The timeline has already been changed.
No timelines were changed. The writers gave the characters preternatural knowledge of this, which they couldn't possibly have had otherwise, for the express purpose of passing this information on to the audience. After they went to all that trouble and risked derailing the movie by breaking the fourth wall, the writers' intent should be respected. What do you expect them to do, put up a neon sign that says ALTERNATE REALITIES, NOT ALTERNATE TIMELINES!!!!!
Here's what happened:
In Reality A, the one that all
Trek has existed in heretofore (excepting a few forays to the MU), Romulus was destroyed, and Vulcan is okay.
Nero and Spock ended up in Reality B, where Romulus was okay and Vulcan destroyed.
Trek will now stay in this reality for the forseeable future and possibly never venture back into Reality A.
You can bop between the two realities or even find another one to venture into (the MU being just one of presumably infinite opitons) but in Reality A, Romulus will still be destroyed and Vulcan okay while in Reality B the reverse will be true.
Or, you can find a time machine and start changing the timelines of whatever reality you want to change. But if you like Vulcan to be safe, there's a reality for that, and if you like Romulus to be safe, there's a reality for that, too. And if you want them both safe or both blown up, betcha you could find realities that suit your tastes as well.
In fact, given infinite realities, every possible permutation imaginable does exist somewhere. So why bother with time travel at all?
Or is it just a bad topic for a TrekBBS thread?
Are you kidding?!?
Timelines vs realities is a perennial favorite.
The old timeline still exists, but no one from the Abrams timeline can ever reach it.
The old
reality exists, and all it takes is the right type of technobabble - malfunctioning transporter, badly-behaved temporal anomaly, the random Bajoran Orb - to propel the characters into that reality, at any point in its timeline - before Romulus's destruction or after.
Now we can argue whether it's altering timelines that create realities or the realities already exist and their timelines can be altered without creating any additional ones - but the outcome is the same either way.
And beyond that, this is a situation could change the way Vulcans behave for many decades if not centuries to come. The loss of your entire planet by one mad man may test all logic. They could revert to those barbaric days of ancient Vulcans rage... a true test of any one man's resolve, let alone an entire species. And if not the entire race, then splinter pockets among them. Nero's actions have changed EVERYTHING for the Vulcans. It's hard to fathom that none among them will seek some retribution. Perhaps if only to eradicate the Romulans entirely… the possibilities are unending.
Sounds fun!
And a good reason to keep Vulcan blowed up and keep those pesky Bajoran Orbs at bay, temporal anomalies on a leash and transporters in good repair so they do not frak up an interesting plotline.
And yes, indeed it is a different timeline, but does that still eliminate the notion?
Different reality, not different timeline!!!!
Spock from Reality A (Nimoy) doesn't have a motive to go back to Reality A and kill Nero because Vulcan in Reality A was never blown up. If possible, he should try to go back to Reality A and save Romulus, but I'm not even sure that's an option. The star will still blow up, and can even Starfleet tech stop that?
Spock from Reality B (Quinto) has a motive to stop Vulcan from being blown up, but so far we have an example of travel between realities, not travel within time. So how does Spock B travel in time? He doesn't even know how to travel between realities, since Spock A doesn't know how to retrace his steps, and if Spock B goes to Reality A, Vulcan is just fine there, but his Vulcan is still blown up. Unless a Bajoran Orb drops on his head, he's stuck, and since the plotline he's embarked on sounds fun, we want him to stay stuck. I'm hoping for a really epic meltdown in the next movie! Rommies beware!!!
