Why Did Saavik Leave Star Trek?
A comparison of production justifications, novelisations and fan theories.
A mainstay of films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Lieutenant Saavik makes an unexplained exit at the beginning of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Being seen as a narrative redundancy, her character was removed by Producer Harve Bennett, but this leaves us without an in-universe explanation. While Kirk and crew depart Vulcan to face charges for stealing the Enterprise, Saavik, the lone survivor of the U.S.S. Grissom remains behind. Is there no inquiry into the starship’s loss, for which her testimony may be important? Do Starfleet not wish to interview one of the few individuals have been on the now-destroyed Genesis planet?
Despite a wealth of appearances in licensed novels and other such materials, Saavik has not been featured in Star Trek since, leaving an audience wondering why she left and what happened to her.
If you are very familiar with Saavik from apocrypha, you may wish to skip past the preamble.
Saavik’s departure
It is stardate 8390 and Enterprise’s former crew have been in exile on the planet Vulcan for three months. It is notable that Ambassador Sarek apparently has so much influence on Vulcan and that Vulcan has such autonomy within the Federation to defy Starfleet.1 This influence is evidently limited, at Sarek was still unable to officially arrange a starship go to Genesis “planet forbidden” to recover Captain Spock.2 It is slightly unclear why three months have been spent on Vulcan, but the delay seems to have been caused with translating their Klingon ship’s language and repairing an unfamiliar vessel. (It was slightly damaged during the clash with the late Enterprise)
Give me one more day, sir. Damage control is easy. Reading Klingon, That's hard.
— Captain Montgomery Scott
With Kruge’s Bird of Prey, by then dubbed HMS Bounty, ready to depart, Kirk advises those not wanting to go to Earth to “get off”. At which point he unexpectedly says “Saavik, this is goodbye.” She briefly compliments Kirk’s son, Dr. David Marcus - murdered by the Klingons in the previous film. Saavik then acknowledges Spock and disembarks. Saavik’s decision to leave was expected by Kirk, but a surprise to the audience. Why?
Out-of-universe explanation
When questioned about Saavik for The Star Trek Interview Book, producer of the The Voyage Home, Harve Bennett, claimed that he was concerned with complexity, explaining that Saavik ‘would have become yet another ear to hide’.3
Producer Harve Bennett, The Star Trek Interview Book
On the other hand, what I did do for it was this simple: the mechanics of IV made it impossible to bring Saavik along, because when we finally evolved the story we had enough bodies, and Saavik in the 20th century would have become yet another ear to hide. That would have become complicated, and if there is anything I like to do in storytelling, I like to keep things simple… too many movies fail because they are complex…
I accept that Saavik may have become inconvenient to the story, but it is the duty of the writers to determine a suitable in-universe justification that explains her absence. In lieu of such a justification, that responsibility falls to the so-inclined Star Trek fandom.
Extracanonical explanation
The popular explanation, originated by Bennett during The Voyage Home drafts, is that Saavik was pregnant with Spock’s child. Leonard Nimoy was purportedly uncomfortable with the idea and all references to it where eventually dropped from the film.
Producer Harve Bennett, The Star Trek Interview Book
In fact, there was a scene about which Leonard was always very uncomfortable. I'm not sure why, so I would only be guessing, whether it was Leonard the actor who was uncomfortable at being burdened with a romance that he didn't think was appropriate to his character, or whether it was Leonard the director, saying, "I think that's corny." All I know is that he wasn't comfortable. He said, "Do we really have to explore this?"
This idea of a pregnant Saavik has precedent in the previous film, The Search for Spock, where Saavik assists Spock during his pon farr. Though unconfirmed, it is strongly implied that Saavik copulated with Spock, because pon farr is established as being resolved by mating.4
Literary evidence of a pregnant Saavik
Author Vonda McIntyre’s novelisation of The Search for Spock description of Spock’s pon farr is similarly devoid of action. There is comparable intimacy, but no confirmation of intercourse. McIntyre wrote that Saavik used techniques to “soothe his fear and confusion”.5 In McIntyre’s novelisation of The Voyage Home, she does not acknowledge a Saavik pregnancy, offering an alternative explanation for the character’s absence.
Saavik is reluctant to stay on Vulcan, but is ordered to remain by Kirk, who insists that Starfleet has placed her ‘on detached assignment to Vulcan’. McIntyre claimed that “Saavik had dreamed of coming to Vulcan since she learned of its existence and of her own heritage” and that “she felt more comfortable here than on any other world to which she had traveled, even Earth…”6 This presents us with the opposite problem to the film; it is unclear why a Saavik enamoured with a home planet she has never visited even wants to remain with Kirk.
McIntyre also included a scene where Saavik provides Kirk with a recorded deposition to take to Earth in her stead, answering one of our original questions, if Saavik would be needed on Earth.
