- This page details Spock in the primary universe; for the Spock in the mirror universe see Spock (mirror); for the Spock in the Kelvin timeline created by Nero's temporal incursion, see Spock (Kelvin timeline); for the Spock in the mirror universe created by Nero's temporal incursion see Spock (mirror) (Kelvin timeline); for the Spock in all other alternate universes see Spock (alternates).
Spock (full name S'chn T'gai Spock) was a famed half-Vulcan/half-Human Starfleet officer who served the Federation in the 23rd and 24th centuries. (TOS; EV; DSC season 2; SNW; TAS)
- Spock's full name was revealed in TOS novel: Ishmael. In TOS episode: "This Side of Paradise", Spock said that his full name was unpronounceable to Humans.
- This character is a member of Spock's family.
- For other uses, see Spock.
In the mid-23rd century, Spock became known as the best first officer in Starfleet while diligently serving under Captain James T. Kirk's command on the USS Enterprise and the USS Enterprise-A, for over 30 years. By the end of the century, he was a starship commander in his own right, and quickly turned to following in his father, Sarek's, footsteps—first, as a diplomat and special envoy, and later, as an ambassador. (TOS; TAS; TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptations: The Final Frontier, The Undiscovered Country; TNG episode & novelization: Unification)
Throughout most of the 24th century, he worked in the Federation and in the Romulan Star Empire to bring about the Reunification of Vulcan and Romulus. (TNG episodes: "Unification", "Face of the Enemy", ST - Typhon Pact novels: Rough Beasts of Empire, Plagues of Night)
Biography
Early life
Spock (meaning "uniter" in Vulcan), the son of Sarek of Vulcan and Amanda Grayson, was born deep within a cave in Vulcan's Forge on January 6, 2230. As is the case with most Vulcans, only his last name was used due to the difficulty non-Vulcans would have in pronouncing his full name, although on at least one occasion Spock revealed his full name. (TOS episodes: "Journey to Babel", "This Side of Paradise"; TAS episode: "Yesteryear"; TOS movie: The Final Frontier; TOS novel: Ishmael; TOS movie: Star Trek Beyond)
To avoid tissue rejection, Spock was incubated twice during his 13 months of gestation. Ordinarily a Vulcan-Human hybrid would abort in the first month, but hundreds of chemical treatments were applied during his second and third months to help the infant survive, according to Sarek. (TOS reference: Inside Star Trek)
Spock came from a distinguished Vulcan family with a long history of involvement with Earth. His grandfather Skon had been the first to translate The Teachings of Surak into English, giving humanity access to Surak's teachings. (ENT episode: "Two Days and Two Nights")
His great-grandfather Solkar had made the first official contact with Earth as captain of the T'Plana-Hath, and later served as the first ambassador of Vulcan to Earth. (TNG movie: Star Trek: First Contact; the Decipher CCG; ENT episode: "The Catwalk")
His Human ancestors included Aaron Stemple, a 19th century Seattle landowner, and Jeremy Grayson, a respected 20th and 21st century peace advocate, and Jeremy's wife Dora. (TOS novels: Ishmael, Strangers from the Sky)
- Aaron Stemple's status as one of Spock's ancestors is an in-joke as the character was played by Mark Lenard, who also played Sarek, in the television series Here Come the BridesWP. His name was spelled Stempel in the series.
Spock had a half-brother named Sybok, from Sarek's first marriage. Sybok rejected Vulcan logic and embraced his emotions. Sybok left Vulcan when Spock was very young in search of the mythical Vulcan "heaven" known as Sha Ka Ree. (TOS novel: The Final Frontier)
Spock's parents, in accordance with Vulcan tradition, arranged for Spock to be betrothed to a Vulcan girl named T'Pring while Spock was very young. (TOS episode: "Amok Time")
At some point during his childhood, he used to meet with his father's friend Tarok who was like an uncle and was called "Takta" in a loving manner. He used to tell stories to young Spock of the time before the Vulcan Reformation; some of these tales were considered inappropriate by other Vulcans. (TOS novel: Avenger)
At the age of seven, Spock defied his father's wishes and journeyed into the Vulcan desert known as the Forge in an attempt to complete the kahs-wan, the traditional Vulcan coming of age ritual. With the assistance of his cousin Selek (actually Spock himself from the future) and the sacrifice of Spock's pet Sehlat, I-Chaya, young Spock completed the kahs-wan ritual. It was at this time that Spock chose the Vulcan way of life over that of his human mother. (TAS episode: "Yesteryear")
Even after the ritual was complete, Spock would continue to defy Sarek and head into the Vulcan wilderness; Sarek would eventually track Spock on one of these journeys and Spock would explain his reasoning for his adventures. (ST comic: "Spock: Reflections, Issue 1")
When Spock was a boy, he would often disappear into the mountains for days at a time. His father asked him what he had done and where he had gone but Spock refused to tell him. Sarek forbade him to go but he went regardless and endured the punishment for disobeying his father. Shortly before his death in 2368, Sarek told Captain Jean-Luc Picard that he secretly admired "the proud core of him that would not yield." (TNG episode: "Unification")
- The novelization of "Yesteryear" spelled Spock's pet's name as "Ee-Chaya".
Spock's parents took in orphan Michael Burnham as part of their family. Spock at first did not welcome her and retreated to his room. There, he spooked Burnham with a drawing of a dragon-like monster. Spock ignored her. Following the Logic extremists bombing of the Vulcan Learning Center, Spock was told by a Red Angel that Burnham had ran away to the outskirts of ShiKahr. (DSC episodes: "Brother", "Point of Light", "If Memory Serves")
As a child, Spock traveled with his parents as part of their duties in the Federation diplomacy services, and had occasion to be present at some key events in Federation history. When Klingon Captain Krenn visited Earth in the 2230s decade, Spock purportedly discussed games with him in an embassy meeting room, and the two had a chess match. Without mentioning Spock by name, referring to him only as the son of the Vulcan ambassador, the incident was part of a dramatized re-telling in the novel The Final Reflection decades later, of which Spock only remarked that the account was part of a fictional work. (TOS - Worlds Apart novel: The Final Reflection)
- Spock's part of The Final Reflection's narrative was written by a 23rd century author, based on notes passed on from other persons, and is unclear if he did or said the specific things described in that work of fiction.
Education
Spock faced a great decision in his need to decide which path to follow for his higher education.
Spock's decision to attend Starfleet Academy was influenced by his interactions with B6 Blue, a Nasat scientist on Vulcan during Spock's youth. Through her, Spock learned of Starfleet's more open and adventurous approach to science. (TOS - Constellations short story: "Devices and Desires")
In the year 2247, Spock befriended a human youth named David Rabin, the son of a Starfleet captain. After a harrowing encounter with a Vulcan madman named Sered in the area of the Forge called the Womb of Fire, Spock decided to again defy his father's wishes. This time, instead of joining the Vulcan Science Academy as his father wished, Spock decided to follow Rabin's lead and instead joined Starfleet Academy. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Forge; ST reference: The Visual Dictionary)
In 2249, Sarek was given the choice of sponsoring either Spock or Spock's foster sister Michael Burnham for the Vulcan expeditionary fleet - they would not allow both to join the fleet. Given that choice, Sarek decided to sponsor Spock, and informed Burnham that the Vulcan fleet had rejected her candidacy. Spock decided to attend Starfleet Academy anyways the following year, rendering the sacrifice of Burnham's opportunity unnecessary. Spock's decision led to an eighteen-year rift between Spock and Sarek. (DSC episode: "Lethe")
Starfleet Academy
At the Academy, Spock led his year in Astrography, Comparative xenobiology, Semiotics, Quantum mechanics, Warp engineering and four other disciplines. (EV comic: "Flesh of My Flesh")
Spock was friends, and often worked with, Armand St. John, who claimed Spock was the only person in the Federation capable of understanding his brilliance. Spock suspected they found something in common in that both of their respective fathers disapproved them of attending Starfleet Academy. The two often fought, as Spock found the shortcuts that St. John employed in his research to be dangerous. Spock was proved correct when St. John was expelled after one of his experiments caused extensive damage to the campus. Spock would meet St. John again years later at the Pollux II laboratory while serving aboard the USS Enterprise. (TOS comic: "All of Me")
- There is also a series of Starfleet Academy novels that feature Spock at the Academy, including Crisis on Vulcan (which is set before Spock enters the Academy), Aftershock and Cadet Kirk.
- The TOS novels The Entropy Effect and The Final Reflection also mention Spock studying at the Makropyrios.
