Would the Other Captains have Tuvixed Tuvix? | A “Tuvix” Analysis

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]I want to live.

[00:00:02]You will.

[00:00:03]I don't want to hoard you. I can live with it. If we weren't in the Expanse, maybe my decision would be different.

[00:00:12]DOESN'T ANYONE SEE THAT THIS IS WRONG?

[00:00:15]HEY, IT'S Janeway's and welcome back to another Star Trek video. Tuvix, one of the most controversial episodes in the Star Trek franchise. Voyager stops by a planet, Tuvok and Neelix pick some flowers, and then they're smooshed together in a horrible transporter accident, which was probably Tuvok's own personal hell. Oh starless night of vow.

[00:00:38]>> Won't somebody please think of Tuvok?

[00:00:41]But then when the newly merged Tuvix wants to continue his life as Tuvix and not separate back into Tuvok and Neelix, you know, main cast members, Captain Janeway forces the issue, the status quo is resumed, and the fans have argued about it ever since.

[00:00:58]I've already talked about what I feel about the episode in a Trek analysis video a few years back. It's an older video, but it checks out.

[00:01:06]But after the success of my video talking about if the other Star Trek captains could have done what Sisko did in the DS9 episode In the Pale Moonlight, I decided that I was going to explore if the other Star Trek captains would have Tuvix Tuvix.

[00:01:22]Once again, this is just my opinion, and I welcome thoughtful discussion in the comments section, whether agreeing or disagreeing with me. Hey, it's not like Janeway's going to Tuvix anyone over it, right?

[00:01:33]>> [laughter] >> Let's start off as we usually do with Captain Kirk. Now, Kirk actually went through a similar experience as Tuvok and Neelix in the original series episode The Enemy Within. There's never been an accident like this recorded in the entire history of transporter technology. Well, you better read up on your history, Cathy, because Captain Kirk also had an unfortunate accident with the transporter.

[00:01:58]Only instead of smooshing him together with another person, the transporter separated him into good Kirk and bad Kirk.

[00:02:05]You know what? McCoy was right about the transporter.

[00:02:09]So was Pulaski.

[00:02:11]And Barclay, really. These are smart people.

[00:02:15]Tuvok and Neelix being merged is basically the reverse of Kirk's situation. Instead of one becoming two, two became one.

[00:02:23]However, good Kirk and bad Kirk were biologically unstable and needed to be reunited as a full Captain Kirk in order to live. I want to live.

[00:02:33]You will.

[00:02:34]While it's possible that health problems could have come up for Tuvix later on, it's never stated in the episode and he could presumably have lived a full life, though it's not necessarily guaranteed.

[00:02:47]Kirk having gone through something similar himself might lean towards restoring Tuvok and Neelix, allowing them to live their lives as individuals instead of some merged monstrosity. I have to take him back inside myself.

[00:03:04]I can't survive without him. Now, on the other hand, there's the whole needs of the many thing Spock's always going on about and were Spock merged together with let's say McCoy as Spockoy.

[00:03:16]Spock's logic might come through saying to restore Spock and McCoy at the expense of Spockoy.

[00:03:23]While McCoy would just want to get away from the green-blooded hobgoblin. He didn't even want his soul in him, let alone being smooshed together as a single individual. Sure is nice to have your Katra back in your head, not mine.

[00:03:36]That being said, though, Kirk has proven that he was willing to risk the needs of the many for the one in Star Trek 3, possibly sacrificing all their careers for Spock. I doubt that this mentality would extend to Spockoy, though, and I'm willing to bet that Kirk would do the separation to get his two best friends back for some marshmellons.

[00:03:57]Then again, Kirk is known to be an excellent problem-solver, so maybe he would try to figure out a way to restore Spock and McCoy while keeping Spockoy alive. Think of it as a challenge, Jim.

[00:04:10]The strongly principled Picard, on the other hand, would likely get hung up on the morality of the situation. After all, that's what Picard does best. He would probably mull over the ethics of sacrificing one individual for two, and I don't necessarily think he would follow the needs of the many philosophy.

[00:04:28]After all, the first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. Of course, try telling that to him when he, Riker, and Beverly were trying to guilt-trip Worf into donating his blood to a Romulan.

[00:04:43]To be fair, though, they were trying to prevent a war.

[00:04:47]Huh.

[00:04:48]Needs of the many.

[00:04:49]Picard was always one for standing up for the little guy, as seen with Data in "The Measure of a Man" or with Data's daughter Lal in "The Offspring," arguing their humanity and rights while making some of Starfleet's top men very uncomfortable.

[00:05:04]Now, when he was arguing for Data and Lal, it was their sentience in question.

[00:05:09]Did they have the right to make their own decisions?

[00:05:12]Nobody's arguing that Tuvix wasn't sentient. It was whether he had the right to continue his life as Tuvix at the expense of Tuvok and Neelix.

[00:05:23]And perhaps as a third party, Picard may have sided with Tuvix. He has rights, and they should be respected.

[00:05:30]But what if it was more personal for Picard? Let's say the ones who knew him best were merged into Guyker.

[00:05:39]Though, to be fair, Beverly could have easily been thrown into that mix as well.

[00:05:43]Would he be willing to give up his closest friend so easily?

[00:05:48]Well, like with Worf, he might put pressure on Gieker Lee to do the separation.

[00:05:54]But also like with Worf, he's ultimately willing to back off in favor of the choice of the individual in front of him.

