Saavik
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Lieutenant Saavik is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. She appeared first in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which she was played by Kirstie Alley. She was also a main character in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and appeared for a short time in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; in these movies she was played by Robin Curtis.
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 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 Star Trek: The Original Series 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.
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 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 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 Enterprise with Admiral James T. Kirk and Captain Spock when Kirk's old enemy Khan 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 U.S.S. 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 far, 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.
Also planned, but not featured in the final versions of Wrath of Khan and 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 Search for Spock, would subsequently be killed by Klingons.)
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A significant character in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 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 objected to the popular character becoming a villain and vetoed 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.
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.
The character was at one point to appear in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Cause and Effect" but the idea was dropped when Kirstie Alley was once again unavailable to reprise the role.
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.
Early reference
When Gene Roddenberry was planning his new series Star Trek: Phase II 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 Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Nimoy returned as Spock.