My Favorite Mentor/Mentee Relationships
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| Image description: Seven of Nine and Icheb (left) from Star Trek: Voyager, two former Borg drones who help each other adapt. I've always loved the bond between Seven and Icheb, and saved my discussions of it for this post specifically so, I can highlight the beauty of their mentor/mentee interactions. In today's post I will be highlighting a few of these types of relationships and why I think they're so important. |
Today, I’d like to discuss something I love in media and that
I’ve mentioned in passing a few times, but have never really done an entire
post on – the idea of mentor/mentee relationships, showcasing a few of the ones
I personally love the most. I love platonic mentor/mentee relationships in
fiction because I love the storytelling power these relationships often
provide. Sometimes they allow for drama and feels, sometimes they allow for
heartwarming moments, and in the best of scenarios, they allow both characters
in the relationship to grow, both characters contributing something important
to the other’s story.
There is something very satisfying about watching two
characters – whether they’re both very similar or both extremely different –
assist each other in this way, and as an aspec person, I love that these
relationships are allowed to occupy a place of significance in the lives of
both characters without having to be romantic and/or sexual. So today, I’m
going to highlight three of my favorite mentor/mentee relationships, why I love
them so much, and what I think the characters and their bond can teach us.
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Seven of Nine
and Icheb from Star Trek: Voyager
Any regular reader of the blog is doubtless familiar with Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager, and many of you may also recognize the name of Icheb, her mentee from the show’s sixth season forward. I have mentioned both characters before and have discussed their relationship briefly, but I’ve been saving any longer discussion of them until this post specifically, as they are easily one of my favorite examples of a mentor and a mentee in all of fiction. If you’re not familiar with either character, allow me to summarize their story briefly.
Both Seven and Icheb are former Borg drones – individuals
who were abducted by the cybernetic Borg Collective and assimilated into the
hive mind, only to be rescued and given their individuality back many years
later. By the time Voyager finds Icheb, along with several other
children who have been assimilated by the Borg, Seven has been de-assimilated
and has experienced the ups and downs of trying to become human again. As such,
she is the logical choice to help the children through this strange and frightening
process.
She and the four rescued children all form a bond, but this
is especially pronounced with Icheb, the oldest of the children and the one who
is the most interested in space and science. This allows Seven to perfectly
become his mentor in particular, helping him not only navigate his
de-assimilation, but helping him adjust to life among Voyager’s crew as
well. In return, Icheb comes to deeply care about and respect Seven, as is
demonstrated many times throughout their time together in the show.
As I said, there are a few different times I’ve spoken about
the bond between Seven and Icheb, but I choose not to identify this as a friendship and instead point to it as a mentor/mentee relationship, because I
think the things they’re able to teach each other and the way it helps them
both grow is a very important part of that bond. While that of course can and
often does happen in my favorite media friendships too, I think there is a
definite level of respect that Icheb has for Seven that puts me in mind of a
young person and their trusted teacher or advisor. Additionally, I love the
idea of Seven being able to grow within the framework of such a relationship;
since the show often tries to emphasize sex or romance as essential to Seven’s
own growth as an individual, I like the idea that her role as a mentor is more
valuable than these more allosexual/alloromantic standards.
However, the show has a tendency to speak of Seven and Icheb
as if their relationship is one of a mother and a son. To be clear, I don’t
necessarily have a problem with that, as I like seeing positive adoptive
parent/child relationships portrayed in media and think there should be more of
them. Additionally, there are indeed a few instances where Seven does seem like she would occupy
a maternal role in Icheb’s life or where Icheb at times seems like a teenager
struggling against their parent’s rules. But the way the show frames these things
is often very limiting.
For instance, in the episode “Child’s Play,” Seven’s care
and dedication to Icheb is described by Captain Janeway as “maternal instinct,”
rather than literally describing it as care and dedication or using the simple umbrella
of “mentor.” The clearest example of this comes, of course, in Star Trek:
Picard, when Seven explicitly calls Icheb her child and says he was like a
son to her. However, this is also a tragic turn for the Seven/Icheb dynamic
and, because I adore the dynamic between them, I choose to pretend this plot
point never happened. (Yes, I am in denial, leave me be.)
