What's the difference?
- Thread starter JcarlA
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Barring the truly 'alien' universes such as the one referenced by 73515, I tend to think the terms 'parallel universe' and 'alternate timeline' are used interchangeably.
In fact, to resolve the conservation of energy concern, I like the idea that all alternate timelines are like railroad tracks running in...parallel...and that time travel, especially into the past, is simply switching to a different track, but one that was there all along.
In fact, to resolve the conservation of energy concern, I like the idea that all alternate timelines are like railroad tracks running in...parallel...and that time travel, especially into the past, is simply switching to a different track, but one that was there all along.
They've described the Kelvin Timeline and the Mirror Universe as "alternate reality" and "alternate timeline" and "alternate universe" over the years, so they're really the same thing. I know some fans like to differentiate between "always existing" vs "created in some incident" but that's just fan stuff.
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You've got to admit, the small Proto-Universes are so adorable when they're just young babies.
So essentially alternate universe, or alternate timeline etc, is which ever the writer chooses, and has no baring on the story plays out . The writer could use either. Unless I've got it wrong, that's how I see it.
Probably the only real difference between the two is that alternate timelines can be changed, like "Yesterday's Enterprise". But alternate universes can't, like the Mirror Universe.
Where Star Trek is concerned? Doesn't really matter.
One explanation I've heard in the past is that an alternate timeline (like the Kelvin Timeline) is the result of a point-of-divergence where it branched off into a tangent version of history, where an alternate universe (like the Mirror Universe) has always been an inherently different quantum reality which has no branching event.
However...
In Prodigy season 2, Wesley appears, uses his Traveler abilities to display all of the alternate universes/timelines, and references famous ones from the franchise's history. And he makes no distinction between the Kelvin TImeline and the Mirror Universe. They're both just branching lines on a diagram that are distinct from the Prime Universe.
However...
In Prodigy season 2, Wesley appears, uses his Traveler abilities to display all of the alternate universes/timelines, and references famous ones from the franchise's history. And he makes no distinction between the Kelvin TImeline and the Mirror Universe. They're both just branching lines on a diagram that are distinct from the Prime Universe.
I think this sums it up pretty well.
An alternate timeline is fundamentally like the prime timeline (or universe). The difference is whatever different choices were made. Spock dies as a child and the Enterprise first officer is an Andorian. That's an example of an alternate timeline. Everything is still fundamentally the same. The Federation is the Federation. Klingons act like Klingons,, etc...
An alternate universe, however, is fundamentally different. The changes are not simply because a different decision was made. The differences go down to they very building blocks of the universe. The Mirror Universe is a prime example. The Mirror Universe was not the result of someone turning left instead of right or because a character was killed who should have lived. No, the Mirror Universe was established as being different in design. Humans are morally different. The light is different to the point a Mirror Universe human gets migraines in our universe (well, that detail was dropped after DISCO season 1).
(Back in the 80s DC comics described the Mirror Universe as stemming from an alternate timeline where Earth lost the Earth/Romulan War. ENT and DISCO chose to go another direction by describing the Mirror Universe as different almost down to the atomic level).
If course, it doesn't matter. A distinction without a difference is not a difference. If you struggle understanding the difference, then maybe that's a sign there really isn't a difference).
In "Star Trek" at least, "timelines" specifically involve time travel. Alternate timelines are created when time travel occurs; alternate universes just naturally exist on their own.
For the record, I hate the idea that all alternate timelines still exist after time-travel happens; it removes any stakes in time-travel stories. What was wrong with the Borg changing history in "First Contact" if their new timeline didn't change the old one? And what would stop a villain from using time travel to make a clone army? Sorry for the rant, I know you didn't ask.
For the record, I hate the idea that all alternate timelines still exist after time-travel happens; it removes any stakes in time-travel stories. What was wrong with the Borg changing history in "First Contact" if their new timeline didn't change the old one? And what would stop a villain from using time travel to make a clone army? Sorry for the rant, I know you didn't ask.
Is it always possible to tell if one arrived in an alternate timeline?
Look at all the timelines the Krennem created (and destroyed). Many of those alterations would be undetectable/unnoticeable to someone in the Alpha/Beta Quadrant. How would someone know they needed up in a new Alt-timeline created by someone in the Delta quadrant?
Look at all the timelines the Krennem created (and destroyed). Many of those alterations would be undetectable/unnoticeable to someone in the Alpha/Beta Quadrant. How would someone know they needed up in a new Alt-timeline created by someone in the Delta quadrant?
"Parallels" established that you can tell whether you're in your original timeline by looking at quantum signatures.
Taking these points of view into account, I conclude that when a timeline is altered and fixed (like at the end of most time travel episodes) there is no more alternate universe. When it is not fixed, it creates an alternate universe. Simple,... so simple.
From the perspective of our heroes, it doesn’t make a lick of difference. They go to a slightly different situation then work their way back to their original situation.
Sometimes Star Trek works like a franchise - e.g. phasers, shields, photon torpedoes, warp speed, beaming, force fields & tractor beams work roughly the same in any of the many shows and movies.
But other times Star Trek works like an anthology show - e.g. timetravel, mutations, psi-powers, parallel universes, alien biology or just money works wildly different between two consecutive episodes from the same show.
For alternate timelines & universes, it is whatever the current storywriter's logic is, that's the rules. It's usually consistent within the same story. But not so much with others.
But other times Star Trek works like an anthology show - e.g. timetravel, mutations, psi-powers, parallel universes, alien biology or just money works wildly different between two consecutive episodes from the same show.
For alternate timelines & universes, it is whatever the current storywriter's logic is, that's the rules. It's usually consistent within the same story. But not so much with others.
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I thought those were alternate universes, not timelines.
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