Star Trek III’s Most Uncomfortable Scene Just Got 10x Weirder
In the Star Trek films, Spock and Saavik’s relationship undergoes a very strange arc: he is her mentor in The Wrath of Khan, but after he dies and is reborn on the Genesis planet, they become lovers. This was (ahem) only logical, as it helped the reborn Spock deal with his pon farr during his accelerated aging process, but the sight of Saavik about to get freaky with a young version of her former mentor was always uncomfortable. We didn’t think it could get more uncomfortable until we saw this page from a non-canonical Star Trek comic that suggests Spock and Saavik are brother and sister.
A Strange Comic Panel
The issue in question is DC’s Star Trek (vol. 1) #33, an issue designed to help the franchise celebrate its 20th anniversary. Accordingly, the story is a sequel to The Original Series episode “Tomorrow is Yesterday” and features the crew of the earlier show meeting their film counterparts. The younger Spock meets the older Saavik, and upon discovering that she has made the rank of lieutenant, he tells her, “You have done honor to our father and our family.”
The Movies Never Made An Implication
When you remember the Star Trek III scene where the reborn Spock got down and dirty with Saavik, this brief bit of dialogue is enough to make you hear the Kill Bill siren in your head. Why the heck is this comic suggesting that these two Vulcans are brother and sister when the movies never indicated such a relationship? As it turns out, the answer is complicated and ultimately serves to make this comic even grosser.
The Star Trek comics, much like the books, had their own canon, which was mostly consistent despite not appearing in the films or television shows. In this Beta canon, Saavik was born and raised on a crappy planet near the Romulan Neutral Zone named Hellguard, and she was rescued from her miserable life by Commander Spock. Spock wanted to teach Saavik the Vulcan way of life (remember, she is half-Romulan), eventually taking her to Vulcan where his parents, Sarek and Amanda, could help him take care of her.
Saavik Has Come Into Her Own
Therefore, what’s going on in this comic is that Spock is surprised to see Saavik because he remembers her as a young, confused woman that he last saw on his homeworld being taken care of by his mom and dad. This younger version of himself had not yet lived to see her join Starfleet. Therefore, he is pleasantly surprised (at least, as much as a Vulcan can be) to see that she is a science officer aboard the Excelsior and notes that her accomplishments honor Sarek, a man who is father to them both.
The Comic Came After The Movie
While that provides the context for why Spock is treating Saavik like a sister in this panel, it still doesn’t change how weird this plot point is because Star Trek III had come out two years before the comic was published. That means that its writer (Wolverine creator Len Wein) had already witnessed the uncomfortable scene where these two Vulcans got their freak on before reminding us that they were basically brother and sister.
Our best guess is he felt stuck with the Saavik background created by fellow writer Mike W. Barr, but the whiff of weird incest remains strong in this scene.
Spock’s Life Is A Flat Circle
If you can get over how bizarre all of this is, it’s interesting to note how much Spock and Saavik’s relationship in these old comics mirrors Spock and Burnham’s later relationship in Discovery. Sorry, haters…the idea of Spock randomly having siblings never mentioned onscreen before goes back decades.
