Vulcan traditions

[commodore64]

I think the thing I liked best about The Forge and that arc is that finally, we get to see Vulcan as written in TOS and the TOS movies -- a desert planet where the sun is hotter than "Hades" and the customs are strange, alien.

For example, I liked the small touches. The orange/red filter added to their time in the Forge (the location) was excellent. It made it seem hot. Arev was an unique Vulcan unlike many we'd seen -- he had strong emotions seemingly brewing under the surface of restrained emotion. The sandfire storms were deadly, their power unleashed to kill and hurt characters.

It had me thinking, what Vulcan traditions did you like or want to see that you didn't get to? And are you happy or disappointed not many new traditions were created?

 

[Anwar]

Given how additions to what we saw in TOS were taken whenever they tried with this series, it's probably for the best that they didn't try too hard without making new stuff.

 

[lceb]

Since I am intrigued by Vulcan and the Vulcans, I liked what we saw at The Forge very much. I agree about the little touches that made this harsh world believable. I also liked that we saw the Vulcan society still changing, conflicts and different intrepretations of the path to logic, and characters with flaws.
I would certainly want to learn more about Vulcan society and traditions. For me this is by far the most interesting "alien" world in the Star Trek universe. As it seems that the story is not finished and we'll soon have a new film, maybe more questions will be answered in the future.

 

[Alyssa]

I've only watched TOS, Voyager and Enterprise so forgive me if this has already been brought up but I always liked to think that Vulcan's despite their logic participated in such traditions and rituals as a way to give order to fluctuations in their emotional control, such as the males fighting to the death for Vulcan females during Pon Far.

So as apposed to seeing the creation of a new one or a retread of an old one I would have liked to have this theory either proven or disproven by explaining the true reasons behind why they kept such ancient and rather illogical traditions.

 

[Praetor]

That's a very good theory, Alyssa. Karmically, I've always seen the Vulcan loss of control as a trade-off for their usual emotional repression.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

^^ I think Kirk says a line similar to that in "Amok Time," doesn't he?

 

[commodore64]

HR, he does. I thought Amok Time and All Our Yesterdays, speaking of, covered "ancient Vulcan aggressions" and the loss of logic pretty well. I was disappointed that TPol was so emotional rather than trying to seek a balance between logic and emotion. And for crying out loud, it would've been cool if she'd mentioned the irony of what happened in Fusion.

 

[JiNX-01]

Actually, I don't think it's a tradeoff for emotional suppression so much as a regression to a form of Vulcan adolescence where raging hormones take over and overwhelm the ability to maintain control.

 

[lceb]

I suppose the reason could be Vulcan biology and reproductive cycle. Maybe this cycle is seven years due to evolutionary parameters unknown to us and since it comes in such long intervals, it is imperative for the survival of the species to de fulfilled.

 

[KimMH]

I think the writers came up with a nifty idea to make Vulcans seem more alien to humanity and then I cannot help but think at least someone said to themselves - "Self, now that we've written ourself into a box - what the heck should we do? This idea is damn stupid. Vulcans would have gone extinct ages ago if they only had sex every seven years."

 

[JiNX-01]

I think the writers came up with a nifty idea to make Vulcans seem more alien to humanity and then I cannot help but think at least someone said to themselves - "Self, now that we've written ourself into a box - what the heck should we do? This idea is damn stupid. Vulcans would have gone extinct ages ago if they only had sex every seven years."

I'm pretty sure Spock compared pon farr to mating for the purpose of reproducing (salmon returning to the stream they were born in to spawn). He clearly didn't need to experience pon farr to have sex. He had sex with Lelani in This Side of Paradise and suggested to Droxine that sufficient provocation could "disturb" the Vulcan cycle. And since he was Vulcan enough to experience pon farr, he clearly wasn't just benefiting from his human nature.

p.s.: Having sex doesn't perpetuate a species. Having babies and keeping them healthy does.

 

[Praetor]

Yeah, I'm inclined to think Vulcans can have sex whenever they feel it is logical. The pon farr is just the compulsory 'spawning' period.

And Kirk did say something similar to what I said in 'Amok Time' - I think that's where I got the idea from.

What I meant that was that it was a karmic trade-off more than a literal one, but probably literally it is a physiological regression as JiNX-01 suggests.

 

[Anwar]

It is a karmic/psychological thing more than anything else. They repress their powerful emotions and once every 7 years it just all comes out such that they can't control it anymore.

The Romulans don't repress at all, which is why they don't have pon farr. They still don't act just like humans because there are still fundamental differences between emotional Vulcans and humans.

 

[commodore64]

I agree with Anwar. I also wonder if there's something to using their emotions in the purpose of battle. For example would an illogical Vulcan be inclined to kill a competitor?

p.s.: Having sex doesn't perpetuate a species. Having babies and keeping them healthy does.

Yeah, but having sex is kinda nature's way of seeing folks have children. I'm sure that's probably why we enjoy it so much and are hardwired (no pun intended) to seek it out. It's probably why, also, so many taboos and religious ideas are around it. For example, Catholicism is all about the procreation to increase their following.

 

[pookha]

the fighting in amok time seemed to be more of the lashing out type.
really if pon farr acts as a release valve it isnt suprising a long period of violent combat
would resolve it either.

 

[gblews]

I don't know about "Vulcan traditions", but I would have loved to have seen more about Vulcan politics in general. I also wished we could have seen more of what was behind Soval's statement about Vulcans "fearing" humans.

 

[commodore64]

I thought they explained the "fearing humans" well. I thought all the decisions the Vulcans had made kinda played into them fearing humans, including why it took so long for humans to reach warp 2 and leave their solar system. (And why Archer was semi-right about the Vulcans holding them back, which to me made his anger toward them somewhat sympathetic.)

I agree though about Vulcan politics. I guess it's why I wanted to see Vulcan in season 1 or at least by season 2. I mean, it seems like there's a plethora of stuff that they set up that could've been explored. What if after Shadows of P'Jem, they held T'Pol on trial.