37 Years Later, Star Trek Retcons Captain Pike To Say Picard’s Wisest Quote First

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 8 – “Orders of Magnitude”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds retconned Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) to say a version of one of Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) wisest quotes first. Directed by Sharon Lewis and written by Alan B. McElroy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 8, “Orders of Magnitude” ended with Captain Pike promoting Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) to Lieutenant.

One of Captain Picard’s most enduring quotes is from Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 21, “Peak Performance.” Despite being an android with a positronic brain, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) is defeated in a game of Stratagema by Kolrami (Roy Brocksmith). Picard counsels Data, telling him, “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness; that is life.”

Among Captain Picard’s many iconic quotes, this one stands out. It’s a life lesson that millions of Star Trek fans have heralded and taken to heart in the 37 years since Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “Peak Performance” premiered. It also resonates with writer Alan B. McElroy since he has Captain Pike paraphrase Picard’s quote in “Orders of Magnitude.”

Strange New Worlds Retcons Pike To Say Picard’s Wisest Quotes First

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 8, Captain Pike tells Uhura that she didn’t fail her protégé, Cadet A’Sha (Bianca Nugara). The young Vulcan was mortally wounded by Andorian pirates in “Orders of Magnitude,” and Uhura risked her own life to save A’Sha’s, only to learn that the cadet had quit Starfleet. Pike counsels Uhura with advice that echoes what Picard told Data in “Peak Performance”:

Captain Pike: “You can do everything right and sometimes things still don’t work out like we’d hoped. The best you can do is savor the victories and move on from the defeats a little wiser.”

103 years separate Captain Pike advising Uhura in the same basic fashion that Captain Picard does for Data. Pike’s version resonates as a hard life lesson that he had to learn himself, and imparts to Nyota out of personal experience. For Picard, his quote is headier and more philosophical. Each version of the quote is perfectly targeted to its recipient.

Of course, Uhura needs more emotional support from Pike. Chris has guided Nyota from an uncertain cadet to a confident and assured communications officer. Uhura still has much to learn, focuses too much on work, and worries about her future to her detriment, but her courage and heroism in saving A’Sha’s life proved Uhura was ready to become a lieutenant.

Data, in turn, has no emotions, but does possess an insatiable curiosity about humanity. Data is not accustomed to being defeated when it comes to intellectual exercises, and he was confused and doubted his own abilities. Picard addressed Data with greater truths and alleviated the android’s doubts, and inspired Data to win his Strategema rematch.

Captain Pike Is Hardly Mentioned In Star Trek: The Next Generation

Captain Pike is prominent in the Paramount+ era of Star Trek, but in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Pike is all but invisible. TNG never references Pike in spoken dialogue, and the only visual reference to Chris is in the TNG season 3 episode, “The Most Toys,” where a shuttlecraft is named after Pike. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) is awarded the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor.

Christopher Pike is canonically recognized as a former Captain of the Enterprise, and the predecessor of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, like with Kirk, TNG generally avoided references to Star Trek: The Original Series in order to establish itself and the 24th century.

Everything about Captain Pike after Star Trek: The Original Series’ “The Menagerie” was created nearly 30 years after Star Trek: The Next Generation went off the air. During Rick Berman’s era of Star Trek from 1987 to 2005, Pike was the Captain played by Jeffrey Hunter, whose lone adventure before Chris’ devastating accident and disfigurement was in Star Trek’s original, rejected pilot, “The Cage.”

Captain Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds echoing (and predating via retcon) Picard’s wise quote about how to accept failure and defeat is now an inspiring thread of continuity between Captains of the Enterprise a century apart. In each case, the Captain tailored their advice to the recipient and proved why they are worthy leaders worth following.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: The Next Generation are streaming on Paramount+