As someone who both loves Star Trek and can point out
the gaps in its logic (as any Vulcan might agree), I’ve always found it bizarre
that the show clearly wants us to see Seven’s love for Icheb as maternal, and
yet doesn’t want us to see this love as stronger than romantic attachment. I’m
referring, of course, to a paradox I’ve discussed before on the blog – the idea
of Borg drones shutting down due to “too much emotion” as portrayed in the
episode “Human Error.” In the episode, this is clearly meant to be about Seven
coming closer to humanity through practicing romantic relationships on the
holodeck and this is the thing that counts as intense emotion. However, this
doesn’t make sense when you compare it to “Imperfection,” an episode earlier in
the same season in which Seven is literally moved to tears upon seeing Icheb
alive and well after a dangerous operation in which he’s volunteered part of
his Borg components to save her life.
But although this and other inconsistencies bother me, today
I choose to focus on the positives. Rather than focus on the fact that this
event should have been treated with more import to Seven’s story overall, I
choose to celebrate the fact that it happened at all. Icheb’s willingness to
put himself into danger for Seven - and Seven not wanting to see him in harm’s way
for her sake - speak to the strength of their bond. The sacrifices they make for
each other are, in my opinion, a deep and beautiful true love, whether it’s a
friendship, a surrogate mother/son relationship, or a deep mentor/mentee
relationship.
At the end of the day, I think Icheb is one of the most
meaningful relationships in Seven’s life, and his influence encourages her to keep
growing in ways that make a lot more sense for her character than romance ever
does. Icheb reminds Seven that it’s okay to care about people and rely on their
help, while Seven in return helps Icheb realize he can make his own decisions
about his life. For two former Borg drones who have had a hard-won battle for
individuality, I think that’s a beautiful story.
Hemmer and
Uhura from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
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| Image description: Hemmer (right) and Uhura's first meeting, in which he playfully hazes her during a dinner party. Throughout their short time together, their bond continues to be one of lighthearted camaraderie mixed with genuine respect and care. |
Just like Star Trek has given us some of media’s best friendships, in my opinion, I also believe they’ve given us some of the best (and also some of the saddest) mentor/mentee relationships. Modern Trek is no exception to this, as Strange New Worlds’ dynamic between a younger Uhura and the ship’s chief engineer Hemmer became one of my favorites, despite its short amount of time in the show. Hemmer only appears in six episodes of the series, but he is nevertheless a terrific character, and the way he encourages Uhura is extremely wholesome and beautifully done.
As the chief engineer of the Enterprise, Hemmer describes
his purpose as “to fix what is broken,” and he performs this duty admirably.
Although not an engineer herself, Uhura comes to trust and value Hemmer
during a crisis situation where they have to rely on each other, and this leads
to the two developing a rapport and a mutual respect. Later, when Uhura begins
doubting herself enough to consider leaving Starfleet, Hemmer encourages her.
Of course, anyone who knows Star Trek knows we don’t have to worry that
Uhura will leave Starfleet, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that the story
is a meaningful portrayal of both self-doubt and that advice from someone who
believes in one’s abilities can make all the difference.
In the episode “All Those Who Wander,” this comes to a head
with Hemmer’s final advice to Uhura, which is very topical for the episode.
While Uhura feels like she’s just drifting along with no true meaningful path,
Hemmer encourages her to open up to the friends and colleagues around her and
not be afraid to put her trust in them. The difficult but worthwhile nature of
this is a big theme of the episode and is perfectly encapsulated by his parting
words to her: “Open yourself. Make a home for yourself amongst others and you
will find joy more often than sadness.”
As both a fangirl and a writer, I truly love characters that
are able to make a profound impact in a short amount of time, and that’s truly
what Hemmer manages to do. The way he is able to inspire Uhura enough that his
impact is felt long after he’s gone is portrayed as a meaningful and important
part of her journey in a way that I really appreciated. I likewise love that the
show allowed such an important bond in her life to be from a mentor who was, in
many ways, very different from herself, but whom she nevertheless was able to
care about and respect.
While I am pretty vocally not a fan of season two’s musical
episode “Subspace Rhapsody,” I did enjoy the song that Uhura sings near the end
of the episode, which also includes the incredibly touching line “Hemmer’s
belief in me changed my life.” I think this is especially beautiful when you
consider the fact that Uhura’s song is called “Keep Us Connected,” a reference
to her role as the ship’s communication officer, but something that also feels
like a thesis statement for her whole character – her purpose, if you will,
just like Hemmer once told her that his own purpose was to fix the things that
are broken. Just like he was able to fix her broken confidence through his
belief in her abilities.
