http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=275748 That thread got me thinking - Vulcans are very long lived, it's not a stretch to think that she survived into the TOS era, and maybe, at a push, into TNG. Hers and Trips children certainly should be around in the 24th century. Have there been any appearances or references in Treklit ?
I wondered about T'Pol 's life after the Enterprise series of books too. I haven't really seen any mention of her in the Tos or TNg era books that have come out the last year or two.
Off the top of my head - the nearest we get is an elderly T'Pol in a myriad universe story although I think it in the TOS period.
Wasn't T'Pol a contemporary of T'Pau? T'Pau showed up in a New Frontier 24th century novel back in the 90s, so it seems possible that T'Pol is still alive in the 24th century era. Unless something really spectacular were done with her I'd prefer to leave her fate open so there's more storytelling freedom for future books.
She definitely wouldn't have survived to the TNG era, she would've been 276 in season 1 and that's far beyond what we've seen Vulcans reach as far as I remember (except maybe T'Pau in NF but that seemed like silliness purely for the sake of reference to me anyway). As for TOS, the epilogue of TGTMD made it sound like she chose to become fairly reclusive later in life, that might've been why we never heard from her; but yeah, she, T'Mir, and Lorian haven't shown up any later than that epilogue in 2186 in the Litverse outside Myriad Universe.
More or less. T'Pol's birthdate was 2088, while T'Pau's was given in the Vulcan Civil War trilogy as 2122. So T'Pol was 34 years older, a whole generation.
Nice to know that she should be available to TOS authors anyway. If another Vanguard type of series was to come about, I'd certainly hope to see her. Anyone else likely to make it to the TOS era ? What's the life expectancy of Denobulans and Andorians ?
Without divulging too much, check out the recent Autobiography of James T. Kirk for answers to some of your questions.
I seem to recall Denobulans having long lifespans. In one episode, Phlox talks about his grandmother being around two hundred years earlier. Assuming he means grandmother in the literal sense (as in referring to a parent's mother) and isn't just abbreviating a great-great-or whatever-grandmother, that would indicate longevity, making it possible Phlox himself could make it to the 24th century, depending on his age. I don't remember an age being given, though he does have grown children, I don't remember any grandchildren being mentioned. Although, in E-Squared we didn't see Phlox on the future NX-01 or any indication he was still there. Though, he could have been killed in battle, I guess. I don't think anything has been mentioned about Andorian lifespans, though doesn't one of the novels mention a "Shran monument" on Andor(ia) in the 24th century? He's probably not alive anymore in that case.
The Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual gave Andorians a typical life expectancy of c. 130 years, but I don't think there's any canon support for that. But that's comparable to a 24th-century human life expectancy, give or take.
I recall seeing early promotional material for Enterprise naming T'Pol as T'Pau. I always assumed they changed the name - barely - to avoid paying out royalties the way they did with Paris and Vorik on Voyager. Anybody else remember this? I am surprised that T'Pol is that much older than T'Pau, but that does make it pretty certain that T'Pol couldn't be around in the later 24th century.
Yes, I believe that was the case. Also, aside from the royalty issues, using a character whose future was known would've been too limiting. I'm not sure if that was part of the reason, but it may well have been. Given how unfriendly T'Pau seemed toward humans in "Amok Time," she couldn't really have had the same story arcs that T'Pol had. Very likely, anyway. Extracanonical material suggested that Vulcan life expectancy was around 250 years, though "Broken Bow" put it at around 200. Sarek lived to 203, but he had a terminal illness, suggesting it was possible to live (and prosper) longer. And humans sometimes round big numbers down to the first digit, so Archer may have been lowballing it in BB. Let's say somewhere in the 200-250 range. Which does indeed make it quite unlikely that T'Pol survived to the TNG era (which began 276 years after her birth).
I suggest that improvements in Vulcan medicine could've extended their life expectancy a few decades between the 22nd and 24th centuries. I did think the same thing, that T'Pol's growth wouldn't have led to her being the same person as T'Pau with her bigotry towards humans.
Surak lived to be 203, like Christopher mentioned, though; why would their lifespan have only been maybe improved by a few decades over the 6000 years from then to the 22nd century (if improved at all) and then suddenly extended by about the same amount in only 200 years after?
^Sarek, Spock's father, lived to be 203, not Surak. He was 102 when he appeared in "Journey to Babel" in 2267, and he died in "Unification" in 2368.
Perhaps co operation with the rest of the Federation stimulated new medical developments? There was also the rediscovery of Surak's writings that could stimulate social change and thus bring about invigorated scientific research and any other number of changes.
Well, Dr. McCoy lived to at least 137, which seemed to be no big deal to anyone. I'm certain there have been medical advancements, but IMO it just feels weird to use that as an excuse to have T'Pol show up in a TNG era story. And at that, how fun WOULD it be to do one where T'Pol would certainly be too old to contibute more than some wisdom and logic to a tale. Use time travel instead - everyone else does, plus it keeps T'Pol at her T'hottest. Mark