Canonical evidence of a pregnant Saavik
Canonical evidence is confined to only subtle allusion due to the cutting of scenes by Nimoy and rendering the overall case for Saavik’s pregnancy weak. However, the simple fact of the character’s exit points to at least something canonical happening, only without audience awareness.
After Spock is ‘revived’ by the fal-tor-pan ceremony, Saavik seems embarrassed, and can not bear to look at Spock, suggesting she may be ashamed of her recent actions. This is consistent with a deleted scene penned by Bennett for The Voyage Home, in which Saavik tells Kirk “I feel guilty”. It is obvious that copulating with Spock on Genesis could be interpreted as taking advantage of the vulnerable. This may be particularly humiliating with Spock being her superior, her mentor.
When the HMS Bounty departs Vulcan, Saavik watches alongside Amanda Grayson, Spock’s mother, insinuating some relationship. Indeed, this shot was a deliberate insertion by Bennett, who wanted to provoke discussion into this topic, even if the pregnancy were not canonised by it.
Criticism of a pregnant Saavik
Even accepting Saavik as pregnant with Spock’s child, why should this be so debilitating that she must remain on Vulcan? Perhaps my criticism is ignorant, but only three months have transpired since Saavik was on the Genesis planet, and she is not visibly pregnant when she remains on Vulcan. We might assume that there is something unique about Vulcan gestation that might force an early reduction in work, but this is an unsatisfying answer.
An alternative explanation?
Suppose we proceed with the theory that Saavik leaves because she is pregnant, but adapt it such that conception occurs earlier - perhaps aboard the U.S.S. Grissom with the contribution of David Marcus. A greater fetal age would make her exit on Vulcan seem more likely. The fetal age is still limited to only three months plus whatever duration Saavik and Marcus were aboard Grissom for, which did not seem very long. We also remain limited by the fact that Saavik does not appear visibly pregnant in The Voyage Home. But lacking knowledge on Vulcan gestation periods, it is difficult to comment on this further.
I believe this a more satisfying explanation for Saavik’s exit, because it is not only a little more convincing, but offers a hopeful continuation to the Kirk line that suffered a depressing conclusion when Marcus was murdered.
The licensed book, The Autobiography of James T. Kirk, hints also at this explanation. It says that Kirk suspected that Saavik remained on Vulcan because she was pregnant with David's child. Saavik is not mentioned again in the book, which would be unexpected if she were so significant as to bear Kirk’s grandchild.7
The Autobiography of James T. Kirk
On the day we left, Saavik came to see me. She was staying behind. The rumor was she was pregnant. I wondered whether it was David’s, but it seemed inappropriate to ask.
An emotional Saavik
Putting aside the unreasonable inter-species fertility in Star Trek (and the prospect of a half-human, quarter-Romulan, quarter-Vulcan hybrid), there is substantial precedent for such a productive relationship between Saavik and Marcus.
Lieutenant Saavik’s interest in Dr. Marcus was first established in The Wrath of Khan, where the character was played by Kirsty Alley and had quite different direction.8 The character was planned to be a Romulan-Vulcan hybrid that would form a relationship with Kirk’s son, acting as a reminder that Kirk is not as young as he once was, underscoring his mid-life crisis. Ultimately, much of Saavik’s development would not survive the final cut of the film and Director Leonard Nimoy would take a fully-Vulcan approach for Saavik for Robin Curtis in The Search for Spock.
Despite the notion being cut from the film, the Romulan hybrid interpretation of Saavik was adopted for the novelisations by Vonda McIntyre.9 It is intriguing that McIntyre took the half-Romulan interpretation from the deleted scenes, but not the pregnant Saavik for The Voyage Home as each were production intention. The Saavik portrayed in the novelisations is much more volatile, with McIntyre ignoring the influences of Leonard Nimoy and Robin Curtis on the character. McIntyre’s Saavik is vengeful and wishes harm upon her Romulan heritage.
Saavik and David Marcus, The Search for Spock novelisation
"The family mark permits me to demand certain rights," Saavik said. "It would be considered very bad manners to refuse a family member's challenge to a death-duel." "A duel!" "Yes. How else avenge myself? How else avenge my Vulcan parent, who surely died with my birth?" David lay back on the narrow bunk, stunned by Saavik's matter-of-fact discussion of deep, implacable hatred. "I never thought of Vulcans as demanding an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." "But I am not—as Vulcans never cease to remind me—a proper Vulcan." "Wouldn't it be easier, wouldn't it be safer, to—I don't know, sue the Romulans for reparations?" "Spoken like a truly civilized human," Saavik said. "But if I am only half a Vulcan, I am in no part human."
