# Star Trek III question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803 "2010-09-15T03:17:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/21 "2010-09-15T18:01:10Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > > [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > > > Yeah I get that, but I suppose my real question then is why did they immediately head to the Genesis planet, instead of just taking McCoy to Vulcan? When they leave Earth, they didn’t know that Spock’s body had been rejuvenated, when they arrive at Genesis, everyone is damn surprised to learn that Spock’s body had been rejuvenated. > > Because Sarek told Kirk that he “must bring them both to” Vulcan. Sarek did not intend to perform the _fal-tor-pan_ or anything, but he did say that was the only way for Spock and McCoy to “find peace.” Presumably, the body needed to be present for the ceremony to take the katra from McCoy, but since Spock had been rejuvenated and the body could just be reunited with the katra, we never find out in the film what the other ceremony would have been. “Brain, Brain, what is Brain” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/22 "2010-09-15T18:03:00Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Recall also that in TOS the Vulcans apparently served mainly on predominantly-Vulcan crews, such as the USS Intrepid (cf. “The Immunity Syndrome”). So no one was familiar with Vulcan death practices, because they weren’t familiar with being around Vulcans. I don’t think that was unique to Vulcans. Tellar and Andor were both in the Federation at the time of TOS, but we never see Tellarite or Andorian officers or crew on the Enterprise. It wouldn’t surprise me if most humans serve on majority-human vessels, for that matter. It needn’t be racism behind this. I can think of several practical reasons why vessels tend to be one-species. Andorians like it much colder than humans; humans like it colder than Vulcans. Maybe Tellar has a 30-hour day, and Tellarites have a circadian to match. Starfleet may actively discourage long-haul ships like the original Enterprise from carrying too many different species as ship’s company. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/23 "2010-09-15T18:35:49Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It needn’t be racism behind this. I can think of several practical reasons why vessels tend to be one-species. Andorians like it much colder than humans; humans like it colder than Vulcans. Maybe Tellar has a 30-hour day, and Tellarites have a circadian to match. > > Starfleet may actively discourage long-haul ships like the original Enterprise from carrying too many different species as ship’s company. Am I right in thinking the Enterprise wasn’t the flagship during TOS? In TNG it was and one would expect it to be crewed by the best of Starfleet, yet it only had a few token aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/24 "2010-09-15T19:03:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I don’t think that was unique to Vulcans. Tellar and Andor were both in the Federation at the time of TOS, but we never see Tellarite or Andorian officers or crew on the Enterprise. There’s very practical reasons for Tellarites generally serving on Terrarite-only vessels. Just review the conduct of the Tellarite ambassador in “Journey to Babel” or any member of the race in the extended universe, and it’ll hit you fast. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/25 "2010-09-15T19:16:14Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > Okay, y’all have just missed what went on. The normal practice is that you bring back the person’s _katra_ (which is always given out if you think you are going to die), and their dead body, and there’s some sort of ceremony. What was different in this case is that Spock’s body happened to still be alive, so they could try an ancient ceremony to put the _katra_ back in. > > > > As for the burial ceremony, I agree that it isn’t covered, and is thus a plot hole, but I always assumed that Kirk didn’t know about Vulcan practices due to the secrecy mentioned above, and that Saavik assumed he’d rather have a Human than a Vulcan burial or that she didn’t want to divulge the secret ceremony to outsiders. She did go back to Genesis herself, remember. > > Nobody knew Spock had installed his _katra_ in McCoy’s brain, so Saavik wouldn’t have any reason to protest the loss of his body. Also, it may not have been her place to question Captain Kirk on the funeral arrangements of his first officer. Also, from the novelization, it’s clear that Saavik isn’t completely up on Vulcan customs. She was raised among Romulans, doubtless as a slave or something nearly as unpleasant. She sits at his coffinside the night before the funeral to ward off predators in a Romulan custom; it’s not surprising she doesn’t know what Vulcans do. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/26 "2010-09-15T19:20:05Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > It needn’t be racism behind this. I can think of several practical reasons why vessels tend to be one-species. Andorians like it much colder than humans; humans like it colder than Vulcans. Maybe Tellar has a 30-hour day, and Tellarites have a circadian to match. > > > > Starfleet may actively discourage long-haul ships like the original Enterprise from carrying too many different species as ship’s company. > > Am I right in thinking the Enterprise wasn’t the flagship during TOS? In TNG it was and one would expect it to be crewed by the best of Starfleet, yet it only had a few token aliens. As I wrote upthread, there’s other reasons. For example, I imagine the artificial gravity on a Vulcan starship (say the Intrepid) was kept at 1.5 g or something. The ambient temperature was probably something like 110° F or better. Humans are not going to want to live in such conditions. Hell, they were still using ordinary buttons in TOS, and the Vulcans’ idea of what is an appropriate amount of pressure to activate a control are probably quite different than any humans. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/27 "2010-09-15T19:36:17Z")
not many people know the alternate version of “drunken sailor”, called “dead vulcan”. if they had they could have just sung the song until they got to the verse that would be most logical. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/28 "2010-09-15T20:30:07Z")
> [@Keweenaw](#): > > > [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > > > Wasn’t _Saavik_ a Romulan spy in _Star Trek VI_? > > That’s Lieutenant Valeris, played by the Sex in the City actress. Kim Cattrall. and Valeris was not a spy. She was part of a group in Starfleet that was working with the Romulans and elements of the Klingon Empire to thwart the peace process and attack the Klingons while they were weak, but she was working for Adm. Cartwright, not the Romulans. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/29 "2010-09-15T20:44:37Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > > [@Keweenaw](#): > > > > That’s Lieutenant Valeris, played by the Sex in the City actress. Kim Cattrall. > > and Valeris was not a spy. She was part of a group in Starfleet that was working with the Romulans and elements of the Klingon Empire to thwart the peace process and attack the Klingons while they were weak, but she was working for Adm. Cartwright, not the Romulans. That bugged me. As I understand it, they originally intended the character to be Saavik, then blinked. Ah well. I’ll just assume that Saavik was on Vulcan raising Spock’s bastard son, conceived in Trek III. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803/30 "2010-09-15T21:21:04Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > That bugged me. As I understand it, they originally intended the character to be Saavik, then blinked. In the weeks before Trek VI came out, a friend of mine, who claimed to have “connections” in Hollywood, gave me a photocopy of what he claimed was the actual script of the movie (somehow smuggled away from Paramount). It being the pre-Internet era, spoilers were often hard to come by, and I had no way to verify, at that time, if it was accurate or not. At that time, before seeing the movie, I suspected it was a fraud. Then, I saw the movie, and discovered that the script he’d given me was about 98% accurate, down to much of the dialogue. I suspect it was a draft copy, from fairly far along in the pre-production process. The glaring difference between what was in that script, and what wound up on screen, was that Valeris was still referred to as Saavik in the draft. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-iii-question/553803.md?page=1)