A darker twist on David's death

[alpha_leonis]

Yes, David's death in TSFS was dark enough -- not only for the random, senseless nature of the death itself, but for the way it affected the rest of the movie series, in how Kirk treated Klingons from there on out.

ie, "Let them die!"
or, "I'll never forgive them for the death of my boy."


But here's an alternate storyline -- I wonder how *this* would have affected the rest of the movie series?

So there, on the Genesis planet, we have regenerated Spock, aging rapidly, and having at least one Pon Farr experience (Saavik was logical enough to get him through it in the way that only a Vulcan female could. Rumors have it that she stayed on Vulcan in the next movie because she was pregnant with his Pon Farr baby.)

But as we saw in "Amok Time", mating isn't the only way to get through a Pon Farr experience. You can also survive it by being driven into high enough rage to kill somebody.

Granted there were plenty of killing options to choose from at that particular time. One particular Klingon got tossed like a football for a few dozen meters.

But what if Pon-Farring Spock had killed David? He isn't himself of course, and doesn't have any context to know who David is, other than (potentially) a rival for Saavik's affections.

That twist, obviously, would change the nature of the rest of the movies, by changing the fundamental relationship between the two biggest characters in the storyline. Could Kirk forgive Spock like he eventually did the Klingons (in his own way)? Would Kirk even use David's death by Spock's hands as an excuse for anti-Vulcan prejudice of the same degree as his anti-Klingon prejudice we already saw on display?

Story possibilities are ... probably outside of the Star Trek milieu, but interesting to think about dramatically anyway.

Discuss.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^An interesting idea, except that David wasn't present when Spock went through the pon farr. By the time David was anywhere near Spock again, it was only a few minutes before the former was killed.

In any case, I don't know that Spock would have killed David merely because he was there. He only threw the Klingon because he perceived him as an immediate threat and acted instinctively.

--Sran

 

[alpha_leonis]

^An interesting idea, except that David wasn't present when Spock went through the pon farr. By the time David was anywhere near Spock again, it was only a few minutes before the former was killed.

In any case, I don't know that Spock would have killed David merely because he was there. He only threw the Klingon because he perceived him as an immediate threat and acted instinctively.

--Sran

... it did seem to me that David was deliberately discreet at that moment: he knew what was necessary and gave them the necessary privacy. Nothing a quick rewrite couldn't fix. Just some MacGuffin that kept David in proximity instead of off to confront the then-unknown visitors -- and all of a sudden David is there during the blood-burning instead of Saavik, and all hilarity ensues.

What then?

 

[Khan 2.0]

Nice idea, then in IV Kirk could kill Spocks parents in revenge

 

[Commishsleer]

Yes, David's death in TSFS was dark enough -- not only for the random, senseless nature of the death itself, but for the way it affected the rest of the movie series, in how Kirk treated Klingons from there on out.

ie, "Let them die!"
or, "I'll never forgive them for the death of my boy."


But here's an alternate storyline -- I wonder how *this* would have affected the rest of the movie series?

So there, on the Genesis planet, we have regenerated Spock, aging rapidly, and having at least one Pon Farr experience (Saavik was logical enough to get him through it in the way that only a Vulcan female could. Rumors have it that she stayed on Vulcan in the next movie because she was pregnant with his Pon Farr baby.)

But as we saw in "Amok Time", mating isn't the only way to get through a Pon Farr experience. You can also survive it by being driven into high enough rage to kill somebody.

Granted there were plenty of killing options to choose from at that particular time. One particular Klingon got tossed like a football for a few dozen meters.

But what if Pon-Farring Spock had killed David? He isn't himself of course, and doesn't have any context to know who David is, other than (potentially) a rival for Saavik's affections.

That twist, obviously, would change the nature of the rest of the movies, by changing the fundamental relationship between the two biggest characters in the storyline. Could Kirk forgive Spock like he eventually did the Klingons (in his own way)? Would Kirk even use David's death by Spock's hands as an excuse for anti-Vulcan prejudice of the same degree as his anti-Klingon prejudice we already saw on display?

