The Biology Of Spock's Blood

[Nerys Myk]

The Preservers were in the relocation/preservation business not genetic engineering.

Ron Moore said that the aliens he wrote for "The Chase" who also engineered most life in the Milky Way were supposed to be the Preservers.

And since we barely knew anything about the Preservers in TOS (we never even see one) it doesn't contradict anything.

We know their MO. It's right there in their name. The episode clearly outlines what they did, who they do it to and when they did it,

 

[Anwar]

We know that one group of transplanted Indians called them the Preservers and what they did in one instance to one group of people.

 

[Timo]

And all indications are that the heroes, too, know this much and no more.

Like us, the heroes may consider the victimized group unreliable witnesses and their somewhat rosy portrayal of the Preservers as suspect. The activity doesn't appear to much resemble the efforts of the "The Chase" aliens, nor do the TOS heroes make any connection to the possible transplantation activities of the Sargonians when learning of the Preservers.

The audience might even deduce that such transplantations and abductions are very commonplace in the Trek universe, and as unremarkable and unrelated as they are abundant - and would eventually be proven correct with ENT and its "North Star" precedent and VOY and its "The 37s" postdecent. Yet none of these episodes, or other close matches, would do much to explain the existence of so many humanoid species, let alone their biological compatibility.

The separate story of "The Chase" would. But there's no "North Star" -style precedent to the TNG episode, nothing to explain why our heroes are so unimpressed by the abundance and compatibility of humanoids.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[f14peter]

Though never spoken onscreen or in any of the novels, a popular insult on Vulcan is "sehlat face".

Or the equally cutting, "If my sehlat had a face like yours, I'd shave his butt and teach him to walk backwards!"

 

[Spock's Barber]

I know I'm nitpicking. But if Vulcan blood is copper-based (thus green), why are Spock and Sarek shown with normal pink-red lips like humans? Would they not be green instead? The makeup directors must have wondered about this.

Damn. I got a C- in Vulcan Biology at Starfleet Academy. Maybe someone else has the answer.

 

[Nerys Myk]

We know that one group of transplanted Indians called them the Preservers and what they did in one instance to one group of people.

The Indians had no clue the Preservers existed and they had been transplanted. To them the asteroid deflector/obelisk was a temple. It's Spock who connects the obelisk with the Preservers

MCCOY: I prescribed sleep.
SPOCK: You prescribed rest, Doctor. The symbols on the obelisk are not words. They are musical notes.
MCCOY: Musical notes? You mean it's nothing but a song?
SPOCK: In a way, yes. Other cultures, among them certain Vulcan offshoots, use musical notes as words. The tones correspond roughly to an alphabet.
MCCOY: Were you able to make sense our of the symbols?
SPOCK: Yes. The obelisk is a marker, just as I thought. It was left by a super-race known as the Preservers. They passed through the galaxy rescuing primitive cultures which were in danger of extinction and seeding them, so to speak, where they could live and grow.
MCCOY: I've always wondered why there were so many humanoids scattered through the galaxy.
SPOCK: So have I. Apparently the Preservers account for a number of them.
MCCOY: That's probably how the planet has survived all these centuries. The Preservers put an asteroid deflector on the planet.
SPOCK: Which has now become defective and is failing to operate.
MCCOY: And we have to find that deflector and put it back into working order, otherwise
SPOCK: Precisely, Doctor.

 

[Timo]

Actually, according to Miramanee, the natives firmly believed in "Wise Ones" who in ancient times brought them to their current dwelling from far away, gave them the Temple, and told a handful of specialists how to operate it whenever the skies darken.

These Wise Guys apparently told the same sweet story in the inscriptions they left on the obelisk. That doesn't make it any more true, though; considering the other evidence, the Wiservers aren't a particularly good candidate for explaining the prevalence of humanoids, nor is altruism a plausible motivation for their weird actions. (They might be responsible for some of the cultures that are nearly identical to Earth ones, though - the pseudo-Romans for one.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Marsden]

Though never spoken onscreen or in any of the novels, a popular insult on Vulcan is "sehlat face".

Or the equally cutting, "If my sehlat had a face like yours, I'd shave his butt and teach him to walk backwards!"

Vulcan insults continue:

Your mother is so illogical, she thinks logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow.