I want to live!

- EvilKirkā€™s last words

Whatever else you want to say about EvilKirk, itā€™s pretty clear that he didnā€™t want to be merged back into the single Kirk. Despite this, there is no shortage of reasons why it was a good idea to merge the Kirks: the Enterprise needed its CO back, GoodKirk wanted to do it, and it seems possible that the strain of remaining split would have eventually killed EvilKirk anyways. However, the fact remains that EvilKirk did not consent to the procedure which ended his existence.

Clearly the circumstances here are quite different and thereā€™s basically no argument to be made that allowing EvilKirk to continue to exist would benefit any involved party, EvilKirk included. But for the purposes of this comparison, the only fact that really matters is that EvilKirk was just as passionate about his desire to continue existing as Tuvix was.

Yetā€”and itā€™s obvious where Iā€™m going with thisā€”ā€œSpock murdered EvilKirkā€ is not a meme.

So what gives? Did Spock murder EvilKirk or not? If yes, why does he get a pass while Janeway is condemned?

  • TeaHands@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    arrow-down
    1
    Ā·
    1 year ago

    I always got the impression that the Kirks were both destined to wither away and die if kept separate, but itā€™s been a while so I might be wrong there.

    Thereā€™s also the issue that EvilKirk was a danger to everyone else on the ship. You could make the argument that if he survived, he could have learned to control his behaviour, but Iā€™m not sure thatā€™s the case for a personality entirely made up of those negative traits.

    Itā€™s definitely a moral grey area, whereas with the Tuvix situation itā€™s more black and white. There was no danger to anyone else, he was well-liked and a credit to the ship, there was basically no reason for Janeway to split him back apart other than ā€œI want toā€.

    • Guy Fleegman@startrek.websiteOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      Ā·
      1 year ago

      Janewayā€™s decision was far from arbitrary. She did it to save the lives of Tuvok and Neelix, who were unable to advocate for themselves at the time.

      • Shift_@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        Ā·
        1 year ago

        YES!
        EXACTLY!

        Everyone wants to save Tuvix because they like him. But nobody wants to save Tuvok or Neelix. They didnā€™t consent to dying so Tuvix could live. If you agree Tuvix is a person, then you cannot disregard that so were Tuvok and Neelix. Where was their funeral? Does Tuvokā€™s family not get itā€™s husband and father back because the crew liked Tuvix better? The two people whoā€™s opinion mattered the most couldnā€™t be consulted. If Tuvix is a person, his judgement on the matter is simply too biased as his sense of self preservation would interfere with objective decision-making.

        To save Tuvix was to murder Tuvok and Neelix.