One of my favorite things about Star Trek is the
portrayal of diverse lives and how these lives can touch one another and lead
to something greater. I absolutely think that’s what Hemmer and Uhura’s
mentor/mentee bond represents, showing that we all sometimes need someone to
believe in us and help us overcome the things that would otherwise try to break
us. True to his word, Hemmer fixes Uhura’s broken confidence and his belief in
her is one important stepping stone to an otherwise amazing and fulfilling life.
I can think of no better role of a mentor than that.
Morse and
Thursday from Endeavour
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| Image description: Fred Thursday (left) and Endeavour Morse |
I have been a fan of the show Endeavour for a while, but it’s not a show I ever really got a chance to discuss on the blog before, mostly because it doesn’t really have much that’s relevant to my discussions here. However, today’s the day that changes, because when thinking about a rewarding mentor/mentee relationship, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the dynamic between the young Endeavour Morse and Fred Thursday.
The series is set in the 1960’s and is technically a prequel
to a long-running British detective show called Inspector Morse from the
80’s. While I never got into Inspector Morse, I did get into its
spin-off sequel Inspector Lewis (you may recall my previous discussion
about Detective Sergeant Hathaway when discussing my quirky aspec headcanons). I likewise became very attached to the prequel series, largely thanks to the portrayal
of young Morse during his early days on the force. In this series, Morse begins
his career as a detective sergeant underneath Detective Inspector Thursday, and
we follow the ups and downs of them, their unit, and the dramatic cases they
investigate in and around Oxford.
Like many of the mentor/mentee pairs I’ve written about
here, Morse and Thursday are very different. Thursday is old-school and relies
on street smarts, while Morse is far more cerebral, a stark difference which
sometimes means the pair can disagree and clash. Throughout the series, as
Morse experiences various trials, he can sometimes be dismissive or even
disrespectful to Thursday’s methods, but it’s made clear very early on in the
series that the two need each other, and even have something of a father/son
relationship at times. Despite their differences, they clearly care about one
another, and that’s a huge part of the show right off the bat.
The moment when I fell in love with not only these
characters and their dynamic but the show itself comes at the end of its second
episode, “Fugue.” In the episode, Morse and Thursday deal with a terrible
string of killings, which is especially difficult for Morse, who is still rather
new to the job and has personally been put in a great deal of danger by this
sadistic murderer. When the killer has finally been discovered and the danger
is averted, Thursday gives Morse some advice about how to deal with disturbing
and difficult cases such as this: “find something worth defending.” When he
asks Morse what he has that’s worth defending and relying upon during difficult
times such as these, Morse replies that he has music, as music – especially a
love of opera – is an important part of his character.
Although Morse – in every iteration – is undoubtedly a
romantic and sexual character, I think it’s extremely important that Thursday
doesn’t tell Morse to turn to those things in his hour of need. I also think
it’s valuable that Thursday doesn’t diminish the fact that Morse gives music as
an answer, but rather honors it in a response that has become a defining and
iconic quote for the series: “Go home, put your best record on, loud as it’ll
play. And with every note, you remember that’s something the darkness couldn’t
take from you.”
I think it could have been very easy to have Thursday try
and pressure Morse into finding something
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This post is a bit of a departure from the relationships I
usually talk about, but I think celebrating these types of platonic
relationships is important not just from an aspec perspective or the
perspective of good media and character development, but from a human
perspective in general. We all need help as we find our way in the world, and that
makes celebrating the figures who help us do that all the more important.
Additionally, I think many of us want to feel like our actions have meaning to
those around us, and so it’s just as important to watch how these younger
characters can inspire and uplift their mentors in return. This type of
beautiful symbiosis is not just something I want to see more of in media, but
in real life too, and so it feels appropriate to discuss these bonds as we
approach a time of year that should be about togetherness and love of every
kind.
For that reason, I hope you enjoyed today’s post. I’ll be
back on December 6th for my 2024 recap, in which I take one more look at the
topics and ideas that have characterized yet another year of blogging. In the
meantime, a very happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate and in general, I
wish you all warmth, gratitude, and appreciation of the things that matter most
in life. Just like the characters in this post, I hope this season is one of
warmth, peace, and growth for all of you.
With platonic love,
The Asexual Geek
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