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Depressed about Vulcan

Can someone quote the part from the movie where it's explained that it's an alternate universe BEFORE Spock Prime and Nero go back in time?

I don't think so, because that is not said in the film, and it is not the film's stance.
According to Orci:
Orci said:
the act of time travel itself creates a new universe that exists in PARALLEL to the one left by the time traveler.
 
I would agree that it was ham-handed or ambiguous at best.

Those two allegations ( ham-handedness and ambiguity ) are at cross purposes. I called it "ham-handed" as a way of expressing the idea that ambiguity was sacrificed in favor of a blunt statement.

There is enough ambiguity that a debate has been raging on message boards since the film came out to whether or not this movie erased the old time line or created an alternate universe.

There's debate on message boards about a lot of things clearly established by films. The mere existence of debate doesn't necessarily indicate anything, ambiguity included. In this case it might be suggested that the debate arises from personal investment in single timeline theory rather than any weakness in the film itself.

But in the case of this film the debate is fueled by the ambiguity of the nature of time travel in the movie. The arguments surround both sides using dialog from the movie to justify their views.

I think both sides make valid points for their arguments which is why I feel the movie is ambiguous (even though I do like it a lot).

Fans shouldn't have to go outside of the film and have the writers explain what their intent was. The writers could have been more clear within the film itself, in my opinion, that an alternate universe was created.
 
The writers could have been more clear within the film itself, in my opinion, that an alternate universe was created.

Since they went out of their way to have characters say exactly that, they were as clear as they could possibly be without stopping the action in the middle of the film and walking out on screen themselves to explain it again in person.

The arguments surround both sides using dialog from the movie to justify their views.

What dialogue in the film specifically supports or justifies single timeline theory?
 
Since they went out of their way to have characters say exactly that, they were as clear as they could possibly be without stopping the action in the middle of the film and walking out on screen themselves to explain it in person.

They said alternate reality which is not synonymous with an alternate universe.

What dialogue in the film specifically supports or justifies single timeline theory?

For one thing they keep referring to Nero as being from the future. Well, he's not from their future, he's from the future of another universe.

Nu-Kirk accuses Spock Prime of coming back and changing the past. But if this is an alternate universe then Spock hasn't changed the past of his universe. "You coming back in time and changing history? That's cheating." That line makes better sense in a linear timeline.

Young Spock states that whatever futures they might have had has changed...makes more sense if the timeline is linear. Because it does prove that the timeline has changed but it doesn't conclude or prove that an alternate universe has been created.

The death of Amanda the destruction of Vulcan have more of an emotional impact if they are the originals meeting their end. But if Vulcan still survives in another universe and Amanda didn't die that way then it lessens the sting.

99.999% of all other time travel depictions in the Trek franchise have been linear. We're now supposed to believe that all time travel creates a parallel universe?

If that is the case then how could they bring the whales back to the future if their actions created another universe? How could Kirk undo what bones had done in the past in City on the Edge of Forever? I could go on.
 
They said alternate reality which is not synonymous with an alternate universe.

Yes it is.

For one thing they keep referring to Nero as being from the future. Well, he's not from their future, he's from the future of another universe.

Which was the same as the future of their universe before he came back. It wouldn't be their future any longer even if single timeline theory were in effect, because of the changes, so this dialogue doesn't actually favor either theory. In the situation intended by the writers, for reasons of efficient dialogue the characters would still tend to say "the future" instead of needlessly complicating it into "what was originally the future before his time travel changed it".

Nu-Kirk accuses Spock Prime of coming back and changing the past. But if this is an alternate universe then Spock hasn't changed the past of his universe. "You coming back in time and changing history? That's cheating." That line makes better sense in a linear timeline.

Young Spock states that whatever futures they might have had has changed...makes more sense if the timeline is linear. Because it does prove that the timeline has changed but it doesn't conclude or prove that an alternate universe has been created.

These lines make just as much sense under multiverse theory, a result which is unsurprising given that multiverse theory was the stated intent of the writers.

The death of Amanda the destruction of Vulcan have more of an emotional impact if they are the originals meeting their end.

An emotional impact for whom? I don't think nuSpock is in any meaningful way comforted by the idea that Amanda may be alive in another universe. But the point is that subjective appeal to "emotional impact" does nothing to suggest the existence of a single timeline. I'm looking for evidence of single timeline theory in the film, not assurances that it would make things better if it were actually in effect.

If that is the case then how could they bring the whales back to the future if their actions created another universe?

I believe Orci addressed that situation by showing how it could fit into multiverse theory. But the question was about the evidence in STXI, not earlier episodes/films.
 
