Will we meet Prime Admiral Marcus?

[Greg Cox]

Huh? If 'Prime Carol' was never in Starfleet, it's unlikely 'Prime Kirk' would have met her when he did to make David Marcus. .

It's impossible to say. I'm sure not every "blonde lab technician" in San Francisco belongs to Starfleet. For all we know, he met her in a bar or on Shore Leave or through mutual friends. Cadets and civilians have been known to mingle.

Heck, it's not as though Captain Kirk never romanced a woman who wasn't in Starfleet.

 

[DaveyNY]

Hasn't it kinda-sorta been assumed that Mitchell is the one that got the two of them together??

 

[Noname Given]

Hasn't it kinda-sorta been assumed that Mitchell is the one that got the two of them together??

There's the one line from TOS - "Where No Man Has Gone Before":
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/2.htm

MITCHELL: If I hadn't aimed that little blonde lab technician at you

KIRK: You what? You planned that?

MITCHELL: Well, you wanted me to think, didn't you? I outlined her whole campaign for her.

KIRK: I almost married her!

 

[Nerys Myk]

I've always had a hard time imagining Doctor Carol Marcus working as a lab tech.

 

[Greg Cox]

I've always had a hard time imagining Doctor Carol Marcus working as a lab tech.

We all have to start somewhere. Even the most brilliant scientist was somebody's lab assistant at some point, especially in one's younger days.

As for Gary "aiming" Carol at Jim . . . again, no way to know if she was a civilian or not. She could have been a friend of Gary's sister, or his girlfriend's roommate, or maybe Gary was just a very good wingman when he and Jim were out on the town. We're told that Kirk was pretty studious back in the day, so it makes sense that Gary might have to go above and beyond if he wanted his best friend to get his nose out of a book and kiss a girl once in a while.

Doesn't mean she had to be in Starfleet for she and Kirk to hook up.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

^ And there's also Carol and David's differing attitudes towards Starfleet to consider. David has the knee-jerk reaction of "Scientists have always been pawns of the military", while Carol is more accepting. If she's actually served in Starfleet (obviously David never has), then it makes sense she'd have a more favorable view of it.

Maybe David doesn't like Starfleet because his grandfather was a huge prick. So, Marcus could be the same in both universes.

I've always had a hard time imagining Doctor Carol Marcus working as a lab tech.

Lab tech while a grad student.

 

[Greg Cox]

Lab tech while a grad student.

Works for me.

Back in the day, I mopped floors, bused tables, emptied bedpans, and drained blood from winos in a skid row plasma center. Everybody has to pay their dues.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Maybe David doesn't like Starfleet because his grandfather was a huge prick. So, Marcus could be the same in both universes.

Perhaps. But unlikely.

IMHO, if Marcus Prime were to appear on DSC, it would work better - from a storytelling perspective - if he's NOT like his Kelvin counterpart. I mean, if both Marcuses were the same, there wouldn't be much point to bringing him back, would there? I see more potential in having Marcus Prime be different from his counterpart in the Kelvin timeline.

 

[Tuskin38]

Well in the Prime Timeline he would have actually experienced a Klingon war, unlike his Kelvin Counterpart

 

[DaveyNY]

Well in the Prime Timeline he would have actually experienced a Klingon war, unlike his Kelvin Counterpart

So he could go around telling everybody "I Told You SO!"

 

[CorporalClegg]

I've always had a hard time imagining Doctor Carol Marcus working as a lab tech.

I've always figured calling her a "lab tech" was just an example of Mitchell's patronizing, misogynist douchebaggery.

 

[dahj]

I've always figured calling her a "lab tech" was just an example of Mitchell's patronizing, misogynist douchebaggery.

We're lucky he didn't call her a "walking Petri dish"...

 

[Timo]

...Is it such a good idea to speculate that the lab tech was Carol Marcus?

I mean, if we do go that route, wouldn't it be likely for the conception of a son to come up in the "WNMHGB" discussion, rather than (or in addition to) a marriage that almost happened because Gary tried to arrange for a tactical diversion? Especially as this latter part seems to be actual news to Jim. Why does Gary's choice of late night reading hold higher priority to Jim there than sorting out the fact that Jim has a son solely due to Gary needing to pass Logistics & Accounting 202?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[DaveyNY]

Because Carol didn't let either of them know she was pregnant and Gary was most likely dead by the time David was born.
Even if Gary did know, by the time he reached Godhood, he was probably so far gone that NOT telling Kirk about his son would have been right up his alley as a more fitting punishment.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I'm pretty sure David was like three going on four by the events of WNMHGB.

 

[Noname Given]

Because Carol didn't let either of them know she was pregnant and Gary was most likely dead by the time David was born.
Even if Gary did know, by the time he reached Godhood, he was probably so far gone that NOT telling Kirk about his son would have been right up his alley as a more fitting punishment.

What? Kirk knew she was pregnant at the time it happened. From STII TWoK:
http://www.chakoteya.net/movies/movie2.html

KIRK: I did what you wanted. ...I stayed away. ...Why didn't you tell him?

CAROL: How can you ask me that? Were we together? Were we going to be? You had your world and I had mine. And I wanted him in mine, not chasing through the universe with his father. ... Actually, he's a lot like you. In many ways. Please tell me what you're feeling.

KIRK: There's a man out there I haven't seen in fifteen years who's trying to kill me. You show me a son that'd be happy to
help him. My son. ...My life that could have been, ...and wasn't. And what am I feeling? ...Old. ...Worn out.

So, yes, she told him at the time and she decided she wanted to raise David herself. Kirk was surprised she never told David herself that Kirk was his father.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm pretty sure David was like three going on four by the events of WNMHGB.

MA gives his birthdate as 2261. He could have been conceived the previous year. What was Kirk up to in 2260? Teaching at the Academy? On the Farragut? Perhaps commanding a small class of starhip? Though by 2262 he was in a relationship with Janice Wallace and shortly after that Ariel Shaw.

 

[DaveyNY]

I don't believe that Carol told Kirk till well after David was born.
Which is also probably after Mitchell was gone?

They were going to get married, but according to Carol, his "Career" obviously kept that from happening.
I believe that If he had known that she was pregnant, he might not have eventually accepted command of the Enterprise and it's Five Year Mission.

 

[UssGlenn]

I've taken a crack at the timeline before, Something like this:

Jim is teaching at the Academy, Gary arranges Carol to meet him.
Things get serious, Carol gets pregnant, doesn't tell Kirk yet. (you should always wait till a few weeks in before telling anyone, just in case the worst happens)
Shortly afterward Kirk gets the opportunity of a promotion and deep space assignment.
His other option is to turn down the Ship and stay on Earth with Carol, who he is ready to propose to.
Carol knows Kirk would be unhappy if he doesn't go to space, dooming their potential relationship, and leading to a future divorce.
She insists they break up and that he take the assignment. She doesn't tell him she's pregnant because then she knows he'd refuse to leave.

During the early days of the 5 year mission, but after WNMHGB, The Enterprise stops at the research station where Marcus and young David are living.
This is when Spock and McCoy meet Carol.
Kirk does the math, and realizes what happened. Carol insists he not tell David and stay away because having an absent father would be harder on David than not having one at all.
Carol probably told Kirk she'd tell David the truth when he was old enough, Kirk is surprised that hasn't happened yet.

 

[Tuskin38]

Didn't the Star Trek Continues Fan Series have an episode with Carol?