I believe Nero caused Spock much grief for no reason in Star Trek

Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) has been one of the more vocal advocates for Romulans in the Star Trek universe. In his role as Ambassador, the half-Vulcan, half-human former Science Officer of the USS Enterprise would devote his life to the unification of Romulans and Vulcans. When the sun in the Romulan Star System was going to go supernova, Spock did everything in his power to help the citizens.

However, things do not go according to plan for Spock. He would try creating a black hole using red matter to stop the Supernova but gets dragged into an alternate timeline along with a Romulan mining vessel led by Nero (played by Eric Bana). Nero holds Spock responsible for the destruction of his planet. In the Kelvin timeline, he even ends up destroying the planet Vulcan as retribution.

Nero’s actions are rather perplexing, since Spock was never the enemy. He was, in fact, working to help rescue Romulans, even after the Federation had given up on Romulus post the Synthetic Ban. Nero’s anger towards Spock seems unwarranted.

Why did Nero hate Spock in Star Trek?

In 2387, the Romulan Star System was being threatened by a Supernova. The Romulans asked the Federation for assistance to rescue their citizens before the supernova destroys their home world. But the Federation halted all support after the Synthetic ban.

In J.J. Abrams’ 2009 movie Star Trek, Ambassador Spock attempts to create a black hole to stop the supernova from destroying Romulus, but instead it draws him into the Kelvin timeline, in which the movie franchise is set.

Spock will tell Kelvin timeline Kirk (played by Chris Pine) that he has come from 129 years in the future. He shares that a supernova was threatening the whole galaxy, but he was able to reduce the damage by using the red matter. Romulus met its end despite Spock’s efforts.

Nero was part of a Romulan mining vessel, the Narada, which was closer to Spock’s Jellyfish ship when the black hole was created, and they both got pulled into it.

Nero arrives in 2233 in the alternate universe, without being aware of the anomaly in the timeline. Nero blames Spock for the destruction of Romulus, which killed his family. He would destroy the USS Kelvin along with Kelvin Timeline James T. Kirk’s father, George Kirk (played by Chris Hemsworth), as he was looking for Ambassador Spock. Spock would, however, arrive 25 years later.

As justice was deemed fit by Nero, the Romulan villain destroyed the planet Vulcan using his space mining vessel. At the end of the movie, Kirk and the Enterprise crew defeated Nero, and Spock decided to help repopulate the Vulcan race. He disappears from the prime timeline and dies of natural causes in Star Trek Beyond at the age of 161.

In the IDW Publishing graphic novel by the movie’s writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, titled Star Trek: Countdown, we get a more in-close look at Nero’s hatred for Spock. Spock had proposed the use of red matter to stop the Supernova from destroying Romulus, but his plan was rejected. But Spock knew the urgency and the gravity of the situation.

Nero, who had previously known the effects of supernova, decides to help Spock save his planet. He leaves his family behind to assist Spock’s scientific plan. One of the few people who was supportive of Spock’s plan was none other than Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart), who even enlists Geordi La Forge (played by LeVar Burton) to design Spock’s ship. But Spock is too late, and Romulus is destroyed anyway, opening up a new timeline.

Spock carried the guilt of having failed in his mission, as seen in the Star Trek movie as well. Something that even Jean-Luc deals with in Star Trek: Picard. Jean-Luc’s guilt and anger at the Federation's non-responsiveness also make him resign from Starfleet. Nonetheless, the subject of Spock or Nero is hardly brought up in Star Trek: Picard.

While the graphic novel does give a better understanding of Nero’s hatred, his anger still seems misplaced. He traveled through the Kelvin timeline for 25 years hunting for Spock, leaving mounting destruction in his path. In fact, Spock, along with Picard, was the only person who actually extended help or gave a solution to the crisis.

A case can be made about how the grief of losing his family turned Nero irrational. But his vengeance ends up destroying a planet and so many innocent lives, something that was unjustified and made him one of the dreaded villains in the Star Trek universe.

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ALSO READ: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds explains the surprising reason Spock started playing the Vulcan lute

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