Fun Fact: Ever since Star Trek (2009), which is now TWELVE YEARS ago, I've been waiting for how the Romulan supernova would affect the Litverse. It's kind of hilarious and sad in equal measures because I always wanted to see how things like the Typhon Pact and other powers would react to it. I got most of my fill about the political realities of it from THE LAST BEST HOPE but that still wasn't the Lit verse.
Yeah, me too. I remember one novel sometimes after the movie came out had Picard thinking about his future and whether he might consider being an ambassador someday (which he was in the Countdown comics leading up to the film). I thought maybe that was the very beginning of them working towards covering that angle. I think that was not long after the Borg attack, maybe 2381 or so.
I thought it was good the Romulan supernova was still several years away, which would give the novels time to start working that in. This was long before Star Trek: Picard and at the time I don't think many of us had any expectations of a show taking place after Nemesis so I thought the books would be a great way for more of that part of Star Trek (2009) to be fleshed out. Since that part of the movie was in the Prime timeline I just assumed the novels would incorporate that part of the story into the relaunches.
But sadly that never happened. And now the novels are in 2387 and I can't think of any plausible way for the supernova to happen at this point. I don't know if there was some legal reason behind it (I know there's been some confusion among fans about novels incorporating elements of the Kelvin-verse into the books), or if it was an editorial decision, or something else. But it just never happened.
And like you, I thought there was several ways it could benefit the litverse. What impact would that have on the Typhon Pact? The Breen and Tzenkethi were already maneuvering for dominance, the loss of Romulus and the severe impact that would have on the Empire would have been ripe for more Typhon Pact intrigue. Plus how would it have impacted the Khitomer powers? The Romulan Empire under Kamenor was a moderating influence in the Pact. Would hostilities increase between them?
And now that Star Trek: Picard is out and we saw the Federation response there, I wonder how the Federation of the litverse would have responded? In many ways, by 2387, the Federation in the litverse seems more enlightened again, more hopeful. But that Federation is still recovering from the devastating Borg attack that wiped out entire worlds. Also, there was all the shenanigans with Section 31. Not to mention, despite the Romulans being a moderating force in the Pact, they are still in a rival coalition. And what role would the Pact take a role in helping their allies?
There's a lot of great stories to be told there that we'll never see. Not just the supernova itself and the immediate affects, but the impact on the entire Quadrant on so many levels (two if you consider the Alpha and Beta Quadrants).
At this point the only way there will be a Supernova in the litverse is if it comes with almost no warning. And it would obviously have to be featured in
Coda. The only thing I can think of is there are some hints, esp. in
The Last, Best Hope, that perhaps the supernova was not natural, but some sort of attack possibly (I didn't see that in the show itself, though the show really didn't get into the supernova itself, leaving the origins a mystery). Perhaps something in the way the attack happened affected the Romulan star of the litverse as well, either intentionally or not. I imagine a massive supernova, esp. one that was artificial, might have impacts across subspace and possibly across timelines. And if the Krenim are involved in some way, which after reading
To Lose the Earth I have to think they will have a role in Coda, all bets are off. They are extremely dangerous and I can imagine all kinds of ways they could impact the timeline. And I do find it interesting that up above David Mack recommended reading the
Mirror Universe novels. A hint perhaps? Well, we'll see. I'm up to date on the current litverse novels, including those, but I have to admit I hadn't considered the MU when it comes to
Coda.
Something to think about.