Apology accepted.Yes, sorry, I was only referring to the part about "Admiral Ciana." @CorporalCaptain had quoted the dialogue from the film in the post immediately above mine, so I thought that would be clear. TMP is one of my favorite Trek movies, so I've seen all the various cuts multiple times. IIRC, there is no difference in that line in any of them, although I do recall that Kirk's "Oh My God" from earlier in the scene is omitted from the Director's Edition, which (along with the alert klaxon) is how I can tell the video you posted is from that version.
I should probably have also noted that I'm not suggesting anyone is "wrong" for reading between the lines and imagining this is who the character was, since we never really saw her clearly—I've even tried it a couple of times myself, and can just about manage to buy Kirk's somber silence on the subject as a plausible reaction under the circumstances—but it seems amply evident to me that this is not what was shot, nor intended by anyone at the time of shooting...except obviously Roddenberry, whose input was increasingly being marginalized and rejected as the project went along and the script was being constantly rewritten. Still, if you want to take the Great Bird's Word™ for it, fair enough.
Another thing that doesn't ever actually get directly established in the movie is Decker being the son of the commodore from "The Doomsday Machine" (TOS), but that clearly was intended all along, and it's rather a simple and easy connection to draw in context...unlike the second transporter victim being Kirk's superior officer in the Admiralty, and his ex-wife no less!
Really though, I just stumbled upon the conversation and wanted to clarify the facts to the best of my understanding, since as you said there's been some confusion on the matter. Apologies if I came across as confrontational.
-MMoM
What I suggest could have happened is that after Commodore Decker's death, Kirk likely considered it his duty to tell Will about his father's death, and decided to take an interest in his career. So it would have been even more upsetting to Will that his mentor took the Enterprise back at the last minute.
