#Tuvok being put through an impromptu one man boot camp by his father to prepare for being in Starfleet is a sad and funny image to me

[bumblingbabooshka]

I love how this is the only entry on the wiki page for the Rite of Tal'oth. Both T'Pol and Spock talk about their Kahs-Wan and it seems to be an extremely common thing for Vulcan children to go through but ONLY Tuvok so far has mentioned this Tal'oth rite so it doesn't seem to be as expected of Vulcans. This jives with my impression of Tuvok's character being the most spiritual of the three main Vulcans (from what I understand the spirituality of Vulcan that we see in 'later' series is seen as highly taboo and illogical in ENT's time? EX: Tuvok was raised beliving in the katra while most Vulcans in T'Pol's time think katras are a myth). Tuvok speaks about questioning his faith in katras, he has a holoprogram that seems to take place in a monastery, he puts great stock in prayer (his wife and children say prayers for his safe return and he is sure to tell Neelix that the temple they go to is among the holiest on Vulcan), some of his favorite music is monks chanting, and he was pursuing the kolinahr in his youth - the only reason he didn't complete it being that he went through the pon farr and chose to be with T'Pel instead. To me, it would make sense if the Rite of Tal'oth was only undertaken by certain Vulcans who did so for spiritual reasons or as a personal test of some kind rather than something all Vulcans do at a certain age. Tuvok later goes into Security so it's possible he's always had an interest in the kind of life-or-death strategy that such rituals (Kahs-Wan and Tal'oth) require, even if his first time in Starfleet he's shown as a Science officer, likely at his parents' "request." Speaking of, we learn in 'Flashback' that Tuvok's parents pressured him to join Starfleet AND that Tuvok's father is heavily implied to be part of Starfleet. This, and the fact that Tuvok's father specifically was namedropped as the one who disowned him as a teenager makes me wonder whether or not Tuvok was pressured to participate in the Tal'oth ritual - perhaps as a way to prove himself Vulcan once again (after his adolescent failure). Or even as a preparatory method for Starfleet itself since his father was/is part of it. "If you can't do this, how are you going to be a Starfleet officer?" sort of deal.