Spock took the two-year Vulcan curriculum and an additional series of cadet cruises at Starfleet Academy before being commissioned as an officer at age 19, around the turn of the 2250s decade. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Glory)
The Enterprise under Pike
Early Voyages Begin
In 2253, when Spock was still a cadet, Captain Christopher Pike of the USS Enterprise met with him with an offer; the Enterprise was about to begin a long term mission to chart the Pathiad Nebulatae, but the ship's chief science officer had been diagnosed with Virillian toxic fever. To fill the vacant position Pike offered the promising cadet Spock an internship on the Enterprise, with the rank of acting ensign. Spock accepted. (TOS comic: "Flesh of My Flesh")
Years later, while under the influence of a Klingon mind-sifter, Spock had a hallucinatory experience of his first day on the bridge as an ensign and acting science officer. (TOS short story: "Chaotic Response")
- Please note that the concept of Spock being aboard the Enterprise as a young ensign is contradicted by TOS novel: Vulcan's Glory, where he was an experienced lieutenant who had never before met Pike or been aboard the vessel.
Vulcan's Glory
After Spock completed a three-year tour (around the turn of the 2250s decade) as an ensign and assistant science officer aboard a cutter and a two-year tour (ending December, 2253) as third officer and science officer of the USS Artemis, he was promoted to full lieutenant and joined the crew of the USS Enterprise as chief science officer and second officer in 2253, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. At first Pike was nervous about the possibility of having a Vulcan on the bridge, feeling that Spock's Vulcan heritage would mean that he wouldn't be able to "gut out" command decisions. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Glory)
One of Spock's first assignments on the Enterprise was to lead the landing parties to GS391 and Areta searching for the lost Vulcan treasure called Vulcan's Glory, a huge, natural, uncut emerald.
Spock became romantically involved with a Vulcan woman on his staff named T'Pris, and briefly considered dissolving his bond with his betrothed back home, T'Pring. Tragically, T'Pris was murdered by a human crewmember with one-eighth Vulcan blood named Lieutenant Daniel Reed, whose maternal great-grandmother had been disgraced when the Glory had originally been lost. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Glory)
Eleven years of service
Spock quickly became a valued member of the Enterprise crew, spending eleven years under Pike's command. (TOS episode: "The Menagerie, Part I")
Early in his service aboard the Enterprise, Lieutenant Spock joined Captain Pike and Lieutenant Tyler on a shuttle mission to planet Filos 4. While evaluating Commander Knoxville's work in developing alternative transporter technologies, a malfunction caused Spock to fall through a portal to another location, and Captain Pike jumped through after him. Following their return to the Enterprise, Spock submitted a report to Starfleet, which led them to suspend the experiments indefinitely. (ST - Spock: Reflections comic: "Issue 2")
- According to the comic book, this was Spock's first mission aboard the Enterprise, contradicting numerous other sources that also depict his first mission under Pike's command.
In 2254 he diagnosed, and helped to cure the vessel from a Ngultor virus. (EV comic: "Flesh of My Flesh")
Not long after he was among the injured during the coup on Rigel VII, he saved the Enterprise 's Nurse Gabrielle Carlotti from a Kaylar mace blow but was then thrown against a wall, damaging his leg (EV comic: "Our Dearest Blood")
Soon after the incident on Talos IV, the Enterprise discovered an Interspacial Rift that opened once every 33.4 years that led to the edge of the area of the galaxy known as the Gamma Quadrant.
Spock was part of a delegation that met with the Calligar, a race that lived in a series of satellites orbiting a world in flame on the other side of the rift. (TOS novel: The Rift)
On the planetoid Darien 224, Spock and a landing party from the Enterprise discovered the Last-of-all-Cities, a lost colony of Vulcans which crashed on the planet two millennia before, and had left Vulcan before the Time of Awakening and the logic-reformation. A splinter group from the colony (who wished to remain in isolation) had captured the USS Cortez in the hopes of using it to oppose the rest of the colony, which wished to return to Vulcan as conquerors. While Spock and the landing party did their best to keep relations with the emotional Vulcans good, Spock learned a lot about the nature of the Vulcan people. The Cortez and the colony were ultimately destroyed when they used an ancient psionic weapon. Following the incident, Spock re-assessed his way of life and underwent a purification ritual, removing what few Human emotions he did have and devoting himself fully to a life of logic and intellect, surmising to Captain Pike "Passion kills, Captain. Logic does not". (EV comic: "Cloak and Dagger")
- "Cloak and Dagger" was evidently an effort to explain why Spock seemed to display emotions in his first appearance in "The Cage".
In 2255 Captain Pike informed Spock that a position had opened up on board the USS Intrepid, which was entirely crewed by Vulcans. Pike told Spock if he chose to apply for the position, he would support Spock as it would be a good career move for the Vulcan. He asked Spock to think it over and come back to him when he made a decision. A few days later the Enterprise experienced an outbreak of rigelian fever which required the ship to divert to Cypria III in order to obtain the materials to manufacture a cure. After the materials were obtained from the Cyprians and the outbreak contained Spock informed Pike that he had decided to stay on the Enterprise and not apply for the position on the Intrepid. (TOS novel: Child of Two Worlds)
In May of 2255, Spock, with his foster sister, the USS Shenzhou's acting XO Lieutenant Michael Burnham entered the Juggernaut to disable it before it wipes out the colony on Sirsa III. Together, Spock and Burnham passed a number of challenges and Spock Mind melded with her to keep in contact with her. They then discovered that this ship belonged to the Turanian Empire who deemed both him and Burnham worthy of joining the Empire. However, when the Juggernaut attacks both the Enterprise and the Shenzhou, Spock and Burnham set their phasers to overload. This disabled the Juggernaut. (DSC novel: Desperate Hours)
Discovery
Following the end of the Federation-Klingon War of 2256-57, Spock took a leave of absence from Starfleet due to a premonition about several Red bursts. On a unnamed planet, Spock encountered the Red Angel from his childhood. He received visions from the Red Angel that showed the destruction of Earth, Vulcan, Andor and Tellar. The encounter also caused Spock to experience time non-linearly. He decided to commit himself to the psychiatric unit on Starbase 5. When the red bursts happened, Spock decided to leave despite his doctors' objections. He used a Vulcan nerve pinched on three of his doctors and took a shuttlecraft. (DSC episodes: "Brother", "New Eden", "Point of Light", "If Memory Serves")
Starfleet believed that Spock had killed his doctors and was wanted for murder. Both Section 31 and the USS Discovery under Captains Leland, Georgiou and Pike searched for him and his shuttle. Eventually, Spock abandoned his shuttle and returned to Vulcan. There, his mother shielded him from everyone in a sacred crypt lined with Katra stones. Spock hid there until Burnham and Sarek discovered him and turned him over to Captain Leland in order to "repair" his mind. However, Spock and Burnham escaped to a shuttle when Georgiou warned them about the technology that would destroy his mind. (DSC episodes: "Saints of Imperfection", "Light and Shadows")
After the climactic battle with Control, Spock returned to the Enterprise and shaved his beard. Some months later, he observed the last red signal from his lost foster sister. Spock, Number One and the rest of Pike's crew continued their missions to strange new worlds. (DSC episode: "Such Sweet Sorrow"; Strange New Worlds)
The Enterprise under Kirk
In 2264, Pike's time as Captain of the Enterprise was coming to an end as Pike was due to be promoted to Fleet Captain. By then Pike was quite comfortable with having Spock as part of his crew. Spock was one of the few officers to remain on the Enterprise after Pike left, and Pike felt better about turning the Enterprise over to Captain James Kirk as Spock would be remaining on board, serving as both Kirk's first officer and science officer. Pike by then had come to respect Spock's dedication to logic, and felt that Spock would keep young Captain Kirk from acting rashly. (TOS novel: Burning Dreams; WizKids module: Attack Wing)
According to the elder Spock in TOS novelization: Star Trek, "In both our histories the same crew found its way onto the same ship in a time of ultimate crisis." This may imply that there is an untold story set in the prime timeline in which Kirk's crew faced an extremely serious challenge while still a new and untested unit.
The Five-Year Mission
Together, Spock, James T. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise made history.
