David Marcus - What did Kirk know and when did he know it?

Having read the novelization more than once (possibly my favorite of the film novelizations), I wonder whether I was remembering that more than the line from the film.

 

Certainly possible. I recently referenced a scene I clearly remembered from STIII here on the BBS (where David says that his mother knew nothing about him adding protomatter to the Genesis matrix), only to find out that it was a scene that only existed in the DC Comics adaptation of the movie. Sometimes your memory can play tricks on you.

 

The novels indicate he's known about David since he was conceived.

 

I know that some do, yes. But I find it much more interesting to ponder what the movie itself implies, not the ancillary material.

 

Always seemed rather bizarre to me that Carol kept David away from Kirk because of his job. Should have allowed him to see him during his breaks etc.
Shame that he was killed before he could spawn, effectively killing the Kirk line.

 

We're never told that David had no children. But at this point, that's in the realm of novels, comics, and fanfiction.

 

I doubt he did.
I suppose it's possible Kirk had some illegitimate children with all the girls he'd slept with over the years.

 

"Before he could spawn"? What was he, a salmon?

And there was nothing stopping Kirk from having other kids if he wanted them. You can freeze sperm today if you want to have kids in the future. By the 23rd century, I imagine the process would be even easier.

 

Imagine how much that sperm would be worth in Picard's time?

 

And yet, pretty much the minute David meets Kirk he does get wrapped up in Kirk's world and it ends up killing him, from a certain point of view.

 

A mess which he started, by the way.
That was a certain scenario. Him seeing his son while on leave, to take him to Disney World (a literal thing by the 23rd century I bet) would be relatively safe.

 

Well, him and Saavik investigating Genesis by all rights should have been reasonably safe.

 

In-universe, I think Kirk always knew. The audience just didn't know until WOK.

 

But he knew that he used protomatter and that it wasn't safe.

 

If the novelization is anything to go by, and assuming I remember correctly, he knew the protomatter might have unpredictable effects, but wasn't sure, and didn't anticipate exactly what occurred.

In any event, he certainly didn't expect Grissom to get destroyed.

 

I don't much like the idea of Kirk being a deadbeat dad, adventuring throughout the galaxy for five years while his son grows up.

 

Me neither. Which is why I prefer to believe that Kirk didn't find out about David's existence until after TOS.

 

How exactly is he a "deadbeat dad"?

 

In the 23rd century, without child support payments, a child will -

Oh.

 

Deadbeat as in absent and uncaring, not in the financial sense.

I think with a kid Kirk would rather be there than spend 5 years of his life away taking crazy risks across the galaxy.