MovieChat Forums > Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) Discussion > WHY did Sybok have to be Spock's brother...

WHY did Sybok have to be Spock's brother?

posted 11 years ago by green_dog
12 replies | jump to latest

Of all the problems this film has, this one bothers me the most. It's like something you would expect out of a daytime soap opera. "Hello Spock, I am your long, lost brother." *cue cheesy, dramatic music*

I would have accepted Sybok's character more if they just made him to be an emotional Vulcan who was an outcast in Vulcan society, and found a friend in Spock because of him being half-human and an outcast as well. Then they slowly grew apart as Spock gave in to the Vulcan status quo and Sybok pursued his religious quests.

While that sounds just as shoehorned-in, it's nothing like the big, fat retcon that Sybok was in the actual movie.

[–] bjlevine 11 years ago

Only to explain why Spock wouldn't shoot him. But its awkward, especially since it leads to Sarek being a bigamist, something never mentioned before as to Vulcans.

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[–] rooee 11 years ago

Sybock is the daughter of a "princess" - so could it be that Sarek took the princess for the sake of diplomacy, and took a human wife out of love? The fact that we're left to speculate on such things speaks volumes about the limitations of the script, to be honest.

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[–] michaelward15 11 years ago

I never really thought it explained why Spock didn't shoot him. Why can't he shoot his brother? His brother is trying to take over the Enterpise!

[–] Porpoise01 11 years ago

One of the central themes was loyalty. Kirk's loyalty to his friend vs. his loyalty to duty was the center of Trek III. The loyalty of the three friends to each other was what defeated Sybock's "power." Sybock's loyalty to his cause overcame his loyalty to civic order, responsibility, and even Vulcan logic. Spock was torn between loyalty to family and to duty and friends. And the notion of an emotional Vulcan is more powerful when he isn't just some loon brought in from far away.

I'm not sure it entirely works, but it was a lot more than just a plot device to keep Spock from shooting Sybock. They never had to put the gun in Spock's hands to begin with, so there was no plot problem to solve.

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[–] michaelward15 11 years ago

I think it was an attempt to make the scene more tense. The scene would have been have been less interesting if Kirk's attempt to regain control during the shuttle landing had simply failed. Having it almost succeed only to have Spock deliberately let the bad guy keep control created tension and mystery. Unfortunately, once the mystery was resolved it didn't make any sense.

[–] LightningLad 11 years ago

I actually think it works better than him just being an average Vulcan, as there would be less to compromise Spock otherwise. In some ways it explains why Sarek is always so hard on Spock, and all the more reason Spock tries so hard to be as Vulcan as he can be. That he has a full blood Vulcan half brother, royalty no less, who completely broke with tradition and thus was the antithesis of Spock, is intriguing, if a bit underused.

Spock does say that the princess died, so Sarek is not a bigamist.

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[–] sr_wolfrider 11 years ago

LightningLad makes a good case, but it still rubs me the wrong way. Better to not randomly introduce Spock's brother out of the blue. Keep Sybok as a random Vulcan.

[–] Lt_Brannigan 11 years ago

I have pondered this for a while and really no canonical can be definitively reached. I can't help but feel that aside from being a poor script in the first place, that Paramount really hamstrung this movie with all their shenanigans. If they would have just left Shatner alone, I feel that we would have a got a better than average Trek.

But as for fan speculation, No further mention is made of this Vulcan Princess so she could have perished leaving Sarek alone for a short time. How old is Sybok anyway?

Sybok was a hamfisted way to make things personal for Spock, when they could have used T'Pring instead.

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[–] michaelward15 11 years ago

Agreed, but I'm not even sure why the story needed to be personal for Spock, but if it did, T'Pring would have been a better idea.

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

I would have accepted Sybok's character more if they just made him to be an emotional Vulcan who was an outcast in Vulcan society, and found a friend in Spock because of him being half-human and an outcast as well. Then they slowly grew apart as Spock gave in to the Vulcan status quo and Sybok pursued his religious quests.

Agreed! I don't blame Kirk for behaving as he did after the revelation establishing Sybok identity. He was just expressing the disbelief that I felt. "Yeah! Sure!"

[–] LordDavid 9 years ago

Shatner never wanted Sybok to have been Spock's half brother. He thought it was too soap-opera material. But the higher powers that be overruled him.

I would have preferred the idea of Sybok being Spock's "surrogate" brother, a Vulcan concept which pairs only children together when they are young to foster a sibling type relationship.

In my idea for Star Trek V, Sybok would have been a very smart Vulcan, too smart, having tried for both the Vulcan Science Directorate and Starfleet, he is rejected by both. With no where else to go, he embarks on his crazy search for "god".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098382/board/thread/240923863 - What Star Trek V, could have been, even with the budget and lack of good effects. You make it an effects light film, simply steal as much stock footage from the previous ones and do major effects for the probe scene, Enterprise's escape, the Romulan ship and the great barrier/Sha-Ka-Re.

[–] Capt-Cupcake 9 years ago

What's wrong with being Spock's brother? It worked.