One of the first successful missions in 2265 was making first contact with the Archernarians of Archernar IV. There, Spock defused the situation was by making a screeching noise to prevent Lt. Lee Kelso from firing his phaser at the Archernarians. (TOS comic: "Mission's End, Issue 1")
In 2266, the Enterprise was the first Federation ship to officially view the true appearance of the Romulans, who looked remarkably like Vulcans. Spock confirmed that it was indeed likely that they were a war-like offshoot of the Vulcans. (TOS episode: "Balance of Terror")
In 2267, Spock came to the aid of his former Captain, Christopher Pike, after Pike had become an invalid barely capable of communication after exposure to delta radiation. Spock risked the death penalty by breaking General Order 7 and returning Pike to Talos IV, where the Talosians could give Pike the illusion of a normal existence. (TOS episode: "The Menagerie")
Later that year, Spock felt the fires of pon farr and returned to Vulcan to wed his betrothed, T'Pring. At the ceremony, T'Pring chose instead to pit Spock against Kirk in combat while Spock was enveloped by the plak tow, or "blood fever", in order to break her engagement to Spock and wed a Vulcan named Stonn instead. (TOS episode: "Amok Time")
Soon after, Spock was reunited with his parents when the Enterprise escorted a complement of ambassadors, including Sarek and his wife, to a diplomatic conference on the codenamed planet Babel. During the journey, Sarek suffered a cardiac episode requiring immediate surgery. Sarek almost died when Spock's presence was required for a massive "T" negative blood transfusion, but Spock refused to relinquish his duties to the Enterprise. After Spock was relieved of duty, he reported to Dr. Leonard McCoy in sickbay and gave the transfusion, saving Sarek's life. The incident ended an eighteen-year rift between Spock and Sarek. (TOS episode: "Journey to Babel")
In 2268, the Enterprise was ordered to covertly enter the Romulan Star Empire and retrieve a Romulan cloaking device. It was during this incident that Spock first met the Romulan woman known as Charvanek. (TOS episode: "The Enterprise Incident")
In 2269, Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy were sent 5,000 years into the past of the world Sarpeidon, where Spock met and became romantically involved with a woman named Zarabeth. Unbeknownst to Spock when he returned to the 23rd century, he left Zarabeth pregnant with his son, Zar. (TOS episode: "All Our Yesterdays"; TOS novel: Yesterday's Son)
Later that year while studying Vulcan history using the Guardian of Forever, the timeline was changed, forcing Spock to travel back through the Guardian in order to preserve his own existence. Arriving in Vulcan's past, Spock posed as a cousin of Sarek named Selek. Spock saved his younger self from a le-matya attack during his younger self's kahs-wan trials. The timeline restored, Spock was returned to the Guardian's world. (TAS episode: "Yesteryear")
When the religious Crusaders attacked the Federation from another dimension, Spock proved vital in defeating their attempt to forcibly convert the Federation to follow their Truth and their belief that different cultures could not cooperate. By making contact with the Crown of the God-King Jaenab, which allowed him to make telepathic broadcasts to his people, while Kirk kept Jaenab occupied, Spock used a mind meld to share his own experience of different cultures interacting by using his own parents as an example, the discovery prompting Jaenab to call off his crusade and enter isolation to examine his own motives. (TOS novel: The Weight of Worlds)
In 2270, towards the end of the five-year mission, Spock encountered Berlis Aknista after the Enterprise rescued him. Berlis had a very powerful form of telepathy that attracted Spock and eventually led to Spock interlocking his mind with Berlis, but the connection would be broken soon after. As Spock sat in his cabin afterward he felt Berlis probing his mind and killed him in order to avoid further interference by Berlis. (TOS novel: Troublesome Minds)
Kolinahr
When the five-year mission of the Enterprise came to an end in 2270, Captain Kirk recommended Spock for the command of the science vessel, the USS Grissom and the USS Enterprise. Spock turned down the offer as he believed that being in command, even of a science ship, would keep him from the scientific research that was his specialty.
Spock returned to Vulcan for six months leave with the intention of returning to Starfleet and serving again with Kirk. After Kirk accepted a promotion to Admiral, something that he swore he would never do, Spock resigned from Starfleet and took a teaching job at the Vulcan Science Academy. He soon met and became romantically involved with a Vulcan woman named T'Sura. The couple soon bonded, becoming betrothed to each other.
When the ancient katra of an unstable and very powerful Vulcan named Zakal found a host and began to terrorize the region in 2271, Spock was drawn into the events, as were Kirk, McCoy and McCoy's friend Keridwen Llewellyn. Zakal was stopped, but at the cost of Llewellyn's life.
Spock blamed himself for Llewelyn's death, believing that it was his lack of emotional control that brought about the circumstances of her death. As a result, Spock terminated his link with T'Sura, and instead opted to become a postulate of Kolinahr in order to shed all of his remaining emotions. (TOS novel: The Lost Years & TOS comic: "Mission's End")
In late 2272 Spock was preparing to achieve the final stage of kolinahr by severing all ties to friends and family. Despite his efforts, feelings of friendship and affection persisted for his human friends, Kirk and McCoy, as well as the sense that his friends were in some sort of peril.
In an attempt to break his bonds to Kirk and McCoy once and for all, Spock performed the ritual of Sekhet in order to purge his remaining emotions. After the third day of motionless meditation without food or water, the sense of his friends in danger ceased.
Upon the completion of the ritual meditation Spock believed that had finally purged himself of his residual feelings for his friends, when he felt an alien presence from the depths of space. He dismissed the feeling as no more than the after-effect of his meditation ritual and thought nothing more of it. (TOS novel: Recovery)
V'Ger
Several weeks later, in early 2273, Spock was set to perform the ritual with the Vulcan masters that would indicate that he had finally achieved kolinahr, when he again felt the alien mind from across the vastness of space. It was a mind of pure logic, yet was empty, and it stirred his human emotions and blood. After being told by the masters that he had not achieved kolinahr and that his answer lay elsewhere, Spock set off in search of the source of the call from space.
Fortunately for Spock, Admiral Kirk and the Enterprise were in search of the same entity, and Spock joined the Enterprise in their search for the lifeform that became known as "V'Ger". Spock's Starfleet commission was then reactivated and he offered his services as Chief Science Officer for the mission.
After melding with V'Ger, Spock realized that V'Ger, for all of its vast intelligence and logic, was empty, lost and devoid of further purpose. The experience made Spock realize that logic alone was not enough for the balance that he sought. Spock chose not to return to Vulcan and the study of kolinahr, choosing instead to return to Starfleet, serving on the Enterprise under Kirk in his former position. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Motion Picture)
Zar
Yesterday's Son
In 2269, Spock was sent back 5,000 years into the past of the world Sarpeidon, and had a brief but passionate relationship with Zarabeth, a woman that had been banished to live out her life alone in the barren, frozen wasteland of Sarpeidon's northern hemisphere. (TOS episode: "All Our Yesterdays")
A year and a half later, in late 2270, while studying Sarpeidon's historical records, Spock found evidence in the form of a 5,000-year-old cave painting that indicated that Zarabeth had bore his child in the icy wastes.
After an appeal from T'Pau to the Federation Council, Spock obtained permission to use the Guardian of Forever to visit Sarpeidon's past and bring Zarabeth and son home with him.
Things did not go exactly as planned, and Spock, Kirk, and Dr. Leonard McCoy found themselves arriving 10 years later in Sarpeidon's past than planned. Zarabeth was dead, killed in an avalanche, and Spock's son, Zar, was nearly an adult.
Spock brought the boy back to the Enterprise with him, but their relationship was strained. Zar believed that Spock had only retrieved him out of a sense of duty, and not out of any kind of fatherly feeling. Spock, not knowing how to deal with the emotions Zar had stirred in him, had been unable to convince Zar otherwise.
Zar had unusually strong telepathic talent, even surpassing the skills of his father.
While studying Sarpeidon's history records, Zar found more evidence of his existence in his homeworld's past. In fact, he was an important historical figure whose absence would profoundly affect the timeline.
After helping Spock foil a plan by the Romulans to seize the Guardian of Forever, Zar prepared to return to Sarpeidon's past. But before he left, Spock shared a mind meld with Zar, allowing him to experience the true depths of his father's feelings for him.
Zar used his telepathic power to direct the Guardian to deposit him on Sarpeidon's southern continent, where he would begin his life's work. (TOS novel: Yesterday's Son)
- The span of "two years" since All Our Yesterdays was reduced to about eighteen months in the Star Trek Fiction Timeline.
Time For Yesterday
Nearly fifteen years later, in early 2285, the Guardian had seemingly malfunctioned, and was ninety days away from actually destroying the universe. After Spock was able to momentarily stabilize the portal, he jumped through with Kirk and McCoy with intent of bringing back Zar, who was the only person to successfully communicate telepathically with the Guardian.
