Solkar is said to be the first Vulcan ambassador to Earth. "The Catwalk" was the episode in question. (Also, I can't remember where I read this, but I *think* Solkar is also supposed to be the captain of the T'plana'hath seen in ST:FC. )
It was also stated in the novel "Spock's World" that T'Pau is Sarek's sister. And yes, before it comes up, I know that novels aren't canon, but I don't care.
^ The only reference to Sarek's mother I can ever remember is one SNW story ('A Girl For Every Star'), where she's named T'Rama.
If she was Sarek's mother, it might have been nice set-up for why Spock chose Starfleet over the Vulcan Science Academy. Emulating a grand-parent over a parent and all that.
When they were doing that mini-arc with Koss (T'Pol's husband), I figured that pretty much eliminated the possibility that she was Sarek's mother. We know Sarek's *father* is named Skon, and T'Pol already mentioned him - gave Archer a Vulcan book translated by Skon - without saying anything about being married to the guy.
Personally, I wouldn't have cared for it if T'Pol turned out to be Spock's grandmother - especially if the only reason was to give Spock more reason to join Starfleet. I prefer to think that after the Federation was founded that many Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites joined the newly minted UFP Starfleet alongside their Human counterparts. For example, we already knew that by the time of TOS there were other Vulcans in the fleet (so much so as to almost fully man another Constitution-class ship in The Immunity Syndrome). As it sits, I think Spock had enough reason and justification to join Starfleet in that it was an available option (as shown by many non-Human members) and because of the covert racism he experienced for being half-Human. Also, I think he would have been much more comfortable in the multi-cultural Starfleet as opposed to the Vulcan dominated Vulcan Science Academy.
I would have gotten a kick out of a MACO named "Kirk" or somesuch. He could be any sort of vaguely-defined ancestor, allowing for him to meet his demise and not damage continuity.
Who is left to be caretaker of Surak's katra, so after decades of dealing with that responsibility she could easily have developed an olde worlde Vulcanian accent. My cousin was only in UK for about 18 months in the mid 80s - and she still has the plum in her mouth she developed to fit in with her London work colleagues.
Solkar is mentioned on Enterprise in Season 2 - Episode 12 "The Catwalk". A female crewman asks Archer the answer to a crossword puzzle and he says the answer is "Solkar...I think."
Agreed, and not just because it snuffs out the chances of her having a family with Trip. T'Pol was a pioneer for joining Starfleet and paved the way for other aliens, much like Jackie Robinson broke barriers in baseball. As far as I know, none of his kids became professional athletes. He was an inspiration to plenty of kids and he surely didn't need to be related to them. I think Spock should look up to T'Pol, especially when she risked a lot more to stay with Enterprise. But I don't know why some expect them to be in the same family just because of that. I saw fanfics that have T'Pol in the same clan as Spock but they're distant relatives. That's acceptable to me but it shouldn't be to give him a reason to join Starfleet.
Bah, I hate small world (universe) syndrome. Not everybody involved in every important even in the universe has to be related in some way. There are a lot of people (humans, aliens, druids, what have you) in the universe. It doesn't make sense that every one of import is related to every other. It really ruins suspension of disbelief for me.
No, the writer of "Amok Time" (the TOS episode where T'Pau appeared) would have been entitled to royalties every time T'Pau's name was mentioned on Enterprise. That's why they had to create a new character. It was OK to have T'Pau be a guest character on ENT, because that was only a few episodes, but to have her be a permanent member of the cast would be too expensive. It's the same reason why the character of "Tom Paris" was created for Voyager. They couldn't simply use Nick Locarno, because the original writer of "The First Duty" (the TNG ep which featured Locarno) would also need to be paid every time the character appeared. So it was cheaper to invent someone new. That's a good point about the pop band T'Pau, though. I wonder how they got away with using that name. Did they have to seek permission from Paramount?
I don't know for sure, but I've been told on a few occasions that they have had to pay royalties to Ted Sturgeon's estate. (I'm longtime friends with the head of the official fan club for the band - whom I met because *I'm* a big fan. )