Yes, it seemed to me that after all these years, Spock finally accepted his human half. While he was lying in bed and laughing, he realized that "logic and knowledge are not enough."
He realized he needed human emotion and feeling to evolve, like V'Ger.
But...it seems as if that was all thrown away and he went back to his old Vulcan self in STII.
Oh, not at all. The Spock of TWOK was very much a natural outgrowth of his V'Ger epiphany in TMP. He was serene, at peace with himself. His emotions were not overtly displayed, but he had no hesitation to engage in acts of sentiment like giving birthday presents or saying things like "I have been, and always shall be, your friend." Yes, he was still Vulcan, still logical and disciplined by choice, but he no longer saw his emotional side as something he had to fight against or reject.
Absolutely, and there was a great David Gerrold essay from years ago in Starlog about this very subject. As he notes in the revised edition of
The World of Star Trek, it's a subtle thing, but nowhere in
The Wrath of Khan does Spock denigrate humanity the way he used to do. He uses human proverbs ("Sauce for the goose, Mr. Saavik"), openly refers to his friendship with Kirk (almost always explained away as "respect for a fine Starfleet officer" in the old days), and perhaps most tellingly of all says "
were I to invoke logic, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" (italics mine); this indicates that logic, for Spock, is now an
option rather than the Only Choice Available. As
Christopher says, this is a man at peace with himself and his place in the universe. And when he chides McCoy to "govern his passions," he does so more in the vein of someone who doesn't want his poor old hotheaded friend to blow a gasket, rather than as someone who scorns those passions in the first place.
In Star Trek 5, there's a scene in the Observation Lounge with Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Sybok where Kirk asked "What is this?" Spock replies "I believe we are witnessing my birth. At the end of the birth scene a young Sarek says "So human." If Spock could remember that then it probably hurt his Vulcan pride.
You're forgetting what Spock said later in the scene:
Sybok! You are my brother, but you do not know me. I am not the outcast boy you left behind those many years ago. Since that time I found myself and my place and I know who I am.
Sybok
thought that showing Spock that scene would remind him of his deepest pain, because the Spock that Sybok had known in the past
had been ashamed of his human half. But by the time of ST V, Spock had overcome that shame and doubt about his identity and made peace with who he was, so Sybok's attempt to brainwash him through his pain was a failure.
Yep. And that scene alone makes
Star Trek V for me (I especially love Nimoy's line reading when Sybok tells Spock how well he knows him: "
Do you?"--absolutely classic).