Spock located Zar, who was at the point in the timeline where history recorded his death in battle, and explained the situation to him. But Zar refused to abandon his troops on the eve of battle and would not help with the Guardian.
It was only at the urging of Zar's new wife, Wynn, whose precognitive abilities saw this as the only way for Zar to survive the coming battle, did Zar agree to leave.
After using his powers to help the Guardian regain control of its functions, Zar returned to Sarpeidon's past to meet his fate.
Spock, however, was not willing to stand by idly and let his son die. He followed Zar back to the past, and with Spock's assistance, Zar survived the battle.
After returning to the Enterprise, Spock decided not to seek out Zar's fate in the new timeline, choosing instead to remember him as he saw him last - alive, well, and happy. (TOS novel: Time for Yesterday)
Death and Rebirth
The Genesis Incident
By 2285, Spock had been promoted to Captain and was assigned to Starfleet Academy, commanding the Enterprise as a teacher on a training vessel. Spock was commanding a training cruise (with an inspecting Admiral Kirk on board) when Khan Noonien Singh escaped from Ceti Alpha V with a number of his followers, who had earlier accompanied him into exile. Spock relinquished command to the senior officer, stating as a Vulcan it was clearly logical-having, "no ego to bruise." Hijacking the USS Reliant, Khan tried to avenge the death of his wife, which he blamed on Kirk. After a deadly game of "cat-and-mouse" in the Mutara Nebula, the Reliant was disabled by the Enterprise, and Khan was fatally injured. Before he died, however, Khan activated the Genesis Device that he had earlier stolen from Regula I.
The warp engine of the heavily damaged Enterprise was off-line when Khan activated the Genesis Device countdown sequence. As a result, the Enterprise would have been caught in the detonation of the device and destroyed. Realizing this, Spock went to engineering, and was about to enter the dilithium crystal chamber when stopped by McCoy. Rendering McCoy unconscious with a Vulcan nerve pinch, Spock stopped long enough to enter into a mind meld with McCoy. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Wrath of Khan) Thanks to Jonathan Archer successfully carrying Surak's katra, Spock knew it was possible for a human brain to house a Vulcan katra, which gave him the confidence to meld with McCoy to prepare for the transfer of his katra at the end. (TOS novel: The Autobiography of Mr. Spock)
McCoy regained consciousness a few moments later. Both he and Montgomery Scott watched in horror as Spock entered the radiation soaked chamber and began realigning the dilithium crystals. Spock succeeded in bringing the warp engines back online, and the Enterprise was able to escape the detonation of the Genesis Device. But by then, Spock had already received a fatal dose of radiation.
Summoned to engineering, Kirk was prepared to enter the chamber himself and pull Spock out. Kirk was held back by McCoy and Scott before he could flood the whole engineering section with radiation. When Kirk protested that Spock would die, Scott replied that Spock was dead already, with McCoy confirming that it was too late for Spock. The two friends spoke to each other for what was apparently the final time. Spock saw his sacrifice as his solution to the Kobayashi Maru scenario, and asked Kirk what he thought of his solution. Before dying from radiation poisoning, Spock gave Kirk the Vulcan salute, and told Kirk to, "Live long and prosper."
A short time later, a funeral was held for Spock in the torpedo bay of the Enterprise. As Captain Spock's will stated that Spock was not to be returned to Vulcan, Admiral Kirk decided to have his friend's body placed in a photon torpedo casing and fired into the space above the newly formed Genesis Planet. It was Kirk's intention that Spock's body would be cremated when the torpedo casing burned up upon entering into the atmosphere of the Genesis Planet. For the eulogy, Kirk said, "Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most...human." (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Wrath of Khan)
However. the planet was still forming when the torpedo was fired from Enterprise, and the gravitational fields of the Genesis Planet were in flux at the time. As a result, instead of burning up in the atmosphere or crashing into the planet, Spock's torpedo soft-landed on the surface. Over the next few weeks, the remnants of the Genesis wave re-generated the body of Spock. His cells were regenerated as that of a child's, which began to rapidly age as the Genesis Planet aged. A survey mission from the USS Grissom soon arrived, mistaking quickly evolved microbes near Spock's landing site as the animal lifeforms detected from the Grissom. He was later discovered by Dr. David Marcus and Lieutenant Saavik. By then, Spock's body had aged to be the equivalent of eight to ten Earth years of age.
In orbit, the Grissom was destroyed by a Klingon bird-of-prey, commanded by Kruge. While Kruge's men searched for the Grissom survivors, Spock's body and the Genesis Planet were rapidly aging. As Spock's body became that of a young man and began experiencing pon farr, Saavik helped the Spock through this.
Meanwhile on Earth, Spock's father Sarek revealed to Kirk that Spock may have transferred his katra into a different mind. After failing to find the katra in Kirk's mind, the two searched through engine room recordings of Spock's final moments, finding that Spock had transferred his katra into McCoy's mind. Sarek requested that both McCoy and Spock's body be brought to Vulcan so that the two could find peace. When Starfleet refused to allow Kirk to return to the Genesis Planet, Kirk and the senior staff of the USS Enterprise stole the Enterprise and traveled to the Genesis Planet.
By the time the Enterprise arrived in orbit, Marcus, Saavik and Spock's body were captured by Kruge. Overwhelmed by the battle, the Enterprise was disabled. When Kruge's men killed Doctor Marcus, Kirk agreed to surrender the ship. Kirk and the Enterprise crew beamed down to the Genesis Planet after setting the auto-destruct device of the Enterprise. Several of Kruge's warriors beamed aboard the Enterprise and were killed when the auto-destruct device destroyed the ship.
Kruge then beamed down and confronted Kirk on the surface of Genesis. He ordered Maltz to beam everyone else except himself, Kirk, and Spock on board his ship. Kirk and Kruge fought on to the edge of a cliff overlooking a sea of lava. When Kruge tried to pull Kirk into this sea of lava, Kirk had enough and kicked Kruge away, who fell to his death. Spock's body had by now reached the same age as it was just prior to Spock's entering the dilithium crystal chamber of the Enterprise. Beaming on board the Klingon ship, the crew managed to capture the ship from Maltz - the only warrior left on the ship - and set course for Vulcan.
Arriving at Vulcan, the crew of the late Enterprise climbed the steps of Mount Seleya - where the crew of the Enterprise believed that Spock's katra would be transferred to the Hall of Ancient Thought. Upon arriving at the summit of Mt. Seleya, Sarek requested instead that fal-tor-pan, or "the refusion" of Spock's body and mind be performed. For the first time in many years, fal-tor-pan was performed by the High Priestess T'Lar, removing Spock's katra from McCoy's mind and placing it back in Spock's body. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Search for Spock)
Spock would later write in his autobiography that his memories of the time were hazy, but he remembered seeing Mt. Seleya through Dr. McCoy's eyes, the long and exhausting climb up the steps, the grueling fal-tor-pan ritual that lasted throughout the night, and waking up the next morning in his own body. (TOS novel: The Autobiography of Mr. Spock)
The mirror universe and the Surak
Soon after, Kirk and his crew took the bird-of-prey to the Regula I space station in order to have a funeral service for David Marcus with his mother, Carol while the still-unstable Spock recuperated on Vulcan.
As his recovery seemed to take a turn for the worse, Spock was confronted in his home by a representation of himself from one of the variant mirror universes, who had come to attempt to gain the secret of the Genesis device from his counterpart's DNA.
The two Spocks mind-melded and battled on the mental plane, with the twin results of Spock's mental instability being cured, and the mirror-Spock switching sides.
The two Spocks set off for the mirror-universe, following Kirk in the bird-of-prey, who had re-commandeered the USS Excelsior from James T. Kirk, and taken her to the mirror-universe in an attempt to forestall an invasion.
Upon arrival in the mirror-universe and catching up with Kirk, the two Spocks assisted Kirk in his plans to assist the underground resistance fighting the Terran Empire led by the mirror-David Marcus.
Upon returning to Earth, it was decided by Grand Admiral Stephen Turner that while the Federation dealt with the repercussions and ramifications of the Genesis incident, Spock would command the USS Surak, a science vessel where Spock's miraculous condition could be monitored and studied. (TOS comic: "The Mirror Universe Saga")
During his brief command of the Surak, Spock and his crew encountered the planet Proto, where an air-borne pollen induced dream-like states in several of the crew, and faced down an attack from a Romulan invasion team that was testing new transporter technology on the planet Verdee. (TOS comics: "Dreamworld", "The Trouble with Transporters!")
