ST Picard - Starships and Technology ADVANCE Discussion

[Timo]

...For all we know, Picard is spraying synthetic insects on his crops since all the real ones died out in the 2020s and thus can't eat the lower life forms off the grapes.

Or then it's those property developers moving in and spraying poison there when Picard isn't looking?

Agriculture and robotics go well together in recentish scifi. Did they fly a real CL-227 in Looper? At the other end of the spectrum, Stargate's CGI giant harvesters were cool, too. There's something about the sight of metal against foliage, the purposeful movements of strange beasts in familiar landscape, that catches the eye like no Coruscant cityscape ever could. Here's hoping for lots of location shoots in PIC...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Dukhat]

How would the utilization of an "armada" work with the circumstances in which Romulus was destroyed in the 2009 movie? Was there a big evacuation before Spock mounted his ill-fated rescue mission? Or did Picard help the Star Empire cope with the aftermath of the total loss of the homeworld, either by moving folks or by defending them? I guess there's no telling even with the second or third trailer, especially if this is at the focus of the early stories...

All we know from Star Trek ‘09 was that a star went supernova at some point, which eventually threatened Romulus. We don’t know the amount of time between the stars’ explosion and the planet’s destruction. It could have been months for all we know. It probably was much sooner than that though, since the Jellyfish was the fastest ship they had, so time was obviously of the essence. But even if it was just a few days, Picard still could have had plenty of time to assemble a rescue fleet and retrieve as many Romulans as possible as a precautionary measure in case Spock’s plan didn’t work.

 

[XCV330]

All we know from Star Trek ‘09 was that a star went supernova at some point, which eventually threatened Romulus. We don’t know the amount of time between the stars’ explosion and the planet’s destruction. It could have been months for all we know. It probably was much sooner than that though, since the Jellyfish was the fastest ship they had, so time was obviously of the essence. But even if it was just a few days, Picard still could have had plenty of time to assemble a rescue fleet and retrieve as many Romulans as possible as a precautionary measure in case Spock’s plan didn’t work.

this makes the most sense, i think.

 

[Timo]

Alas, I don't. If the star had already exploded when Spock set sail for it, or when he was en route but with days to go, our hero would be an idiot for embarking on the trip that was doomed to fail - that is, he could calculate down to the millisecond when Romulus would be lost and when he himself would be in a position to do something about it, and thus would have no business flying to Romulus since obviously the latter would be later than the former.

Instead, he should fly to some more ideal spot for the shockwave-stopping or explosion-reversing mission (which apparently involves dropping Red Matter directly into the shockwave, after which a helpful effect of some sort propagates along the wavefront). But he still flies straight to Romulus, which we can tell because that's where he meets Nero, right next to the timehole he had created.

That Spock flies to Romulus at all suggests that the timing of the explosion takes him by surprise, fairly late in the game. Which can happen either when the homestar blows right next to Romulus, or when Hobus blows but the wave moves superfast. But there we run into the visual evidence of the wave not being particularly fast and the star in fact being close to Romulus.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ronald Held]

A subspace component to the explosion could make the evacuation time arbitrarily short. Besides, with only days how many ships would be close enough, a few? Maybe get to save thousands?

 

[Dukhat]

Here are the relevant quotes from the film.

One hundred twenty-nine years from now, a star will explode, and threaten to destroy the galaxy...

The star went supernova, consuming everything in its path. I promised the Romulans that I would save their planet...

We outfitted our fastest ship...

Using red matter, I would create a black hole, which would absorb the exploding star...

I was en route, when the unthinkable happened. The supernova destroyed Romulus...

I had little time. I had to extract the red matter, and shoot it into the supernova...

As I began my return trip, I was intercepted.

So:

1. A star (not Romulus's home star, or Spock would have been more specific about that, and the fact that if their star exploded, Romulus would have been instantly destroyed) went supernova.

2. "Threaten to destroy the galaxy" is just an absurd and nonsensical statement that's only meant to heighten the drama of the scene.

3. The star was at least close enough to Romulus that the Romulans felt threatened by its destruction and at least had time to contact Spock in person. They also had time to wait around while the Vulcans 'outfitted' the Jellyfish (and we have no idea how long this 'outfitting' took). I'm assuming that STP will show that there was also enough time for Picard to gather his rescue fleet together.

4. Spock was on route to the supernova when it destroyed Romulus. I'm assuming that the rescue fleet was already in the process of evacuating people when the planet was destroyed. Spock then halted the supernova with the red matter. What happened to the rescue fleet, we will obviously find out.

