal progress. At the United Earth Embassy on Vulcan, Soval and Forrest were nearly killed when the embassy was bombed; Forrest died saving Soval's life. The High Command blamed a Cthian sect known as the Syrannites for the bombing, specifically implicating Syrannite leader T'Pau. Profoundly shaken, Soval became deeply skeptical of his government's claims, and when Enterprise arrived at Vulcan to conduct United Earth's official investigation, Soval encouraged Archer to pursue his investigation against Vulcan objections. When a single survivor of the bombing was deemed likely to have seen the bomber but was still in a coma, Soval revealed his hidden nature as one of the oppressed melders, mind-melding with the survivor and discovering Vulcan High Command Security Director Stel to have been responsible for the attack. Telepathy was considered a major taboo in Vulcan society at the time, and when it was publicly disclosed, Administrator of the Vulcan High Command V'Las, then the Vulcan head of government, personally stripped Soval of his position as Vulcan Ambassador to United Earth. (ENT episode: "The Forge.")
Soval came to realize that the bombing had been conducted by the High Command to discredit the growing Syrannite movement because of its pacifist philosophy as part of a plot to increase support for a planned pre-emptive invasion of the Andorian Empire. V'Las planned to justify the invasion by releasing information alleging Andorian development of a weapon of mass destruction based upon Xindi technology -- evidence that Soval now doubted. Realizing how devastating the ensuing war would be to Vulcan, Soval informed United Earth Starfleet Commander Charles Tucker, in command of Enterprise while Captain Archer and now-United Earth Starfleet Commander T'Pol investigated the Syrannites on the Vulcan surface, of Administrator V'Las's plot. Soval and Tucker agreed to warn the Andorians of the incoming invasion, traveling to the edge of Andorian space.
Aboard the Andorian ship Kumari, Soval is tortured by Shran.
A skeptical Shran, in charge of Andorian forces, was unable to believe that the distinguished ambassador would so easily betray his own government. Commander Shran abducted Soval from Enterprise and subjected him to a mental torture that lowered his emotional threshold in order to confirm his story. Soval's insistence -- and a few warning shots from Enterprise -- persuaded Shran to return Soval and advise the Andorian Imperial Guard of the imminent invasion. (ENT episode: "Awakening.")
In the ensuing Battle of Andoria, Soval served aboard Enterprise, providing the crew with technical and tactical support as the Enterprise crew attempted to get between the alien forces. With the element of surprise gone, the Vulcan invasion force met stiff resistance, giving enough time for the Kir'Shara to reach the Vulcan capital of ShiKahr from the Forge. Upon the activation of the Kir'Shara's writings, Administrator V'Las was relieved and the invasion stopped by Minister Kuvak. Having already confessed his more liberal attitudes towards Humanity to Commander Tucker, Soval later informed Captain Archer of the dissolution of the High Command and a more encouraging foreign policy to be adopted towards Earth. (ENT episode: "Kir'Shara.")
Coalition of Planets
Ambassador Soval gives Captain Archer a standing ovation in support of the Coalition of Planets in 2155.
Soval was re-instated as the Confederacy of Vulcan's Ambassador to United Earth with the establishment of the new Vulcan government. Ambassador Soval attended United Earth Minister Nathan Samuels' opening negotiations for the establishment of a Coalition of Planets in San Francisco in January 2155. He, like all non-Humans, was amongst those threatened with death by the terrorist organization Terra Prime if he did not leave the Sol system within one day of the opening of negotiations. Ambassador Soval noted that the apparent public support for much of Terra Prime's xenophobic message, if not its overt threats, was a troubling facet of Human society. Nonetheless, when Captain Archer of Enterprise defeated the terrorist organization and gave a speech in support of the establishment of the Coalition to the assembled emissaries of Earth, Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, Rigel, Coridan, and Denobula Triaxa, Soval of Vulcan was the first to rise. Soval gave a standing ovation to Jonathan Archer, extending his support to Minister Samuels' plans for the Coalition of Planets. Soval firmly established himself as a new and strong ally of United Earth's and of Captain Archer's. (ENT episodes: "Demons," "Terra Prime.")
The United Federation of Planets
Soval firmly established himself as a multilateralist in his later years. To that end, Soval was amongst the signatories of the Articles of the Federation on 12 August 2161 at the Candlestick Auditorium on Earth, firmly establishing him as one of the Federation's Founders, along with Captain Archer, Minister Samuels, Vulcan Minister T'Pau, former Vulcan Ambassador Solkar, and Tellarite Ambassador Gral. (ENT novel: Last Full Measure.)
External Links
- Soval article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.