Braga: "Archer was supposed to be Future Guy"

[Guy Gardener]

Blowing up that colony would have stopped the Xindi. The Federation would no longer be a threat and Enterprise would have been close enough to Earth to repel the probe if it had been launched, which it wouldn't have been. However then the Sphere builders would have renovated the Galaxy... So Archers Xinid adventures could not be sidestepped, and really he needed to step up the time table on that.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Blowing up that colony would have stopped the Xindi. The Federation would no longer be a threat and Enterprise would have been close enough to Earth to repel the probe if it had been launched, which it wouldn't have been. However then the Sphere builders would have renovated the Galaxy... So Archers Xinid adventures could not be sidestepped, and really he needed to step up the time table on that.

That's the one time Future Guy had to help. He has no alternative. Wherever he's from, obviously in the future, a Delphic Expanse would swallow up his homeworld too.

Season 1's "Cold Front" is the puzzler. Why he'd want to prevent the destruction of the Enterprise inside the Great Plume of Agasoria is anyone's guess. Especially since he doesn't intervene at any other time. It could've been destroyed by the Suliban in the cliffhanger to "Shockwave, Part I". Perhaps Future Guy has some incentive that an event in one of those episodes after "Cold Front" still happens? He needed the NX-01 to have a year's worth of voyages, passing through Suliban and Tandaran territory. By "Shockwave" they're suddenly fair game and a valid target again.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Perhaps because every other near miss Enterprise had was a near miss, it's not like they needed additional help not to die horribly when they weren't going to die horribly.

In Coldfront however they died.

Daniels was annoyed.

Daniels future was unravelling because Archer lived.

If Daniels hadn't died taking on the Suliban, his next and only step would have been to destroy Enteprise and Archer, otherwise he wouldn't be born.

Meanwhile if Future Guy is Archer?

Predestination paradox.

Without saving himself he wouldn't be there to save himself.

 

[ChristopherPike]

It's very possible at some point FG was planned as Archer, but once the story started to take shape, it must have changed immediately.

If they wanted it to be Archer, then that's what they wanted. Nothing about what I understand about Future Guy and his influence over the Suliban seems to make any sense at all with it being Archer. On the whole, he's a very decent human being through the Enterprise's missions. Can you see him being responsible for the Suliban? Changing their species and helping to distribute stealth technology? How does he justify that?

I think Manny Coto would've had different ideas, based on a comment he made at a convention once. But Future Guy is a Berman and Braga creation and they'd have the final say.

 

[JarodRussell]

I really like the idea of Archer being Future Guy.

If they wanted it to be Archer, then that's what they wanted. Nothing about what I understand about Future Guy and his influence over the Suliban seems to make any sense at all with it being Archer. On the whole, he's a very decent human being through the Enterprise's missions. Can you see him being responsible for the Suliban? Changing their species and helping to distribute stealth technology? How does he justify that?

Well that would be kinda the point. Something terrible happened, making Archer do these things. Then you'd have the contrast of young, good Archer vs. old, bad Archer. Imagine you meet your future self and recognize that you become the next Hitler despite your best intentions. That's a great theme.

It really would have elevated the show. "Future Guy is a Romulan" simply doesn't have that ring to it. So the main bad guy is from the Bad Guy Empire. Quelle surprise!

 

[draderman]

Millions of people wiped out.

3600 Paraagan colonists were killed.

Blowing up that colony would have stopped the Xindi. The Federation would no longer be a threat and Enterprise would have been close enough to Earth to repel the probe if it had been launched, which it wouldn't have been.

I Agree with this.

Archer as future guy makes sense, and would have been an epic twist. We know from IAMD that archer would eventually become president of earth - but then after that he would travel to the future and create the Cabal? CRAZY!

 

[Guy Gardener]

The biographical data was a goof. It wasn't supposed to be readable to the home viewer and it was made up late at night without contributions from Berman or Braga. Accidental canon is still canon... And it's Awesome.

 

[Therin of Andor]

My very early theory was that Future Guy was Archer's father.

(So Braga's answer still works.)

 

[Guy Gardener]

Xombie dad after his "faked" death... Or ticking clock dad with only Hours until his disease finally buthurts him to death.

They did the latter in the JSA/Hourman comic a decade ago. Hourman could transport to a magic room anytime he wanted where his father was one hour away from dying. And he lost proportionate time he spent with pappy against his fathers dwindling life expectancy... But time froze when he wasn't in the magic room. Seeing his father was killing his father until dear old dad had to reenter time and accept his predetermined and unavoidable death from many years in his sons past.

Something similar between Hank and Johnny wouldn't be out of the question?