 

[Timo]

Alternately,

1) Any star is allowed, including the one shown, that is, the homestar. The big problem there is, if a black hole is to absorb the Romulan homestar, what next? (Possibly enter Picard!)

2) Yes, the threat is there for drama - Spock wants to make the loss of the Romulan Star Empire sound dramatic. For all we know, in PIC the galaxy is still in the process of being destroyed (isn't it always?) as the result of the loss of RSE, and PIC is all about our rogue diplomat and his posse trying to hold it together against this destruction.

3) The Romulans don't "contact" Spock, and have no time to "do" anything, as there is no indication of either of these things happening. The Romulans are simply taken by surprise, perhaps despite Spock's warnings that something is about to happen. But Spock prepares (including "outfitting") well in advance, and indeed intends to act in advance, because there'd be little point in acting afterwards. It's just that he's too late. And he only finds this out after already having started his trip towards the threat star, as stated - a done deal could not be "unthinkable" to our rational Vulcan.

4) There was no rescue fleet visible or mentioned, so possibly not in existence - or Nero would have blamed the fleet for the death of his wife. That he blames Spock means either that Spock was the only potential agent of salvation and is to be blamed for his failure, or that Spock was the only one around at all and thus the natural suspect for all evil transpiring. The presence of Picard would undermine that.

Only the fourth point sets limitations for PIC. And the show is going to acknowledge the 2009 movie at some level anyway, so it might just as well steer around the issue of Spock being central to the events there, giving that hero the breathing room he needs and shunting Picard's contribution elsewhere. After all, we still lack exact timing cues for Picard's role.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Dukhat]

1. Highly doubtful that Romulus's home star exploded, since the Romulans would have had no time at all to do much of anything before they were all dead (see next).

3. Well, that's semantics. Somebody contacted somebody, whether it was the Romulans contacting Spock, or vice versa. Either way, that's not the point. The point is that there was plenty of time for both a dialogue and time to outfit the Jellyfish, and as we will probably see in STP, time enough for Picard to assemble his rescue fleet.

4. There was no rescue fleet seen or mentioned in the film. However, as I said above, STP will most likely show that there was. Also, how do we know that Nero didn't blame Picard as well as Spock? But it's not like he had the means to exact revenge on Picard, seeing as how Nero was now 150 years in the past.

 

[DSG2k]

...For all we know, Picard is spraying synthetic insects on his crops since all the real ones died out in the 2020s

"You've got leaf miners. You might want to use a bacillus spray."

- Geordi, All Good Things

 

[Timo]

1. Highly doubtful that Romulus's home star exploded, since the Romulans would have had no time at all to do much of anything before they were all dead (see next).

That's sorta my point, too. If the Romulans really had time to act, this would have implications - chiefly on Nero, but also on Spock. Assuming the entire kaboom or at least its timing was a nasty surprise to the people involved is just the way of the least resistance. Alas, that way may be blocked by PIC soon. But hopefully a new one will be blasted open with some clever writing.

If there's this two-pronged rescue mission, it's all about timing. Was Picard's fleet wiped out right after beaming folks up from Romulus, thus meeting both the bit where he gives hope to the narrator and where he dismally fails at something? Spock could omit that bit from his own narrative for brevity. But again this would have to be a surprise, a kaboom that happens mere minutes before it devastates Romulus and the fleet, or else our heroes look like utter idiots for not paying attention to a wave of destruction approaching from afar. If Picard allowed his fleet to die because he trusted Spock to stop a wave he had been monitoring for the past three hours, both men should be executed for capital stupidity. If OTOH the star right next to them blew on their faces three days before the due date, then it's all right.

As matters currently stand, a scenario where 1) Spock and Picard have a timetable for an evacuation but 2) Romulus is sceptical and split on whether there's gonna be a kaboom at all and 3) Spock's timetable is actually all wrong fits all the facts. Spock justly takes blame for screwing it up, but the supposed Romulan lady in the trailer apologizes to Picard for the Romulans dragging their feet (because they don't think the danger is real, because it hasn't materialized yet, because nothing has exploded so far) so much that an evacuation that should already have been completed was caught in the blast and lost.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[calamity_si]

Confirmed! New Picard series cadet uniforms!

 

[F. King Daniel]

Confirmed! New Picard series cadet uniforms!

Isn't that your fanpage logo in the corner? Not exactly confirmed...

Nice art, though.

 

[calamity_si]

Isn't that your fanpage logo in the corner? Not exactly confirmed...

Nice art, though.

It is confirmed. As I said, it was created from leaked footage. So the image depicted here is going to feature in at least some scenes of the Picard series. Hence confirmed.

