Something that always bothered me about Star Trek VI was the way Spock seemed to have worked so hard to promote peace with the Klingons, but then, when Kirk and McCoy were convicted and sent to the Rura Penthe penal planet, Spock just decided to cross into Klingon space to rescue them.
Chancellor Azetbur had warned, "Any attempt to rescue them would be considered an act of war". If the Enterprise had encountered any Klingon vessels en route during the rescue attempt, a battle would likely have ensued, and many more Klingon warriors and Enterprise officers might have been killed. Would that not have caused a war? The families of those Klingons killed by the Enterprise in the rescue attempt would have demanded revenge, as their warriors were defending the Empire, honorably. Yes, it could be argued they were in no condition to launch a war, given the Praxis disaster, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't have felt honor bound to do so ... especially if they felt the Enterprise had crossed their border illegally...
I mean, Spock really had no real evidence yet at that point that Kirk hadn't ordered the Starfleet officers to beam over to the Klingon flagship to assassinate Gorkon, so crossing the border in a heavily-armed Starship to rescue two "convicted" men could have looked pretty suspicious to the Klingons. It certainly wouldn't have helped built trust! I mean, the peace talks were back on ... Spock didn't know a second assassination attempt was in the works at that point ... wasn't he risking millions of lives by crossing that border, as well as the entire Enterprise crew?
Sure, Valeris eventually confessed to being behind the murders, and named her co-conspirators, but did that even really "prove" Kirk wasn't involved, from a Klingon perspective? Valeris' confession was made under mental duress, as Spock, ordered by the suspect, Kirk, forced his mind into Valeris' mind. Would her confession be considered "proof" of Kirk's innocence? I mean, if I was one of the Klingons, I would be saying, "Yeah... okay ... she is on tape, confessing ... but how do we know you didn't plant those ideas in her head during the mindmeld? You've already proven that you will take illegal action to save your friend and captain by crossing our border after we warned you it would be an act of war ... yet you did it anyways ... why should we trust YOU?"
Did Spock take too big of a risk crossing that border at that point, risking countless Federation lives he was under oath to protect, to save the two men? I've always wondered about that plot element...
Chancellor Azetbur had warned, "Any attempt to rescue them would be considered an act of war". If the Enterprise had encountered any Klingon vessels en route during the rescue attempt, a battle would likely have ensued, and many more Klingon warriors and Enterprise officers might have been killed. Would that not have caused a war? The families of those Klingons killed by the Enterprise in the rescue attempt would have demanded revenge, as their warriors were defending the Empire, honorably. Yes, it could be argued they were in no condition to launch a war, given the Praxis disaster, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't have felt honor bound to do so ... especially if they felt the Enterprise had crossed their border illegally...
I mean, Spock really had no real evidence yet at that point that Kirk hadn't ordered the Starfleet officers to beam over to the Klingon flagship to assassinate Gorkon, so crossing the border in a heavily-armed Starship to rescue two "convicted" men could have looked pretty suspicious to the Klingons. It certainly wouldn't have helped built trust! I mean, the peace talks were back on ... Spock didn't know a second assassination attempt was in the works at that point ... wasn't he risking millions of lives by crossing that border, as well as the entire Enterprise crew?
Sure, Valeris eventually confessed to being behind the murders, and named her co-conspirators, but did that even really "prove" Kirk wasn't involved, from a Klingon perspective? Valeris' confession was made under mental duress, as Spock, ordered by the suspect, Kirk, forced his mind into Valeris' mind. Would her confession be considered "proof" of Kirk's innocence? I mean, if I was one of the Klingons, I would be saying, "Yeah... okay ... she is on tape, confessing ... but how do we know you didn't plant those ideas in her head during the mindmeld? You've already proven that you will take illegal action to save your friend and captain by crossing our border after we warned you it would be an act of war ... yet you did it anyways ... why should we trust YOU?"
Did Spock take too big of a risk crossing that border at that point, risking countless Federation lives he was under oath to protect, to save the two men? I've always wondered about that plot element...
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