 

[draderman]

archer was a good guy. im sure he had good reason to become a major player in the TCW.

it makes for a pretty compelling story when you think about it. maybe archer is accidentally thrown into the 29th century, and becomes aware of something so devastating, that hes forced to join the temporal cold war to try and right the wrong.

future guy (archer) always wanted the "tech". klangs tech, daniels tech, mysterious future tense dudes tech, nazi alien dudes tech... he could only communicate through time, but daniels, the xindi - they could travel through time, and bring their tech, and archer couldnt. future guy to me seemed like the underdog. 200 years behind the other factions, just tryin to score sumbodys real life fully legit time machine!

in shockwave pt II daniels shows archer how to communicate through time using a 22nd century communicator, scanner, and some math he learned in grade school in a way daniels helps create his own nemesis.

i never once during the shows run thought future guy was archer. after seeing the quantum beacons work on the romulan mines in minefield, i was sure future guy was romulan.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Daniels was a dick.

That was reason enough.

 

[xortex]

Future Archer could have been another traitor like Spock and wanted a cushy job in the future with the Romulan sphere builders since we all know Spock might have been a Romulan spy from the future (possibly a double agent) since he could lie to Federation computers, etc, etc. etc..Past Archer never believed in the Federation or Enterprise's future.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Mirror Universe Archer perhaps.

Last seen, apparently being poisoned in "In a Mirror, Darkly", it probably turns out he was merely drugged because Hoshi Sato needed him alive for some other purpose, for a Season 5 sequel to that story. Archer eventually escapes her clutches, finds the unstable interphase area of space through which the U.S.S. Defiant arrived - thinking he could use it to go steal more future tech to bring back and overthrow the Empress - only to go in and end up stranded in the Prime Universe's 28th Century instead. Still obsessed with how historically important his other self is by comparison to his career, and unable to get back, he schemes to use temporal communication equipment to destablize that 22nd Century and undermine the NX-01's missions as described in the Defiant's logs. By the time he figures out how to acquire the ability to time-travel, divided and full of untrustworthy, aggressive aliens everywhere - it'll be an easier place to conquer and create a new Terran Empire in.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Whoever Future Guy was supposed to be... In the final episode, it should have been Berman or Braga playing the part after he is unmasked.

4 years isn't that long even if the puberty stick gets vicious.

Maybe they could have gotten Marty Davis to reprise the role, complaining that the man he grew up to be is an asshole?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Mirror Universe Archer perhaps.

Last seen, apparently being poisoned in "In a Mirror, Darkly", it probably turns out he was merely drugged because Hoshi Sato needed him alive for some other purpose, for a Season 5 sequel to that story. Archer eventually escapes her clutches, finds the unstable interphase area of space through which the U.S.S. Defiant arrived - thinking he could use it to go steal more future tech to bring back and overthrow the Empress - only to go in and end up stranded in the Prime Universe's 28th Century instead. Still obsessed with how historically important his other self is by comparison to his career, and unable to get back, he schemes to use temporal communication equipment to destablize that 22nd Century and undermine the NX-01's missions as described in the Defiant's logs. By the time he figures out how to acquire the ability to time-travel, divided and full of untrustworthy, aggressive aliens everywhere - it'll be an easier place to conquer and create a new Terran Empire in.

This is like the greatest idea ever.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Maybe they could have gotten Marty Davis to reprise the role, complaining that the man he grew up to be is an asshole?

What's really hilarious is the way Jake Lloyd complains about this.

 

[Guy Gardener]

They didn't let him make out with Natalie in the first movie... "George it's a fucking love story, it's predetermined that I am going to stick a baby inside Natalie, so just let me the hell stick my 8 year old tongue down her 22 year old throat now, so that our sex scenes in the next movie are not entirely traumatizing for the audience after I seduce her with my sexy dance."

(I'm just now thinking how hilarious a mistaken identity farce would have been in the second movie if Padme was still using body doubles and Anikan wooed the wrong Amidala.)

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Actually it was two babies.

I don't think he would even notice the double, he is so busy talking about his wah wah sad life anyone vaguely looking like Padme would do.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Men don't like twins.

We outright hate children, but an orgasm inside a vagina makes up for that in part.

It's the math.

Two children from one orgasm, means that the existence each of those bastards is only half as justified as they think it is. The gap in perceived value is not only going to be reflected in shitty Christmas presents, but year round across the board cuts with stapling generic brand breakfast serials, boot leg sneakers and a massive deficiency in hugs and name brand hair products.

Tripplets, and worse are just asking to be wound up.

 

[xortex]

This is hideously clever and the type of thing Ron Moore would think of also though as we know neither had the metaphysical depth to develop it right.

Seriously, what the hell is your beef with Ron Moore? He has absolutely nothing to do with this topic, but you bring him up out of nowhere just to bash him for no reason whatsoever.

This is the kind of thing RDM would think of or at least agree whole heartedly to. I never said insideous cleverness was necessarily a bad thing. Like everything else it depends on it's execution. RDM was executed long before this.