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?

    • Value Subtracted@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      Iā€™m admittedly dancing around EvilKirk a bit, because the episode engages with the two Kirks in such a way that theyā€™re treated as a problem to be fixed, rather than a moral dilemma.

      The Tom Riker situation is perhaps more fitting in terms of the way the episode itself handles the situation. Of course, that episode also is fairly uncompromising about Will and Tom each being individuals with the right to liveā€¦

    • vegivamp@feddit.nl
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      1 year ago

      I think thatā€™s an oversimplification of what GP was getting at.

      Tuvix was an accident, knew and accepted that fact, and initially was voluntarily assisting in finding a way to undo it. He seems more than capable of grasping, even at that early point in his existence, that undoing the accident means the end of him.

      GP made the argument that his demeanor started changing as he got a name, a job, responsibilities etc. All the superficial hallmarks of a ā€œpersonā€ in the very limited environment of the ship.

      Nobody is saying he wasnā€™t a person from the start, but getting assigned all the trappings of what he saw to be individual persons undoubtedly started him thinking of himself as a person as well instead of just an accident to be corrected.

      • vegivamp@feddit.nl
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        1 year ago

        Iā€™m going to add to that, as this post made me rewatch it as we speak šŸ™‚

        The two very first lines Tuvix speaks, when challenge 6 for his identity, are ā€œI am luitenant Tuvok. And I am Neelix.ā€

        He really didnā€™t realize he was a person yet - he thought he was two persons.

        Had you asked, in that initial time, whether he would like to be split up, Iā€™m sure he would have answered in the positive.

        Of course heā€™s allowed to change his mind as realization grows, so the whole thing remains a dicey proposition, but imo it just reinforces the fact that it was Janeway who triggered his (becoming aware of his own) personhood.