It is obvious to see how this Saavik might go from watching the ‘Klingon bastard’ killing her lover in The Search for Spock, to replacing Lieutenant Valeris in The Undiscovered Country by conspiring to assassinate Chancellor Gorkon and derailing galactic peace.10
Learning by doing
You may remember the turbolfit scene between Kirk and Saavik, opening with an amused Kirk. What you may not know is that this scene establishes a character arc for Saavik, which was later cut. I assume that this particular scene survived more because of its contribution to Kirk’s mid-life crisis narrative, than its development of Saavik.
KIRK Lieutenant, are you wearing your hair differently? SAAVIK It is still regulation, Admiral.
At which point, Saavik reaches towards Kirk… only to adjust the turbolift control panel and stop the lift. A now more-tense Kirk continues the conversation with Saavik.
Kirk of The Original Series might have expected advances after commenting on a woman’s hair, but in this moment Kirk has to realise and accept that he is less desirable. The conversation proceeds and Kirk becomes coy concerning his solution to the Kobayashi Maru test.
SAAVIK May I ask how you dealt with the test? KIRK (amused) You may ask, Lieutenant. She stares. KIRK (continuing) That was a little joke. SAAVIK Humor... that is a difficult concept... It is not logical... KIRK We learn by doing, Lieutenant. She's a laugh a minute. Kirk pushes the button; the elevator starts.
A version of this scene from different perspectives is available in 4:3 aspect ratio. Used for television broadcast, it makes the scene more intimate and may go some way to better communicate the scene’s intention.
Later in the film where an Enterpise away team beams down to the Regula planetoid, they are attacked by Dr. David Marcus and Jedda. This scene transpires quite differently in the original script:
DAVID You're the sonavabitch who committed mass murder up there. He raises the knife -- KIRK I'm Admiral Kirk... DAVID We were still there, you dumb bastard! We could hear the screams all the way to the transporter room -- Again he raises the knife -- KIRK Where's Dr. Marcus -- DAVID I'm Doctor Marcus!
Fortunately, they are interrupted by Dr. Carol Marcus and the film proceeds. Let us skip to after Spock’s funeral. Having resolved their differences and shared an embrace in Kirk’s cabin, David Marcus and Kirk head to the bridge for a clever pay-off for ‘learning by doing’.
SAAVIK Admiral on the bridge! KIRK As you were, Mr. Saavik. SAAVIK Aye, sir. On course to Ceti Alpha. All is well. KIRK Good, I believe you already know my, uh, son -- Saavik comes close to blushing -- KIRK (continuing) Yes, well, why don't you show him around and... SAAVIK Aye, sir -- She takes him off, deadpan amusement -- SAAVIK (continuing) So you turn out to be the dumb bastard. They stare at her. SAAVIK (continuing) That is a little joke. KIRK She's learning by doing. Kirk has a smile. He joins Bones and Carol facing the screen.
A cut version of that last scene is available here, alongside the deleted scene that confirmed Saavik’s half-Romulan identity. Unfortunately, Kirsty Alley’s line “So you turn out to be the dumb bastard” is missing.
There are more scenes within the script that further develop Saavik and Marcus, but rather than investigating those, I shall instead discuss the uncut canon that indicates a precedent for an attraction between Saavik and Marcus.
Canonical evidence of affection for David Marcus
Much of the half-Romulan influence can be identified in the final cut; Saavik swears ‘Damn’ during the Kobayashi Maru simulation; cries at Spock’s funeral… and did she change her hairstyle? Even in the Nimoy-directed The Search for Spock, Saavik maintains a highly atypical coiffure, for a Vulcan.
When Saavik and Marcus first meet, she saves him from being vapourised by an eel-influenced Captain Terrell.
Later, in the Genesis cave, she can be seen standing close to David Marcus, which is due to a flirtatious scene not in the final cut.
When Marcus later goes to Kirk’s quarters, Marcus says “You knew enough to tell Saavik that how we face death is at least as important as how we face life.” Marcus was still many light years away at Regula I when Kirk offered Saavik advice in the simulator on Earth, so this is indicative of an off-screen conversation that likely involved Marcus and Saavik.
How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life.
— Captain James T. Kirk
Finally, on the bridge, Saavik has changed her hair again and is standing very close to David Marcus. It will not be long until, in the novelisation, she decides to imbibe alcohol with him and allow the more Romulan sides of her character to predominate in her cabin…
Conclusion
When answering why Saavik remained on Vulcan for The Voyage Home, we have discussed various theories.
There is the apparent production intention that Saavik was taking leave, following an impregnation by Captain Spock in the previous film.
The novelisation claims that Saavik was assigned on Vulcan by Starfleet, with unspecified reasoning and adds that she has never been to Vulcan, and was captivated by the planet.
