I want to live!
- EvilKirkās last words
Whatever else you want to say about EvilKirk, itās pretty clear that he didnāt 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 thereās 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.
Yetāand itās obvious where Iām going with thisāāSpock 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?
Firstly, the episodes are doing completely different things, and have completely different presentations. āThe Enemy Withinā uses the transporter malfunction to examin the duality of man, and doesnāt address the ethics of the situation in any way. Thatās going to inform the viewersā reactions, just as bringing Janewayās decisions regarding Tuvix to the forefront of that episode informs the viewersā reactions of that.
Secondly, Tuvix himself would have agreed with Spock - at least, at first. He was initially an active participant in trying to find a way to undo the situation. Over time, though, he changedā¦and so did Janeway and the Voyager crew. Tuvix is given a name. Heās given a job. Janeway calls him an officer and an advisor.
In short, Janeway granted Tuvix personhoodā¦and then unilaterally stripped it away.
To point one, yep, fair. Iāve unceremoniously dropped āThe Enemy Withinā into a context it was never intended to be examined from.
To point two, I agree that Janeway was both the source and the termination of Tuvixā personhood, but I donāt see the relevancy. What bearing does Tuvixās personhood have on how we describe Janewayās actions, or the discussion about whether those actions were justified?
Well, if heās a person, he has rightsā¦
Ah. Tuvix was a person, EvilKirk was not?
Iām admittedly dancing around EvilKirk a bit, because the episode engages with the two Kirks in such a way that theyāre 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¦
I think thatās 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 āpersonā in the very limited environment of the ship.
Nobody is saying he wasnāt 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.
Iām going to add to that, as this post made me rewatch it as we speak š
The two very first lines Tuvix speaks, when challenge 6 for his identity, are āI am luitenant Tuvok. And I am Neelix.ā
He really didnāt 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, Iām sure he would have answered in the positive.
Of course heās 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.