After the Surak encountered a derelict ship with only a sole surviving Andorian passenger, Spock's crew began to come down with a mysterious malady that struck down the entire ship's complement. Spock, infected but the only survivor, set the Surak's course for a nearby star in hopes of eradicating the disease.
Spock was rescued from the Surak by the timely arrival of Kirk and the Excelsior. Determined to find a cure for the virus, Kirk disobeyed orders and followed the infected Andorian across the Romulan Neutral Zone. With the assistance of a Romulan commander, a cure for the virus was found using the ship's transporter as a filter.
Spock was cured of the virus, but the positive effects of Spock's mind meld with his mirror counterpart were undone, causing Spock's mind to unravel. Kirk and his command crew returned to Vulcan in the bird-of-prey, again in violation of orders, in order to get Spock the medical attention that he needed. (TOS - The Doomsday Bug! comics: "Death Ship!", "Stand-Off!", "The Apocalypse Scenario!")
The voyage home
For the next three months, the senior staff of the late Enterprise remained in exile on Vulcan. During this time Spock and McCoy each participated in mind meld sessions with T'Lar to ensure that any remaining part of Spock's mind still in McCoy's mind was transferred back to Spock. Also during this time Spock underwent a Vulcan retraining program to ensure that his knowledge was intact. Because the training was based on Vulcan logic, Spock was initially unsure of how to handle questions about how he was feeling, but his mother was confident that the feelings from his human half would resurface in time.
When the Enterprise senior staff decided to return to Earth to face the consequences of their actions in early 2286, Spock decided to travel with them to offer his own testimony. What the crew expected to be a quick voyage back to Earth and the end of their Starfleet careers was sidetracked when an alien probe arrived in Earth orbit and began damaging the planet. Spock was able to determine that the probe's transmissions were the songs sung by the extinct humpback whale species of Earth. When Admiral Kirk decided to go back in time and retrieve such whales, Spock was able to prepare the Bounty to go back in time completely from memory. He was later able to correctly guess the best course to return to the 23rd century.
After the probe had left the Sol System, the senior staff of the Enterprise stood before the Federation Council to face the consequences of rescuing Spock. Even though Spock had not been charged, he decided to stand with his shipmates. The mitigating circumstances caused by the probe's visit to Earth prompted the Federation council to dismiss all but one of the charges - which was directed solely at Admiral Kirk. The council ordered Kirk reduced to the rank of Captain, but gave him the command of the USS Enterprise-A. Spock returned to active duty in Starfleet, assuming the role of first officer on the Enterprise. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Voyage Home)
The Enterprise-A
At first, Spock harbored doubts as to whether he was fully restored and capable of performing his duties as science officer, but after he was able to quickly repair the Enterprise-A's warp core on the fly after it had been sabotaged by a religious zealot, Spock realized that he was indeed fit for duty. (TOS comic: "Choices!")
Several weeks later, the Enterprise returned to planet Gamma Trianguli VI, twenty years after Kirk destroyed the planet-controlling computer called Vaal, despite Spock's strong objections. Without Vaal's influence, Gamma Trianguli VI's indigenous people had regressed into near-savagery. Kirk was forced to admit his earlier error, and Spock managed to reactivate Vaal, even briefly "joining" with it, while still granting the local population more freedom of thought and action than was previously available under Vaal. (TOS episode: "The Apple"; TOS comics: "Paradise Lost!", "Past Perfect", "Devil Down Below!")
Soon after, when Kirk had been viciously attacked, stabbed through the heart by a mysterious assailant, Spock sensed it immediately. Spock met Dr. McCoy at the entrance of Kirk's quarters where Spock forced the door, and found the dying Kirk.
McCoy managed to save Kirk's life, and Kirk identified Ensign William Bearclaw as his attacker. Bearclaw was a discipline case that Kirk had recently put up for transfer. After being drawn into the investigation, Spock began to harbor doubts as to Bearclaw's guilt. Spock articulated his doubts to Kirk and asked him to keep an open mind just before Kirk was again attacked by the shape-shifting Garth of Izar, who had previously impersonated Bearclaw. Spock returned in time to save Kirk from Garth, dropping him with a Vulcan nerve-pinch. (TOS comic: "Who Killed Captain Kirk?")
Sybok
The Enterprise returned to Earth in 2287 so that chief engineer Montgomery Scott could track down the numerous bugs that popped up. Spock was taking his shore leave in Yosemite National Park with Kirk and McCoy when the call about an emergency on Nimbus III (aka "The Planet of Galactic Peace") came in. The ruling council, consisting of a human, a Klingon, and a Romulan, had been taken hostage. Upon viewing the recording made by the kidnapper, Spock recognized him as his half-brother, Sybok, whom Spock had not seen since he was a child. Sybok had left Vulcan after he had rejected his culture's reliance on logic, and embraced his emotions.
The Enterprise raced to Nimbus III, only to have the ship taken by Sybok, who employed a mysterious mental power on the Enterprise crew. Sybok took the Enterprise through the barrier at the center of the galaxy, hoping to release The One, whom Sybok believed to be a God-like being from Sha Ka Ree, the Vulcan "heaven". The One, rather than being a benevolent force, was murderous and cruel. The One killed Sybok, and was about to do the same to Kirk when Spock rescued him with the assistance of General Korrd of the Klingon Defense Force. (TOS movie: The Final Frontier)
Once a hero
During a 2287 landing party excursion to Dinar IV in search of the missing Federation freighter Arcade, Spock became involved in a firefight against Haigy raiders who had grounded the vessel. When Security Officer Thomas Lee was fatally struck by a disruptor blast, Spock initiated a mind meld to attempt to stabilize the ensign. The damage to Lee's body was too great, and Spock only managed to calm Lee as the young man passed away. Spock later shared with Kirk that Lee's last conscious thought was that the ensign couldn't wait to go swimming again. (TOS comic: "Once a Hero!")
Gorkon
This incident was an early impetus for Spock to consider a more diplomatic role in Starfleet than a scientific one. (ST reference: The Star Trek Encyclopedia) The following year, when the Enterprise ferried a number of Federation diplomats to Starbase 49 for a peace summit with the Klingons, Spock engaged in several conversations with Klingon diplomatic aide Toladal, which further fueled these thoughts. (TOS novel: In the Name of Honor)
Then in 2293, at the behest of his father, Spock opened up talks with the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon, following the destruction of the Klingon moon, Praxis. The destruction of Praxis had damaged the ozone layer of Qo'noS, the Klingon homeworld, and left the Empire incapable of self-sufficiency so long as hostilities with the Federation proceeded. The pair agreed to a summit between the Federation and the Empire on Earth.
Spock volunteered the services of the Enterprise on Kirk's behalf to escort the Chancellor and his party to Earth. This last mission under Kirk's command (Kirk had previously announced his retirement) went disastrously wrong when a cloaked bird-of-prey commanded by the renegade General Chang attacked Gorkon's ship, killing the Chancellor and leaving the blame with Kirk.
Kirk and McCoy were arrested and tried by the Klingons for the Chancellor's assassination and sentenced to life imprisonment at the penal colony of Rura Penthe. Spock disobeyed orders from Starfleet Command to return to Earth and devised a rescue plan.
After the rescue of Kirk and McCoy, Spock discovered that Kirk had been betrayed to the Klingons by Valeris, his own protégé. When Valeris refused to divulge the new location of the peace talks, Spock forcibly retrieved the information by establishing a mind meld with the unwilling Valeris, an action from which Valeris never fully recovered.
Soon afterward at the Khitomer conference, Kirk saved the lives of Klingon Chancellor Azetbur, Federation President Ra-ghoratreii, and uncovered a conspiracy between Chang, Starfleet Admiral Lance Cartwright, and Romulan Ambassador Nanclus to maintain the current state of hostility by assassinating the leaders suing for peace. Kirk was exonerated in the eyes of the Klingons, and a new era began between the two powers. It was here that Spock first met future Romulan Senator Pardek. (TOS movie: The Undiscovered Country, TOS comic: "Enter the Wolves", TNG episode: "Unification")
After the Enterprise-A
Spock joined the Melpomene Players after the decommissioning of the USS Enterprise-A. He was a part of their production of Romeo and Juliet. He left the group shortly after a production of Hamlet in which he played Polonious in 2293. (TOS novel: The Fearful Summons)
After James Kirk's apparent death aboard the USS Enterprise-B, Spock gave the eulogy for his friend. In it, he mentioned "returning the favor" due to Kirk having given Spock's eulogy. (ST reference: Federation: The First 150 Years)
In 2294, Spock, while still holding the rank of captain, was transported by the Victory to the USS Enterprise-B. Captain John Harriman introduced himself to Spock and showed him the James T. Kirk dedication plaque in engineering. (ST comic: "Spock: Reflections, Issue 1")
Ambassador Spock
In 2296, three years after the presumed death of James T. Kirk aboard the USS Enterprise-B, Spock was in command of the the USS Intrepid II, a science vessel.
