Wesley in Uniform in Nemesis

[Ro_Laren]

I know that over the years there has been a lot of discussion on this board regarding Wes appearing in Nemesis at the Troi-Riker wedding in uniform. Of course that caused a lot of debate because the last time we saw Wes was in Season 7 of TNG as he quit the Academy to travel around the universe with the Traveler.

I wanted to know what you guys think about the following theory: during his travels Wes learns of the deadly Dominion War. He knows that the whole Alpha Quadrant is in danger (including his mom and the rest of the crew on the Enterprise) and that Starfleet is getting low in manpower. At that point he decides to stop his "journey" with the Traveler and return to Starfleet to help join the fight. You might ask about his "special powers." If he still had them he likely would have used them during the War. I hypothesize that he was either losing them at that time or perhaps the the Traveler (or the "Traveler Continuum) had the ability to take them away via surgery or some other way (like the Q Continuum can do to the Q's) so that he would not use them in the War.

What do you think? Is that theory possible? I know that the TNG novels have a different theory, but I have never really liked it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ It's possible, yes.

I would think that the Traveler would have taken away Wesley's powers for however long he was in uniform. If Wesley decided to return later, he'd get them back.

About Wesley's actual explanation in the novels, all I got to say is simultaneously and .

Spoiler: Wesley

Only Wes would be dumb enough to show up to a wedding naked without bothering to check first. I'm assuming the wedding was not in fact on Betazed? Anyway, the fact that Wes's uniform in the movie was just something Picard gave him at the last minute was, in fact, dumb. I like yours better.

 

[Mage]

Doesn't make sense. Wesley purposefully decided not to continue a carreer in Starfleet because he just didn't belong there. He's just not the person to suddenly 'fight the good fight' and enlist because 'it's the right thing to do'.
Bit of a Gary Stue thing to do.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ He is, if the lives of his family and friends are at stake. Wes wouldn't re-enlist to save a bunch of strangers, but he would do it for his family and crew on the ship.

 

[Lanny77]

Prior to reading the novel expiation, I always thought he'd just pulled a Q and the uniform was merely decorative

 

[T'Girl]

At that point he decides to stop his "journey" with the Traveler and return to Starfleet to help join the fight.

I don't think he actual was in Starfleet. Wesley is a traveler, his power isn't fully understood, but one of the powers is that of deception. I believe he simple showed up at the wedding ceremony in Alaska attired in a Starfleet uniform, everyone "remembered" him as being in Starfleet and doesn't exactly remember the events of Journey's End. It also possible that after he left no one would recall that he had ever been there.

Perhaps he also intended to make an appearance at the ceremony on Betazed, less the uniform of course.

You might ask about his "special powers." If he still had them he likely would have used them during the War

But would his power be of any real use, he could increase the speed of a single ship (possibly more) but only a a obvious cost to himself, he himself could apparently travel with out the benefit of a ship and as we saw in Journeys End, travelers possess the power to deceive. Could Wesley make any kind of real difference with these powers, hard to say. Wesley (despite the beliefs of some fans) was an intelligent man, but the events of First Duty and Journeys End showed that he wasn't always a clear thinking man, it's possible that any effort on his part in support of Federation during the war could have resulted in a negative out come.

Wes wouldn't re-enlist to save a bunch of strangers

I would prefer to think that Wesley's personal character wasn't quite that shallow, and there would certainly be things he could do short of reenlisting.

 

[infinix]

I say Wesley is now a member of Section 31. His powers may not be useful in a full scale fleet battle, but would work perfectly in an espionage situation.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Personally, I thought Wesley's sudden revelation that he didn't belong in Starfleet was kinda silly. If there'd been hints of it throughout the series, it would have worked for me, but it just felt completely out of left field. Not one of Moore's better ideas, IMO.

So I was quite happy to see him back in uniform.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

At the time I saw it, I classified Journey's End as a shark jumping episode, and thanked the stars that the series was not going to keep going like a zombie for another season.

Unfortunately, they made Generations. Then, encouraged by the relatively well-deserved success of First Contact, they continued in zombie-mode making Insurrection and Nemesis.

