i think i have a headache.
Tomorrow is Yesterday ...WTF?
- Thread starter Yeoman Randi
- Start date
It's not so much a matter of probability as preponderance. Quantum particles are influenced by the particles they interact with, and an entity that's part of a larger quantum state, e.g. a timeline, will be "in sync" with that state. Think of it as "going native."
Of course, by this logic, any character who traveled to an alternate timeline and met her duplicate self would instantly be subsumed into that other self. But we can assume that it's some particular quirk of the transporter beam that allows the coalescence, since a body in transporter transit is kind of in flux quantum-mechanically speaking.
Of course, by this logic, any character who traveled to an alternate timeline and met her duplicate self would instantly be subsumed into that other self. But we can assume that it's some particular quirk of the transporter beam that allows the coalescence, since a body in transporter transit is kind of in flux quantum-mechanically speaking.
He didn't "find" the timeline. When the Enterprise doubled back on its own history, it basically erased itself from the timestream -- in my quantum model, the two iterations of the ship converged into one, and the later one took precedence. Though admittedly that contradicts having the earlier/"local" versions of Christopher and the Air Force sergeant take precedence in those mergers. Maybe it's because the Enterprise, and the versions of those people affected by it, didn't "belong" in that place and time and so, of the two quantum states, the "default" one took priority.
Look, ultimately it's never going to make sense. It was a plot device, and any explanation other than "it's in the script" is heavily leavened with handwavium.
Look, ultimately it's never going to make sense. It was a plot device, and any explanation other than "it's in the script" is heavily leavened with handwavium.
Indeed. Which is why I didn't introduce any other thing back up there in my first comment. I was going along with it. I'm more than happy to use this episode without knowing how it works. But, no; you had to contradict me. 
That is red-flag wavium. That bit about getting time-travel out of doubling back on itself is a real ugly thing.
That is red-flag wavium. That bit about getting time-travel out of doubling back on itself is a real ugly thing.
Thanks folks for all your replies and explanations. It hasnt cleared it all up in my head but it does make me feel better knowing i didnt miss something that everyone else understands or at least agrees upon!
My recommendation - if it hurts your head to think about it, ignore it and just go with the flow. Don't worry, be happy.
I find it allows me to enjoy this episode much more.
The whole episode is a headache.
What's more - did each of them gain DOUBLE their original body mass? (As to it not making sense, I do agree, but what's Star Trek without a good McGuffin ending at times?)
And it is an enjoyable episode. I like Captain Christopher; and I think viewers identify with him and find his reactions -- and those of the Enterprise crew -- interesting and fun.
"If that thing starts up, it will make the devil's own noise!" -- Sulu
It's the rule of Camp and Fun, just have a good laugh and let it be.
Oh, i did. It WAS a fun ep thats for sure. That dopey security guy and all. But theres that little part of me that always wants it all to make sense.
Anyway, thanks all for helping me on this one!
Bravo! Posts like this are what keep me coming back here.
Perhaps they wouldn't have had they beamed themselves into themselves at the moment they broke away from the black star. 
Ah yes, the oft-maligned "reset button." Which of course is a derogative term for episodic television (which was of course, the absolute standard for series TV when TOS was conceived, written and aired). I submit to you that without it in TOS, there would be no Trek today. Nor could there have been. (Episodic TV was a requirement for syndication then... not to mention the 70's public would not have watched a story-arced series that was rebroadcast out of order-as it most definitely still would have been.)
EEE is correct that "reset button" could be said to be THE model for most episodic TV, as you have to leave the characters where they were at the start in order to keep the show the same and static. On the other hand, I always presume "reset button" to be a show where something huge happens that will change the world or one of the characters, and some plot device is used to "undo" it, as if it never happened.
