Saavik
Encyclopedia : S : SA : SAA : Saavik
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Lieutenant Saavik is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. She appeared first in ', in which she was played by Kirstie Alley. She was also a supporting character in ', and appeared for a short time in ; in these movies she was played by Robin Curtis. Of the various characters created specifically for the 10 Trek films, she is the only one to appear in three of the movies.
Fictional biography
Saavik's background was never explored on screen, but has been fleshed out in novels and comic books, though it should be noted that none of these sources are considered canon. According to the novels and comics, Saavik was born on Hellguard, an abandoned Romulan colony. She is half Vulcan and half Romulan. (A line of dialogue that would have revealed this in The Wrath of Khan was edited out prior to the film's release and never restored; as a result, the canonicity of this piece of information has been debated for more than two decades. It does, however, explain her somewhat emotional behavior in that film, though she adopted a more proper Vulcan demeanor in later appearances.) Saavik's mixed parentage is referenced often in her appearances in Star Trek novels. It should be noted, however, that if Saavik's mixed ancestry were to be made canon, it would violate the continuity created by the ' episode "Balance of Terror" (which takes place after Saavik's birth) in which Starfleet learns for the first time that Romulans resemble Vulcans, a fact that appears to be unknown to Vulcans as well. Some non-canon novels, however, hold that at least some Vulcans were fully aware of the Romulans' heritage, but deliberately concealed that knowledge from the Federation, considering it an internal affair that did not concern their allies. The TV series ' established in canon that some factions of Vulcan government were aware of the connection as early as the 22nd century. (In addition, there has also been some debate about whether Spock rescued the child Saavik before or after the events that occurred during "the Balance of Terror". A rescue occurring after the episode would not be in conflict with the Vulcans' knowledge of Romulans.)A few sources have her (non-canon) origin story as, she was rescued from the colony, along with other children, by Mr. Spock, and she was adopted by his parents Ambassador Sarek and Amanda Grayson. Following in the footsteps of her step-brother and role model Spock she entered Starfleet Academy. In the novel Pandora Principle, however, she lives off Vulcan in other foster families until she is accepted into the Starfleet Academy. This agrees with the novelization which said Saavik has never been to Vulcan until then. After graduating, as a fresh Lieutenant Saavik was on her cadet cruise on the USS Enterprise with Admiral James T. Kirk and Captain Spock when Kirk's old enemy Khan Noonien Singh sought revenge and attacked the Enterprise.
Spock died while saving the Enterprise during the events of Wrath of Khan, but before his death transferred his "katra" to Dr. Leonard McCoy (see Vulcans for more information on this ability). His coffin was fired from the Enterprise in orbit around the Genesis Planet and was believed to have been destroyed in the atmosphere. Saavik and David Marcus (son of Admiral James T. Kirk), subsequently were assigned to the research vessel USS Grissom to study the newly formed Genesis Planet. During this mission, Saavik discovered that Spock had somehow been regenerated, and was rapidly aging. As the new Spock entered his teenage years, he began experiencing the mating drive known as pon farr, and Saavik helped ease Spock through this difficult time. Saavik helped Admiral Kirk return Spock to Vulcan where his body and katra were reunited. After that, she remained on Vulcan with Spock's family for reasons never explained on screen; the film's writers intended that this was because she was pregnant with Spock's child as a result of the pon farr, but no references to her pregnancy made it into the finished movie and it was never followed up, thereby once again placing this development into a grey area in terms of canon.
Unrealized concepts
Also planned, but not featured in the final versions of The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock was a romantic relationship between Saavik and David Marcus. The novelizations of both films do, however, expand upon this plot point and establish that, by the time of David and Saavik's posting aboard the Grissom, they were already lovers. (David, in both the novel and final film versions of The Search for Spock, would subsequently be killed by Klingons.) The notion of a young Vulcan female becoming involved with a young human male would be revisited in the TV series .
A significant character in was a young female Vulcan protege of Spock, who turned out to be working with the villains. In an early draft of the script, this was Saavik, in the hopes that Alley would return for the large role, using characters that had appeared in prior films (even in small parts) turning out to be significant players this time. Alley turned down the role and they instead created the character of Valeris, played by Kim Cattrall. Some sources, however, suggest the reason for the change was Gene Roddenberry objecting to the popular character becoming a villain and vetoing it. The novelization of this film actually includes a sequence in which Valeris, newly appointed to the Enterprise, meets Saavik, but it's not known if such a scene was ever planned for the movie.
The character was at one point to appear in the episode, "Cause and Effect" in a scene in which the Enterprise-D encounters a starship that had been trapped in a time anomaly for some 80 years. The idea was dropped when Kirstie Alley insisted on being paid more for a nonspeaking cameo part than the episode budget could supply. (Saavik was to have been shown standing alongside a character played by Alley's Cheers co-star, Kelsey Grammer). Had Saavik been included, this might have created a continuity issue as the episode as produced establishes that the USS Bozeman had become trapped in the time eddy in the year 2278, before the events of Wrath of Khan which is known based upon on-screen dialogue to have taken place some time after 2283.
Book and Next Generation continuity
In the novel Vulcan's Heart and the Vulcan's Soul trilogy, which takes place some years after Undiscovered Country, an older Saavik marries Spock. And in the "Mirror Universe Saga" trilogy written by William Shatner, it is revealed that the mirror Spock had a daughter named T'Val with mirror Saavik.In the Next Generation episode "Sarek", Picard says that he met Sarek once before, "at his son's wedding". Many have speculated this to mean that Spock was married at some point. However, Sarek is known to have had at least one other son Sybok, and Spock himself is not specifically referenced, so this falls into a gray area as well. However, Sybok was killed in , long before Jean-Luc Picard was born. It therefore has to be Spock — or an as-yet unidentified offspring — who married.
Saavik appears again in the Vulcan's Soul trilogy of novels published in 2005. In this continuity, the character has risen to the rank of Captain.
In the Titan novel, Taking Wing, it is clearly stated that Spock and Saavik are married, as she sends greetings through Tuvok.
Star Trek books are not considered part of the established canon.
Early reference
When Gene Roddenberry was planning his new series ' in the 1970s, and after it was learned that Leonard Nimoy would not return as Spock, Roddenberry created a new male Vulcan character to take Spock's place. Initially, the character was to have been named Savik. Later, he was renamed Xon, and then dropped entirely when Phase II became ' and Nimoy returned as Spock.External links
- article at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki
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