Is T’Pol really better than Saavik when you compare the two Star Trek icons?

Screenrant compared the best female Vulcans in Star Trek history but is T’Pol really better than Saavik?

Screenrant recently looked at the top female Vulcans across the entire history of Star Trek. Not surprisingly, the top two women were Saavik and T’Pol, a decision that may seem obvious to some and a bit biting to others. Saavik is pretty iconic, especially for her turn in Star Trek:  The Wrath of Khan, played famously by Kirstie Alley. She was set for a major role in the franchise going forward but issues led to a recasting, as well as a limited role for the character after Alley was removed from the role.

T’Pol rose to fame on Star Trek: Enterprise, played by Jolene Blalock. In-universe, T’Pol became the first Vulcan attached to a Federation vessel in a meaningful and consistent way.

So when you talk about who the better Vulcan is, Screenrant picked T’Pol over Saavik but was that the right call?

T’Pol places higher than Saavik among Star Trek’s best female Vulcans for one reason

When arguing which character is better, it’s important to realize one thing; as good as Saavik was in The Wrath of Khan and beyond, her character arc was one filled with a lot of potential, but little execution. She was originally set up to be a half-Vulcan and half-Romulan character; hence her slight outburst during the Kobayashi Maru. It was supposed to be a hint at her heritage but it was a storyline that was dropped.

Another storyline that was dropped was Saavik being the mother to Spock’s child, another great idea that would’ve raised the character’s profile to another level, but as with the half-Romulan storyline, that was also dropped.

So when you look at Saavik and T’Pol, it’s really not hard to see why T’Pol got the nod, as she was given far more interesting and profound storylines; the most magical of which may have been her love for Captain Jonathan Archer in the episode, “Twilight”. That single outing, of her waking up every day with Archer, only to have to tell him of the lost time he’s been experiencing would be heart-breaking for many. But for her, it was the perfect character arc, as it showed the audience the depth of her emotions for the man she called captain.

It gave fans far more in one episode than several movies did for Saavik.