Considering that quite a few of the events that are mentioned in the TOS and even TNG series and franchises don't come to pass (for example, no eugenics wars in the 1990s; no Voyager 6 probe launched in the 1990s; no Nomad probe launched in the 1990s), with hindsight, can it be inferred that Trek takes place in an alternate timeline from our own or an alternate universe (another mirror universe to Earth, just with a different history?)
Does Trek take place in an alternate timeline from ours?
- Thread starter Commander Kielbasa
- Start date
Well... I'm not quite sure that an alien being named Apollo really came to Earth thousands of years ago and influenced Greek civilization.
But this is like wondering if the original "Mission Impossible" took place in an alternate universe because they were always visiting fictional countries with that made-up language on all the signs. Fiction, by its very definition, is not the same as real life. But the idea is that Trek could be considered a speculative depiction of a possible/potential future for humanity... within a fictional framework.
Kor
But this is like wondering if the original "Mission Impossible" took place in an alternate universe because they were always visiting fictional countries with that made-up language on all the signs. Fiction, by its very definition, is not the same as real life. But the idea is that Trek could be considered a speculative depiction of a possible/potential future for humanity... within a fictional framework.
Kor
C
C57D
Guest
Imoh several incarnations of Trek appear in disparate realities, none of which is ours. TOS, TAS and the post 1701 refit movies are one, then we have TNG, DS9 &VOY pretty much together, ENT is out on its lonesome and the current movies are another.
Why shouldn't Discovery be in another whole reality?
Why shouldn't Discovery be in another whole reality?
It's not about predicting the future. The dates and events are and should be mutable. Every installment should project from their present and not be hanging on to the fictional past.
Of course it has relevance. It was designed to comment on the real world.
It's a fictional vision of our (in this universe) ideal future. Trek makes frequent references to events and influential people from Earth history, both past and contemporary. And I think it's pretty clear that this was Roddenberry's vision of our future. It doesn't matter that much though because, y'know, it's a tv show, not a documentary or a prophecy.
In fiction it's referred to as an alternate history... and in answer to your question, an emphatic yes.
I've always perceived Trek as being a fictional universe with its own history that kind of diverged from ours around 1966 or so. As such, I never had any problems with the Eugenics Wars and deep-space sleeper ships in the 1990s, nor felt the need to explain why TOS looked the way it did.
Yeah I don't think anyone working on Star Trek in the 60s expected it to become this ongoing pop culture institution, so saying there was a Eugenics War in the 1990s didn't seem risky or anything. It's an alternate history, but I think essentially the same.
Agree, it is science-fiction
. The only way to avoid "mistakes" in our lives 20th century & 21st century today is to set all Star Trek stories in the distant future of the 22nd/23rd century and beyond. No visiting the past, our present.
46 years from now, people may be wondering where is Zefram Cochrane and his warp drive...
It was an AU in the same way all TV shows are.
Nowadays, with 50 years of lore, it's kinda like a comic book AU with a Eugenics War and supersoldiers in the 1990's, humans-with-bumpy-heads aliens, magic technology and seriously dodgy space physics.
Nowadays, with 50 years of lore, it's kinda like a comic book AU with a Eugenics War and supersoldiers in the 1990's, humans-with-bumpy-heads aliens, magic technology and seriously dodgy space physics.
ST loses its point and relevance and importance, if it's seen as alternate history. Trek goes from being a story about our possible future, to being just some utter fantasy. It loses meaning.
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Future history is generally stuck to, except for the years those things happen. So the years should be ignored, just treated as mere numbers which can be wrong.
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One weird case was the Voyager ep set in... 2000? It was made 2 or 3 years before then. We of course knew for an absolute fact that no giant, self-contained tower was under construction in Indiana. It would have to have been underway in the present. It wasn't. Weird. They were definitely setting Trek on its own alternate timeline...
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Future history is generally stuck to, except for the years those things happen. So the years should be ignored, just treated as mere numbers which can be wrong.
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One weird case was the Voyager ep set in... 2000? It was made 2 or 3 years before then. We of course knew for an absolute fact that no giant, self-contained tower was under construction in Indiana. It would have to have been underway in the present. It wasn't. Weird. They were definitely setting Trek on its own alternate timeline...
To imply that it could be anything else is not logical.
"The future hasn't been written yet." - Doc Brown
yes it does, how else to explain multiple PADDS instead of just one, non visual communicators, they are technologically backwards in some areas
Plus there is no way humanity would have so much influence over any galactic organisation when we are the new kids on the block.
Plus there is no way humanity would have so much influence over any galactic organisation when we are the new kids on the block.
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I don't get this. Aren't you saying that no fantasy-set story can have relevance?
TOS is obviously set in an alternate reality as for one thing the earth still has a moon and we all know it got blown out of orbit on September 13th 1999 don't we? 
JB
(there's no moon in the skies of the earth ruled by the apes in the year 3978AD either..)
JB
(there's no moon in the skies of the earth ruled by the apes in the year 3978AD either..)
No Moon in Earth orbit. Just as I suspected Space:1999 and Planet Of The Apes(1968) take place in their same timeline.TOS is obviously set in an alternate reality as for one thing the earth still has a moon and we all know it got blown out of orbit on September 13th 1999 don't we?
JB
(there's no moon in the skies of the earth ruled by the apes in the year 3978AD either..)
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