Thoughts on Burnham's relationship to Sarek

[cultcross]

I think from her look it's pretty obvious that she's full human. Maybe raised on Vulcan. I'll be honest, I've seen enough "How can I be a real Vulcan"-nonsense in previous shows that I really don't care to see more of it, even with the added twist that Burnham is actually completely human.

What I'm hoping for based on the lines about getting a command, and the possibility that Sarek is some kind of mentor to her, is a character arc about growing into the role of leadership, maybe struggling with it in a human way we haven't really seen before (at least until Beyond). Starfleet officers who aren't absolutely fucking incredible experts at everything appeal to me more, that's why Ben Sisko was my favourite Captain, he was flawed and knew it and wrestled with it. I would like something like that.

 

[Captain Indecisive]

So we now know that Sarek served as some sort of mentor to Burnham (Is that the right name?) in her childhood. What do you want to get they throw a curve and have Sarek be her stepdad?

I'll go with tutor and that he was mocking her in an attempt to make her work harder. Burnham maybe the daughter of diplomats from Earth.

At one point in the trailer Burnham seems to arguing with the Captain Georgiou over firing ships weapons before an adversary so however Sarek is a mentor to her, she seems a hot headed (maybe) and therefore unlikely to have been raised by Vulcans.

Unlikely. Sarek is ambassador to Earth, so Burnham is probably a daughter or relative of Earth's ambassador to Vulcan. That Sarek is a mentor to her makes as much sense as Pike being a mentor to Spock (and Spock didn't even grow up on Earth). Won't speculate on what might have happened to her parents, but if she's being raised by Sarek then she is a human learning the Vulcan way because that's all Sarek really knows (much like Worf learning the Human way or the Cardassian war orphans being raised as Bajorans).

Nothing in the trailer indicated where that scene takes place. Sarek being ambassador to Earth would still allow him to be a mentor/tutor. Doing such would allow him to learn more about humans.

Also, Sarek may not yet be the ambassador to Earth. When Frain was cast word was he was an scientist.

And Spock doesn't need to have grown up on Earth for Pike to be a mentor. Having a doesn't mean you have been learning from that person your whole life.

 

[cultcross]

At one point in the trailer Burnham seems to arguing with the Captain Georgiou over firing ships weapons before an adversary so however Sarek is a mentor to her, she seems a hot headed (maybe) and therefore unlikely to have been raised by Vulcans.

Trailer editing can lie, I wouldn't put too much stock in apparent conversations we hear, there could be a lot of dialogue between those two lines or indeed they could be from different scenes entirely.

 

[Captain Indecisive]

Trailer editing can lie, I wouldn't put too much stock in apparent conversations we hear, there could be a lot of dialogue between those two lines or indeed they could be from different scenes entirely.

Yes, I know - that is why I said "seems" but I should have made that more clear.

 

[F. King Daniel]

One of the scenes really looks like Sarek is talkingdown to kid!Burnham in one of the Vulcan learnatarium bowls from ST'09.
I'm gonna guess she's fully human, but studied on Vulcan in her youth and befriended Sarek, who was then one of her instructors.

 

[captainkirk]

I wonder if young Spock will appear in the flashback scenes. Perhaps he and Burnham were childhood friends.

 

[cultcross]

The show is small universe enough with Sarek included.

 

[Michael]

The character that Majel Barrett played in the first pilot episode was named “Number One”. She appeared to be cold and logical. Two character traits that they incorporated into the character of Spock for the second pilot.

So having Burnham as “Number One” and less in touch with her emotional side as a human because of her upbringing on Vulcan, it looks to me like a nice homage to TOS.

You know, I hadn't thought of that! That's actually a nice little nod. And maybe there's even more to it and it turns out she actually is that Number One from “The Cage”. Not that anyone besidesTrek fans remember who that was.

 

[Jedman67]

I don't think she is vulcan herself, but i like the theory of being raised or taught by vulcans

 

[Mudd]

As a child she wears her hair in a Vulcan "Moe" cut, but there's no other indication in her demeanor or appearance that she's anything other than a human being.

 

[{ Emilia }]

As a child she wears her hair in a Vulcan "Moe" cut, but there's no other indication in her demeanor or appearance that she's anything other than a human being.

The mannerism, the way she holds her head, does remind me of weird Vulcans a little. But it's just a short trailer so who knows?

Well, at least I hope so because otherwise her expression was just really goofy.

 

[The Wormhole]

At first I thought she was supposed to be half-Vulcan, but while we don't really get a good look at her ears, her eyebrows don't seem particularly slanted. Human raised on Vulcan, maybe.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I'm going with "human raised on Vulcan" - which would give her character some "alien" aspect that would cause dramatic conflict.

 

[JoeP]

They seemed to have Vulcanized her eyebrows...

 

[alpha_leonis]

I'm wondering anew about the relationship of this "Number One" with Majel Barrett's Number One from The Cage.

I realize that Barrett's character was white and Burnham is black, but Barrett's character was deliberately played up as unemotional, and coldly logical (before the character was dropped and those traits were handed over to Spock.) Could that be a connection between the characters after all, racial difference notwithstanding?

 

[Mudd]

That's actually an interesting thought.

The character has Majel Barrett's initials, BTW ( not an interesting thought).

 

[BillJ]

I'm wondering anew about the relationship of this "Number One" with Majel Barrett's Number One from The Cage.

I realize that Barrett's character was white and Burnham is black, but Barrett's character was deliberately played up as unemotional, and coldly logical (before the character was dropped and those traits were handed over to Spock.) Could that be a connection between the characters after all, racial difference notwithstanding?

It would be tough for them to be the same character if the show is taking place ten years prior to TOS (in the Prime timeline) and Burnham ends up as Captain of the Discovery.

 

[Mudd]

We don't yet have any indication that she will.

 

[Michael]

It would be tough for them to be the same character if the show is taking place ten years prior to TOS (in the Prime timeline) and Burnham ends up as Captain of the Discovery.

We don't know at this point that she ends up as captain of the Discovery, do we? Although it struck me as kinda weird in the trailer that a few seconds in they are talking about giving Burnham her first command, when part of the shows premise (at least as it was promoted) was that the main character for once wasn't the captain.

 

[Saul]

I got the impression, Vulcan and that Sarek was her Father. He's had more than one wife.