News Kurtzman: Spock And Filling In Canon
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I feel like watching the whole episode but anyway, that aside... As promised, the exact dialogue and time-stamp.
If you watch the episode, the dialogue starts around the 14:00-mark. The dialogue is cut-and-pasted from a transcript on this website. The parts I bolded are relevant to where Discovery has an opening.
KIRK: (reading) For eyes of Starfleet Command only.
MENDEZ: Oh, I'm certifying I ordered you to read it. Know anything at all about this planet?
KIRK: What every ship Captain knows. General Order 7, no vessel under any condition, emergency or otherwise, is to visit Talos Four.
MENDEZ: And to do so is the only death penalty left on our books. Only Fleet Command knows why. Not even this file explains that. (unlocks the magnetic strip) But it does name the only Earth ship that ever visited the planet.
KIRK: The Enterprise, commanded by Captain Christopher Pike.
Discovery's mission can be underneath what the file didn't describe. Something that only Starfleet Command knows.
If you watch the episode, the dialogue starts around the 14:00-mark. The dialogue is cut-and-pasted from a transcript on this website. The parts I bolded are relevant to where Discovery has an opening.
KIRK: (reading) For eyes of Starfleet Command only.
MENDEZ: Oh, I'm certifying I ordered you to read it. Know anything at all about this planet?
KIRK: What every ship Captain knows. General Order 7, no vessel under any condition, emergency or otherwise, is to visit Talos Four.
MENDEZ: And to do so is the only death penalty left on our books. Only Fleet Command knows why. Not even this file explains that. (unlocks the magnetic strip) But it does name the only Earth ship that ever visited the planet.
KIRK: The Enterprise, commanded by Captain Christopher Pike.
Discovery's mission can be underneath what the file didn't describe. Something that only Starfleet Command knows.
If they are indeed going to explore the origins of General Order 7 on Discovery, then what happens on Talos 4 must be really horrific for the "enlightened" Federation to threaten the death penalty.
On further examination, whatever happens must be horrific to humans. The text of General Order 7: "The following officers have visited Talos IV and recommend that no human should ever visit it again".
Who's an expendable human character on the show? (Number One, you'd better go hide...) Does this mean an alien like Saru will survive whatever horror awaits on Talos IV?
EDIT: On second glance, the general order is inconsistent. It says no human may visit in one place, and no one may visit in another.
Given what happened late last season, I think it's within Disco Starfleet's wheelhouse to order a Death Penalty, unfortunately.
That aside... maybe the Talosians forced them to create General Order 7 against their will as a way to ensure they're never visited by them again.
Given what happens in the comics when the Klingons discover Talos that might be for the best.
USS Enterprise NCC-1701, at least early on in the 5 year mission, operated under the authority of United Earth Space Probe Agency. It was indeed an Earth ship, working under a combined service. Discovery has never been shown to fly under the same arrangement.
I assume other Federation ships like the USS Intrepid can be considered 'Vulcan' ships, etc.
TOS used a lot of different names for the Enterprise's operating authority before it ultimately decided on Starfleet. Things like Space Command, Star Service, UESPA, etc. Once Starfleet was established, all of those other names went away, and were effectively rendered non-canon.
UESPA definitely existed as canon because it went on to be mentioned in Voyager and Enterprise.
^ That's easy enough to explain: UESPA was the division of the United Earth government that was responsible for all offworld activities. Thus, the Earth Starfleet was one of the agencies that operated under the control of UESPA.
In fact, @Christopher has an interesting take on this, in his "Rise of the Federation" novels. He suggests that when the Federation was first founded, the nascent Federation Starfleet was comprised of individual fleets from each of the founding member worlds. Each of these sub-fleets was responsible for a different specialized area:
- Vulcan Space Central: Research and development. Example: USS Intrepid ("The Immunity Syndrome"). Insignia: IDIC symbol.
- United Earth Space Probe Agency: Exploration. Example: USS Enterprise. Insignia: Arrowhead.
- Tellar Space Administration: Logistics and supplies. Example: USS Antares ("Charlie X"). Insignia: Hoof.
- Andorian Empire: Military defense. Example: USS Constellation ("The Doomsday Machine"). Insignia: Pretzel.
- Alpha Centauri Space Research Council. Example: USS Exeter ("The Omega Glory"). Insignia: Rectangle.
Thus, those different insignia we used to see in TOS weren't for individual ships, just the sub-fleets that those ships belonged to.
Now of course all of the ships I just mentioned existed well AFTER the founding of the Federation, at which time the Federation Starfleet had since become more standardized in terms of its ship design, crews, etc. But the old habits die hard, as it were.
In fact, @Christopher has an interesting take on this, in his "Rise of the Federation" novels. He suggests that when the Federation was first founded, the nascent Federation Starfleet was comprised of individual fleets from each of the founding member worlds. Each of these sub-fleets was responsible for a different specialized area:
- Vulcan Space Central: Research and development. Example: USS Intrepid ("The Immunity Syndrome"). Insignia: IDIC symbol.
- United Earth Space Probe Agency: Exploration. Example: USS Enterprise. Insignia: Arrowhead.
- Tellar Space Administration: Logistics and supplies. Example: USS Antares ("Charlie X"). Insignia: Hoof.
- Andorian Empire: Military defense. Example: USS Constellation ("The Doomsday Machine"). Insignia: Pretzel.
- Alpha Centauri Space Research Council. Example: USS Exeter ("The Omega Glory"). Insignia: Rectangle.
Thus, those different insignia we used to see in TOS weren't for individual ships, just the sub-fleets that those ships belonged to.
Now of course all of the ships I just mentioned existed well AFTER the founding of the Federation, at which time the Federation Starfleet had since become more standardized in terms of its ship design, crews, etc. But the old habits die hard, as it were.
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I feel sorry for Discovery producers and writers who have to feel they MUST mention canon every time they say something about their show. Canon fetishists are the worst.
There could also have been ships that operated directly under Starfleet/UFP and therefore did not have a founding member's authorizing authority, even by this time. Discovery, for instance, is a far more diverse crew than anything seen before.
And both the Glen's and Discovery's were fast-tracked because of the war so both are (well, in the Glen's case, 'were') brand new and fresh out of Spacedock in 2256.
Maybe not critical who places the Magistrate, but what about Vina?
Get Sara Mitich, who is unrecognizable as Airiam in Discovery anyway, to be Vina. She resembles Susan Oliver well enough. Then they don't have to hire someone new. :P
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Someone here thought they spotted her without makeup in the most recent trailer.Get Sara Mitich, who is unrecognizable as Airiam in Discovery anyway, to be Vina. She resembles Susan Oliver well enough. Then they don't have to hire someone new. :P
I've been wondering about something for a while now: how have the Tellarites not driven the Federation into war more often with their abrasiveness? Those ships must be sent out where they'll have little to no contact with anyone.
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