Memory Alpha goes with the idea of a lineal timeline that has been disrupted:

Since Spock's birth took place prior to the arrival of the Narada and the destruction of the USS Kelvin, this event – depicted in the preceding image – took place for both Spock Prime and the Spock of the alternate reality in the original timeline.
But then we get this:

The alternate reality runs parallel to the prime reality as a new quantum reality. The prime reality is where many of the events seen in the Star Trek universe have occurred and, according to Star Trek writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, their film allows the prime reality to continue.[1]


This intent is also evident in the script of Star Trek. [2] While not completely audible in the film, before being teased by his classmates, young Spock is asked by the computer in the learning center on Vulcan: "What is the central assumption of Quantum Cosmology?" To which Spock replies: "Everything that can happen does happen in equal and parallel universes."



Star Trek screenwriter Roberto Orci (in a post on Ain't It Cool News [3] as well as in an interview with Star Trek Magazine [4]) and director J.J. Abrams (in an interview with MTV, conducted between the two aforementioned statements from Orci [5]) established a reason why technology in the alternate reality is more advanced than it is during the same period in the prime reality; scans of the 24th century Narada, taken by the Kelvin, were brought back to Starfleet by the survivors on the Kelvin's shuttles.

This is just all bullshit though. I'll go with the lineal time line incursion idea -- Spock and Nero jacked up their future and their past no longer exists. Yay for head!canon.
 
Memory Alpha goes with the idea of a lineal timeline that has been disrupted:

Since Spock's birth took place prior to the arrival of the Narada and the destruction of the USS Kelvin, this event – depicted in the preceding image – took place for both Spock Prime and the Spock of the alternate reality in the original timeline.

That in no way indicates a single timeline. It merely points out that Spock was born before the timelines diverged. Thus, Memory Alpha is consistent on the timeline issue.
 
So... its like the theory that every action you make starts a new universe.

I type this post, but my counter part doesn't. A new universe. My counter part decides to take off from work, her counterpart doesn't. A new universe. Etc etc etc.


... Star Trek, need not be so complicated. Please. I really will just subjugate myself to the head!canon. I can enjoy the movies and this new Trek a lot more. As long as the movies don't make a big deal out of it on screen, all the ancillary information will only be fandom fodder.
 
A little help here, please. Can someone quote the part from the movie where it's explained that it's an alternate universe BEFORE Spock Prime and Nero go back in time?


I feel kind of dumb for having missed it. I've seen the movie three or four times and I don't remember that part.
That's because it's not there. Here's what the movie says:

SPOCK:
...Nero's very presence has altered history, beginning with the attack on the USS Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party.​

UHURA:
An alternate reality?​

SPOCK:
Precisely. Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed.​


Still doubt the writers' intentions? Here is the offical Star Trek timeline chart.
 
Last edited:
SPOCK: ...Nero's very presence has altered history, beginning with the attack on the USS Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party.

UHURA: An alternate reality?

SPOCK: Precisely. Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed.
...

I don't have a problem with the writer's intentions, merely their ability to convey them in the movie. Spock's first statement above fits in with a standard (same universe) time travel scenario (he talks of "altering" history), so it’s hard to see where Uhura could have got the idea they are in a "newly" created universe! Moreover, the term "An alternate reality" can easily be interpreted as a describing a single altered timeline. So Spock's "Precisely" is rather ironic. Certainly what he says after that doesn't help make the issue any clearer.

They could have done a variation on the "I hear there is going to be a question on multiverse theory in the test tomorrow ..." theme, or something like that. It couldn't have been too hard to hang a shotgun on the wall. The multiverse idea seemed like a late change and maybe the writer's strike prevented the script from getting a proper overall to make it more consistent with that change.
 
Here again is the 30-second clip from Stargate Atlantis "Before I Sleep", which explains the multiverse concept in the most concise manner possible. Dr. Weir went back in time, creating an alternate branch of the timeline - exactly what happened in STXI.

Still doesn't answer my question about how multi-verse theory relates to time travel...

Take the scenario presented in Star Trek IV and Star Trek: First contact, where the intrepid crews go back and either fix or get something from the past to fix a current predicament. New universes should have been born with the abduction of George and Gracie and the Borg attack on the Montana complex.

When they go forward in time, they've done a good enough job of preserving what went on that A) they recognize the universe as being the one they left and B) the universe recognizes them as not being out of place.

What happened to the HMS Bounty and the U.S.S. Enterprise-E of these new universes? Did they also encounter the same exact scenario that sent the originals back in time and therefore also went back in time to fix the timeline?

If the above is the case, wouldn't there be an infinite number of universes where the same exact circumstances happen?
 
