Captain Christopher Pike

U.S.S. Enterprise 1701 – Year 2254

Number One mentored Spock from the start. Moreover I wager they have a rather close knit camaraderie with one another already as well as with Pike, insofar as one can get that close with a Captain this early into their tenure together. The knowing…and concerned…looks that pass between Spock and Number One on the bridge when Pike initially decides not to investigate the distress signal from Talos IV are indeed the most telling…

Quote: “There’s a way out of any cage.” – Christopher Pike

The instant urgency of saving Pike seen in the eyes and heard in the voices of various crew members during this entire ordeal seems to make clear that Pike means more than most Captains to his crew.

Vanity Point: that ass on Chris!

Pike fights to protect, period, but not only protection of his own wellbeing, rather always fiercer and more determined for the protection of others in immediate peril. And without hesitation.

Number One and Pike feel genuinely as equals throughout this entire endeavor – both exceedingly intelligent, both quick on the uptake, both decisive and clearly having the close ear and confidence of their crew. They each command a respect that compliments the other beautifully.

Pike is also, under any expected circumstances, innately unflappable. Unwavering. And when pushed…he is absolute steel. Unyielding and immoveable the moment it is required until the moment he is satisfied he has been heard.

However, the violent experiment by the Talosians worked. His responses were genuine, opening fresh wounds of his most recent battles and so-called death struggle. So that for moments at least, it was as if he was truly fighting for his and others’ lives all over again. In this case, Vina’s. He was transported to a recent horrible past…and some deep part of him was in fact suddenly morbidly terrified and panicked. His eyes told the whole story.

This is also the moment, however, that Vina truly started becoming real to him.

He lived through visions of terror here on Talos IV, yes, both of battle and of burning torture. But those visions while held captive were in the end only figments of the past and outright illusion. The visions to come for Pike were ones from which, sorrowfully, there would be no escape. Not for Christopher.

Quote: “You either live life…or you turn your back on it and start dying.” – Christopher Pike

Pike saw a mirror of himself – how inconsiderate, selfish and callous he had truly been in his heart and mind before reaching Talos IV, even if he kept it as hidden as possible from his crew. He had been petulant with himself in fact, rattled and suddenly jumping at his own shadow from recent events, horrific and dreadful they may have been. Therefore, when the Talosians gave him a sample of the so-called life of leisure without care or responsibility amongst the Orions for which he was only hours before glibly pining to his Doctor, he shuddered at this image that he knew was not him…would not be him. Could not be. It bolted him awake.

Pike and Vina….and only they….were literally the last hope for the Talosians. For rebirth. For reconstitution. For tangible, true cultural evolution. Dubious and, to the Talosians, desperate means aside, no other two humans in existence would ever have had the force of will and nobility together that Pike and Vina did, while simultaneously comprehending and even caring for what the Talosians truely and most deeply desired: a second chance. This is what the Talosians sincerely believed and expected upon leading Pike…not so much to them as to Vina.

Plot point: much as we saw them do above Talos during their first encounter, what if the Talosians were the ones who once again crippled the Enterprise just before meeting Discovery simply in order to ensure, at the very least, Pike would be directly involved in events that brought Spock back to Talos IV and ensuring Pike and Vina would once again have a chance at contact? What if the Talosians, perhaps even in large part unwittingly, helped set in motion the long chain of events that would ultimately bring Pike back to Talos IV…or rather, to Vina…when Spock sees no other recourse for securing his former Captain’s happiness and safety: reuniting him with the the only true solace Pike would likely ever be able to find.

And upon Pike’s final return with Spock and his deliverance to the Talosians, only Vina would ever be able to truly grasp the despair of Pike’s painful, disfigured, tortured being. And know still that he was loved. As if their shared, anguish filled fates had been intrinsically entwined with one another’s from the moment they each saw the stars. It seems as though Talos and Vina were always Pike’s anchors, while Talos and Pike were always Vina’s….long before either of them ever arrived at said ‘final’ destination. However, perhaps one not so final after all…perhaps one that may yet contain sparks of new life. And hope. Should they wish it…