After a reunion with David Rabin and a final confrontation with Sered on the planet Obsidian, Spock began to wonder if Starfleet was still the place for him.
Sered had believed that Vulcan and her sundered cousins needed each other, and Spock had come to the realization that he agreed. Except where Sered wanted to unite with the Romulans as conquerors, Spock felt that they must come together as allies, as brethren. Spock resigned his commission in Starfleet, and joined the Federation Diplomatic Corps, with the ultimate goal of bringing together Vulcan and Romulus.It was during this time that Spock first met his long-standing Romulan ally in his quest for reunification, Ruanek. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Forge)
By the year 2300, Spock had attained the rank of Ambassador, though he still found himself occasionally involved in Starfleet affairs. (TOS novel: Cast No Shadow)
Spock soon established himself as an Ambassador of great skill, with accomplishments that rivaled even his father's.
In 2320, Spock returned to Talos IV after being summoned to the planet by the Talosians. Having a private shuttle, Spock was able to slip away with a minimum of difficulty this time and reached Talos IV. He arrived in the Talos Star Group to find a drastically altered Talos IV. Instead of a planet with high levels of radiation and a sickly yellow appearance, now Talos IV had a healthy blue color, with radiation levels lower than that of Earth. Spock landed on the surface of the planet to find a rebuilt city. The Magistrate, or Keeper as he was originally known, had shown Spock around, and explained that Pike had recently died. He showed Spock a message Pike had recorded for Spock. Pike asked Spock to convey some of his ashes back to Earth, and to present the Talosians petition to not only repeal General Order 7, but to join the Federation as well. (TOS novel: Burning Dreams)
In the year 2327, Spock and Sarek had a very public disagreement over how the Federation should shape their policy toward a new race that the Federation had contacted, the Cardassians.
Matters were made worse by Sarek's new wife, Perrin. Spock's mother, Amanda, died in the year 2293 of natural causes. Sarek had left his place at Amanda's deathbed when the Federation contacted him about a diplomatic emergency, knowing that he would never see his wife alive again. Spock had long harbored resentment against his father for this. (TOS novel: Sarek)
In the years that followed Amanda's death, Sarek had found himself to be lonely, and had recently married the much younger Perrin.
Perrin angered Spock, when she drunkenly gave him an ultimatum to apologize to Sarek on the Cardassian issue, or he would no longer be welcome in Sarek's home. Spock responded by saying, "In that case, I shall not trouble you by visiting (Sarek and Perrin's home in) Shi'Kahr again". This began a new rift between Spock and Sarek that would last until Sarek's death in 2368. (TOS comic: "Enter the Wolves")
Saavik
Spock first met his future wife, Saavik, in 2274, when he rescued the young Vulcan/Romulan hybrid from a barbaric existence on the Romulan border world of Hellguard.
Spock spent some time teaching Saavik Vulcan logic and discipline before bringing her to Vulcan and arranging for his parents to continue Saavik's education. When Saavik was ready, Spock sponsored her application to Starfleet Academy. (TOS novel: The Pandora Principle)
Saavik was present on the Enterprise when Spock experienced his death rescuing the ship from Khan Noonien Singh in the Mutara Nebula, and tended to his needs after his miraculous rebirth at the Genesis Planet in 2285. (TOS movies: The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock)
Spock and Saavik remained close over the years that followed, with their relationship evolving over the years from mentor/apprentice, to shipmates, colleagues, confidants, friends, and finally something more.
The couple formally announced their betrothal, or engagement, in a formal ceremony on the planet Vulcan in the year 2328. Among the attendees were Ambassador Sarek, Admiral Leonard McCoy and Lieutenant Jean-Luc Picard. The Lady Perrin was not in attendance.
Over the years that followed, Spock's career in diplomacy and Saavik's career in Starfleet kept them from being together for long periods or planning their wedding, but they kept in close contact.
Spock's repeated attempts over the years to convince Vulcan to look into the possibility of reunification with the Romulans met with little or no success. In this period he was given numerous, if more mundane, assignments (e.g., to Earth in 2342, to Andor in 2343).
In 2344, Spock successfully negotiated a trade agreement between Vulcan and the reclusive Federation member Oriki.
Shortly after success with the trade agreement and still on Oriki, Spock received a covert communique from Charvanek, a Romulan officer that he had met years ago during the Romulan cloaking device affair of 2269. He left immediately for Romulus, believing that Charvanek would only summon him if the security of both The Federation and the Romulan Star Empire were at stake. When Starfleet found out what Spock had done, Captain Uhura directed Saavik to covertly extract Spock, no matter what his reason for going.
On Romulus, Spock and Saavik discovered the plans of the mad Romulan Praetor Dralath to attack the Klingon civilian colony of Narendra III and use it as a staging area to attack both the Klingon Empire and the Federation.
Saavik fled Romulus in order to warn the Federation, and Spock remained behind to neutralize the threat that Dralath posed.
Saavik managed to reach the starship USS Enterprise-C, under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett. After sending Saavik off to Vulcan for medical attention, Captain Garrett took the Enterprise to Narendra III and defended the Klingon civilians from the sneak attack, at the cost of the lives of her crew and ship. To the Klingons, this was a tremendous act of honor, one that cemented the relationship between the Klingon Empire and the Federation for years to come.
On Romulus, Spock (who was suffering from the early stages of pon farr) assisted in taking Dralath, who ordered the Narendra attack without the authorization of the Romulan Senate, into custody. A new Praetor, Narviat, took office.
Spock escaped from Romulus with the assistance of his old friend and ally from Obsidian, Ruanek. Soon after Spock's reunion with Saavik, the couple tended to the needs of Spock's Pon Farr.
Soon after, in a ceremony on Vulcan's Forge, Spock and Saavik were married. Among the attendees at this ceremony were Admiral McCoy and Captain Uhura. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Heart)
Romulus and Reunification
In 2368, Spock decided to take his re-unification effort directly to the Romulan people by re-locating himself to Romulus in order to work with Romulus' growing underground movement. This did not mean that he was through with the affairs of the Federation, as he would periodically leave Romulus for brief periods on matters of importance to the Federation.
He later admitted to Picard (working undercover with him) that his "cowboy diplomacy" he used now and in the past was viewed as "arrogant presumption" by his friend, James T. Kirk. Picard for the most part, reminded Spock of that former captain. (TNG episode: "Unification")
In 2371, Spock was part of a group of Romulan dissidents rounded up by Romulan authorities on the world of Constanthus and scheduled for execution. Starfleet dispatched the USS Enterprise-D along with Admiral Leonard McCoy in an effort to retrieve the ambassador. Taking it upon himself to mount a rescue was a recent arrival to the 24th century, Montgomery Scott. Scotty commandeered the Constitution-class USS Yorktown and set off for Romulan space.
The joint rescue efforts ultimately proved successful, and Spock was recovered (exhibiting a brief display of emotion as he materialized on the Yorktown's transporter pads and saw Scotty at the controls) and returned to Federation space. He chose, however, to return to his work on Romulus. (TNG novel: Crossover)
In 2372, Spock received a message on Romulus from Captain Picard, informing him of Captain Kirk's return from the Nexus and subsequent death on Veridian III. Spock soon left Romulus to see the site of his friend's death himself. He crossed the Neutral Zone aboard an Orion transport, and disembarked at Deep Space Station E-5, where he chartered another ship, owned by the Bolian captain Moxx, to take him from there to Veridian III. (ST comic: "Spock: Reflections")
While on Veridian III to pay his respects at James Kirk's grave, Spock was intercepted by T'Pring (his former betrothed), who questioned him about his hopes for Romulan/Vulcan reunification. She also returned a brooch that Spock's mother had given her before the wedding that never happened. (TOS - Strange New Worlds 9 short story: "The Smallest Choices")
- According to The Ashes of Eden and The Return, Spock's visit to Veridian III took place a year earlier, when he witnessed Kirk's body beamed away.