I think of Wesley's cameo in Nemesis as about the only apology the fan can expect for Journey's End. Too bad it's hard to tell whether it wasn't just another "continuity error".

 

[Kirby]

In RL, Wil Wheaton addressed this on the Nerdist Podcast a few weeks ago.
He told the director (can't remember his name, probably a good thing) that he said him being in uniform would confuse the audience. The director said that "maybe the whole Traveller thing just didn't happen"
Yeah, because fans will just accept that.

This was the same guy that thought Geordi was an alien.

 

[T'Girl]

At the time I saw it, I classified Journey's End as a shark jumping episode

I though that Journey's End and Insurrection fitted very well as companion pieces. Picard mis-feelings in the first, lead years later to his decisions in the second.

The director said that "maybe the whole Traveller thing just didn't happen" Yeah, because fans will just accept that.

Truly a "Deck 78" moment.

Maybe the fans won't notice.

 

[RyuRoots]

Personally, I thought Wesley's sudden revelation that he didn't belong in Starfleet was kinda silly. If there'd been hints of it throughout the series, it would have worked for me, but it just felt completely out of left field. Not one of Moore's better ideas, IMO.

So I was quite happy to see him back in uniform.

Exactly how I feel.

The director said that "maybe the whole Traveller thing just didn't happen"
Yeah, because fans will just accept that.

Pffft, works for me. The whole thing with Wes and the Traveler was never a good or interesting idea to begin with. It was executed terribly, and Wes being brought down to just "a bright kid" by the time of season 3 was a great thing for his character. I'd be just as happy to ignore the stupidity that is Wes' story in Journey's End altogether.

 

[Orac]

^ It's possible, yes.

I would think that the Traveler would have taken away Wesley's powers for however long he was in uniform. If Wesley decided to return later, he'd get them back.

About Wesley's actual explanation in the novels, all I got to say is simultaneously and .

Spoiler: Wesley

Only Wes would be dumb enough to show up to a wedding naked without bothering to check first. I'm assuming the wedding was not in fact on Betazed? Anyway, the fact that Wes's uniform in the movie was just something Picard gave him at the last minute was, in fact, dumb. I like yours better.

I actually like that explanation, it makes me laugh.

 

[sonn]

I remember reading in the novelization that he was an engineer on the Titan. His cameo consisted of him saying that and then he went to chase after a girl IIRC.

 

[CaptainStoner]

To me, it makes perfect sense that Wesley, after a few years of journeying and tripping out, would go back to Starfleet.

 

[Bob Karo]

Bit of a Gary Stue thing to do.

Yeah, cause he's anything but that!

 

[HoneyBLilly]

I think Wesley came back.

Probably right after the Dominion War started.

 

[WillsBabe]

Personally, I thought Wesley's sudden revelation that he didn't belong in Starfleet was kinda silly. If there'd been hints of it throughout the series, it would have worked for me, but it just felt completely out of left field. Not one of Moore's better ideas, IMO.

So I was quite happy to see him back in uniform.

This mirrors my thinking, too. There have been other instances in Trek of people joining and leaving Starfleet, so I can't see why Wes would not be allowed do do that by regulations. Why he would do it as a personal decision we haven't had enough screentime with the character to find out. But I see it that he's done his travelling and studying with the Traveller and now has decided to join SF.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

And Beverly is no doubt relieved that Wesley dressed warmly enough on those other planes of existence not to catch an absolute zero.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Personally, I thought Wesley's sudden revelation that he didn't belong in Starfleet was kinda silly. If there'd been hints of it throughout the series, it would have worked for me, but it just felt completely out of left field. Not one of Moore's better ideas, IMO.

So I was quite happy to see him back in uniform.

While there's certainly a gap, I think the progression from "First Duty" to "Journey's End" is perfectly reasonable. You get a good friend killed, nearly get expelled, spend the next year being That Guy -- I'd be considering a career change as well.

My only problem with "Journey's End" was bringing the Traveler back. He always struck me as an interstellar pederast who had the hots for Wesley. I would've preferred if Wes had just decided to stay on the planet and maybe later became a leader in the Maquis version of Sinn Fein.