[00:06:02]In a Tuvix situation, even if Picard wants the separation, I don't think he would force it like Janeway did. They're not continuing to enlist the cooperation of Lieutenant Worf.

[00:06:15]Sisko on the other hand is different. Of all the Star Trek captains, he's probably made the most morally ambiguous decisions.

[00:06:23]I've talked about the obvious examples before, like in the pale moonlight and for the uniform. He's proven that he's willing to do some ruthless things for a greater good. The whole the ends justify the means thing, if you will.

[00:06:36]He's even responsible for some large-scale consequences. Wars starting, planets being poisoned, pissing off superior off- icers. But if you pull a stunt like that again, I'll court-martial you. Or I'll promote you.

[00:06:50]Either way, you'll be in a lot of trouble. By comparison, the Tuvix situation seems like absolute child's play.

[00:06:57]But just how ruthless is Sisko? I mean, sure, he's willing to orchestrate a large-scale deception to bring the Romulans into the war, but he also wasn't willing to let the colony of the defiant crew's descendants get wiped from existence.

[00:07:13]Or if you subscribe to my theory, get stuck in a timeline that can't be accessed anymore. It all depends on how you look at it.

[00:07:20]Without a war to worry about, Sisko's actions are a lot less extreme, and we see in the case of Dax that he's willing to go to bat for his friend's rights.

[00:07:30]Now, nothing quite like Tuvix ever happened on DS9. I guess Cardassian transporters are more trustworthy than the Federation's.

[00:07:39]Except for that time Sisko became a bond villain in the holo suite.

[00:07:45]But we did have Curzon Dax merged with Odo in Facets. I confiscated this from a Yridian smuggler. Don't you need it for evidence?

[00:07:56]Long story short, Jadzia and her friends temporarily hosted a previous Dax host so she could talk to them. Curzon got Odo and then he didn't want to leave.

[00:08:05]Sure, Jadzia would have some issues adjusting without Curzon's memories, but otherwise she'd be fine.

[00:08:11]Granted, it's not a Cisco episode, but if you recall Sisco was the one who advised Jadzia to stand up to Curzon to separate from Odo to get his memories back into the Dax symbiont. He's being selfish.

[00:08:27]And he's manipulated you to get you to go along with what he wants. So let's say something weird happened on DS9 because something always is.

[00:08:37]And Jadzia merged with Odo as Odozia?

[00:08:41]Would Cisco have ordered to separate the two?

[00:08:46]Yep. If Facets is anything to go by, there's no way Cisco would let anything said by Odozia or Tuvix for that matter sway his decision. He's going to separate those two even if he has to do it with his bare hands. Each of you is going to have to live with this. I can live with it.

[00:09:08]Now, I've talked about how Archer can be pretty ruthless under pressure. Put a ship under attack for a long period of time and he's stranding people out in the middle of nowhere for a couple of years.

[00:09:20]Those people will be okay.

[00:09:23]They'll get home. But otherwise, he's a pretty chill guy who tries to do the right thing.

[00:09:28]But what would he do in a Tuvix-like situation?

[00:09:32]Well, he does experience a similar dilemma in the episode Similitude in the middle of the Xindi arc. Trip is in a coma and Archer agrees to let Flox grow an accelerated clone called Sim from a symbiont in his zoo to get the exact tissue Trip needs. The clone would only live 15 days, but he should be able to lead a normal life post surgery.

[00:09:55]From the start, there's a whole bunch of ethical issues, but once again, Archer is in extreme circumstances.

[00:10:02]If we weren't in the expanse, maybe my decision would be different, but we've got to complete this mission.

[00:10:08]Everything goes as planned until Flox discovers that no, Sim won't survive the procedure.

[00:10:14]Also, Sim found out about an experimental serum that could slow down his aging process so he could live a full life.

[00:10:21]I didn't put him in a coma. No, but you can save him. [music] In a way, I will.

[00:10:26]By saving myself. Where have I heard that before? But they are living in a way.

[00:10:31]Inside me.

[00:10:32]It's not the same. Clearly, Archer has issues with the ethics of the whole thing, but when it comes to saving Trip's life, you bet he's going to do what he can to save Trip and complete the mission. He even questioned it less than Janeway with Tuvix. Earth needs Enterprise. Enterprise needs Trip.

[00:10:52]It's as simple as that.

[00:10:53]So, let's say T'Pol and Trip merge to become T'Paul? No, no, no, that doesn't work.

[00:10:59]Tripaul? Yeah, let's go with that.

[00:11:02]What exactly would Archer do?

[00:11:05]Oh, you bet he's Tuvixing his way through this situation.

[00:11:09]After all, he's come to respect T'Pol as his first officer and Trip as a damn good engineer. I don't want to hear any lectures about the needs of the many. In my opinion, each of the Star Trek captains, with the exception of Picard, would have done the separation. Though, it's entirely possible that Picard would have strongly lobbied for the separation, but would ultimately leave the decision up to Tuvix. But what do you all think? Do you agree with my assessment of the other captains dealing with the Tuvix situation, or do you have a different opinion? How would you have handled the Tuvix situation? And what other moral dilemma would you like to see the other captains handle? Last video was a success, so maybe this could become a recurring series on my channel.

[00:11:51]Please leave comments below and discuss.

[00:11:53]As always, thanks for tuning in to another Star Trek video. If you like what you see, why not give my video a like and subscribe to my channel. Tell your friends. Until next time. DOESN'T ANYONE SEE THAT THIS IS WRONG?

[00:12:09]>> [music] [music]