The idea of T'Pol being half-Romulan...

[Joel_Kirk]

Would you have been opened to this idea? (Actually, the question should be 'are you opened to this idea' since TrekLit can actually go forward with this).

Saavik was hinted to be half-Romulan (and, I believe she is in the novel, IIRC)...

It would have made some interesting stories concerning humans and them setting eyes on a Romulan...although, I'm sure that would have been explained somehow...

I'm personally am for it, since it would make some interesting story possibilities....

 

[SFRabid]

I read someplace that BnB had kicked that around and planned to have it come into play during the Romulan war. Despite everything they did wrong, they did have some good ideas and this is one of them.

 

[Middleman]

I'm currently reading an extremely interesting and well written Fan Fic that is based on that premise. I don't know if this is the right place to mention it, with the author's name and the story location.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

I'm currently reading an extremely interesting and well written Fan Fic that is based on that premise. I don't know if this is the right place to mention it, with the author's name and the story location.

It's fine to mention a story -- even one's own story -- provided the thread isn't derailed into being about that story. If folks want to discuss it at length, you can start a thread in the Fanfic forum and put the link here.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Not sure what differnce it would make in T'Pols character. She was born and raised on Vulcan.

 

[Red Ranger]

It's an interesting idea. Of course, some fans would've thought it was a rip-off of Saavik, but it could explain why T'Pol's emotional control wasn't quite as strong as a normal Vulcan's. And since her mother was established as Vulcan, it would've had to be her father who was Romulan, perhaps a spy, a member of the Tal'Shiar. Or perhaps T'Pol could've been part-Romulan, with one of her grandparents being a Romulan, or an ancestor going back another generation. The impact on her character would be like finding out one of your parents wasn't what you thought he/she was. And it would pique her curiousity into whether the Romulans are the lost Vulcan cousins who marched under the flag of the Raptor's wing. Plus, she could understand why achieving emotional control was more difficult for her as compared to her peers. -- RR

 

[Emnabtond]

Not sure what differnce it would make in T'Pols character. She was born and raised on Vulcan.

Yeah exactly.
Also it would have made no sense whatsoever.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It's an interesting idea. Of course, some fans would've thought it was a rip-off of Saavik, but it could explain why T'Pol's emotional control wasn't quite as strong as a normal Vulcan's. And since her mother was established as Vulcan, it would've had to be her father who was Romulan, perhaps a spy, a member of the Tal'Shiar. Or perhaps T'Pol could've been part-Romulan, with one of her grandparents being a Romulan, or an ancestor going back another generation. The impact on her character would be like finding out one of your parents wasn't what you thought he/she was. And it would pique her curiousity into whether the Romulans are the lost Vulcan cousins who marched under the flag of the Raptor's wing. Plus, she could understand why achieving emotional control was more difficult for her as compared to her peers. -- RR

Vulcan emotional control is learned, so being half Romulan would not factor in.

 

[Red Ranger]

It's an interesting idea. Of course, some fans would've thought it was a rip-off of Saavik, but it could explain why T'Pol's emotional control wasn't quite as strong as a normal Vulcan's. And since her mother was established as Vulcan, it would've had to be her father who was Romulan, perhaps a spy, a member of the Tal'Shiar. Or perhaps T'Pol could've been part-Romulan, with one of her grandparents being a Romulan, or an ancestor going back another generation. The impact on her character would be like finding out one of your parents wasn't what you thought he/she was. And it would pique her curiousity into whether the Romulans are the lost Vulcan cousins who marched under the flag of the Raptor's wing. Plus, she could understand why achieving emotional control was more difficult for her as compared to her peers. -- RR

Vulcan emotional control is learned, so being half Romulan would not factor in.

Are you absolutely certain that it's just a matter of learning that control? There's evidence that centuries of such training, passed down over generations, may play a role as well.

Spock was raised on Vulcan, too, yet had more emotions than full Vulcans because of his human half, making it a struggle for him to live up to the high standards of being a Vulcan in control of his emotions.

We know T'Pol's father died when she was young. If he were Romulan, he might've been able to fake being logical and emotionless, but probably didn't have the same level of training. He could've passed on his more emotional state to T'Pol, just enough to make her control just a bit less than other Vulcans, because his ancestors were emotional and never learned that control.

So just as some humans, because a family member had mental problems, can inherit a genetic predisposition toward being unbalanced, perhaps if a Vulcan has a non-Vulcan, emotional parent, he/she might inherit a similar disposition.

Hey, I know it sounds far-fetched, but we are speaking of a series which postulated faster-than-light travel is possible.

Red Rum!

 

[Lady Conqueror]

^Can't she just be an overly emotional Vulcan - statistically on a planet full of people there would have to be certain individuals who for whatever reason never manage to implement the control strategies effectively. Being half Romulan sounds like an excuse.

 

[Mach5]

I have no problem with T'Pol being half Romulan. After all, genetically that's still like 99.99% Vulcan anyway, right?

T'Pol's father being a Romulan sleeper agent would have been a very interesting story, if handled properly.

^Can't she just be an overly emotional Vulcan - statistically on a planet full of people there would have to be certain individuals who for whatever reason never manage to implement the control strategies effectively. Being half Romulan sounds like an excuse.

I agree completely. The real reason for T'Pol being overly emotional should still have been about her father, who most likely encouraged her curiosity and inquisitiveness from an early age.

Coto and CO. could have thrown in some pretty awesome flashbacks in season 5 - for example, seeing T'Pol at age 13 or something, father teaching her about life and stuff in not a very Vulcan manner ("Things are not always as they seem," stuff like that).

 

[Reanok]

I like T'Pol being a Vulcan who struggles with her emotions. I'm glad they didn't make her half Romulan.

 

[Middleman]

I'm currently reading an extremely interesting and well written Fan Fic that is based on that premise. I don't know if this is the right place to mention it, with the author's name and the story location.

It's fine to mention a story -- even one's own story -- provided the thread isn't derailed into being about that story. If folks want to discuss it at length, you can start a thread in the Fanfic forum and put the link here.

In that case, here is the link for anyone who is interested.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5199300/1/Family_Secrets
Be warned: there is a fair amount of Trip & T'Pol shipper stuff in it, but that's not the main story line, T'Pol's father and brother are.

 

[Reanok]

Excellent story I've read this story and it's well written and a novel length story.

 

[DevilEyes]

It's an interesting idea. Of course, some fans would've thought it was a rip-off of Saavik, but it could explain why T'Pol's emotional control wasn't quite as strong as a normal Vulcan's. And since her mother was established as Vulcan, it would've had to be her father who was Romulan, perhaps a spy, a member of the Tal'Shiar. Or perhaps T'Pol could've been part-Romulan, with one of her grandparents being a Romulan, or an ancestor going back another generation. The impact on her character would be like finding out one of your parents wasn't what you thought he/she was. And it would pique her curiousity into whether the Romulans are the lost Vulcan cousins who marched under the flag of the Raptor's wing. Plus, she could understand why achieving emotional control was more difficult for her as compared to her peers. -- RR

Vulcan emotional control is learned, so being half Romulan would not factor in.

Are you absolutely certain that it's just a matter of learning that control? There's evidence that centuries of such training, passed down over generations, may play a role as well.

Spock was raised on Vulcan, too, yet had more emotions than full Vulcans because of his human half, making it a struggle for him to live up to the high standards of being a Vulcan in control of his emotions.

Says who? It seemed to me that Spock only felt that way because he was regarded as 'different' for being half-human, and because he felt he had something to prove. Sarek or Tuvok (or any minor Vulcan character - for instance, Stonn, Captain Soval, or the serial killer from DS9 whose name I can't remember) didn't seem to be any more unemotional, and Spock didn't seem to have that much trouble controlling himself when he was not under some kind of outside influence (spores, etc.). Besides, you forget one major factor - Spock was raised on Vulcan, but he grew up with a mother who did not behave like a Vulcan and did not suppress her emotions.

^Can't she just be an overly emotional Vulcan - statistically on a planet full of people there would have to be certain individuals who for whatever reason never manage to implement the control strategies effectively. Being half Romulan sounds like an excuse.

