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That probably depends on what the plan is to deal with the backstory established for the show. Whatever they do, it's going to have to be a lot more complicated than just having Picard retire at the end of Collateral Damage.
"Wow, Nog! Now, thanks to these declassified Section 31 files, we know the real reason Picard left Starfleet. I'm sure there must be some reason they altered his personnel file to say he retired five years earlier at the rank of Admiral, beyond the cover-up we just read about. Who knows what further revelations could account for that?"
I should bookmark the thread where Christopher just straight-up told me that probably no one was ever going to tie up that loose end from The Good That Men Do, after I'd opened every ENT and RotF novel for, I don't know, nine years or so thinking, "Maybe this is going to be the one!"
I should bookmark the thread where Christopher just straight-up told me that probably no one was ever going to tie up that loose end from The Good That Men Do, after I'd opened every ENT and RotF novel for, I don't know, nine years or so thinking, "Maybe this is going to be the one!"
The Good that Men do was a Section 31 lie to make people think Trip faked his death and became a super spy. In 'reality' he was fired for fraternisation with T'Pol (Archer was jealous as hell and made sure he was court martialed) and started a landscape gardening business in a quiet Vulcan village waiting for his true love to retire and give birth to Prime Lorian and T'Mir.
There is absolutely no political culture in the world where the armed services forcing the democratically-elected chief executive out of power at gunpoint is legal.
1) V'Las's tenure as leader of Vulcan was itself the result of a coup according to the episode "Home;" it was established that V'Las was able to seize power from the democratically-elected First Minister as a result of Archer exposing the Vulcan spy station on P'Jem.
2) Nope. The Syrannites did not seize control at the end of "Kir'Shara." Rather, they exposed V'Las's various crimes, and then V'Las was placed under arrest and removed from office by other members of the Vulcan government. Thereafter, the High Command was disbanded according to a legal process, and a new government elected. That is a very, very different process than members of the military forcing someone out at gunpoint without due process of law.
If anything, the V'Las example proves my point. Had Picard and co. followed the example of the Syrannites, they would have exposed Zife's crimes to the public and to other members of the Federation government (the Council and the Cabinet members). Thereupon, Zife would have been arrested, and the Federation Council would have selected one of their own to serve as Federation President Pro Tempore until a new election could be held. This is, notably, the process that played out in The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms.
Also, the Syrannites were not members of the Vulcan armed forces; they were fugitives from the Vulcan armed forces.
Had Picard and co. followed the example of the Syrannites, they would have exposed Zife's crimes to the public and to other members of the Federation government (the Council and the Cabinet members). Thereupon, Zife would have been arrested, and the Federation Council would have selected one of their own to serve as Federation President Pro Tempore until a new election could be held. This is, notably, the process that played out in The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms.
The problem with that (in story) is that Zife's crimes would lead to a brand-new Federation-Klingon War, which is what Picard and the others desperately wanted to avoid, especially so soon after the Dominion War (if I remember correctly, the option of public exposure was considered but rejected for that reason). Of course, in Available Light,
Chancellor Martok acknowledges that Zife's ousting was one of the most Klingon things the Federation has ever done (removing a dishonorable leader from his post). Whether or not that would've made a difference before the Borg Invasion of 2381 is another story, due to the political landscape of the Klingon Empire at the time.
The problem with that (in story) is that Zife's crimes would lead to a brand-new Federation-Klingon War, which is what Picard and the others desperately wanted to avoid, especially so soon after the Dominion War (if I remember correctly, the option of public exposure was considered but rejected for that reason). Of course, in Available Light,
Chancellor Martok acknowledges that Zife's ousting was one of the most Klingon things the Federation has ever done (removing a dishonorable leader from his post). Whether or not that would've made a difference before the Borg Invasion of 2381 is another story, due to the political landscape of the Klingon Empire at the time.
Yes, I understand the conspirators' motivations for their coup. That does not mean it was not a coup.
Also, their motivations are based on speculation. In particular, they discounted, out of what can only be described as Federation nationalism, a perfectly legitimate option that would have removed Zife from power, preserved the rule of law, avoided a coup, and satisfied the Klingons: Exposing his crimes publicly, allowing the Federation Council to remove him from office, placing him under arrest, and extraditing him to Qo'noS on condition of him not being tortured or killed.
Cartwright was indeed convicted and sent to prison (can't remember which one). He subsequently died of a "respiratory infection" - which Starfleet Intelligence suspected was a ruse, and that he was in fact assassinated.
OK, you got me there.
