Anson Mount explains how Pike's visions in Star Trek: Discovery season 2 will set up the spinoff show, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The spinoff follows Captain Pike, Number One, and Spock who have been left behind in the 23rd century after the rest of the Discovery crew warped to the far future. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was officially announced earlier this year, and it's the latest in a growing line of Star Trek shows for CBS All-Access, boosting the streaming service's stable of original content.
In Discovery season 2, Captain Pike goes to the planet Boreth to retrieve a time crystal needed by the Discovery's crew to send the remaining sphere data into the future away from Section 31. Pike is warned that taking a crystal will require a great sacrifice, which the crystal then shows him. Here fans are shown exactly how Pike received his injuries from the original series Star Trek pilot episode. Pike comes face to face with his future self who is left horribly disfigured in his black wheelchair pod. Despite seeing this Pike takes the crystal anyway, sacrificing himself for the sake of the galaxy.
At the Stark Trek Universe panel for SDCC@Home, Mount discussed what that turn of events means for the upcoming Strange New Worlds spinoff. Pike is in the unique position where he knows what will eventually happen to him, and he has to live with that knowledge:
“When you see how it’s all gonna end, and it’s not so pretty, what do you do with that?… I think he’s probably going to wrestle with how he can best utilize the rest of his life for the good of the world, the universe.”
Pike will continue on his journey in the knowledge that the universe is safe for now and Number One and Spock will face their new lives with the memories and knowledge that they gained from their time with Discovery. Known for his noble and self-sacrificing nature, fans can expect to see a Captain Pike that is suddenly left with the knowledge that these specific traits will be his end. Pike’s future will weigh heavily on him, which will force his hand in many decisions to come as his time runs out. With Number One and Spock at his side, the three of them will surrender to the unknown together as their mission continues.
The iconic character’s original appearance sparked a desire in fans to see just who this man really was and why he only received one episode. Pike has since then been portrayed in many ways through various actors, however in each iteration he is represented as a kind and fearless leader who will go out of his way to keep everyone around him safe. Due to these traits, after decades of waiting, fans will finally get to see the spinoff that Pike deserved. With ten years remaining until his accident with the delta rays Pike will continue their mission to seek out new life and civilizations, to explore strange new worlds, and boldly go where no one has gone before.