 

[Dukhat]

Hence confirmed.

If you mean "confirmed that it's your artwork that's based on leaked footage and photos but not 100% correct and not 100% confirmed that they're actually cadet uniforms," then yes, it's confirmed.

But nice artwork anyway

 

[calamity_si]

If you mean "confirmed that it's your artwork that's based on leaked footage and photos but not 100% correct and not 100% confirmed that they're actually cadet uniforms," then yes, it's confirmed.

But nice artwork anyway

Yes. Thank you for the confirmation of my confirmation of the confirmation.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Sooo... how do we know they’re cadet uniforms?

Mark

 

[DEWLine]

We don't.

 

[David cgc]

Oh, so it was just a typo. "Confirmed, new Picard series! Cadet uniforms?"

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

EDIT: It's been mentioned another thread was started. I'd already written this up, so nyeh.

Damn, they did the right thing by concealing so much about the plot and casting until now - great surprises in that trailer! Tech notes follow:

Trailer here:

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"The Jean-Luc Picard Experience" here: http://www.treknews.net/2019/07/19/star-trek-picard-gallery-museum-sdcc/

- We're led to believe that quite a bit of Data has survived the destruction of the Scimitar, despite him being literally at the center of the explosion. But if so much of him survived, why wouldn't all the Fleet's horses and men try Humpty-Dumpty-ing him back together again? Otherwise, maybe that's B-4 or even Lore in the drawers?

- We're assuming Picard is wearing the last combadge he was ever issued, so it's commensurate with the end of the TNG era as we saw it and before whatever uniforms and badges they're wearing these days. Thing is, it IS a Starfleet-issue piece of equipment, and more than once, someone has resigned their commission by removing the badge (symbolically or not). Is this a keepsake? A fake?

- While Admiral's uniforms have always had a different look to any other TNG uniforms of the day, this one's lokos even less congruent than average. It maintains the First Contact uniforms' black and grey motif for starters, and the red neck piece is decidedly more casual than most necklines we've seen to date. The cut of the uniform's pattern is also weird - we can't see the whole thing from the angle we were presented, but there may be a solid shape or piece protruding off-centre from the front? At least the rank insignia seems to be familiar pips-in-a-box and the combadge is there too.

- Check out the LCARS evolution seen on the back wall of the Admiral's office. Assuming it's the latest OS, lots of dead space there. Less busy - and actually I kinda like it.

- Romulans are prison guards of a facility that was a Borg Cube?! Now THERE's a bunch of words I'd never expected to string together. And was there seriously a danger of people being assimilated if they weren't practicing proper workplace safety?!

- 5843 days is a little over 16 years, which means that a significant Borg event likely took place after Picard left Starfleet. For shame, Borg! Doing something when your biggest fan wasn't around to stop you! Guess Janeway would have to step in.

- Finally, transporter booths that people simply walk through! Been wondering why this hasn't been more prevalent yet. This particular shot seems to be around SFHQ, so it might be a closed-circuit system in play between various facilities on Earth or even in the solar system (or known Fleet facilities light years away, if Transwarp beaming is a proper thing decades after the TNG era made it something that was possible). Probably not starships though.

- The Romulans are visually about what they looked like in the JJ-verse.

- The "Data" in the sting scene is wearing what looks to be a First Contact uniform, or close to it. It's not whatever anyone else is wearing though.I'm calling it: holo Data from before he died, playing Picard at cards as the latter reminisces over a lost friend.

Mark

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Additional from the SDCC "museum", keeping in mind that canonicity of much of this is questionable as we don't know if a lot of this stuff shows up in STP and in what context. Still, it's a remarkable amount of care and research going into all the details!

- There's an award of some sort for Picard's participation at some sort of planetary or astronomical fundraising event in 2360. First off, FUND-raising? And secondly, is this possibly the first oblique reference of Picard doing ANYTHING in the years between the Stargazer court martial and his taking command of the Enterprise?

- Vulcan awarded him the "Crysrtal Planet Award" for his role in negotiations in 2386. Oddly, the planet atop the award is ol' blue Earth.

- While not a to-the-pixel replica of the Picard Day banner from "Pegasus", said banner does have all the signatures from that year's event in almost the right places. Maybe from a different year..?

-Jack Crusher's poorly-photoshopped picture with his CO has a full commander's pips, though the caption next to it has him at a Lt. Commander's rank.

- There's a picture of kid-aged Robert and JL at the family vineyard. Little do we realize it was taken just after Robert stole his brother's Art Asylum model of the NX-01 and is smiling just as the younger Picard is starting to cry. Jean-Luc had a mean upbringing.

Mark