'Kelvin' Timeline was almost the 'Hobus' Timeline

[Tuskin38]

I saw this posted on on twitter by Mike Okuda
https://twitter.com/MikeOkuda/status/1139362971820314624

I'm sure you recall that I wanted to name the timeline after the supernova that destroyed Romulus, but was thwarted by the fact that the supernova wasn't named in the film. It was "Hobus" in a graphic novel, but we sure weren't going to footnote that every time we used the term.

That's pretty interesting, IMO. I know some people around the web have suggested 'Hobus' might have been a better name, that and 'Nero'

The name Kelvin Timeline was also decided back in 2014 when the Okudas started work on the 2016 Encyclopedia.
https://twitter.com/MikeOkuda/status/1139174371816161285

I'm not sure, but I believe the 2016 edition of the Star Trek Encyclopedia was the first to use the term "Kelvin Timeline." We coined the label for the book in 2014 after we found that CBS did not have an official name for the timeline.

Mike also would have liked to use the name 'Prime', but it was already being used as we know.
https://twitter.com/MikeOkuda/status/1139715196631412736

Yes, I would have wanted to have used the term "Prime Timeline," but the term was used confusingly and inappropriately, so I didn't want to add to the mess.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Kelvin Timeline works perfectly as a name, since that attack on the USS Kelvin is the point of divergence (more or less...) and it ties into JJ Abrams' love of naming things for his uncle.

 

[Dukhat]

I'm not sure why the "Abramsverse" couldn't have been a suitable moniker, considering it was being used in fan circles way before the "Kelvin timeline" was coined.

Okuda: Yes, I would have wanted to have used the term "Prime Timeline," but the term was used confusingly and inappropriately, so I didn't want to add to the mess.

Apparently that confusion carried over to CBS as well.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I'm not sure why the "Abramsverse" couldn't have been a suitable moniker, considering it was being used in fan circles way before the "Kelvin timeline" was coined.

Abramsverse sounds awful, and ignores Justin Lin's contribution of 1/3rd of it as well as contributions of writers, producers and everyone else who helped make it happen. Kelvin Timeline also sounds like something that works in-universe as something the DTI or Voyager/ENT time cops would call it.

 

[Discofan]

Kelvin Timeline works perfectly as a name, since that attack on the USS Kelvin is the point of divergence (more or less...) and it ties into JJ Abrams' love of naming things for his uncle.

Plus it takes a lot of heat.


(Kelvin, heat... got it?)

 

[Tuskin38]

I'm not sure why the "Abramsverse" couldn't have been a suitable moniker, considering it was being used in fan circles way before the "Kelvin timeline" was coined.

Okuda wanted an in-universe name, since the encyclopedia is written in an in-universe perspective.

Apparently that confusion carried over to CBS as well.

It started with CBS/Paramount.

 

[Dukhat]

Okuda wanted an in-universe name, since the encyclopedia is written in an in-universe perspective.

I don't quite understand that. No one in the Prime timeline knows of the Kelvin timeline's existence, and the inhabitants of the Kelvin timeline wouldn't know any differently that their timeline is in fact a separate one that branched off of the main Prime timeline (other than the crew of the Enterprise). I understand that they had to call it something to differentiate it from the Prime timeline, but that nomenclature would have been for us, not for anyone in-universe.

It started with CBS/Paramount.

I wasn't talking about how it started.

 

[BillJ]

I'm not sure why the "Abramsverse" couldn't have been a suitable moniker, considering it was being used in fan circles way before the "Kelvin timeline" was coined.

I use Abramsverse.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

I understand that they had to call it something to differentiate it from the Prime timeline, but that nomenclature would have been for us, not for anyone in-universe.

“Prime universe” was used by Mirror Georgiou in reference to Georgiou Prime, which kinda suggests that in-universe it has always been a relative term, describing a reflection from the POV of someone from the Mirror Universe or the Kelvin Timeline. By extension, what if the latter was picked by its inhabitants analogous to the Kelvin Memorial Archive, as a way of referring to their home reality in relation to that of Ambassador Spock and Nero?

