Discovery theory, redux

[The River Temoc]

So, here's another theory about the premise of Discovery. Again, I take as my starting point the premise that it refers to an important event alluded to, but not seen, in TOS that occurs roughly 20 years before TOS.
A few weeks ago there was a lot of harrumphing at the announcement that DSC would feature "a gay actor" alongside a British doctor, a Klingon captain, and other assorted characters. (People took that literally, to mean a gay actor had been signed to a play a role in DSC. A gay actor isn't exactly something new under the sun in Hollywood.)
But what if we take the announcement literally -- that the DSC *character* him/herself is a gay actor? Which immediately leads me to think of "The Conscience of the King" and the Karidian players.
Might this mean the premise of DSC involves Kodos the Executioner?

 

[Mudd]

The Tarsus thing is interesting - it took place about 20 years before TOS.

 

[Dukhat]

Again, I take as my starting point the premise that it refers to an important event alluded to, but not seen, in TOS that occurs roughly 20 years before TOS.

Where was it ever said that this event Fuller alluded to happened 20 years before TOS? First I've heard of that.

A few weeks ago there was a lot of harrumphing at the announcement that DSC would feature "a gay actor" alongside a British doctor, a Klingon captain, and other assorted characters. (People took that literally, to mean a gay actor had been signed to a play a role in DSC. A gay actor isn't exactly something new under the sun in Hollywood.) But what if we take the announcement literally -- that the DSC *character* him/herself is a gay actor? Which immediately leads me to think of "The Conscience of the King" and the Karidian players.
Might this mean the premise of DSC involves Kodos the Executioner?

So you're taking the term "gay actor" to literally mean that the character in DSC is a gay actor? So hypothetically, a completely straight IRL actor, say, Brad Pitt, would be playing the part of a homosexual performance artist in DSC? My issue with that is, what inherent reason does the character need to be gay? Or straight, for that matter? If true, why the need to even point that out? Why not just say "theater actor" and leave it at that?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Why say "British doctor" and not just "doctor?"

It's an interesting thought, and it's consistent with the sentence structure, where every other item mentioned refers to the character and not the actor playing the character (it was mentioned that Number One will be a minority women, but that was a different news item). It's probably just a verbal inconsistency, though, and they mean that one of the characters will be Gay.

I also wonder about how this would translate into story terms. If the Tarsus Incident took place twenty years before TOS, then it takes place ten years before Discovery. Kodos cannot be part of the story. What could happen midway between the massacre and Kodos' death that could be turned into a story worth telling in a 13-episode arc (and that involves the Klingon Empire)?

 

[Visitor1982]

My bet is still on the Vulcanian Expedition...

 

[Seven of Five]

My bet is still on the Vulcanian Expedition...

Just make sure any Vulcanians we see SHOUT ALL THE TIMES!

THANKS.

 

[Dukhat]

Why say "British doctor" and not just "doctor?"

Because "British" is a nationality. "Klingon" is a race. "Gay" is neither of those things. Saying the character is an "African-American actor" or a "Swedish actor" makes more sense in context; "gay actor" doesn't.

My bet is still on the Vulcanian Expedition...

Can someone please tell me what this is? Because I've never heard of it.

 

[Visitor1982]

The Vulcanian expedition was an unspecified Starfleet mission conducted during the mid-23rd century. James T. Kirk served on the expedition, along with Timothy. (TOS: "Court Martial")

 

[Dukhat]

^And people think this new show is going to be about some throwaway line that most fans like myself couldn't even remember?

 

[Tenacity]

the DSC *character* him/herself is a gay actor

Interesting take on available information.

Why say "British doctor" and not just "doctor?"

Reed was a British ordinance officer.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Just make sure any Vulcanians we see SHOUT ALL THE TIMES!

THANKS.

AGREED!

I LIKE THE BEATS AND THE SHOUTING!!

 

[ancient]

I don't think we know anything about any of the characters aside from physical attributes, unless I missed something.

 

[Nerys Myk]

The "gay actor" is a bit of "one of these things is not like the other". British Doctor and Klingon captain describe the characters. Gay actor would seem to describe the performer. Maybe a typo or misspoken phrase?

 

[ChristopherPike]

Probably not interesting enough compared to Kodos backstory or some archaeological dig on Vulcan ... but there's always that innocuous line in "The Cage" about the time-barrier being recently broken. Although how that's different to going from breaking one warp technological limit to discovering there's another your ships can't reach, I don't know. Something tied into the introduction of stardates, as apposed to going around the galaxy still using an Earth calendar to measure time presumably.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

there's always that innocuous line in "The Cage" about the time-barrier being recently broken.

That was before any writer had invented the concept of 'warp drive'.

Now that warp is universal through all of Trek, it's retroactive. Thus the "time barrier" line is now meaningless. Warp drive had already been in use for a hundred years by the time that episode took place, anyway. So what possible meaning COULD that line have?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Probably not interesting enough compared to Kodos backstory or some archaeological dig on Vulcan ... but there's always that innocuous line in "The Cage" about the time-barrier being recently broken. Although how that's different to going from breaking one warp technological limit to discovering there's another your ships can't reach, I don't know. Something tied into the introduction of stardates, as apposed to going around the galaxy still using an Earth calendar to measure time presumably.

That's a very interesting thought. I've always wondered about how that line could be finessed into Trek continuity and tying it into the introduction of stardates is a clever idea. I remember back in the day-- as in, the early 70s-- Roddenberry mentioned something about stardates being calculated based on both time and space and taking relativity into account, or something like that. It was basically to justify stardates being out of order in some episodes, but incorporating it into the mythos could result in a nice Science Fictional storyline. Like you, I'm not sure what, but it could be some technological innovation that allows theoretically unlimited warp speeds-- perhaps, prior to this, even warp-capable ships were not completely immune to some relativistic effects, or warp speed could only be used for a limited amount of time before relativistic "buildup" pushed the ship back into normal space. Or something. Definitely worth thinking about.

 

[Dark Gilligan]

^And people think this new show is going to be about some throwaway line that most fans like myself couldn't even remember?

That's exactly what the new show is going to be about. Fuller has stated that from the beginning. An unexplained reference made during TOS that caught his curiosity. Discovery will be exploring that reference.

 

[Dukhat]

That's exactly what the new show is going to be about. Fuller has stated that from the beginning. An unexplained reference made during TOS that caught his curiosity. Discovery will be exploring that reference.

Sorry, not buying it (at least in the case of the "Vulcanian expedition.") It's one thing to base an entire show around an unexplained reference that most fans would like to know more about. It's another thing entirely to base a show around a throwaway line that hardly anyone outside of a few uberfans here have even heard of. There's no point in making a show about something that no one knows or cares about.

 

[danellis]

Nearly *all* shows are made about something no one know or care about - because most shows discuss events that haven't happened yet/haven't been invented yet.

The possibility of fans *already* knowing and caring about the events is one of the uniqunesses (which probably has as many pros as cons) that a StarTrek prequel has.

dJE

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

It's another thing entirely to base a show around a throwaway line that hardly anyone outside of a few uberfans here have even heard of.

LUKE: You fought in the Clone Wars?
OBI-WAN: Yes. I was once a Jedi knight, the same as your father.