Star Trek: Countdown #1 early review - MASSIVE SPOILERS!
- Thread starter JD
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Actually that's unclear. The stardate suggests 2387, but stardates are often unreliable, and Spock's dialogue suggests a date some 40 years after "Unification," which would be c. 2408 -- which, I believe, is the same timeframe as Star Trek Online. Also, the degree of change portrayed in UFP/Romulan relations suggests that rather more than 8 years have passed since NEM.
Hopefully later issues will make this clear.
I agree, Christopher. The stardate clearly indicates 2387, which would roughly fit with Orci and Kurtzman's statements that it takes place "a few years after Nemesis." However, Orci and Kurtzman are not the actual writers of Countdown, they simply provided the general story and the script was written by others. I'm willing to bet that they missed a memo, or something, and felt it was a good idea to tie it in with Star Trek Online, thus the uniform, the political change, and Spock's reference to "Romulus, my home for forty years."
It's the only explanation that makes sense to me. Kurtzman and Orci had one thing in mind, and there wasn't sufficient communication with IDW, and thus we have serious dating snafu.
^^I wouldn't call it serious. Stardates are such a vague, problematical, and often contradictory dating system that it's generally best just to treat the numbers as placeholders with no real meaning. If the stardate says one thing and the story says another, just ignore the stardate or substitute a better number in your mind.
But the problem is that everyone is assuming that it's 2387 - because the stardate is "concrete" and it fits with what Orci and Kurtzman said. In reality, the story works much better, and is obviously intended to be, set circa 2408.
good 1st part. but the story is too short bye
If that is indeed the intention, then I hope, for heaven's sake, that it becomes clear that the stardate is the typo, not the other references, or else people's placement of this story - and possibly the "future" from whence Spock comes in the new film - will be totally out of whack. Either way, clarity is needed, and IDW needs to set the record straight.
IMO, the comic being in 2408 would make more sense, and here's why...
The 100th episode of Voyager, Timeless, features a story where Chakotay and Kim made it to Earth in the slipstream drive while everyone else on Voyager didn't. When they cut to the future we see Captain LaForge on the Challenger, and that is supposed to take place in 2390, just three years after when we assume due to the stardate, this comic happens. According to the episode, in 2390 Starfleet is still using the FC uniforms, but they have the new style communicator from 'All Good Things..." & "Endgame". If this comic took place in 2408, it could explain why the uniforms are more in tune with the online game's uni's, and why they have moved past the "future" communicators. The whole living on Romulus for 40 years (2408-2368=40
) would make more sense as well. Agree?Disagree?
The 100th episode of Voyager, Timeless, features a story where Chakotay and Kim made it to Earth in the slipstream drive while everyone else on Voyager didn't. When they cut to the future we see Captain LaForge on the Challenger, and that is supposed to take place in 2390, just three years after when we assume due to the stardate, this comic happens. According to the episode, in 2390 Starfleet is still using the FC uniforms, but they have the new style communicator from 'All Good Things..." & "Endgame". If this comic took place in 2408, it could explain why the uniforms are more in tune with the online game's uni's, and why they have moved past the "future" communicators. The whole living on Romulus for 40 years (2408-2368=40
) would make more sense as well. Agree?Disagree?
I think declaring that IDW has fouled up and needs to set the record straight is a bit bizarre when we've only seen one-fourth of the story so far. Maybe we should let it play out first and get more information?
No, "everyone" is not assuming that. I've read at least one online review (probably at AICN) where the reviewer didn't even acknowledge the stardate and drew his conclusions solely from Spock's dialogue. Remember, most people aren't Trek-trivia-savvy enough to be able to compute a calendar date from a stardate.
And what statement of O & K does the stardate fit with?
Anyway, we only have one issue so far. There are three more to go, and they will probably clarify the chronology. So it's premature to react to this as though it were some huge problem.
Now you're just making with the crazy talk.
I guess it's all moot until we get the rest of the issues. Waiting...waiting...waiting...
They've said in interviews with TrekMovie.com and in other places that Nimoy-Spock comes from a time "a few years after Nemesis, and that Countdown takes place "a few years after Nemesis." 2387 qualifies, which is probably their intention; but the issue's writers thought it was supposed to be later.
You're right, it's prematrue to say this is a charlie foxtrot, but unless it's made clear in the subsequent issues, it's going to cause confusion.
I don't think it's a "Charlie Foxtrot" at all, TJ. The forty years works, if you're counting from Vulcan's Heart, which is when Spock became embroiled in internal Romulan politics.
I don't think it's a "Charlie Foxtrot" at all, TJ. The forty years works, if you're counting from Vulcan's Heart, which is when Spock became embroiled in internal Romulan politics.
But that's not what he says, Allyn. Have you read the issue, or are you going off what others have said?
Spock says "Romulus. My home for the last forty years." He says he's lived on Romulus for that long, not that's when he first came there. He then goes on to specifically reference the Unification movement. The implication is that - allowing for brief sojourns offworld to deal with crises, etc - Spock has lived on Romulus since "Unification."
Alternate timelines are an unreliable indicator, as (by contrast) Nog was still wearing the TNG-era uniform (with TNG-movie-era commbadge) in the 2390-ish timeframe from "The Visitor"...
Still, I hope the "All Good Things..." uniforms aren't going to be "overwritten" as stories move their way forward in time. I like those uniforms, and their multiple appearances in the overall timeframe we're talking about (again, according to "The Visitor," lasting into the 2420's) have made me think of them as "the" Starfleet uniforms of that era.
I'm sure that future issues of the comic and/or the movie itself will clarify the timeline issue once and for all.
I haven't received my copy of Countdown #1 yet, no. So I'm not going by what others have said; when the "forty years" bit was mentioned a few pages back, I suggested the very idea then.But that's not what he says, Allyn. Have you read the issue, or are you going off what others have said?I don't think it's a "Charlie Foxtrot" at all, TJ. The forty years works, if you're counting from Vulcan's Heart, which is when Spock became embroiled in internal Romulan politics.
Again, I've not read the issue yet, but based on what you've said, I honestly see the wiggle room for my interpretation.
I doubt strenuously that Spock had any permanent abode, but events of Vulcan's Heart, "Unification," and Crossover all showed Spock that he had more in common with Romulus than with Vulcan, that he could make more of a difference on Romulus than he could on Vulcan.
Again, I've not read the issue yet. A little later today, I will. That said, I will keep an open mind.
But we know fairly conclusively that Spock didn't move to Romulus until 2368. He "tied up his affairs on Vulcan and left." Starfleet Command was shocked when he showed up on Romulus, and were concerned that he had defected. If he'd considered Romulus his "home" for twenty years prior to that, then many things in "Unification" would have been different.
Again, I've not read the issue yet. A little later today, I will. That said, I will keep an open mind.
As will I, until more data arrives.
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