Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 7 - "The Serene Squall"
In a shocking bombshell, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 7 reintroduced Sybok into the prequel canon but just who is Spock's (Ethan Peck) Vulcan half-brother? Strange New Worlds has delved into plenty of Vulcan lore by focusing on the romance between Spock and T'Pring (Gia Sandhu), whose purpose is the rehabilitation of Vulcan criminals who have rejected logic. While T'Pring's job ingeniously set up Sybok, it was quite a surprise when Strange New Worlds revealed Spock's brother is one of the prisoners overseen by T'Pring on the third moon of Omicron Lyrae.
Sybok was created by William Shatner as the villain of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. As Star Trek V's director, Shatner conceived the film's story about a Vulcan holy man who hijacks the Starship Enterprise on a quest to find God. Shatner based Sybok, who he originally named Zar, on 1980s televangelists like Jim and Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggert, who made their fortunes conning people into believing they were God's true messenger. Sybok, a role intended for Sean Connery but played by Lawrence Luckinbill in Star Trek V, possessed the ability to telepathically make others face their greatest pain and he converts them into his followers after he heals them. In Shatner's original concept, Sybok was so persuasive that he even turned Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) against Captain James T. Kirk.
Shatner wanted a powerful connection between Spock and Sybok but his idea that they knew each other in Vulcan seminary was inadequate. It was producer Harve Bennett who decided that Sybok be revealed as Spock's half-brother, which provided a strong enough reason for Spock to side with Sybok over Kirk. However, Leonard Nimoy objected to the notion that Spock would ever betray Captain Kirk and vetoed that plot point, but Sybok remained Spock's half-brother in the story. Although Sybok died at the end of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Strange New Worlds has given Spock's villainous half-brother a new lease on life.
Sybok's History In Star Trek Canon
As Star Trek V established and Strange New Worlds verified, Sybok is the eldest son of Sarek and Spock's older half-brother. Sybok's mother was a Vulcan princess who gave birth to him out of wedlock. However, when Sybok's mother died, he lived with Sarek's family and Spock told Kirk that they were "raised as brothers." Yet Sybok was gone when Michael Burnham came to live with Sarek (James Frain) and Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner) when Michael was 10 and Spock was about 6 years old, as established by Star Trek: Discovery.
In Star Trek V, which happens decades later, Sybok became a dangerous Vulcan who rejected logic and embraced emotion. Worse, Sybok was a madman who believed that God speaks to him and wanted him to steal a starship and find the mythical holy world of Sha-Ka-Ree located beyond the Great Barrier. Sybok hijacked the USS Enterprise-A and forced the starship to find Sha-Ka-Ree. There, Sybok, Spock, Kirk, and McCoy found "God," which turned out to be a malevolent alien trapped in the Great Barrier. Upon realizing his folly, Sybok sacrificed himself and was killed by "God" so that Spock and his friends could escape. Spock finally destroyed "God" and mourned Sybok at the end of Star Trek V, although the Vulcan also reaffirmed that Kirk, Bones, and the Enterprise crew were his 'family.'
Everything Strange New Worlds Reveals About Sybok
Strange New Worlds episode 7, "The Serene Squall," concluded by reintroducing Sybok, who is a prisoner of the Ankeshtan K'Til Vulcan Criminal Rehabilitation Center overseen by T'Pring and her aide, Stonn (Roderick McNeil). Strange New Worlds also revealed that Sybok is married to Captain Angel (Jesse James Keitel), a member of a pirate ship called the Serene Squall operating beyond the United Federation of Planets' border. Angel told Spock that Sybok directed refugee relocation efforts beyond the Federation border and he was attacked by the Serene Squall, although this may have been a lie. Regardless, Sybok, who uses a Vulcan alias, Xaverius, was captured and returned to Vulcan for logic rehabilitation. Angel posed as a Starfleet Counselor named Dr. Aspen in order to hijack the USS Enterprise and rescue Sybok.
Captain Angel's true objective wasn't the Enterprise, however. Rather, they needed Spock, who they intended to exchange for Sybok. Since Spock's fiancée, T'Pring, is Sybok's jailer, it was poetic justice to swap Spock for his half-brother in a prisoner exchange. However, Spock and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) foiled Angel's plan, which allowed Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) to regain command of the Enterprise as Angel escaped. Sybok remains incarcerated in Ankeshtan K'Til under T'Pring's watch but Strange New Worlds ominiously hints that Spock's older brother will eventually escape.
Why Sybok Isn't In Other Star Trek Shows & Movies
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was Sybok's only canonical appearance until Strange New Worlds episode 7 brought the Vulcan madman back. When it was released in 1989, Star Trek V was a critical and commerical disappointment, especially as the follow-up to the wildly popular blockbuster, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The Final Frontier stood as the lowest-grossing Star Trek movie for 13 years (and nearly killed the movie franchise) until Star Trek: Nemesis became an even bigger bomb in 2002.
Because Star Trek V is so poorly-regarded, many Trekkers considered its events apocryphal, including Sybok's existence. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has not only brought Sybok back to canon but the prequel series is poised to redeem Sybok and tell a better story about Spock's Vulcan half-brother than Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams Thursdays on Paramount+.