Has Star Trek timeline grown too big?
- Thread starter JesterFace
- Start date
Galaxy Quest mocked this with the Thermians referring to the 'historical documents'. Now if only our real world fans actually were as technically gifted as the Thermians some good still would come of it...
I don't remember who said it, but I'm on board with whoever said that this is very simple: whatever is in the future when the story is produced stays in the future forever. Period.
I kind of love that, in fact. For a couple of reasons. And I have no interest in fretting the details of continuity.
I kind of love that, in fact. For a couple of reasons. And I have no interest in fretting the details of continuity.
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We got a glimpse of yet another time line with "Yesterday's Enterprise" (TNG).
Also, consider the Typhon Pact novels. That would be a distinct new historical period.
If Star Trek is becoming too cluttered, too convoluted to keep track of, I would suggest a soft reboot using an alternative timeline.
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Well, technically, I think there could be trillions of them. The listed four are simply the most visible to me.
Does anyone have an idea where S31 will be set?
Does anyone have an idea where S31 will be set?
Thinking about when a point of departure could be set, if a new timeline branches off from the Prime timeline. I think the Federation Golden Era can be divided into three parts:
1. Lost Era
2. Border wars
3. Tail end, in early TNG
Maybe while fighting the Cardassians the Federation has to wage a defensive war against another power (besides clashing with Tzenkethi, Talarians, Tholians). This sours the mood, and ends the Golden Age somewhat early, leading to subsequent events playing out differently.
1. Lost Era
2. Border wars
3. Tail end, in early TNG
Maybe while fighting the Cardassians the Federation has to wage a defensive war against another power (besides clashing with Tzenkethi, Talarians, Tholians). This sours the mood, and ends the Golden Age somewhat early, leading to subsequent events playing out differently.
It's a TV show about our possible future. I enjoy that.
I don’t necessarily think so. It now seems fans tend to be fans of particular shows/eras/settings rather than fans of the entire Trek mythos. It’s probably better a big sprawling timeline than continually exploring a very narrow part of the timeline (which will almost certainly be the TOS era). I think the sky should be the limit.
Let's be honest, the chances of there being Vulcans, Klingons, Borg etc. out there somewhere are 0. No matter how far you push them into the future, the Eugenics Wars and Zephram Cochrane making first contact are never going to happen, at least not as they're described in Star Trek. At the end of the day, you have to draw the line somewhere. If the franchise is still going in 2251, are they going to push the launch of the NX-01 into the future? What about when we reach 2265? 2364?
Star Trek is a fictional future. I'm fine with it staying that way.
Star Trek is a fictional future. I'm fine with it staying that way.
People get too canoncentric. More concentration on characters and stories should be the main concern.
it is, however, a fictional future — that was the intention in 1966, and that is the intention now. And that is why trying to hold them to an imaginary “real” alternate timeline where the specific cited dates and historical events stay immutable forever, and the “Star Trek universe/canon” becomes a pristine object unrelated to us, is ridiculous. That is the kool-aid many fans refuse to let go of. It’s just a TV show, yes — about the future, not about a random alternate timeline. Make it the latter, and you make it irrelevant. That’s why the dates, once outdated, don’t matter.
EDIT: Also, put it this way: On The Cosbys, they had four kids, as acknowledged in dialogue—right up until they decided they had five kids, with the fifth already grown. And that’s fine—it’s just a TV show, and they felt making that change would allow them to tell new stories, so they did it. There’s nothing wrong with Star Trek eventually taking the same approach.
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This. Pretty much every other sci-fi show in existence makes no pretence at being part of the real world and it doesn't (and shouldn't) affect anyone's enjoyment. Doctor Who just gets on with it, when the majority of its episodes are set contemporaneously and it doesn't bat an eye. Same for Marvel movies.
While it's nice to imagine that the future will turn out something like Star Trek, it's totally unnecessary for its fictional universe to align with ours in order to be enjoyable.
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