So Cadet to Captain in what... a week?!
- Thread starter T J
- Start date
I like how everybody below you (up until me) has either missed or ignored this little tidbit.
I think a lot more time passes than any of us realize thus far.
Pike wearing black just isn't specific enough to really mean much. Also, is it describing the meeting at the bar, or the actual first meeting when Kirk is presumably a child? We already know what Pike is up to when they meet at the bar. He is a captain.
Ok here is a theory:
Since the Enterprise is new (and maybe the whole Constitution line itself) maybe they are training alot of these cadets to on how to run these ships. We have seen cadets running ships before being thrown into some adventure (ST2 & Ds9:Valiant). So the Enterprise, like in ST2 has a bunch of cadets running the ship under Pike who is not only captain but a teacher (remember, he is the one trying to sway Kirk to join starfleet, he is a mentor) . Anyway Pike get either killed or injured and starfleet has lost alot of ships trying to attack Nero, and alot of experienced crew has died. Since Kirk has 'saved the universe' and has successfully commanded the Enterprise in this crisis they give him command of the enterprise on a probational term, kirk then passes his probation and stays as the permanent captain of the ship.
Since the Enterprise is new (and maybe the whole Constitution line itself) maybe they are training alot of these cadets to on how to run these ships. We have seen cadets running ships before being thrown into some adventure (ST2 & Ds9:Valiant). So the Enterprise, like in ST2 has a bunch of cadets running the ship under Pike who is not only captain but a teacher (remember, he is the one trying to sway Kirk to join starfleet, he is a mentor) . Anyway Pike get either killed or injured and starfleet has lost alot of ships trying to attack Nero, and alot of experienced crew has died. Since Kirk has 'saved the universe' and has successfully commanded the Enterprise in this crisis they give him command of the enterprise on a probational term, kirk then passes his probation and stays as the permanent captain of the ship.
Okay, seven pictures of Kirk - then who's the guy in the bad toupee there on the lower right?
That dude has worn some freaky rugs. 
Captain X
Rear Admiral
You remember that qualification I made when I said "outside of wartime"? Yeah, this would be wartime. This is also a destroyer, so he was probably a LT or a LT COMM, which is all you need to be to command a ship that small, and all ship commanders are referred to "captain" regardless of rank. In Kirk's case we'd actually be talking about a full captain, as in an O-6.
But the "during the movie" idea seems to be fallacy, as we already know of at least five different years described in the movie:
-The year Spock is born
-The year George Kirk Sr. is killed
-The year James Kirk drives the Vette off the cliff
-The year Kirk has a bar brawl, meets Pike, and drives to see the E being built
-The year Kirk sneaks aboard the E along with McCoy
Add to this the supposed fact that Nero's attack on Vulcan (and the associated scrambling of McCoy, Kirk and the cadets from Earth to Vulcan) isn't even the climax of the film, but happens somewhere in the middle of the movie, and it begins to seem that there is plenty of time for plenty of time to pass before Kirk finally gets to wear Captain braid...
And if "plenty of time" passes, we probably cannot assume that nothing happens during those off-camera moments. Not when it's established that Kirk is an active sort of guy. He could easily have numerous adventures aboard numerous starships in between his appearances in this movie, unless the plotline of STXI explicitly forbids this.
Timo Saloniemi
-The year Spock is born
-The year George Kirk Sr. is killed
-The year James Kirk drives the Vette off the cliff
-The year Kirk has a bar brawl, meets Pike, and drives to see the E being built
-The year Kirk sneaks aboard the E along with McCoy
Add to this the supposed fact that Nero's attack on Vulcan (and the associated scrambling of McCoy, Kirk and the cadets from Earth to Vulcan) isn't even the climax of the film, but happens somewhere in the middle of the movie, and it begins to seem that there is plenty of time for plenty of time to pass before Kirk finally gets to wear Captain braid...
And if "plenty of time" passes, we probably cannot assume that nothing happens during those off-camera moments. Not when it's established that Kirk is an active sort of guy. He could easily have numerous adventures aboard numerous starships in between his appearances in this movie, unless the plotline of STXI explicitly forbids this.
Timo Saloniemi
Furthering the analogy... Enterprise and her sister ships are generally regarded as 'aircraft carriers' would be today and I am fairly certain that all aircraft carriers are commanded by either a real CAPTAIN or even an ADMIRAL.
Not taking sides, just amusing myself.
Captain X
Rear Admiral
So you're saying that Kirk boards Enterprise as a cadet and that the movie takes place over 10 or more years necessary to gain some command experience that would qualify him to command a ship as large as Enterprise, passing over other, more experienced officers in the process? I'm under the distinct impression that this isn't the case since the big rush to get Enterprise to Vulcan is in response to what Nero and his tentacle ship are doing to Vulcan and the climax of the movie is presumably the resolution of that plotline.
I think what he's saying is that this:
...is only one of several timeframes (he's listed five -- there could conceivably be more) which figure in the story; it's part, and probably a big part, but not the whole story by itself. There are other events, presumably, which will fall in between the parts we see, but which will not be part of this story, though they may inform it, to some degree.
At least, I think that's what he's saying.
He's a rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone.
There's one other possibility. How do we know the scene with Kirk in the gold uniform takes place in the altered timeline.
Um you do know people in the navy get passed over for promotions all the time.......
You do know that right, cause if not....
(My dad was in the navy)
Chekov sure as hell knows lol...