 

[F. King Daniel]

I don't quite understand that. No one in the Prime timeline knows of the Kelvin timeline's existence, and the inhabitants of the Kelvin timeline wouldn't know any differently that their timeline is in fact a separate one that branched off of the main Prime timeline (other than the crew of the Enterprise). I understand that they had to call it something to differentiate it from the Prime timeline, but that nomenclature would have been for us, not for anyone in-universe.

I'm sure every universe thinks of itself as "prime". Certainly the one we think of as "prime" is the result of endless temporal incursions and is as pure as driven snow.

The Ency is written from an in-universe perspective, albeit that of someone in the far distant future with in-universe omniscience.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

I'm sure every universe thinks of itself as "prime". Certainly the one we think of as "prime" is the result of endless temporal incursions and is as pure as driven snow.

The Ency is written from an in-universe perspective, albeit that of someone in the far distant future with in-universe omniscience.

But I just mentioned that Emperor Georgiou used “prime universe” when referring to Captain Georgiou, so the term can easily be interpreted as “a reflection of my universe”. No universe would have primacy, so any others would be described in relative terms. Ambassador Spock would be “prime” as a reflection of Commander Spock, not because he’s “primary”.

 

[ChristopherPike]

If a fourth film bookends everything with a return by Eric Bana again, they could still change it to the Nero Timeline.

That's the thing for me, everyone talks about how important Chris Hemsworth would be to a speculative script... but isn't a time travel plot facing the Narada either during the attack on the U.S.S. Kelvin, or indeed at any point before the destruction of Vulcan just as effective.

Absolutely nothing in onscreen canon was established about Kirk's father, whereas it's the absence of Spock's homeworld and having his race probably facing extinction, that pretty much sends everything off at a tangent from the Original Series and now Discovery onwards.

Kelvin makes sense. But I'm neither a fan of it or Abramsverse, although I use either to differentiate what version of the 23rd Century I'm talking about.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

If a fourth film bookends everything with a return by Eric Bana again, they could still change it to the Nero Timeline.

Putting aside the likelihood that Kelvin Timeline as a name would still be used in parallel, why replace it with one that doesn’t work in-universe? As noted, the Kelvin Timeline designation could’ve been created analogous to that of the Kelvin Memorial Archive. Why would its inhabitants memorialize the villain?

 

[pst]

don't tell memory alpha, they're still using "alternate timeline" ugh.

 

[fireproof78]

Kelvin universe makes sense to me, both in universe and out of universe.

Also, at least Kelvin Spock is aware of multiple timelines, and possibly Captain Pike, though Spock is more likely to figure out the temporal mechanics of it all.

 

[Tuskin38]

don't tell memory alpha, they're still using "alternate timeline" ugh.

Since 'alternate timeline' was actually said on screen it takes priority. If it went unmentioned they probably would have used Kelvin Timeline.

Searching Kelvin Timeline does auto-direct to that page though.

They have an entire page dedicated to arguing this. It's funny and sad to read.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Forum:Alternate_reality_"official"_name

 

[pst]

Since 'alternate timeline' was actually said on screen it takes priority. If it went unmentioned they probably would have used Kelvin Timeline.

i've been making this argument there for the past 3 years: "alternate timeline" is a dictionary term, "kelvin timeline" is a proper name and the one the creators gave it, memory alpha should honor that. just like they used "prime universe" before it was used on screen based on the fact that the term "prime" was used in the end credits. but i'm alone in this fight.

 

[Tuskin38]

People agree with you, but the ones making the policy decisions don't.

 

[The Wormhole]

i've been making this argument there for the past 3 years: "alternate timeline" is a dictionary term, "kelvin timeline" is a proper name and the one the creators gave it, memory alpha should honor that. just like they used "prime universe" before it was used on screen based on the fact that the term "prime" was used in the end credits. but i'm alone in this fight.

Also, Memory Alpha's been using the term "Mirror Universe" since always, despite the fact that it was never used on screen until very recently. Disco's season 2 finale, in fact.

 

[pst]

Also, Memory Alpha's been using the term "Mirror Universe" since always, despite the fact that it was never used on screen until very recently. Disco's season 2 finale, in fact.

this is gonna sound ridiculous, but i actually chalk it up to an anti-kelvin franchise bias.