The "incident" Fuller mentions in TOS that Discovery will explore

[langdonboom]

When Bryan Fuller was doing interviews early on he said: “One of the things that was very exciting to me as a Star Trek fan was… There had been an incident, an event in Star Trek history and the history of Starfleet that had been talked about but never fully explored. It felt like to do this series launching a chapter of this first iteration of the streaming service where we’re gonna be telling a much more serialized story and digging deep into something, that was always very tantalizing."

Have we at last figured out what that "incident" was and which episode of TOS it was in or discussed in???

 

[BillJ]

Nope.

But I guessed a while back it would be Vulcan being conquered by the Klingons, it is a line from "The Conscience of the King".

 

[Kemaiku]

Spock stated that the conflict with the Klingons started somewhere about 70 years before 2293, Burnham is in her 30's, the flashback to Vulcan is about 20 years before 2255, so it's roughly close enough that the Klingons attacking Vulcan, schools included, killing children, started that 70 year long state of hostilities.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Nope.

But I guessed a while back it would be Vulcan being conquered by the Klingons, it is a line from "The Conscience of the King".

Here's that specific line from 'Conscience of the King', by the way. Spock stopped by sickbay to inquire if the doctor noticed Kirk acting strangely:

McCOY: ....Would you care for a drink, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: My father's race was spared the dubious benefits of alcohol.
McCOY: Now I know why they were conquered....

 

[Kor]

The line about Vulcan being conquered was rather vague, and spouted by McCoy while taking a shot. Later on in "The Immunity Syndrome," Spock himself said, "Vulcan has not been conquered in its collective memory." But perhaps their collective memory is very selective and completely blocks out traumatic events.

Kor

 

[Kemaiku]

But he later says Vulcan was never conquered in it's history, to the point where individual Vulcan nations did not do so either, so that Vulcans, as people, could not even comprehend a conquerer or the idea of being dominated. Almost to the point of Lemming-ing their way to death because of it.

TOS was like that with the massive sweeping contradictions.

 

[langdonboom]

I'm starting to wonder, with Fuller no longer on board, how much of this "incident" actually will impact the story, or if we'll get an "aha!" moment about it in the premiere..... The whole "mycologist/fungus that killed millions on Tarsus IV" still seems to be the best lead.

 

[Tuskin38]

McCoy may not have been serious.

 

[Kemaiku]

I'm starting to wonder, with Fuller no longer on board, how much of this "incident" actually will impact the story, or if we'll get an "aha!" moment about it in the premiere..... The whole "mycologist/fungus that killed millions on Tarsus IV" still seems to be the best lead.

The Tarsus event was when Kirk was 14, in 2247, Discovery is set in 2255 with flashbacks to about 2235 where Kirk was 2 years old.

So no.

Damn, Burnham is several years older than Kirk and older in the pilot than he was when he took command of the Enterprise. Huh.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

McCoy may not have been serious.

Well, if the "official" interpretation of canon is that Vulcan was never conquered, as per Spock's later references on the subject, then an in-universe explanation for that line in 'Conscience of the King' is that McCoy (being the colorful dude that he is) was not serious...

...However, I think the script writer who authored that line probably meant it to be literal when he wrote it, and it was meant to be literal when the actor spoke it.

 

[Kemaiku]

Almost as if TOS had inconsistencies.

*marches themselves to the purity gallows*

 

[langdonboom]

flashbacks to about 2235 where Kirk was 2 years old.

Where did you hear that about the flashbacks? Very interesting if we can peg the flashbacks to that exact time. Thanks!

 

[Kemaiku]

Where did you hear that about the flashbacks? Very interesting if we can peg the flashbacks to that exact time. Thanks!

The sequence in the trailer where Sarek finds a wounded Burnham when she's about 8-9 years old during the Klingon attacks, she's in her 30's in the series so it would be ~just over 20 years prior.

 

[Gepard]

But I guessed a while back it would be Vulcan being conquered by the Klingons, it is a line from "The Conscience of the King".

So did I!

 

[RAMA]

My guess.. The incident is no longer a factor or at least no longer a major one.

 

[Kemaiku]

The original pitch under Fuller was an anthology, individual characters would have been abandoned after one season.

When he was kicked, I could see the "incident" only being used as the backdrop to setting up Burnham in particular. Now she's the focus of a full series, this will be the launching point for her story. Whatever happened on Vulcan that day that started the conflict (and in no way represents some conquering of the planet, which is beyond stupid) will be left for speculation.

But it does help explain why Vulcans keep isolating themselves further.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I hope it's not a Klingon conquest. If nothing else, they'd have to explain how the Klingons managed to get all the way TO Vulcan (which I can only assume is well protected within Federation territory).

And McCoy's line is hardly the only one that got thrown away, so to speak. Wasn't there a Q line in early TNG regarding the Klingons that also got tossed? Something like "that must be why you defeated them" (implying that the reason Worf was on the Enterprise was because the Federation conquered the Klingon Empire).

 

[Kemaiku]

It looks more like a hit and run raid, hence shooting up a school. The pilot will deal with how Starfleet (and a victim of that attack) reconcile their oaths and beliefs with dealing with Klingons in the present. Espeically since they imply the leader of the faction was bullied as a child himself. (the younger Klingon being kicked on the ground in the trailer).

 

[cultcross]

It looks more like a hit and run raid, hence shooting up a school. The pilot will deal with how Starfleet (and a victim of that attack) reconcile their oaths and beliefs with dealing with Klingons in the present.

The more trailers I see the more I get this vibe - how does Starfleet reconcile it's peaceful mission and progressive ideals with a perceived/real military threat? I think this will be a major theme in season 1.

 

[Dukhat]

I don't know why anyone wouldn't think the issue was the Battle of Axanar, since, you know, CBS sued Alec Peters over his fan production about it. Yes, I know there were other circumstances that contributed to the suit. But still.