This post concerns two episodes that feature an alternate timeline, that in the end was erased.
"Chlidren of Time" - Season 5 of "Deep Space Nine," aired 1997; canonically, this timeline was erased in the year 2373.
"Before and After" - Season 3 of "Voyager." Aired in 1997. The timeline is reset by the end, in the year 2373.
Both these timelines got erased during the same year (both in canon, and meta).
Supposedly, these timelines were created separately, and destroyed separately. But still, in the same year? And not just any year; 2373 was the start of the Dominion War, and the year just before Voyager helped end that war between the Borg and Species 8472.
Both timelines saw the loss of the ship/station's captain, and one or more other significant officer, during this crucial year. In "Children of Time," Sisko and most of his senior staff vanish from their timeframe, just before the Dominion War. In "Before and After," Janeway and B'Elanna die, just months before Voyager would liberate and gain Seven of Nine, and just a few years before B'Elanna would become pregnant with the Kuva'Magh. And of course, they also die right at the start of the "Year of Hell."
First off, how screwed is the galaxy, in either episode's timeline? In "Children of Time," a chunk of key players on the Federation's side of the Dominion War--including the Emissary--are lost, just before the war begins. The odds of the Federation beating the Dominion in this timeline are slim. And remember that at this point in the series, war is already imminent.
As for "Before and After," no Janeway allying with the Borg means the war between the Borg and Species 8472 rages on. And if 8472 wins, they plan to obliterate the entire universe. Also, that cult of Klingons in the Delta Quadrant never gets their messiah.
Now imagine if both of these are actually one timeline. The Dominion rules the Gamma Quadrant, and terrorizes the Alpha and Beta Quadrants; and the Delta Quadrant is being wrecked by the frelling Borg, and 8472. No corner of the galaxy is safe anymore.
And here is, perhaps, the most crucial detail: both timelines were the original timeline, before they were undone. The "Children of Time" colony already existed in the original timeline, via a time loop, and only got erased when "Creepy-Odo" took the chance to stop the loop. In "Before and After," everything and everyone Kes saw on her deathbed was the result of the timeline's natural progression; it only changed when the Doc accidently sent her backwards in time, and she chose to take actions that changed the future.
It was damn lucky for the entire galaxy (or the entire universe maybe!) that Odo and Kes put their personal friends before their future-descendants.
Was it really a coincidence, that in the same year, two devastating outcomes for the galaxy/universe suddenly had a window of time travel to change things, and one individual chose to take that chance? (Mind you, Kes had amnesia in "Before and After," and probably didn't know or much care about the greater politics outside Voyager, during that escapade.)
The most obvious culprit is Annorax (the villain from "Voyager's" two-parter "Year of Hell," who kept altering history). With his timeship, and chess-mastery over the timeline, Annorax could easily have tweaked the timeline to open those "doors" for Kes and Creepy-Odo, and made sure they took them. It might seem odd for Annorax to save Janeway, his enemy; but he may have just been trying to keep her alive long enough to end that war between the Borg and Species 8472; then kill her after she'd served her purpose. Likewise, that time loop over near DS9 had to be broken up, to keep the Dominion from gaining the Alpha Quadrant, and coming for the Krenim Imperium next.
(And yes, I'm totally using this idea for a fanfiction. But it'll be so long before I finally write the stupid thing, that even people that read this thread and then my fic may have forgotten about it by then.)
Anyway....thoughts?
"Chlidren of Time" - Season 5 of "Deep Space Nine," aired 1997; canonically, this timeline was erased in the year 2373.
"Before and After" - Season 3 of "Voyager." Aired in 1997. The timeline is reset by the end, in the year 2373.
Both these timelines got erased during the same year (both in canon, and meta).
Supposedly, these timelines were created separately, and destroyed separately. But still, in the same year? And not just any year; 2373 was the start of the Dominion War, and the year just before Voyager helped end that war between the Borg and Species 8472.
Both timelines saw the loss of the ship/station's captain, and one or more other significant officer, during this crucial year. In "Children of Time," Sisko and most of his senior staff vanish from their timeframe, just before the Dominion War. In "Before and After," Janeway and B'Elanna die, just months before Voyager would liberate and gain Seven of Nine, and just a few years before B'Elanna would become pregnant with the Kuva'Magh. And of course, they also die right at the start of the "Year of Hell."
First off, how screwed is the galaxy, in either episode's timeline? In "Children of Time," a chunk of key players on the Federation's side of the Dominion War--including the Emissary--are lost, just before the war begins. The odds of the Federation beating the Dominion in this timeline are slim. And remember that at this point in the series, war is already imminent.
As for "Before and After," no Janeway allying with the Borg means the war between the Borg and Species 8472 rages on. And if 8472 wins, they plan to obliterate the entire universe. Also, that cult of Klingons in the Delta Quadrant never gets their messiah.
Now imagine if both of these are actually one timeline. The Dominion rules the Gamma Quadrant, and terrorizes the Alpha and Beta Quadrants; and the Delta Quadrant is being wrecked by the frelling Borg, and 8472. No corner of the galaxy is safe anymore.
And here is, perhaps, the most crucial detail: both timelines were the original timeline, before they were undone. The "Children of Time" colony already existed in the original timeline, via a time loop, and only got erased when "Creepy-Odo" took the chance to stop the loop. In "Before and After," everything and everyone Kes saw on her deathbed was the result of the timeline's natural progression; it only changed when the Doc accidently sent her backwards in time, and she chose to take actions that changed the future.
It was damn lucky for the entire galaxy (or the entire universe maybe!) that Odo and Kes put their personal friends before their future-descendants.
Was it really a coincidence, that in the same year, two devastating outcomes for the galaxy/universe suddenly had a window of time travel to change things, and one individual chose to take that chance? (Mind you, Kes had amnesia in "Before and After," and probably didn't know or much care about the greater politics outside Voyager, during that escapade.)
The most obvious culprit is Annorax (the villain from "Voyager's" two-parter "Year of Hell," who kept altering history). With his timeship, and chess-mastery over the timeline, Annorax could easily have tweaked the timeline to open those "doors" for Kes and Creepy-Odo, and made sure they took them. It might seem odd for Annorax to save Janeway, his enemy; but he may have just been trying to keep her alive long enough to end that war between the Borg and Species 8472; then kill her after she'd served her purpose. Likewise, that time loop over near DS9 had to be broken up, to keep the Dominion from gaining the Alpha Quadrant, and coming for the Krenim Imperium next.
(And yes, I'm totally using this idea for a fanfiction. But it'll be so long before I finally write the stupid thing, that even people that read this thread and then my fic may have forgotten about it by then.)
Anyway....thoughts?
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