A little help here, please. Can someone quote the part from the movie where it's explained that it's an alternate universe BEFORE Spock Prime and Nero go back in time?


I feel kind of dumb for having missed it. I've seen the movie three or four times and I don't remember that part.
That's because it's not there. Here's what the movie says:

SPOCK:
...Nero's very presence has altered history, beginning with the attack on the USS Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party.​

UHURA:
An alternate reality?​

SPOCK:
Precisely. Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed.​


Still doubt the writers' intentions? Here is the offical Star Trek timeline chart.


Um, OK, that's what I already thought. Spock Prime and Nero going back changed the past.


But apparently THIS TIME the original timeline was left intact somewhere else, because they wanted to change the way Trek did time travel to have their cake and eat it too.


The time travel logic may make more sense from a theoretical standpoint, but it's very different from how Trek had previously done time travel, which is all I was pointing out.
 
I don't have a problem with the writer's intentions, merely their ability to convey them in the movie. Spock's first statement above fits in with a standard (same universe) time travel scenario (he talks of "altering" history), so it’s hard to see where Uhura could have got the idea they are in a "newly" created universe! Moreover, the term "An alternate reality" can easily be interpreted as a describing a single altered timeline. So Spock's "Precisely" is rather ironic. Certainly what he says after that doesn't help make the issue any clearer.

I agree 100% with this.

I just want to add I have accepted the writers intent and I do abide by the multiverse theory even though it is hard to justify that stance by what we see in the movie.
 

That's the official Star Trek Online timeline chart. Being non-filmed material... it's not canon. :lol:

Agreed.

And so, with the live-action series and movies being canon, we're left to ponder the "almost without exception". The exception issue is discussed in a FAQ entry dating back to circa November 2000 in the answer to the question "What is considered Star Trek "canon"?":
"As a rule of thumb, the events that take place within the live action episodes and movies are canon, or official Star Trek facts. Story lines, characters, events, stardates, etc. that take place within the fictional novels, the Animated Adventures, and the various comic lines are not canon.


There are a couple of exceptions to this rule: the Jeri Taylor penned novels "Mosaic" and "Pathways." Many of the events in these two novels feature background details of the main Star Trek: Voyager characters. (Note: There are a few details from an episode of the Animated Adventures that have entered into the Star Trek canon. The episode "Yesteryear," written by D.C. Fontana, features some biographical background on Spock.)"»

DOn';t know why Paramount/CBS just make some clear cut defined definition like Star Wars.
 
BillJ said:
KingDaniel said:
Here again is the 30-second clip from Stargate Atlantis "Before I Sleep", which explains the multiverse concept in the most concise manner possible. Dr. Weir went back in time, creating an alternate branch of the timeline - exactly what happened in STXI.

Still doesn't answer my question about how multi-verse theory relates to time travel...

Take the scenario presented in Star Trek IV and Star Trek: First contact, where the intrepid crews go back and either fix or get something from the past to fix a current predicament. New universes should have been born with the abduction of George and Gracie and the Borg attack on the Montana complex.
New universes are born of every possible outcome to every event that occurs, regardless of time travel.

Time travel's just one of the few situations where our heroes' paths through the multiverse can be traced.
 
And so, with the live-action series and movies being canon, we're left to ponder the "almost without exception". The exception issue is discussed in a FAQ entry dating back to circa November 2000 in the answer to the question "What is considered Star Trek "canon"?":
"As a rule of thumb, the events that take place within the live action episodes and movies are canon, or official Star Trek facts. Story lines, characters, events, stardates, etc. that take place within the fictional novels, the Animated Adventures, and the various comic lines are not canon.


There are a couple of exceptions to this rule: the Jeri Taylor penned novels "Mosaic" and "Pathways." Many of the events in these two novels feature background details of the main Star Trek: Voyager characters. (Note: There are a few details from an episode of the Animated Adventures that have entered into the Star Trek canon. The episode "Yesteryear," written by D.C. Fontana, features some biographical background on Spock.)"»

DOn';t know why Paramount/CBS just make some clear cut defined definition like Star Wars.
They have. They decide what's canon.
 
Is this is still being debated? Its a Reboot attached to the original continuity via a time travel plot device.

Whether its an alternate universe or whatever really doesn't matter, its just words to describe a narrative framework, it will never make sense because it can't, its not real. Theres the original series, and the reboot. The reboot is current, and where the new adventures are. The original is of the eighties, the nineties and the sixties. Modern Trek is made for a modern audience and this way is so much better than knowing that Kirk will die on that bridge helping picard, or that Scotty will crash into a dyson sphere.
 
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