However, the theory which most convinces me is the one with the least official basis; that Saavik may have been pregnant for much longer, but with Dr. David Marcus. This provides a more cogent circumstance that might debilitate Saavik sufficiently to make a flight to Earth inadvisable.
Further investigation into Vulcan biology, particularly their gestation, would be desirable, as might a consideration of interspecies genetic compatibility.
Polls
Which species for Saavik do you prefer - Meyer-McIntyre‘s half-Romulan, or Nimoy’s full-Vulcan? How do you rationalise Saavik’s exit at the beginning of The Voyage Home? Should Saavik have returned for The Undiscovered Country and betrayed Starfleet?
Appendices
1. Chronology
A matter of some controversy are the years in which the films are set. Here I consider the evidence.
1.1 Mutiny of HMS Bounty
In Captain Kirk’s log, stardate 8390 (The Voyage Home), he claims that the mutineers of the HMS Bounty are 500 years past. This seems to be reference to an event in 1789, which would place The Voyage Home around 2289. It would be improper to take Kirk’s claim of ‘five hundred years ago’ as exact, so we could date The Voyage Home as anywhere between 2239 and 2339 from this revelation. However, there are multiple references to the 23ʳᵈ century across the film, so that range can be capped at 2300.
1.2 San Francisco Register
Within The Voyage Home, it is accepted that the Bounty travels back to 1986 Earth, although the only evidence of this comes from a date on the fictitious San Francisco Register newspaper, briefly displayed and barely legible.
With Dr. Gillian Taylor claiming to have “three hundred years of catch-up learning to do”, we are presented the possible range of years 2236 to 2336, which has no affect on our 2239 to 2300 range, but does offer some consistency and corroboration.
1.2 Dating from previous films
1.2.1
In The Wrath of Khan, both Khan and Kirk claim to be fifteen years since the events of the The Original Series (TOS) episode Space Seed. In the Star Trek: Voyager episode Q2, Icheb claims that Kirk completed his five-year mission in the year 2270, so it could not have started prior to 2264. This tells us that Space Seed must have occurred between 2264 and 2270.
It is important to stress that Space Seed did not necessarily take place in 2267; while it is popular fan convention to date TOS episodes precisely three hundred years after their air dates, this is not a canonical system and ought only be used as an approximation!
Fifteen years ahead of our range for Kirk’s five-year mission, The Wrath of Khan must be between 2279 and 2285. While we know that The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home are three months separated, we do not know the time between The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock. Certainly, it does not seem to have be very long, so we can be confident that The Voyage Home is some time in the 2280s, probably not later than 2286.
Intriguingly, despite having been together on Vulcan for three months since The Search For Spock, Saavik with Kirk about the death of David Marcus since her exit aboard the Bounty.
1.2.2
One can date The Wrath of Khan by using the information that S.S. Botany Bay launched from Earth in 1996, which Khan claims to be 200 years prior. Khan seems to have rounded strangely, because it is surely closer to 300 years since than 200.
1.3 Stardates
The Wrath of Khan ends on stardate 8141.6; The Search for Spock ends sometime after stardate 8210.3 and The Voyage Home begins on stardate 8390. Generally, manipulating stardates to come to conclusions is ill-advised, because they have a habit of being non-linear. However, we can assume the difference between 8210.3 and 8390 to correspond to about three months, which gives us 1 month = 59.9 stardate units. That suggests about 1.1 months between The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock. This seems a sensible amount of time for a damaged Enterprise to return to Earth, after recovering the Reliant crew from their marooning on Ceti Alpha V and subsequently transferring much of its crew.
2. 756874 - Unification
The concept of Saavik producing a child with Spock was resurfaced recently in the Roddenberry Archive’s 30ᵗʰ anniversary celebration of Star Trek VII: Generations, which involved Robin Curtis reprising Saavik and presenting a character, Sorak, played by Mark Chinnery. In an interview about the short film, Robin Curtis explains that Sorak is supposed to be the son of Saavik and Spock, although it is unclear if this is the result of The Search for Spock, or some later event.
The canonicity of this feature is ambiguous.
3. Paul “Spock” Darrow
To amuse the Blake’s 7 fans; Paul Darrow (Avon) on Robin Curtis.
Credits & Citations
Scripts - Star Trek Minutiae
Transcripts - Chakoteya
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Asherman A. The Star trek Interview Book. New York: Pocket Books; 1988. ISBN 067161794X
TOS: Amok Time
McIntyre VN. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Simon and Schuster; 1984. ISBN 0671495003
McIntyre VN. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Simon and Schuster; 1986. ISBN 0671632663
Goodman DA. The Autobiography of James T. Kirk. Titan Books; 2015. ISBN 1783297468
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
McIntyre VN. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. Simon and Schuster; 1982. ISBN 0671741497
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country