It sounds ominous.
Spoilers Could the altered timeline be the same universe as the one in "Seeds of Dissent"?
- Thread starter Unimatrix Q
- Start date
Yep. Totally different.
My theory right now is that the new timeline might have been inspired by a book... just not Seeds of Dissent. Well, not even necessarily "inspired by", probably more like "just coincidentally shares a similar plot with".
Even though this is a spoiler thread, I'm going to spoiler code it, because it got a little longer than I was expecting, and I just want to make the post look shorter.
Not really a spoiler, because it's just a fan theory, but it does touch on a couple things from trailers that haven't been in aired episodes yet.
Sorry this post was so long, guess I miss my school essay days!
To be fair, pretty much every TV theory I've ever had has ended up being wrong, so I eagerly await seeing this one being proven wrong too!
Even though this is a spoiler thread, I'm going to spoiler code it, because it got a little longer than I was expecting, and I just want to make the post look shorter.
Not really a spoiler, because it's just a fan theory, but it does touch on a couple things from trailers that haven't been in aired episodes yet.The book I'm thinking is Strangers From the Sky.
So we know from a number of Trek episodes that Earth had no shortage of alien visitations prior to official first contact with the Vulcans. I'm thinking that the incident that changed the timeline in 2024 is that the existence of aliens on Earth was exposed and became public knowledge. Just imagine what the exposure of aliens living hidden among humans could do in a political climate similar to our own, with certain types of leaders in power. People would start blaming them for everything, from Covid (if they decide to mention Covid as part of Star Trek history), to economic problems (sanctuary districts!), to whatever wars were going on at the time, etc. The humans could then start to resent the aliens both for whatever they perceived them to have done, plus for just "secretly" infiltrating our society. Suspicion and paranoia would rule the day, potentially leading to a future where not only were the aliens eradicated from our own planet, but humanity went out into the stars to try to eradicate them everywhere. Since it could also unite humanity (in opposition to the aliens), then perhaps World War III is avoided and all of history plays out differently.
We heard in the most recent episode a recording of Brent Spiner delivering the "only safe galaxy is a human galaxy" line. If that was indeed supposed to be Adam Soong, and *if* the line does date back to the 2024 timeline split (granted, it may not), then they must have already known about aliens by then, or what would the point of the line even be, four decades before they knew humans weren't alone in the universe?
Perhaps the aliens that are exposed are the ones following Picard in that one trailer. Or maybe it's even Guinan herself. And if Q did have something to do with this, this could even be a timey-wimey reason for their animosity towards each other. (Since both characters are in this season, I do hope there is something about their history, anyway!)
Maybe the blue vial has something to do with how the aliens are exposed as aliens?
So just like in Strangers From the Sky, aliens are revealed on Earth before they are "supposed" to be, humanity reacts poorly, and a crew has to travel back in time to fix the problem. We've seen them mention a number of times on TNG how devastating it can be to expose a planet to the galactic community before they're "ready". My theory is that we're going to see that play out, but the planet that isn't ready is our own. Then not only is it a story that reinforces the TNG view of the Prime Directive, but more generally, it becomes a parable about the dangers of othering a specific group, and a cautionary tale about where we might be headed if a certain type of reactionary leader is allowed to hold sway over our society and how we look at, and respond to, others.
So we know from a number of Trek episodes that Earth had no shortage of alien visitations prior to official first contact with the Vulcans. I'm thinking that the incident that changed the timeline in 2024 is that the existence of aliens on Earth was exposed and became public knowledge. Just imagine what the exposure of aliens living hidden among humans could do in a political climate similar to our own, with certain types of leaders in power. People would start blaming them for everything, from Covid (if they decide to mention Covid as part of Star Trek history), to economic problems (sanctuary districts!), to whatever wars were going on at the time, etc. The humans could then start to resent the aliens both for whatever they perceived them to have done, plus for just "secretly" infiltrating our society. Suspicion and paranoia would rule the day, potentially leading to a future where not only were the aliens eradicated from our own planet, but humanity went out into the stars to try to eradicate them everywhere. Since it could also unite humanity (in opposition to the aliens), then perhaps World War III is avoided and all of history plays out differently.
We heard in the most recent episode a recording of Brent Spiner delivering the "only safe galaxy is a human galaxy" line. If that was indeed supposed to be Adam Soong, and *if* the line does date back to the 2024 timeline split (granted, it may not), then they must have already known about aliens by then, or what would the point of the line even be, four decades before they knew humans weren't alone in the universe?
Perhaps the aliens that are exposed are the ones following Picard in that one trailer. Or maybe it's even Guinan herself. And if Q did have something to do with this, this could even be a timey-wimey reason for their animosity towards each other. (Since both characters are in this season, I do hope there is something about their history, anyway!)
