Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Proves Just How Influential Spock Truly Was

Spoilers for "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" episode 6 follow.

"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" is set in the 32nd century, which means that the characters from most previous "Star Trek" shows are distant but still well-remembered legends. Episode 5, "Series Acclimation Mil," was a homage story, featuring SAM (Kerrice Brooks) learning about the life of Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks) from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."

In the latest episode, "Come, Let's Away," Vulcan War College student B'Avi (Alexander Eling) drops this quote: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." He attributes it only to "a famous officer," but Trekkies everywhere will recognize the source: Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who told this to his best friend Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

Spock was born in the Earth year 2230 AD, almost a thousand years before this episode takes place. By our standards, quoting Spock is about the equivalent of quoting someone from the 11th century. Say, Danish King Canute the Great and his demonstration of how not even he could control the tides.

Keep in mind, Spock wasn't just a Starfleet officer. In the latter half of his life, he became a diplomat. Spock spent his twilight years living on Romulus, building diplomatic relations between his people, the Vulcans, and their belligerent cousins, the Romulans. In the 32nd century, the Vulcans and Romulans are a single people again; B'Avi's best bud is a Romulan student, Dzolo (Cecilia Lee). Some credit for that reunification goes to Spock.

Spock's friend, Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForrest Kelley), also observed of his late comrade in "Wrath of Khan" that "He's really not dead, as long as we remember him." By that metric, Spock has lived long and prospered even more.

Spock's belief about "the needs of the many" is one of the character's most famous quotes. It's a saying that even non-Trekkies have probably heard, and one that's been referenced in Leonard Nimoy's other roles. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" featured Nimoy voicing the villainous Sentinel Prime, who betrays his fellow Autobots to help the Decepticons plunder Earth and restore the Transformers' home, Cybertron. How does Sentinel justify his betrayal? "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"Come, Let's Away," though, ties this Easter egg into large themes. During a field test for Starfleet and War College on board the USS Miyazaki, several cadets — B'Avi, SAM, Caleb (Sandro Rosta), Jay-Den (Karim Diané), and Kyle (Dale Whibley) — are taken hostage. Their kidnappers are brutal space pirates called the Furies, and Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) has to coordinate their rescue. Ake's enemy, Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti), taunts her about how she once left her son to die to save her crew (following Spock's wisdom), and if she'll let the same happen here.

B'Avi, unfortunately, has to put his money where his mouth is; he is killed while fighting the Furies, marking the first major death on "Starfleet Academy." When Spock died in "Wrath of Khan," he mused that he was finally taking the Kobayashi Maru test (a Starfleet exam designed to test how cadets react in unwinnable situations). Based on this episode's dark tone, our cadets might have to take that test themselves soon enough.

"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" is streaming on Paramount+.