I want to live!
- EvilKirk’s last words
Whatever else you want to say about EvilKirk, it’s pretty clear that he didn’t 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 there’s 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.
Yet—and it’s obvious where I’m going with this—“Spock murdered EvilKirk” 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. “The Enemy Within” uses the transporter malfunction to examin the duality of man, and doesn’t address the ethics of the situation in any way. That’s going to inform the viewers’ reactions, just as bringing Janeway’s decisions regarding Tuvix to the forefront of that episode informs the viewers’ 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 changed…and so did Janeway and the Voyager crew. Tuvix is given a name. He’s given a job. Janeway calls him an officer and an advisor.
In short, Janeway granted Tuvix personhood…and then unilaterally stripped it away.
To point one, yep, fair. I’ve unceremoniously dropped “The Enemy Within” 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 Tuvix’ personhood, but I don’t see the relevancy. What bearing does Tuvix’s personhood have on how we describe Janeway’s actions, or the discussion about whether those actions were justified?
Well, if he’s a person, he has rights…
Ah. Tuvix was a person, EvilKirk was not?
I’m admittedly dancing around EvilKirk a bit, because the episode engages with the two Kirks in such a way that they’re 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 live…