Then you'd possibly get a "Final Destination" scenario whereby the same end result under different circumstances.
Star Trek has never been like that. Now of course, if Pike doesn't have the accident, the events of the Menagerie never happen, and that affects TOS canon. It would change the timeline and defeat the purpose of Discovery taking place in the Prime Universe, though Pike's accident is a good 10 years away.
Like I said, his recommendation to Starfleet to up it's maintenance of engineering systems could be coming in season 3 and save plenty of lives, staying with the cadets saves even more. So that by the time he comes to that one incident, his determination to stay has saved a lot more lives than if he'd walked away altogether.
He could stay with the cadets and not have the accident.
That was Kirk, the guy who reprogrammed the Kobiyashi Maru test to make sure he could win a test that wasn't intended to be won. This may seem odd to you, but Kirk and Pike are two different people. Different people chart different paths.
So are you saying Kirk is smart and Pike is stupid? Because not to take precautions is pretty stupid. Hell, he could do everything the same and wear a radiation suit.
Because it could put others in harms way, something Pike will not do due to his nature as a person. Telling Pike to avoid is telling him not to be true to himself.
When I say avoid, I don't mean not show up. I mean take precautions to prevent the explosion that caused the accident. Have a gazillion safety checks. Wear radiation suits. It's noble to give your life to save the lives of others, but if you can save those lives without hurting yourself, I think that's the better path.
No, he knows he will not be horribly mutilated until the "accident." He could be harmed quite a bit between now and then.
If he was harmed quite a bit, then he wouldn't have been capable of saving those kids.
No, he really couldn't. He would have to have left the time crystals behind and abandoned the only course of action they know of to possibly defeat Control. You can't sacrifice the lives of an entire galaxy and come out a hero.
This is something the episode didn't make clear. Why? Let's say Pike does everything exactly the same--takes the time crystals. Now we are 10 years later. Why not take precautions to change his fate? It made absolutely no sense that his fate is sealed if he takes the crystals. What changes if he takes them or not? Why can he change his fate if he leaves the crystals behind and not change them if he takes them--unless taking them erases his vision? And there's no evidence his vision was erased.
Again, They said he could walk away from that fate if he chose another path. They did not say in choosing another path his fate would be a better one. We also know that if Control succeeds all sentient life will ultimately die therefore he would be paying for another uncertain roll of Fate's dice with the blood of an entire galaxy. Talk about going to the Dark Side!
But again, he takes the crystal and defeats Control. Now it's all good. He goes back to Enterprise for a few more years, and gives up command to Kirk. So he still knows that in his future, he will be in that room with those cadets. However, what stops him from making sure that training exercise doesn't go wrong?
It's almost as if Star Trek is saying fate is sealed, and that's that. It takes away free will.
Commodore Decker didn't have to die. If he had knowledge that shoving a Constitution class vessel into the Doomsday Machine would work, he wouldn't have piloted the shuttle into it. The Doomsday Machine would still be destroyed, but a life wouldn't have been needlessly lost. Pike is kind of in that position.