Maybe the blue vial has something to do with how the aliens are exposed as aliens?
So just like in Strangers From the Sky, aliens are revealed on Earth before they are "supposed" to be, humanity reacts poorly, and a crew has to travel back in time to fix the problem. We've seen them mention a number of times on TNG how devastating it can be to expose a planet to the galactic community before they're "ready". My theory is that we're going to see that play out, but the planet that isn't ready is our own. Then not only is it a story that reinforces the TNG view of the Prime Directive, but more generally, it becomes a parable about the dangers of othering a specific group, and a cautionary tale about where we might be headed if a certain type of reactionary leader is allowed to hold sway over our society and how we look at, and respond to, others.
Sorry this post was so long, guess I miss my school essay days!
To be fair, pretty much every TV theory I've ever had has ended up being wrong, so I eagerly await seeing this one being proven wrong too! 
Sort of. In both the show and the novels, Control is an AI in charge of Section 31. In the novels, Control actually is dedicated to the preservation of the Federation at all costs. It would never enact a plan to eradicate all sentient life like on the show, since that would mean eradicating the Federation, which goes against Control's programming.
Also, in the novels Control is literally embedded within the entire Federation, to the point that deactivating it could actually cause the collapse of the Federation (and that's not an exaggeration or hyperbole). Meanwhile in the show, Control's access is only to Starfleet and Section 31, both of which continue on just fine after its deactivation, though Section 31 is severely downgraded as a result.
Not sure about that. If Control wasn't embedded in all computer systems (at least in the Federation) like in the novel, there wouldn't have been a reason for the Discovery to travel to the 32nd century to prevent it to use the sphere data to empower itself and destroy all organic life.
It actually is stated in dialogue in the second season how limited Control's reach was. One of the red flags to Admiral Cornwell was the fact that Section 31 was proposing giving Control more access to the Federation's infrastructure.
That and when she heard Control in sleep mode go like this:
Seems like i could have been right with this.
https://trekmovie.com/2022/03/27/sh...s-handling-time-travel-and-the-eugenics-wars/
https://trekmovie.com/2022/03/27/sh...s-handling-time-travel-and-the-eugenics-wars/
I'm so used to the Eugenics Wars being ignored, it's weird to see a showrunner imagine they happened further into the future.
I guess that means 1992, the rumoured series about the Eugenics Wars, isn't happening.
What exactly were you right about?
It can always just be renamed.
"It's also possible that Khan and his supporters never left Earth, this time, and were still around in 2024. Or they were originally supposed to leave Earth during this year.
Iirc the exact date of the Botany Bay leaving Earth was never mentioned. Just that it happened after Khan was defeated..."
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I'm not saying that i was necessarily right with everything i said, but it seems that at least a few of the points i made either already have turned out to be true or are at least very possible.
In ST II, Khan specifically says it was 1996.
And in TOS' "Space Seed", the Eugenics Wars were equally specifically placed in 1992-96.
So whatever happens in PIC, it can't shift the wars in any way, as they have already occurred.
Terry Matalas answer on Twitter:
"Terry Matalas:
We discussed endlessly. We came to the conclusion that in WW3 there were several EMP bursts that kicked everyone back decades. Records of that 75 year period, the 90s on were sketchy. Maybe Spock was wrong? No easy way to do it if you want the past to look and feel like today."
on this question:
"Act IV
@act4sp
@TerryMatalas did you discuss in the writers room whether the Eugenics Wars took place in the 90s or as part of World War III in 2026-2053? #StarTrekPicard I’m guessing the changes in time prevent Bell Riots and different outcome to WWIII"
Might be that Khan had a similar problem with his memory as Scotty in "Relics", because of the long hibernation
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^ Nope. Still not buying it.
Events that are tied down to a specific calendar year are, by definition, definitive. They can't be ignored or handwaved away.
And even if Spock might have gotten the dates wrong...Khan wouldn't. If Khan said it was 1996, then it was fucking 1996.
As for "if you want the past to look and feel like today"...why the hell would we want to do that?
Events that are tied down to a specific calendar year are, by definition, definitive. They can't be ignored or handwaved away.
And even if Spock might have gotten the dates wrong...Khan wouldn't. If Khan said it was 1996, then it was fucking 1996.
As for "if you want the past to look and feel like today"...why the hell would we want to do that?
To connect to our humanity. Which Trek has always done.
I thought it was a reference to making the Trek past conform to our own - meaning, the constant attempts to shift major Trek events forward in time just because they haven't happened to US.
And that is what I have a problem with.
Sure they can. I'm generally a continuity stickler, but comic books have trained me to accept the sliding timeline. It's really a very minor change in the larger canon of Star Trek. Personally, I think the 2090s work great.
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