Strange New Worlds Just Proved Captain Kirk IS Better Than Pike
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 1 Finale — «A Quality of Mercy»
Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) failure against the Romulans in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 1 finale argues that Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) is the superior starship Captain, not just in «Balance of Terror» but the future overall. In Strange New Worlds' finale, «A Quality of Mercy,» Pike time travels to a future where he is never injured in an accident and remained Captain of the Enterprise. Thus, it's Pike who faces the cloaked Romulan Bird-of-Prey in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, «Balance of Terror,» instead of Kirk, but Pike's outcome is wildly different and tragic.
In TOS' «Balance of Terror,» the Romulans reemerge after a century and destroy Starfleet outposts along the Neutral Zone. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the USS Enterprise face the Romulan Bird-of-Prey alone in a tense game of cat-and-mouse. Kirk's instincts are to destroy the Romulan ship to prevent it from crossing the Neutral Zone and return home. Kirk engages in an intense battle of tactics and wits with the Romulan Commander (Mark Lenard), and the Enterprise succeeds in stopping the Romulans and their powerful new weapon. Because of Kirk's victory, the Romulans realized that Starfleet is a force to be reckoned with and they didn't attempt any further invasions of the United Federation of Planets' territory, much less declare all-out war.
Related: Pike Avoids Kirk's Biggest Captain Mistake In Strange New Worlds
In theStrange New Worlds finale's version of «Balance of Terror,» Pike tried a different tactic and opened peace talks with the Romulan Commander (Matthew MacFadzean). Pike and the Enterprise had the backing of
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