In 2373, Spock was called in to consult on the situation in the recently fallen Thallonian Empire. Spock had been in Thallonian space a decade earlier on a fact-finding mission about the reclusive Thallonians. Despite having to cut that mission short (so he could rescue a captured Vulcan woman named Soleta, and see her safely back to Federation space by way of a freighter named Qualor's Pride), Spock was still the Federation's greatest, living authority on Thallon, and thus his expertise was needed in the crisis. (NF novel: House of Cards, NF short story: "Out of the Frying Pan")
During the Dominion War, Spock used what influence he had on Romulus to convince the Romulans that it would be in their own best interests to join in the Federations war effort against the Dominion. (ST short story: "Blood Sacrifice")
As Starfleet's resources became lean as the Dominion War heated up, many former command officers were reactivated to active or reserve service, including Spock. Spock was re-commissioned as an admiral and met briefly with other reactivated officers aboard the USS Sovereign, including Admiral Leonard McCoy, Captain Montgomery Scott, and Captain James T. Kirk. The group was instrumental in uncovering an impostor in that action, as it was revealed that Fleet Admiral Alynna Nechayev had been replaced by her mirror universe counterpart. Ironically, the mirror Nechayev had been instrumental in reactivating Spock and Kirk before they revealed her identity. While this action was decisive in protecting Federation security, Spock did not play any further publicly known role in his service as wartime admiral. (TOS novel: Spectre)
The Borg also attempted to assimilate Ambassador Spock in order to stop peace treaty negotiations between the Klingons and Romulans, however the timely intervention of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the USS Enterprise-E prevented their success. Even though such an act would have been needless-given the fact that Spock's psyche still resonated fragments from a branch of the Collective-in the form of his old mind meld with V'Ger's Ilia/probe. (TNG video game: Armada, ST novel: The Return)
Romulan Supernova
In the early 2380s Spock left Romulus, believing there was nothing more he could achieve in the face of the predicted supernova. He was contacted by now Admiral Jean-Luc Picard when his journey brought him to an unplanned rendezvous with the USS Verity. (PIC novel: The Last Best Hope)
In 2387, Spock had befriended a Romulan named Nero. He also discovered a star, Hobus, had gone supernova which threatened to destroy Romulus, and attempted to intervene. Spock promised to save Romulus.
With the help of the USS Enterprise-E, Spock hoped to use Geordi La Forge's experimental starship, the Jellyfish, to insert Red matter into the heart of the exploding star, creating a singularity to consume the star and thus saving Romulus. The ambassador piloted an advanced space craft equipped with red matter and proceeded to the star to carry out his mission, but before he could, the star's effect destroyed Romulus.
With other worlds threatened with destruction, Spock continued his mission and successfully created a black hole which consumed the supernova. Before he could escape, however, he was intercepted by the Romulan mining vessel Narada, commanded by Nero.
Nero blamed Spock for Romulus's destruction and was bent on revenge, but both the Narada and the Jellyfish were pulled into the black hole. Spock, aboard the Jellyfish, was sent to the 23rd century, as was Nero aboard the Narada, instantly creating an alternate reality. Spock was presumed to be dead in the prime reality. (TOS comic: "Star Trek: Countdown", TOS movie: Star Trek, ST website: StarTrek.com)
Despite's Spock's apparent death, he became known as "The Great Spock". He was still seen as a great benefactor for the eventual reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan people when Vulcan became Ni'Var. (PIC episode: "The End is the Beginning"; DSC episode: "Unification III")
- The StarTrek.com entry for Christopher Pike gives the date from which Spock was transported as 2389.
The Kelvin timeline
Spock emerged from the black hole in the year 2258 of an alternate reality created by the actions of Nero, who had emerged twenty-five years earlier. Nero was waiting for Spock when he arrived, and he and the Jellyfish were captured. Rather than kill Spock, Nero marooned him on Delta Vega, where he could witness the destruction of Vulcan from the planet's surface. Nero then used some of the red matter from the Jellyfish to create a black hole in Vulcan's planetary core; Spock watched helplessly from Delta Vega as his homeworld was destroyed.
Shortly thereafter, Spock was searching an ice cave for supplies when he encountered a young Starfleet Cadet about to be eaten by a native beast. Using his torch to scare the animal off, once out of danger Spock looked at the still-shocked Human, and realized just who he had rescued: one James Tiberius Kirk, who had been marooned on the planet by that era's Spock for mutiny. The elder Spock was surprised that Kirk, who didn't believe him, (he had dismissed Spock's self-identification, and claim of lifelong friendship, as "bullshit") was not captain of the Enterprise - but at the mention of Nero, young Kirk decided he just might be telling the truth. Through a mind meld, Spock explained to Kirk his presence in this time period and the reasons behind Nero's history-changing actions (told that, in addition to Kirk and himself, the counterparts of Dr. McCoy, Uhura, Chekov and Sulu - all but one of the six officers who had once risked their careers to save him - were all serving aboard the Enterprise, Spock deduced that the timeline was attempting to "repair" itself). He then walked with Kirk to a nearby Federation outpost, where they met the one member of their core group not yet aboard the ship, Montgomery Scott, whom Spock had previously avoided but whose presence he now viewed as more evidence of his timeline theory. Using Scotty's equation for transwarp beaming (which Scott had not actually figured out yet), Spock was able to transport Kirk back to the Enterprise along with Scott. When asked why he would not come with them, Spock stated that his other self must not know of his existence, implying that it could cause some kind of temporal paradox.
After the Enterprise had defeated Nero, the elder Spock returned to Earth. There, he met his less-than-surprised younger self (Kirk had kept his word, but upon being recognized by the Jellyfish, the most advanced spacecraft he had ever seen, and discovering it was built in 2387, young Spock deduced who must have assisted him), convincing him to remain in Starfleet. He also explained that the reason he did not return to the Enterprise with Kirk to explain things was that he did not wish to deprive Kirk and Spock of the chance of working together and developing the friendship they were destined to have. He then wished his younger self good luck, after which he witnessed the promotion of Jim Kirk to captain of the USS Enterprise.
He left with an intention to establish a Vulcan colony. (TOS movie: Star Trek)
With his true identity kept secret from all but a key few individuals. Although he had a brief conversation with his father during the trip, when he attempted to speak up in the council to warn them against establishing the new Vulcan on Ceti Alpha V, he was informed that, for his role in Nero's attack, he was stripped of his rights as a citizen and was therefore not considered a Vulcan by the Council. (TOS comic: "Legacy of Spock, Part 1")
With Vulcan no longer an option, Spock travelled to Romulus in an attempt to initiate the peace process that he had played in back in his own reality, but was captured by the Romulans and accused of trying to destroy Romulus early based on the words of the last two survivors of Nero's crew. (TOS comic: "Legacy of Spock, Part 2")
Fortunately, he was able to escape with the aid of a Romulan resistance movement led by Pardek, allowing him to make contact with the Vulcan fleet- still heading for Ceti Alpha V despite his warning- and warn them that the Romulans were coming, intending to use the last of the red matter to destroy the fleet. (TOS comic: "Legacy of Spock, Part 3") The appearance of the Enterprise was enough to give the Vulcan fleet time to drive off the Romulans, with Kirk's word helping the Vulcans decide to accept Spock's advice and follow his recommendations to find a suitable planet. (TOS comic: "Legacy of Spock, Part 4")
In 2259 of the alternate reality, Spock contacted the older version of himself for information regarding Khan Noonien Singh. The following year, Spock had departed New Vulcan before the Enterprise returned when the younger Spock entered Pon farr. (TOS movie: Star Trek Into Darkness, TOS comic: "After Darkness, Part 2")
Spock died in January of 2263 on New Vulcan. Two Vulcans were sent to Yorktown Station to inform the younger Spock of Spock's passing, and to give him some of elder Spock's personal property. Included was a photo of Spock and his crewmates on the bridge of the prime-reality USS Enterprise-A sometime prior to 2293. (TOS movie: Star Trek Beyond)
Vulcan civilization would thrive on New Vulcan over the next 3,000 years, and over the years Spock would become a revered figure to the Vulcan people. By approximately 5259, a statue of Spock had been built on New Vulcan, surrounded by a number of monuments. While many of the surrounding monuments were larger than life, the monument of Spock was life size. According to legend, this had been at Spock's request, as he felt a larger than life depiction of him would not be logical. (TOS - Legacy of Spock comic: "Part 4")
Alternate timelines and realities
A major tangent of the prime timeline was created in 2373. Called the First Splinter timeline, this alternate reality's Spock was an influential part of Federation politics and also the battle to stop the Devidian temporal apocalypse. (Coda)
In 2269, the Romulans put their Second History project into motion, interfering in human history at a key moment, and ensuring that the United Federation of Planets never came into being. However the results were not what the Romulans intended. While the Federation did not exist in the timeline, the Vulcans were still powerful, and able to keep the Romulans in check. The Vulcans helped humanity get back on their feet following a devastating war.
