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In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Spock's father (Sarek) told Kirk to bring Dr. McCoy to Vulcan.

At the time Enterprise was all busted up and being decommissioned. Kirk told Sarek that it would be difficult and Sarek basically just told Kirk to figure it out.

Why didn't Spock's father help? He was an Ambassador with a fancy Vulcan ship and he was going to meet them at Vulcan anyway.

Instead of driving Kirk and his entire senior staff to turn to crime by seeking illegal commercial passage and ultimately stealing the damaged Enterprise ship, why didn't Sarek just give them a ride?

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    If Sarek is anything like my dad, his response was probably "Do I look like I'm running a taxi service?"
    – Valorum
    Mar 6, 2016 at 9:14
  • @Richard LOL you're probably right
    – user60653
    Mar 6, 2016 at 14:27

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The issue is not about bringing McCoy to Vulcan. The real issue is about bringing Spock from Genesis to Vulcan.

It's certainly a minor issue to bring McCoy to Vulcan. Rather, the point of much of the film is to bring Spock to Vulcan.

SAREK: Why did you leave him on Genesis! Spock trusted you. You denied him his future!...

KIRK: What must I do?

SAREK: You must bring them to Mount Selaya — on Vulcan. Only there is the passage possible. Only there can both find peace.

Retrieving Spock would be an extremely difficult feat, considering that Spock's body was laid to rest on Genesis and Genesis was now off-limits to all but a handful of Federation scientists.

Now, regarding Sarek's level of involvement, remember that Sarek was the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth and the Genesis planet had become a serious political issue. It is made clear in both The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home that the Genesis project was viewed as a weapon of mass destruction by the Klingon Empire, and the existence of the Genesis planet had become politically toxic, risking a flare-up of hostilities between the Federation and the Empire. Sarek, as one of the principal negotiators between the Federation and the Empire (as depicted in The Voyage Home), would have to stay clear of this.

To summarize:

  • The issue is not about bringing McCoy to Vulcan (although that is part of the end goal). The main issue is about finding Spock, or Spock's body, and bringing both Spock and McCoy to Vulcan.
  • Bringing Spock to Vulcan involves visiting the restricted Genesis planet, something that the principal Federation negotiator, Sarek, could not be involved with, even tangentially. Better leave it all to Kirk!
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  • I really don't think that's all of it. I doubt the Federation would dare hinder Sarek going to retrieve his son's body. There are Vulcans on the committee and they would instantly know why once seeing the report.
    – Joshua
    Sep 8, 2016 at 2:12
  • @Joshua : I'm not saying the Federation would hinder him. I'm saying he would hinder himself. As a Vulcan, he would not break protocol and risk embarrassing the Federation or embroiling it in unnecessary conflict.
    – Praxis
    Sep 8, 2016 at 2:35
  • I think by the movie era Sarek was representing the Federation in general versus in TOS he was an ambassador for Vulcan.
    – lucasbachmann
    2 days ago
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What Sarek actually said was that Kirk had to bring both McCoy and Spock to Vulcan:

[The two see footage of Spock mind-melding with McCoy]

Kirk: Bones!...

Sarek: One alive, one not. Yet both in pain.

Kirk: What must I do?

Sarek: You must bring them to Mount Selaya -- on Vulcan. Only there is the passage possible. Only there can both find peace.

As we find out later when McCoy tries to hire an alien to take him to Genesis, it is off limits:

Genesis allowed is not... Is planet forbidden.

Sarek couldn't have helped take them to Genesis without causing a diplomatic incident. It's unlikely that Sarek could have used his weight as ambassador to convince Starfleet to bring Spock back from Genesis, given that he has a conflict of interest.

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    I know, but that's my point -- Sarek could've much more easily gone to Genesis and Vulcan, precluding the need for them to seek illegal commercial passage and ultimately steal the damaged Enterprise ship. It wouldn't have even been illegal for Sarek. Actually, I'm not sure that Sarek was even referring to Spock's body. There would've been no point in bringing a dead body to Vulcan. I am pretty sure when he said "One alive, one not. Yet both in pain." he was referring to McCoy and Spocks katra not Spock's dead rotting corpse.
    – user60653
    Mar 6, 2016 at 7:32
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Kirk, et. al. still had to go to the Genesis planet to retrieve Spock's body so it could be brought to Vulcan. Sarek was not going to Genesis.

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    Why couldn't Sarek go to Genesis? Wouldn't that have been far easier since Sarek doesn't answer to the Star Fleet?
    – user60653
    Mar 6, 2016 at 7:29
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    Also, I am pretty sure when he said "One alive, one not. Yet both in pain." he was referring to McCoy and Spocks katra not Spock's dead rotting corpse. They didn't know that Gensis had resurrected his body.
    – user60653
    Mar 6, 2016 at 7:37

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