Sarek, played by James Frain

[Jackson_Roykirk]

He's a good actor, glad to see him in the production. I'm a little disappointed that they are using TOS characters though. I hate small world syndrome. The galaxy is a big place, not everything has to be connectedto the same small group of people.

Sure, the galaxy IS a big place. However, I would guess that the Federation Diplomatic Corps is a relatively small world, and the Vulcan diplomatic corp/Vulcan government even smaller.

If Sarek was a major figure in Federation/Vulcan diplomacy in the TOS era, then you'd think he easily could have been an active diplomat or statesman in the decade+ prior on his way up the ladder (or already at the top of the ladder) to his prestigious diplomatic posting in TOS.

Small universe circle jerk. Count me in the disappointed column.

I bet people would have counted themselves as 'disappointed' if Sarek's existence was ignored. #Where'sSarek

 

[cultcross]

Didn't we once have a user called that?

 

[TheSeeker]

That has to be wrong, or Discovery is opening planning on being a reboot, regardless of what the production staff says.

You don't need to be a career diplomat to be appointed an Ambassador. Why should it be so strange that Sarek is an astrophysicist?

 

[BillJ]

You don't need to be a career diplomat to be appointed an Ambassador. Why should it be so strange that Sarek is an astrophysicist?

Well, I guess it is just my hope that people are trained to be ambassadors and that the positions aren't sold to the biggest campaign contributors like in the here and now.

That and "Yesteryear"...

BATES [on monitor]: Yes, sir. I can relay that to your screen. (showing relevant images) Sarek of Vulcan. Ambassador to seventeen Federation planets in the past thirty years.

 

[TheSeeker]

30 years isn't that long for a Vulcan.

 

[BillJ]

30 years isn't that long for a Vulcan.

It feels like they are shoving the character in there for the sake of having something to connect them to TOS. It doesn't "feel" right. YMMV.

That and Discovery takes place ten years prior to TOS. So smack in the middle of that thirty years.

 

[TheSeeker]

That and Discovery takes place ten years prior to TOS. So smack in the middle of that thirty years.

I'm still not seeing the problem.

 

[Kor]

That and "Yesteryear"...

BATES [on monitor]: Yes, sir. I can relay that to your screen. (showing relevant images) Sarek of Vulcan. Ambassador to seventeen Federation planets in the past thirty years.

Well, Spock did say, "That is not correct."

Before Kirk responded, Spock may have been about to explain further how his father was previously an astrophysicist and only became an ambassador a few years ago. Perhaps in the alternate timeline, Spock and Amanda's death thirty years ago were the catalyst that pushed Sarek to give up his scientific career and jump into diplomacy many years ahead of schedule.

Kor

 

[JD]

I still don't see why a cut line from Journey to Babel means Sarek is an astrophysicist in DSC. Has any source actually connected to DSC actually said that will be the case?
Even if DSC does use references made in TOS to build it's story, this wasn't actually stated onscreen, so I don't see why we should assume it has to be the case here.

 

[Mudd]

The Klingons are completely different. I don't care whether Sarek's career matches something said about him in a cartoon back in the 70s; I look forward to seeing the character because he potentially connects the show to other people and events that we might expect are going on during Discovery's era.

Yeah, I'd like to see Spock and other TOS characters show up later in the series. If the next series were a new program about Spock and Pike or Kirk on Enterprise that would be ideal.

 

[Kemaiku]

Is there anything stating he can't be both?

TOS gives the impression that he treats his status of ambassador lightly and only goes to functions he feels he needs to. His health is also poor, so a career in Vulcan taking up most of his time there makes plenty of sense.