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star trek - What was Saavik implying by this question?


In Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, David reveals that he used "Protomatter" to build the genesis device in this exchange with Lt. Saavik:



DAVID: I used protomatter in the Genesis matrix.
SAAVIK: Protomatter. An unstable substance which every ethical scientist in the galaxy has denounced as dangerously unpredictable.
DAVID: But it was the only way to solve certain problems.
SAAVIK: So, like your father, you changed the rules.
DAVID: If I hadn't, it might have been years, ...or never!
SAAVIK: How many have paid the price for your impatience? How many have died? How much damage have you done? ...And what is yet to come?




My question concerns the line I've emphasized. If I recall correctly, the answer to the first three questions is an obvious "none." The fact that the planet was made with protomatter doesn't become relevant until it begins to disintegrate, which hasn't happened yet. All the drama and death surrounding the genesis arc doesn't seem to have anything to do with protomatter up to this point.


I understand why Saavik is concerned and critical of his methodology, but why does she jump straight to accusing him of being responsible for death and damage?


I used to interpret this line to mean that the only way David could have acquired or worked with protomatter was something so dangerous that some of his colleagues must have been killed during the process. But now I'm unsatisfied with this interpretation and would like to know if there is a better one.



Answer



It is not the protomatter itself that Saavik is referring to, it is the rush to complete Project Genesis:



How many have paid the price for your impatience?



The creation of Project Genesis led to the marooning of the USS Reliant crew and the death of, at least, Captain Terrell, the deaths of a significant portion of the Regula I crew, and the loss of the USS Grissom with all hands.


Additionally, there were several casualties aboard the Enterprise, among them, most significantly to Saavik, the deaths of Spock and Peter Preston. It is not surprising, in this context, that Saavik would not see David's urgency in finishing Genesis to justify the ethical lapse it required.



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