The family of Spock has always been a contentious affair, even before the addition of the adopted
sister of Michael Burnham.
Sarek of course married a human woman, Amanda Grayson then remarried a second time to Perrin.
He also adopted a human ward for a time and was the Vulcan-Earth Ambassador as well as
a renowned Federation diplomat.
This garnered him a mixed reception from his peers however, as some viewed this as a fascination
with humans and as some great exploration or experimentation on his part.
Other extremist views even saw his familial relations as a threat to the Vulcan’s way
of life, but most simply could not deny his effectiveness and afforded him and his family
the respect they deserved.
But even before Spock, Sarek had been in a relationship with an unnamed Vulcan princess,
the apocrypha referred to her by the name of T’Rea and she held the position of High
Master of Gol, a very prestigious position.
However, according to the non-canonical content, she was stripped of that honour because of
her leanings towards the V’tosh Katur beliefs.
Their union bore a son, Sybok who’s birth was apparently initially hidden from Surak,
who eventually moved on from their relationship, unaware of the son he now had.
This allowed Sybok’s mother to impart her teachings on to him in private, including
the legends of Sha Ka Ree and the notion that he would unify all under one banner someday.
Meanwhile the V’tosh katur is a catch all term used to describe any Vulcan who does
not prescribe to the teachings of Surak, that dictate logic should override all in order
to tame the dangerously passionate Vulcan spirit.
Specifically, the term is applied to those who either embrace emotion or seek to unify
it with their logical approach.
When it comes to the Vulcans, such a path can be dangerous, as allowing their emotions
to reign to much often leads to violence of the kind that necessitated the need for Surak’s
teachings in the first place.
Sometimes, however the path is walked carefully and not as dangerous as most Logic abiding
Vulcans assume, although the stigma of this pursuit still remains.
Eventually however, Sarek was made aware of Sybok’s existence when the man drew attention
to himself through some nefarious action and by this time, Spock had been born.
Not every V’tosh Katur practitioner is outcast from Vulcan society officially; it’s more
like the stigma eventually drives them to seek their own path away from their home.
They have been present as a movement since at least the 22nd century and most likely
before and during the 23rd century many had fallen into criminal behaviour probably in
part to the exiled nature.
This further increased the stigma associated with being V’tosh Katur.
Alongside his beliefs, Sybok had a gifted mind, even for a Vulcan and a great understanding
of their psychic abilities.
He not only was apt at the mind meld, but had developed a number of other methods of
probing the mind, some of which were invasive and dangerous.
He could also impart a form of brainwashing, that he saw as liberating a person from their
own emotional pain, when they would then join his cause out of apparent gratitude.
But I have to say, it looks like brainwashing to me, as it did to Kirk.
On top of this, his embracing of emotions led him to be rather charismatic and persuasive
even without his affinity for mind games.
Eventually, Sybok begins receiving visions from an entity within the centre of the Milky
Way galaxy, beyond the Great Barrier that is luring him to it with false claims of godhood
in order to be freed from its prison.
To this end he began building his “Galactic Army of Light” to help him achieve this
goal, making his way to the failed colony of Nimbus III to lure his brother (and the
Enterprise) to him.
He eventually perishes in a confrontation with this being after learning its malevolent
goals.
In canon, this tale was the first we hear of Sybok from the notoriously tight-lipped
Spock and the two at least part with a better understanding of one another after spending
the majority of their lives apart.
This is where I’m going into spoilers for Strange New Worlds now…
Vulcan operates criminal rehabilitation facilities to manage their own criminal elements and
in 2259, Sybok had ended up in Ankeshtan K’til for an unknown crime.
Spock was told to avoid contacting Sybok, despite his half-brother status and he was
under the alias of Xaverius and had been in a relationship with a pirate captain operating
on the fringes of Federation space, which likely contributed to his incarceration.
Eventually he clearly breaks out, is rescued by Captain Angel or fakes his rehabilitation
because by 2287, he is free once more and continuing with his new goal of reaching a
being he believes is God.
Sybok continues the trend of the Sarek family being unorthodox, it’s just that his actions
brought disgrace to the family and his existence was a supressed so as to spare the family
further slander by association, considering Sarek already had his detractors and his son
Spock was already struggling to unify his Vulcan-Human heritage.
Introducing the anarchic older half-brother into the mix could possibly lead the younger
Spock to eventually walk the same path as Sybok.
Something Sarek no doubt wanted to avoid.
Fortunately this fate was avoided although it appears as Spock aged, he did manage to
embrace and even display emotion more commonly, while never embracing the path of full logical
Kohlinar or V’tosh Katur ideology.
So that is Sybok and a brief look at the turbulent family of Spock.
Thanks for watching this lore drop on another character and I hope to see you again, I’ve
been Ric, goodbye!