I just rewatched the episode "The Empath" for the first time in decades and I’m curious what you all think was going on in the doomed Minaran Solar System. Was the test whether the Vians saved either Gem’s people or their own? Were there others in the system that might have been besides them? Was this the home system of the Vians, and are they now extinct? Or was it one of multiple systems they inhabited but could not decide which lifeforms in it to save? What are the chances that a system could naturally evolve 2 or more native inhabitants? If they’re not native, what is going on in this solar system?
Also, how unusually alien the aliens in this (lackluster) episode were! Gem’s people did not now the concept of being willing to give one's own life to save another. This was something that she "empathically" learned from her exposure to the Starfleeters. The Vians wanted to know if she incorporated that into herself fully. If she died for McCoy, then that self-sacrifice would prove a fundamental trait of her people now. (It’s unclear if that’s because they’d heal her and reintroduce her back to them to spread it, or if they’d expose others of her kind to the Starfleeters again to finish the job.) But if she didn’t sacrifice herself, her people were no better than the Vians’ own, and they could save themselves, or another species, with clear consciences, knowing the concept of self-sacrifice themselves, indeed, on their entire species' level.
For those who haven't seen the episode in a while, here what I think are some of the key parts of the script:
Also, how unusually alien the aliens in this (lackluster) episode were! Gem’s people did not now the concept of being willing to give one's own life to save another. This was something that she "empathically" learned from her exposure to the Starfleeters. The Vians wanted to know if she incorporated that into herself fully. If she died for McCoy, then that self-sacrifice would prove a fundamental trait of her people now. (It’s unclear if that’s because they’d heal her and reintroduce her back to them to spread it, or if they’d expose others of her kind to the Starfleeters again to finish the job.) But if she didn’t sacrifice herself, her people were no better than the Vians’ own, and they could save themselves, or another species, with clear consciences, knowing the concept of self-sacrifice themselves, indeed, on their entire species' level.
For those who haven't seen the episode in a while, here what I think are some of the key parts of the script:
LAL: We have but one need left in life, and that is to see the completion of the final moment of our test.
THANN: Be patient.
KIRK: Patient? Our friend is dying.
THANN: Perhaps.
SPOCK: What purpose can be served by the death of our friend, except to bring you pleasure? Surely beings as advanced as yourselves know that your star system will soon be extinct. Your sun will nova.
THANN: We know.
SPOCK: Then you also know that the millions of inhabitants on its planets are doomed.
LAL: That is why we are here.
KIRK: This arena of death that you have devised for your pleasure. Will it prevent this catastrophe?
LAL: No, it will not, but it may save Gem's planet. Of all the planets of Minara, we have the power to transport the inhabitants of only one to safety.
THANN: If Gem's planet is the one that will be saved, we must make certain beyond any doubt whatsoever they are worthy of survival.
LAL: His death will not serve it, but her willingness to give her life for him will. You were her teachers.
KIRK: We were? What could she learn from us?
LAL: Your will to survive. Your love of life. Your passion to know. They are recorded in her being.
THANN: Her planet will be fortunate.
LAL: Each of you is willing to give his life for the others. We must now find out whether that instinct has been transmitted to Gem.
(A small earthquake shakes the room.)
THANN: Time grows short.
SPOCK: You were correct, Captain. Everything that has occurred here has been caused to happen by them. This has all been a great laboratory, and we have been the subjects of the test.
THANN: No. We only created the circumstances. That was necessary.
LAL: Your actions were spontaneous. Everything that is truest and best in all species of beings has been revealed by you. Those are the qualities that make a civilisation worthy to survive.
(Gem goes and sits by McCoy.)
THANN: Behold. That is most significant. An instinct new to the essence of her being is generating.
LAL: Compassion for another is becoming part of her functioning life system.
(Gem moves her hands over McCoy, not quite touching him. His bruises and cuts heal, transferring to her before disappearing. She slumps, crying silently. Then she tries for the internal injuries, but falls away in agony.)
THANN: She is afraid.
LAL: She's saving herself. She does not yet have the instinct to save her people.
THANN: We have failed?
LAL: No. No, not yet.
SPOCK: Captain, Dr. McCoy's life is not solely dependent on Gem. The Vians too must be capable of saving his life.
THANN: True.
KIRK: Then you cannot let him die.
LAL: His death is not important. We must wait to see whether her instinct for self-sacrifice has become stronger than her instinct for self-preservation.
KIRK: We will not leave our friend. You've lost the capacity to feel the emotions you brought Gem here to experience. You don't understand what it is to live. Love and compassion are dead in you. You're nothing but intellect.
