An Origin for Saavik

[Mysterion]

Was reading an old fanzine the other day that suggested an origin for Saavik I hadn't really heard of or considered before.

Now, the accepted origin is having be a survivor of a failed colony that was attacked by romulans. Most accept her in fact being half-romulan despite it never being mentioned on-screen.

The author of the fan-fic suggested that Saavik was in fact the product of a liaison of spack and the Romulan Commander in the TOS episode The Enterprise Incident.

On the one hand, this strikes me as being just a little bit too "small universe syndrome" for my tastes. Also, it makes Saavik helping proto-Spock with his pon farr in TSFS more than a little creepy if she's his daughter.

For my money, Saavik is a full-vulcan whose origin is yet to be revealed (if it ain't on-screen, it ain't happened), but am interested in hearing opinions on this.

 

[captcalhoun]

Saavik's half-Romulan heritage was cut from the script of TWOK, but hinted at with her emotional nature (she curses in the KM test for cripes' sake!). the background of her being from a failed colony, is in the novelisation.

 

[Mysterion]

Saavik's half-Romulan heritage was cut from the script of TWOK, but hinted at with her emotional nature (she curses in the KM test for cripes' sake!). the background of her being from a failed colony, is in the novelisation.

I don't think here emotional nature has to have any sort of implications for her racial make-up. I have always wrote it off to her being reletively young and inexperienced (take a look at the younger Spock we see in The Cage).

Remember that full-Vulcans aren't void of emotion, they just learn to control and suppress them. when we meet Saavik in TWoK, she hasn't quite mastered this yet. She does seem to have gotten a bit better at it though by TSFS.

 

[C.E. Evans]

While I personally like the idea of Kirstie Alley's Saavik being half-Vulcan/half-Human, Robin Curtis' Saavik came across to me as being pure Vulcan. With nothing onscreen really to support the former, I have to go with the latter as far as Saavik's heritage...

 

[LeadHead]

Whenever anyone brings up that Robin Curtis' portrayal of Saavik made her seem like a full blooded Vulcan, I always have to think to myself, that Spock himself was half Vulcan and half human, making the argument that she couldn't have been half Vulcan and Half Romulan pretty implausible.

 

[antiquityscion]

The author of the fan-fic suggested that Saavik was in fact the product of a liaison of spack and the Romulan Commander in the TOS episode The Enterprise Incident.

On the one hand, this strikes me as being just a little bit too "small universe syndrome" for my tastes. Also, it makes Saavik helping proto-Spock with his pon farr in TSFS more than a little creepy if she's his daughter.

It would have further complicated things if the cut line from IV stayed in, and it was stated Saavik was staying on Vulcan because she was impregnated by Spock. That would be worse than the Luke\Leia thing!

 

[F. King Daniel]

As far as I'm concerned, Saavik's origin is the fantastic novel The Pandora Principle.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Whenever anyone brings up that Robin Curtis' portrayal of Saavik made her seem like a full blooded Vulcan, I always have to think to myself, that Spock himself was half Vulcan and half human, making the argument that she couldn't have been half Vulcan and Half Romulan pretty implausible.

So all Vulcans are half-Human by that logic?

 

[Navigator_NCC2120]

Saavik's half-Romulan heritage was cut from the script of TWOK, but hinted at with her emotional nature (she curses in the KM test for cripes' sake!). the background of her being from a failed colony, is in the novelisation.

Actually it was filmed and cut from the film, not the script. My employer has blocked YouTube, but here is a page of video links to the scene where Spock mentions to Kirk that Saavik is half-Vulcan, half-Romulan. It occurs just after the Kobayashi Maru Test.

Navigator NCC-2120 USS Entente
/\

 

[Tomalak]

While I personally like the idea of Kirstie Alley's Saavik being half-Vulcan/half-Human, Robin Curtis' Saavik came across to me as being pure Vulcan. With nothing onscreen really to support the former, I have to go with the latter as far as Saavik's heritage...

That's like a polite way of saying Curtis was wooden. Which she was. They totally lost the Saavik-David flirtatiousness with her as well, even though it's hinted at. Shame really.

 

[The Wormhole]

The author of the fan-fic suggested that Saavik was in fact the product of a liaison of spack and the Romulan Commander in the TOS episode The Enterprise Incident.

On the one hand, this strikes me as being just a little bit too "small universe syndrome" for my tastes. Also, it makes Saavik helping proto-Spock with his pon farr in TSFS more than a little creepy if she's his daughter.

I've actually heard that theory before, and yeah, it's best ignored in light of TSFS.

Although it's never been stated on screen, I like the idea of Saavik being half Romulan simply because it makes her cooler.

 

[LeadHead]

Whenever anyone brings up that Robin Curtis' portrayal of Saavik made her seem like a full blooded Vulcan, I always have to think to myself, that Spock himself was half Vulcan and half human, making the argument that she couldn't have been half Vulcan and Half Romulan pretty implausible.

So all Vulcans are half-Human by that logic?

No, it means that her behaving as a full vulcan doesn't discount potential Half Romulan Heritage.

 

[WillsBabe]

I always preferred to think of Saavik as half Romulan, part Vulcan. I can clearly remember reading the TWOK novelisation under the desk at school before I saw the film and reading that. It struck me as exotic and shocking, and it's struck with me ever since. When I saw Kirstie Alley as Saavik on screen I loved her immediately. Robin Curtis did a good job of playing a Vulcan, but when I think of Saavik it will always be Kirstie Alley for me.

I like that the OP is reading a fanzine!

 

[C.E. Evans]

Whenever anyone brings up that Robin Curtis' portrayal of Saavik made her seem like a full blooded Vulcan, I always have to think to myself, that Spock himself was half Vulcan and half human, making the argument that she couldn't have been half Vulcan and Half Romulan pretty implausible.

So all Vulcans are half-Human by that logic?

No...

'Nuff said.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Saavik being half-Romulan is cool but it doesn't excuse her emotionalism in STII - because Vulcans and Romulans are the same species. It's the upbringing/lifestyle and training (or lack thereof) that seperates them. Hence the novelization coming up with the Hellguard/wild child backstory which was told in depth in The Pandora Principle (with similar versions told in two old Trek comics).

 

[Timo]

'Nuff said.

Not enough to offer any opposition to LeadHead's position.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Paradon]

Except...Romulans are probably part Klingons, too, if you are talking about TNG, DS9 and Voy....

 

[C.E. Evans]

'Nuff said.

Not enough to offer any opposition to LeadHead's position.

What more is there to be said? Is there any official proof that she of mixed heritage? Any official reason why I should take it to the bank that she isn't a full Vulcan?

 

[Timo]

There's no evidence that she is, either - her behavior alone certainly doesn't qualify as evidence, as it doesn't really differ from, say, Sulu's. And half of her (namely, the Alley half) behaved in a way that cast some doubt on the issue.

Officially, she might be fully Rigelian for all we know; her species or nationality was never stated, except in that cut bit that makes her half-Romulan, half-something-else.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[F. King Daniel]

Well, she's been half-Romulan in the official tie-ins since Wrath of Khan and she's half-Romulan in the WoK script and deleted scene. That's good enough for me.