Exactly. I think it would be ridiculous to suggest that all Vulcans, or all members of any race, are all the same. There has to be some variety in a pool of several billion people!

 

[Unicron]

^ I'd agree with that as well. While the idea of making Saavik half-Romulan was interesting, I personally am glad it was dropped from a canonical perspective. That she cries at Spock's funeral doesn't make her less of a pure-blooded Vulcan to me.

I also think ENT did something sort of right, if perhaps not in the execution, of suggesting that the idea of emotion might still be tempting to some Vulcans.

 

[Bones2]

I don't like the idea of Saavik being half-Romulan, and I certainly don't like the notion of T'Pol being half-Romulan. It makes the Romulans less and less distant. Going by Balance of Terror, no one's even meant to know what a Rommie looks like, despite there having been a great big war with them (which is an awkward thing to stick to from a prequel perspective).

What's the episode of TNG where they have a dying Romulan and Worf won't give him his blood (or something along those lines)? In that it was said that Worf was the only compatible donor, even though there are Vulcans on the ship. That seems like a silly plot device, but it should reinforce the notion that there's quite some distance between the Vulcans and Romulans by the time humans start warping around.

 

[ChristopherPike]

I can see why they would try this, in a season with Romulans as the main antagonist. It makes the conflict more personal and ups the stakes. I'd have been all for revealing something new about a regular character, even if what little has been established about them had to be retconned, or shown in a different light. I think it might've been something Mike Sussman had in mind... but don't quote me on that. I imagine it would've been handled well... and at the end of the day, Spock was half-human and has basically been held up as the standard bearer for the whole Vulcan race. Rightly or wrongly, the Model T which every subsequent actor playing a character in pointy ears has had to measure up to. I guess the Romulan angle was intended to fend off the criticism Enterprise continually faced about their portrayal of the race. Generations of sleeper agents had been at work on Vulcan, undermining both the polictical landscape, as well as having some devious re-intergration or cross breeding agenda going on.

So what if characters aren't all they seem? This perspective always troubles me. Whether it's those who can't accept Deckerd being a replicant in Blade Runner, or the possibility of the Doctor not being a 100% Time Lord. That it somehow takes away instead of adding to who they are. They're both too ends of the creative spectrum for sure. One handled well and subtlely, the other seemingly tacked on. Although I personally hoped on Doctor Who they would've tackled that half-human issue head on and not simply pretended it never happened.

 

[ChristopherPike]

What's the episode of TNG where they have a dying Romulan and Worf won't give him his blood (or something along those lines)? In that it was said that Worf was the only compatible donor, even though there are Vulcans on the ship. That seems like a silly plot device, but it should reinforce the notion that there's quite some distance between the Vulcans and Romulans by the time humans start warping around.

It was called The Enemy I believe. I can't remember specifics. Certainly not any medical terminology but I'd imagine it's not a straight blood transfusion. Some rare element found in specific groups that needs to be filtered out. D.C. Fontana pulled that trick to begin with way back on the Original Series for Journey to Babel, by suggesting Rigellian blood was not so different from a Vulcan's. In the end, Spock becomes the donor after filitering out the human factors. A convenient plot first, that rings true to how the characters behave... Spock putting his ship ahead of saving Sarek's life... so Kirk has to fake recovery and allow him to do the right thing. Worf again true to how he is, because Crusher, Riker and Picard almost convince, only for their effort to fail at that last hurdle when he goes to see the Romulan. Specifics like blood are less important than the hoops you make the character jump through in order to tell the story. Exceptions can easily be made for why the same solution can't be applied in another series. I mean in The Enterprise Incident, they try to beam Spock off a Romulan ship and Chekov describes the two races as almost identical. They find a slight biological difference and get him out of there because, well... he's Leonard Nimoy and has a series contract to fulfil! On the other hand, the sensors being used are a full century more advanced than what Enterprise has to play with.

 

[Bones2]

Yeah, but it's mentioned that there are Vulcans on the ship who aren't compatible, yet Worf is (and is the only one who is). That's a big stretch, whatever the complexities.