Pon Farr Research

Would the fact that T'Pring was going to be issuing the challange be that big a secret? I mean she brought her boyfriend to the wedding. And I do wonder if the presence of the weapons and the weapons carriers is a standard part of the wedding if no challenge is anticipated.

 

Possibly. But given the Vulcans' adherence to tradition, I would think they would be a standard part of any wedding. After all, to prepare for the worst possible outcome is only logical. Think of how embarrassing it would be if the bride issued a challenge and there were no weapons available for the men to fight with?



Besides, if Spock is allowed to bring his friends, why can't T'Pring bring her (probably only) friend?

 

That is not necessarily true. You are assuming that they only have a maybe 20 year window of fertility. I say it's much longer than that, allowing for 6- maybe 10 possible offspring. If each Vulcan woman theoretically has four healthy children who grow up the race is not extinct.

 

Spock did not say the Pon Farr would kill him He said he would be driven to return home, take a wife or DIE IN THE ATTEMPT. McCoy is the one saying the pressure would "simply kill him". I my humble opinion Spock had already slept with Christine Chapel. He says to her one "I cannot give you what you want" He didn't mean sex, he meant marriage (He was already married). Christine's obsessive love for Spock clues me into this. This is part of natural Vulcan telepathic sexual bonding. I think the women of Vulcan had and have a huge problem with males.
It isn't just violence. It's that they have the mental powers to get sex from women. Spock demostrates this. He continually rejects Christine, or treats her coldly and she keeps coming back. Even after a 2 year absence it isn't over for her. I know people hated Majel Barrett in the role, but for a moment imagine a more winsome, feminine actress as Christine. Also, when Spock announces on the bridge that T'Pring is his wife, Christine gives Uhura a look that says "that bastard lied to me!" Spock and Christine were and probably afterward were intimate too.

 

There's only one problem with this. If a Vulcan male had sex only in one time period in seven years and the female does not conceive he has wasted a huge amount of energy for nothing. The mating cyce HAS to be linked to a female estrous kind of thing or it is senseless. The purpose of high sex drive is reproductive success, not emotional or physical satisfaction. Lousy sex still makes kids. It is clear that Vulcan males are terribly agressive, high testosterone, male animals. Women fear them.