Story possibilities are ... probably outside of the Star Trek milieu, but interesting to think about dramatically anyway.

Discuss.

Well it still wouldn't have been Spock's fault as it would have been Zombie Spock that killed David. And it would have still been the Klingon's fault for capturing them.

As a slight twist on this theme, there was supposedly a TOS script (on file) where Spock accidentally killed McCoy's daughter.

 

[Shatinator]

Did someone say Zombie....

 

[Shat Happens]

Nice idea, then in IV Kirk could kill Spocks parents in revenge

 

[The Old Mixer]

If he had to choose between Spock and David, Kirk would have kicked David under the bus himself.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I suspect otherwise. James T. Kirk was only ignorant of his son's life, due to Carol Marcus' pushing Jim away. Probably out of concern that she might end up being hurt, or some such. You know how these kinds of relationships end up in movies. Especially where scientists are involved. Take Ellie Arroway in CONTACT, for example. She too was a scientist who had a Man who was eager ... and willing ... and she, likewise, pushed hiim away. I don't know if this is a theme that carries over from 50's space movies, or something like that, but this would be my guess, on both counts.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

In a situation like this, Spock would only have killed David if they were actively competing for Saavik under Vulcan custom. That's how pon farr works. Spock wouldn't bother attacking anyone who wasn't involved, as it were.

If Saavik had, for whatever reason, declared kunat kalifee and chosen either Spock or David as her champion, then the guys would fight it out. But obviously this would never happen, so they'd have no reason to fight.

 

[bolak]

In a situation like this, Spock would only have killed David if they were actively competing for Saavik under Vulcan custom. That's how pon farr works. Spock wouldn't bother attacking anyone who wasn't involved, as it were.

Isn't that only post-Awakening protcol, though? Prior to that, when emotions reigned, those undergoing pon farr would kill any potential rivals. Much like an alpha wolf.

Proto-Spock wouldn't be particularly concerned with Surak's teachings.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ No, there's no evidence of that.

And even so, if David thought that Spock would see him as a rival for Saavik and kill him as a result, David would get the hell out of there pronto before Spock had the chance. David's not stupid.

 

[Captrek]

I think the way it played out is about as dark as it gets. Saavik blamed David for everything that was happening — unfairly, I think, but David seemed to agree.

David was still a young man. Genesis had probably consumed his entire professional career. He had ignored his better judgment warning that it "could be perverted into a dreadful weapon" and created it anyway. Now many good people had gotten killed over the fight for the weapon he had created and more were still to come. He judged himself, and may have thought he could never forgive himself. He was going through Hell when Kruge's order to kill a hostage came through, and he figured that of the three hostages, he was the one who least deserved a chance to live.

He thought he was a monster who deserved to die, and he made it happen so he never had a chance to forgive himself. Even if the Klingon dagger through his heart was quick, it's a horrible way to go. It's darker, IMO, than being killed by some fantasitic Vulcan "blood fever."

 

[SicOne]

Though David was a scientist, he didn't strike me as someone particularly wise in the ways of the universe. Unless he jacked off to one of the "Vulcan Love Slave" videos at some point in his adolescence (and hey, who among us wouldn't, am I right?), he might have just thought that Saavik had found some other way to mellow out Proto-Spock during his pon farr time. If he was watching off to the side, he would have seen them stroke each other's fingers for a minute and then gotten bored and wandered off to find something more interesting to do on, oh, I dunno, this planet that he was responsible for constructing, not realizing that something MUCH more interesting was around the bend if he'd kept watching.

 

[SicOne]

Besides, it's more likely that Saavik was on the science-fictiony version of The Pill and wouldn't have conceived a child with Proto-Spock, or even carried the child to term if she was impregnated. Bearing a pregnancy with protomatter-created material running amok down there seems a situation fraught with peril, science be damned. But even if she did end up pregnant, they woulda just got us another Saavik like they did in ST3, or brought back the previous Saavik, who was more pleasing to the eye than the one in ST3. And Proto-Spock would have wondered why he didn't hold out for THAT one...