It's been a while since I've been here, but now that I'm back, someone kind of new to the Star Trek saga, asked me an interesting question. I wasn't able to answer her, so I thought I'd ask any of the wonderful people here. Is it possible, and not that it's needed, but is it possible that the alternate timeline that was created, is the same timeline as it was in TNG's Yesterday's Enterprise? I mean I know it sounds like a stretch, but even in spite of the fact that the Enterprise C went back in time to restore the current timeline, the timeline with Klingons and the federation at war still exists, am I correct? So is it possible?
While I agree that the timeline with the Federation at war could still exist, it's history up to the point of the Enterprise-C going through the rift technically would have been the same as TOS, etc., and not the nuTimeline.
Nu-uh. The TNG/YE timelines diverge 22 years prior to YE, when the Enterprise-C either vanishes or doesn't. The Prime/Alternate timelines diverge a century earlier, when Nero either appears or doesn't. If the YE timeline diverged any earlier than the attack on Narandra III, sending the Enterprise-C back wouldn't have fixed it.
It's my view that nuTrek is exactly like Yesterday's enterprise with 2 exceptions. Nero, Spock & company went back in time, they weren't pulled forward and Nero, Spock & company aren't returning at all let alone the same "time". YE is a great example that a time incursion does not create a "new" timeline. It simply alters the current one.