https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUfaV7eB2gU
Recent Q&A with Kate Mulgrew and fans.
Thanks for the link! Kate seems cool, that was fun to hear! I think the best answer is basically what the questioner said about what she thought and that was probably the point of the episode, because there isn't really a right answer and makes the viewer think about the conundrum.
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shareTuvix was a transporter accident come to life. Totally agree with the decision to separate them.
The only real downside here was that separating them also brought Neelix back.
I could see an argument for the opposite. If she hadn't separated them wouldn't she then be responsible for the deaths of the two crewmen who were lost when he was created? Seemed like a case of dereliction of duty.
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The way I look at it is that if you asked either Tupac or Skeezix beforehand if they would have wanted to be combined into a new sentient life form, they both would have been horrified at that thought.
So it comes down to "killing" either Tuvix or the two contributors to the being. Either way, someone is going to lose.
I would have chosen to restore the two as they were born.
It's just another variation of the trolley problem. If she separates them back, she's killing Tuvix. If she takes no action while still able, she's condemning each to death individually.
I agree with her decision.
For reference:
There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However, you notice that there is one person on the side track. You have two (and only two) options:
1. Do nothing, in which case the trolley will kill the five people on the main track.
2. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person.
Which is the more ethical option? Or, more simply: What is the right thing to do?
I would not have wanted to make Janeway's decision. Just too painful.
I don't think she was responsible for what happened to Neelix and Tuvok. It was a transporter accident. She didn't kill anybody. They were essentially "killed" by the transporter and Tuvix was "born".
It was a hard decision to make and when I watch the episode, I really think I would have allowed Tuvix to live. I mean, if he was right in front of me saying, "I don't want to die", I'd have a hard time pulling the switch, so to speak."
But the decision was harder for Janeway because Tuvok was her dear friend and confidant. And then there was Kes, bawling on her shoulder, "I miss Neelix".
She ends up breaking it off with Neelix after "Warlord" anyway. Tuvix died in vain.
It makes for a compelling episode. In addition to what you say here, there is the value of each to the crew and the mission of getting home that she has to think of as the Captain.
So we have the personal nature and the "business" nature of the problem, as it were.