Spock in this timeline was a Captain, and the commanding officer of the VSS ShiKahr, which was this timeline's version of the USS Enterprise. A number of people who served on board the Enterprise of the original timeline served on the ShiKahr, including Doctor Leonard McCoy and Montgomery Scott. James T. Kirk served on the ship as an Ensign, whose career was sidelined after he was convicted of murder while in the Academy. Additionally, Christopher Pike had served as a first officer under Spock on the ShiKahr until he was given his own command. Spock and the ShiKahr crew realized in 2269 that the Romulans had tampered in history, and he and James T. Kirk were able to stop Second History and return history to its original form. (TOS novel: Killing Time)
Starfleet service record
location | assignment | dates | rank or rate | assignment insignia | rank insignia |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Starfleet Academy | student officer | circa 2250 | cadet | ||
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) | science officer | circa 2250 | ensign | ||
USS Artemis | science officer/third officer | until 2253 | lieutenant junior grade | ||
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) | science officer/second officer | circa 2253-2264 | lieutenant | ||
lieutenant commander | |||||
science officer/first officer | 2265-2270 | ||||
commander | |||||
2273 to circa 2280 | |||||
commanding officer | circa 2280-2285 | captain | |||
USS Surak | commanding officer | 2285 | |||
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) | science officer/first officer | 2286-2293 | |||
USS Intrepid II | commanding officer | circa 2296 | |||
USS Monitor | commanding officer | 2371 | |||
Starfleet Command | reserve activation | 2374 | admiral | ||
USS Defiant (II) | First officer | 2378 | Ambassador |
- Personal log, Spock
Appendices
Connections
IKS B'rel/IKS Qel'poH personnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Klingon Empire, Klingon Defense Force as IKS B'rel or IKS Qel'poH |
Kruge • Maltz • Torg • unnamed Klingons (gunners, sergeant, etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Federation, Starfleet commandeered as HMS Bounty |
Pavel Chekov • James T. Kirk • Konom • Leonard McCoy • Saavik • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Terran Empire, Starfleet temporarily commandeered as HMS Bounty |
Pavel Chekov • Spock • Hikaru Sulu |
USS Enterprise-A personnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arex • Allocca • Arons • Banks • Barnes • Bearclaw • Benson • Bloemker • Borkowski • Boyajian • Bryce • Bob • Bull • H. Burke • L. Burke • Cassano • Castille • Chapel • Chekov • Clev • Codobach • Coletti • Connors • Darwa • Davis • Dax • de Broek • del Gaizo • Delaney • Delaney • DeLeon • Dietrich • J. Finney • Fisher • Flaherty • Fouton • Fucci • Galaym • Hazzard • Hernandez • Hicks • Hunter • Isenberg • Jackson • Kaminsky • Kirk • Kitty • Konom • Laria • Lawlor • Lee • Kathy Li • Ludlo • McCoy • McIntyre • McMurphy • Meyer • M'Ress • M'yra • Naraht • Newman • Palamas • Paul • Popov • Rasche • Romaine • Ryder • Saavik • Samno • Scott • Sherwood • Spock • Staci • Sterno • Sulu • T'Rin • Tooch • Tuchinsky • Uhura • Valeris • Wetherell • Yost • unnamed USS Enterprise-A personnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also: Personnel roster |
USS Surak personnel | ||
---|---|---|
Brinks • R. Chapman • Chu-sa • Corwin • Garace • J. Kousaki • K. McCarthy • F. Mello • Spock |
Intrepid personnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SS Intrepid (Intrepid-class prototype) | C. Ramirez • M. Reed (alternate timeline) | Intrepid (NX-07, NX-class) | R. Brazzi • A. Byelev • H. Croft • J. Lambert • G. Larssen • G. Toussaint • Z. al-Qatabi • Y. Kawazana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
USS Intrepid (NCC-1631, Constitution-class) | Garth • Spiak | USS Intrepid II (Constitution-class) | Setek • Sehlk • Si'jsk • Sobek • Suvuk • T'Kiha • T'Leiar • T'Noy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
USS Intrepid II (Oberth-class) | Atherton • Clayton • Chang • Diver • Duchamps • L. McCoy • F. Mercier • Richards • Spock • N. Uhura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
USS Intrepid (NCC-38907, Excelsior-class) | D. Dieghan • S. Rozhenko • J. Tavares • Tobias | USS Intrepid (NCC-74600, Intrepid-class prototype) | W. Emick • J. Hayek • D. Kaplan • T. Riley • V. Stadi |
Topics relating to the 23rd century novel The Final Reflection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Publication | J.M. Ford, author • Mimi Panitch, editor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Characters | Dezhe • Graade • Khidri tai-Gensa • Amanda Grayson • Kev • Kotkhe • Kovar sutai-Rustazh • Krenn sutai-Rustazh • Lucy • Odise • Ragga • Rokis • Ruzhe Avell • Sarek • Segon • Sovin • Spock • Sudok • Emanuel Tagore • Tatell • T'tain • Marcus van Diemen • Voloh • Carter Winston • Zhoka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Settings | IKS Blue Fire • Earth • Klinzhai |
Background
Rank insignia
Spock was portrayed in The Original Series as an officer with two specialties, as both the Enterprise first officer and science officer. To this end, he ended up wearing multiple uniforms over the years, as the different colored uniforms showed the different specialties.
As a science officer, Spock wore the blue tunic of a member of the sciences division in his first appearance in TOS episode: "The Cage", but had already begun to work as an executive (command division) in his dual position as second officer, being third in command of the ship. By his next canon appearance in TOS episode: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Spock had been promoted to lieutenant commander and been made first officer of the Enterprise. To show this, he wore the verdant-gold tunic of a command division officer, even though he was still also the science officer. The uniform style of the era had no different sleeve insignia for any officer grade, so his rank stripes had not changed any by this point. In later appearances following TOS episode: "The Corbomite Maneuver", he would switch back to his blue sciences uniform despite maintaining both the science and command positions.
The uniform style evolved into a slightly different tunic and rank stripe in the mid-2260s with that episode, but with similar color codes, in that science officers still wore blue and commanding personnel still wore greenish-gold. Spock apparently could have worn gold but instead stayed with blue. At this point, an irregularity could be observed in Spock's uniform wear. He was referred to as a lieutenant commander for much of the first year of TOS, but he wore the insignia of a full commander. He was eventually promoted to commander and continued to wear that insignia, raising the possibility that he had received some kind of brevet or provisional promotion that became permanent, thus explaining his uniform insignia.
On at least one occasion, Gold Key Comics released an issue in their series of Star Trek comics where Spock wore the red uniform of the operations division, on the cover of TOS comic: "The Mummies of Heitius VII". While it could be supposed that Spock could have held a third position as some sort of operations manager, it seems more likely this was a mistake based on foreign artists' unfamiliarity with the appearance of the television characters.
When Spock left Starfleet circa 2270, the uniforms changed again, but to a similar variation. When reactivated as science officer and first officer in TOS movie: The Motion Picture, Spock's commander insignia was unchanged but worn on uniforms with color-coded patches. Spock's patches were orange to show his specialty in the sciences division, but as an executive officer he also could have worn white command division patches. When Spock was promoted to captain, he did wear the appropriate command division colors as of TOS movie: The Wrath of Khan, but he also ended up serving double duty as a science officer on occasions, meaning he very well could have opted for science services gray uniform patches, just as Scotty sometimes opted to wear a flight engineer's yellow uniform accoutrements after being promoted to captain.
Spock's Starfleet commission was inactive after his retirement following the Khitomer mission, but he was still held in reserve as an officer. By the era of the Dominion War, Spock was reactivated as an admiral. His uniform was not seen, but again, his dual divisions of service meant that he could have worn the red uniform shirt of a command officer or the blue shirt of a science officer.
Appearances and references
Appearances
References
External links
- Spock article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Spock article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- Spock article at the Star Trek Timelines Wiki.