There just playing loose with the past because we are now and have been catching up to times that something supposed to happen. But they want to keep our current time as star trek past. They'll reach a point where they can't punt the issue and just have to say.. Star Trek is its own timeline and were not in it, and everything that said happens did in that timeline.
I mean it already has been different Since TOS Assignment: Earth The US and Soviets were not launching Nuclear weapons into orbit.
My nerdy exhalation. Eugenics wars originally took place in the 90s. When Scotty introduced transparent aluminum in 1986, it caused a partial change in the timeline where the Eugenics wars happened later in the time line
Is it really that hard to think for yourself? I mean, how boring would the 70's and 80's been if we all just sat around waiting for someone at Paramount to pat us on the head and tell us how the universe was?
That is one way to think about it. Though it is a major leap because for Khan and his cronies to be able to grab power in 1992, things would've had to be in the process, since probably the 1960's or 1970's.
True. Another explanation comes from Voyager's Future 's End. In that episode they boldly reveal that "the computer age of the late 20th century wasn't suposed to happen ". The antagonist in that episode recieved futuristic technology in the 1960s. Perhaps the Eugenics Wars happened in the version where this individual (Sterling I believe was his name?) didn't get this technology. And the altered version is the one with the computer age and it leads to the Eugenics wars now happening at a later date. Makes sense to me that Computer Science took over as a higher priority than genetics in this altered timeline.
It just points back to the idea that there really isn't "one timeline", Trek is a hodge-podge mishmash of timelines and events, that overlap and contradict each other.
I only come up with head canon if there's no explanation from the show or from someone who worked on the show. Since we have an explanation from someone who worked on the show, I don't need to.
I have for a long time though that they should just make WWIII and Eugenics Wars the same conflict. There was some information that already imply that this was the case, and all information given about Eugenics Wars cannot be true anyway. Quoting past me: Also, an interesting snippet someone brought up here ages ago is, that the Saka Calendar that is in use in India, (where Khan is from) is 78 years behind the Gregorian Calendar, so so Saka Calendar's 1990s are Gregorian Calendar's 2060s and 2070s... So maybe that is the in-universe reason for confusion about the dates.
I'm okay with leaving them in their 1992-96 Gregorian spot that Spock states. The franchise shouldn't be changed because some fans are anal that the events didn't happen in the real world. If you want that, reboot the franchise.
Also what happened in Voyager's Futures End pretty much confirms our real timframe is different than Star Treks projected future. In Star Trek, I wager Bill Gates doesn't exist or is well known and the guy from the 60s with advanced computer tech took his place. This can explain all instances where Star Trek history doesn't match up to our real history
^ In Future's End, didn't Starling's office have a picture of him with Bill Gates? I know there was a pic of Starling with Richard Nixon, but I could have sworn that Gates was in another of the pics.
Except all facts about Eugenics Wars already cannot be reconciled. It is canon that: 1) WWIII was in the mid 21st century. 2) Eugenics Wars were the last human world war. 3) Eugenics Wars happened in the 1990's. 4) Eugenics Wars happened two centuries ago from 2260s. All of these literally cannot be true.
If so I stand corrected on that note. Still , Starling's future tech undoubtedly jump started the computer age ahead of its time. Could easily explain why Eugenics research took a back seat causing it to occur later. Perhaps parallel to WW3 as some have theorized.
If you discount stuff after TOS, then the Eugenics Wars fit fine. So, if you want to do a reboot or decanonize TOS, have at it.
If you assume that TOS takes place in 2190s, then I guess. But if you don't care whether TOS is in continuity with TNG or even with the original cast movies, then ultimately it is pretty pointless to discuss the overall Trek continuity with you, as you don't care for such to exist.
Spock gives us a concrete date for the Eugenics Wars, I'm not the one suggesting it being moved which ignores a piece of TOS continuity. The Eugenics Wars being in 1992-96 shouldn't really bother anyone, because this is fiction. I'm not the one that can't reconcile the fiction.
So how do you reconcile all the facts I presented? If canon shouldn't be ignored, how does that work? When you think TOS takes place? If it is in 2260s you either have to ignore that EW happens in 1990s or it happens 200 years ago.
Reconciling the Star Trek timeline with ours is very low on my priority list. It can be its own, fictional thing, while freely borrowing from the real world and making me think about it. Star Trek works best for me when it's both providing me with exciting, escapist fantasy and making me think about how things ought to be in the real world. Example: "The Doomsday Machine" does not exist as a story apart from the concept of possible nuclear Armageddon.