Poll Do you consider Discovery to truly be in the Prime Timeline at this point?

[Jinn]

Technically the early ship-mounted cannons and EM-33 pistols seen in Season 1 of ENT were electromagnetic pulse weapons, not plasma weapons per se.

I'm only looking at the MA page here and I haven't seen the show in a while but it seems like the exact type of projectile was never explicitely mentioned on screen, but the script for the pilot claimed they were plasma weapons while Berman and Braga called them pulse guns in an audio commentary. I haven't seen that audio commentary but to me that sounds like they're just using a kinda generic term for the weapon, but then again I'm definitely not an expert on Trek weaponry, so I may be absolutely wrong.

Looking at the MA page for plasma rifles it seems like pulse and plasma rifles are pretty much synonymous and that they were used by both starfleet and the ECS.

 

[fireproof78]

Curiously, when I accessed that episode on netflix I already was at the end of that particular scene from the last time we had this discussion. Ahh, remember the 1x05 tech problems thread? Those were good times... That one time marsh8472 edited Memory Alpha to make TAS appear non-canon. Brilliant. I miss those times.

Discovery offers new opportunities

 

[JamesRye]

Maybe DSC can't be prime for legal reasons. Apparently the show cannot legally use TOS designs. They have to be completely changed or redesigned to be 25% different.

https://m.facebook.com/john.eaves.526?tsid=0.7111937560537587&source=result

 

[Tuskin38]

Here is a non-Mobile link

https://www.facebook.com/john.eaves.526/posts/2039419259419297

 

[Lord Garth]

Maybe DSC can't be prime for legal reasons. Apparently the show cannot legally use TOS designs. They have to be completely changed or redesigned to be 25% different.

https://m.facebook.com/john.eaves.526?tsid=0.7111937560537587&source=result

The eventual tell-all books and articles about Discovery will be good, no matter which "side of the isle" anyone's on.

 

[Discofan]

I really grok the Discovery Look! I wish it was the original look so that all the people who currently think it stinks because it's different would think it's fantastic!

 

[F. King Daniel]

Discovery: A legally distinct entity from the rest of Star Trek, but it's still Prime Universe. Honest.



If any of the legal stuff we're hearing is true, they're complete muppets to try and fit a new series into an existing continuity where they can't use any of the original designs or even perhaps reference anything originating in any of the movies.

 

[BillJ]

Discovery: A legally distinct entity from the rest of Star Trek, but it's still Prime Universe. Honest.

It was definitely the bubble that burst any idea that the show is in the Prime universe.

 

[cultcross]

If any of the legal stuff we're hearing is true, they're complete muppets to try and fit a new series into an existing continuity where they can't use any of the original designs or even perhaps reference anything originating in any of the movies.

Certainly seems a bizarre choice. But then, you know what Trek fans are like. Full reboot has never been seen as an option, even ST09 has a handwave to 'make it fit'.

 

[Discofan]

It was definitely the bubble that burst any idea that the show is in the Prime universe.

Unless we decree that Disco is the Prime Universe and that everything that deviates from it is but a distortion.

 

[BillJ]

Unless we decree that Disco is the Prime Universe and that everything that deviates from it is but a distortion.

That's fine too. Either way, regardless of the label, they aren't connected to each other.

 

[fireproof78]

Certainly seems a bizarre choice. But then, you know what Trek fans are like. Full reboot has never been seen as an option, even ST09 has a handwave to 'make it fit'.

I still wonder why full reboot is considered so negative?

 

[cultcross]

I still wonder why full reboot is considered so negative?

People can view them as a loss, a bereavement even. The BSG full reboot was a big success, but many original fans hated the very idea of it. Reboots are a risk because you can't rely on the fanbase in the same way. That'll be why they came up with the 'alternate timeline' stuff for ST09 that made only so much sense in explaining the differences. Too frightened to just be different.

 

[fireproof78]

People can view them as a loss, a bereavement even. The BSG full reboot was a big success, but many original fans hated the very idea of it. Reboots are a risk because you can't rely on the fanbase in the same way. That'll be why they came up with the 'alternate timeline' stuff for ST09 that made only so much sense in explaining the differences. Too frightened to just be different.

The funny thing is, even with 09 there was still this sense of loss. It was a very weird experience to behold because the level of concern were very large.

And, for me, it's odd. Maybe I'm not as emotionally connected but if Kelvin Trek became the only Trek produced for a while, that doesn't somehow diminish my enjoyment of DS9 or TOS.

Same thing with DISCO. It being set right before TOS doesn't alter my perception of TOS or take away value from what TOS did. To my mind, the individual productions can be separated enough to be enjoyed and then taken together as a whole.

For me, it's the same with a reboot. I'll give it a shot because I enjoy science fiction. But, I also know studios are reluctant to take risks.

 

[Discofan]

People can view them as a loss, a bereavement even. The BSG full reboot was a big success, but many original fans hated the very idea of it. Reboots are a risk because you can't rely on the fanbase in the same way. That'll be why they came up with the 'alternate timeline' stuff for ST09 that made only so much sense in explaining the differences. Too frightened to just be different.

True. There are many things that aren't explained by the new timeline, like Kahn's ethnic origin for example.

 

[BillJ]

Same thing with DISCO. It being set right before TOS doesn't alter my perception of TOS or take away value from what TOS did. To my mind, the individual productions can be separated enough to be enjoyed and then taken together as a whole.

I think Discovery is a stealth reboot, honestly. They slowly chip away at any real connection to the point they can do what they want and hopefully people will be enamored enough with the show to not mind that it doesn't match up with the rest.

 

[F. King Daniel]

People can view them as a loss, a bereavement even. The BSG full reboot was a big success, but many original fans hated the very idea of it. Reboots are a risk because you can't rely on the fanbase in the same way. That'll be why they came up with the 'alternate timeline' stuff for ST09 that made only so much sense in explaining the differences. Too frightened to just be different.

They can always do what The Flash did, and at some point show the tiniest glimpses of other DC shows as AUs in a vast multiverse. Even though they've never shown it as such, one can imagine Gotham and the DCEU's Justice League being worlds that could be visited as easily as Earth-2. Had Discovery been a full-on reboot, a tiny flash of jelly bean buttons and coloured jammies during the final spore jump would have been enough to say to super die-hards that TOS and DSC are still linked, albeit in the most tenuous way imaginable.

 

[BillJ]

...TOS and DSC are still linked, albeit in the most tenuous way imaginable.

Apparently they can't do that because of legal reasons.

While I doubt they would do it, I wish they would drop the pretense that this is the Prime universe, or this is all the Prime universe consists of now.

 

[Lord Garth]

I'll consider it a totally different continuity (not just the visuals) if I see something that's absolutely incompatible with TOS. Like the Enterprise gets destroyed and Pike is killed off. Or the Romulans start appearing willy-nilly. Something I can't explain away. That there had to be at least a 25% difference in how the Enterprise looks still falls under "visual reboot".

Though, now I wish they were a lot more upfront than they were. "It's Complicated" is the best way to describe the situation with Discovery.

 

[Discofan]

Apart from the crew, was Harry Mudd the only recurring character of TOS?