Did the Enterprise go to Talos?
- Thread starter GulBahana
- Start date
The SS Columbia's mission took place well after 2233 (the divergence point). So in the Abrams timeline, anything is possible. For all we know, neither the Columbia nor anyone else has ever been to Talos IV in the Abramsverse...
My personal take? Enterprise did go to Talos... just not the one we saw in the movies.
In the IDW comic Countdown to Darkness, there was an Enterprise in between the NX-01 and the Abramsprise. It was evidently rushed into service a decade early in the wake of the Kelvin disaster, using the Constitution configuration but based on Kelvin technology instead of the classic design. That one was captained first by Robert April, then by Pike, then was decommissioned two years before ST-IX (2256) to make way for the Abramsprise. So, Spock already having served with Pike (presumably on his cadet cruise), puts both of them on an Enterprise at the right year.
Of course, since the comic itself has since been disavowed as not canon, all of the above is immaterial.
In the IDW comic Countdown to Darkness, there was an Enterprise in between the NX-01 and the Abramsprise. It was evidently rushed into service a decade early in the wake of the Kelvin disaster, using the Constitution configuration but based on Kelvin technology instead of the classic design. That one was captained first by Robert April, then by Pike, then was decommissioned two years before ST-IX (2256) to make way for the Abramsprise. So, Spock already having served with Pike (presumably on his cadet cruise), puts both of them on an Enterprise at the right year.
Of course, since the comic itself has since been disavowed as not canon, all of the above is immaterial.
There was nothing in the comic about it being "rushed into service early, nor do we have any indication it was ever commanded by Pike. In the Countdown to Darkness storyline, we know April commanded it some twenty years earlier, then for reasons related to the story he ends up faking his death to stay behind on another planet and then turns command over to Alexander Marcus, who was the XO at the time. The only thing we actually of this Enterprise is the bridge, which does have a TOS-ish style to it. An image commonly believed to be April's Enterprise shown in the comic is actually the Abrams Enterprise mistakenly used instead. Mistakes of this type are shockingly common in IDW's Abramsverse comics, in fact a month later in the Ongoing series we get Scotty's origin story which places Marcus as head of the Academy admissions board at the same time he's supposed to be serving on April's Enterprise.
Well, I did say it was my personal take, connecting the dots as best I could. And that it ultimately doesn't count anyway. It was merely a possibility.
How do you know the Kelvin tech ISN'T the classic design?
We all have our personal continuity/canon and I like what you wrote making in plausible that they went to Talos IV.
I wonder if Pike and Spock did go to Talos IV, but as Commander and First/Science Officer of another ship? In the Countdown to Darkness comics, we had another ship finding the Botany Bay, but she was found.
Could've been as Captain and Science Officer of another ship, the same arrangement as on the Prime Enterprise. I doubt Pike sat and waited for three years while waiting for the Enterprise to complete its construction.
It would make sense, since Pike had to have an amazing service record (being given the newest ship in the 2009 movie) and Spock was well-recognized in the movie (at least enough to be given responsibility to program the Kobayashi Maru), so there may have been a highly-regarded period of service with them on another starship.
This also makes it clearer how annoyed Pike was in STID that he was not made part of the tribunal and how much of a demotion it may have been that Spock was reassigned to a ship other than Enterprise.
If they ever had, I imagine the alt reality version of Menagerie would have them encountering an illusion of Pike created for Vina (initially being shocked by hearing from him) and thusly, Kirk dealing with a Pike who doesn't know him as well, maybe Spock and Kirk providing additional info via meld about the Pike they knew post-Talos so that Vina's Pike illusion can be more complete.
Of course; nothing that makes sense is ever permissible.
Why not? Almost every Trek has noted important differences between what's designed and what works well in deep space. After the Kelvin incident, maybe Starfleet decided that starship commanders needed to take a more hands-on approach to the construction of their ships. Or maybe that's always been the case; after all, in the Prime universe, Captain Decker was involved in most, if not all, of the Enterprise's redesign and refit. Given that, I don't think it would be out of the question for Captain Pike to involved in the new ship's construction. Maybe he was the project's director, or perhaps he worked as a consultant with the engineering teams, or maybe he spent time looking at color swatches agonizing over carpet colors.
My own feelings on the matter, but I tend to think Pike wouldn't want to sit around waiting.
I like to think that another ship wound up going to Talos IV. Things might have happened very differently or similarly with that other ship and crew, but it may have still ended up with Talos IV being an off-limits planet in the end, IMO.
Too bad tptb aren't allowing novels made, an alternate story for how First Contact with Talos went down in the nuverse w/could be epic!
I agree. I don't see the relevance to go to Talos IV, the new films has such a different vibe; I can't picture those JJ's Pike and the other characters meshing well with those aliens.
