Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 established that then-Lieutenant Kirk was the youngest First Officer in Starfleet when he was promoted to the USS Farragut's Number One. Jim beat the previous record set by his father, Lieutenant George Kirk, to the chagrin of James' older brother, Lieutenant Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte).

The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail' provides the crucible that 'Strange New Worlds' has been building towards since before it even existed: the forging of the team that made 'Star Trek'.

Strange New Worlds involves a lot of time travel, so this isn’t actually the first time the show has put some variation of Kirk in the captain’s chair. Wesley’s version of Kirk was introduced in the season 1 finale as the aggressive commander of the USS Farragut,