Burnham's adopted family include Sarek, Amanda and Spock, all have been mentioned or seen. Should Sybok be included on Discovery as a part of Burnham's extended family? And if so in what capacity? I think as a passing mention that he should, Burnham should at the very least know of him, and maybe have met him. Spock in Final Frontier had obviously interacted with Sybok prior to the events of the movie.
Alluding to a post I made elsewhere.... Tell the story of Sarek getting together with Sybo from 'Wolf in the Fold'. She was older than she looked. Then you can bring in Sybok in a way that makes sense. Princess, shmincess.
I'd love to see Sybok's backstory fleshed out. Although the Discovery writers spent season one under the impression the CBS/Paramount split meant they couldn't touch stuff created for the movies. Who knows if they actually can or not, since John Eaves thought he was re-imagining the Enterprise for legal reasons when it turns out it was just because.
They need to make this happen. It's the opposite of dodgy fan service, when a reference is made that (almost) nobody asked for. Like when Scott mentions Archer's latest beagle, Mousqueton, in Pine Trek. No one was clamoring for that, but when it happens, it embiggens and fortifies the pretend universe. Plus, I'm one who thinks Laurence Luckinbill's earnest efforts deserve more gratitude... great joy and gratitude.
Honestly, I want them to bring up Sybok just because of how funny it makes Spock and Michael's rivalry over which one is the bigger disappointment to Sarek. Neither of them even considers that he's probably most unsatisfied by the cult-leading pariah who renounced his entire culture.
According to David Mack's novel, Michael and Spock spent very much time together in their childhoods. And since Sybok left Vulcan during Spock's childhood, as implied by the deleted scene in which the two of them re-enact the day Sybok left Vulcan, that makes it very unlikely Michael had much if any interaction with Sybok. I imagine to her, Sybok was just a moody and scowling figure who showed up for Vulcan Thanksgiving dinner who didn't talk much, and stopped showing up after her first few years living with Sarek. Well, it was Harberts or Berg who made the claim they weren't allowed to use material from the movies, and they're gone now. Kurtzman claimed they can use material from the movies, and since he's running the show now, there's no reason we shouldn't see anything from the movies. Of course, there's already been plenty taken from the movies and used in this show anyway, so the question is what kind of whacky granola were Harberts and Berg on?
They never specified what movies they could or couldn't take things from though, and considering the circumstances, they probably meant the Kelvin movies as something they couldn't take from.
I quite enjoyed what they did the the Harry Mudd character even though I dont have much appreciation for the original . Maybe they can whip up a lovable version of Sybok , we wont know if they dont try
If anything Sybok would be the one at thanksgiving dinner who could tell a twenty minute fascinating story about his last teeth cleaning. If Sybok's behavior was the same through-out his life as we saw in TFF, then he would be the "most Human' of Burnham's adopted family. For this reason Burnham might have had a easier time interacting with him, certainly when she was still a young child.