Spoilers Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and the Novels
- Thread starter David cgc
- Start date
Wasn't Sisko's return in the novelverse given the same "deadbeat dad" reaction and so much scorn that DRG3 left the site?
Eventually, yes, but there were a few years there where it looked like it was going somewhere else. And then it did go somewhere else. But that part in the middle… woof.
I thought his return to civilian life in "Endgame" made sense for him. His heart was always on Earth. It's easy to see him retiring to raise Miral, write holonovels, and make occasional touring appearances.
He earned his father's respect, built a family he loved, and wrote his piloting exploits into the history books. What else would he want?
You're conflating events that were years apart. Sisko's return was in Unity by S.D. Perry in 2003, and was the culmination of the "Relaunch" story arc that editor Marco Palmieri had conceived in 2001. The novels after Unity, up through 2009, showed Sisko living on Bajor with his family, fulfilling his promise to return to them. But in Typhon Pact: Rough Beasts of Empire in 2011, George and editor Margaret Clark jumped the timeline forward several years and revealed that Sisko had left his family to return to Starfleet. That was the decision that met with controversy.
Why can't Sisko just be forced to live in the wormhole forever because he's got no physical body to come back to? I don't think him sacrificing his life to stop a bunch of angry space demons doing eh something to Bajor means he's a deadbeat dad. Look he fell in a fucking chasm in the fire caves and his body was smashed to bits and set on fire! And sure he made a promise he'd come back, but maybe he couldn't follow through with it because it just wasn't possible.
Because there's a cultural stereotype of Black men abandoning their families, and Avery Brooks didn't want Sisko's fate to conform to that stereotype, so he made sure that Sisko would promise to return. The significance of fiction is about far more than just what happens within the narrative itself.
To be fair, I'm not surprised by this reaction because Ira clearly didn't intend Sisko to come back and Avery Brooks was fighting him on this. In the end, this is an unfortunate return to the creators' original plans. One I disagree with but there you go.
An in-universe handling of the memorial, though, might be that it isn't something that strictly reflects reality but is art created for the Post-Burn as a monument to the legendary status of many of these figures in Earth Isolationist culture versus something Starfleet Academy itself kept as a relic from the Before Times. Which might go on and explain why only people from the show and movies are up there and an eclectic assortment of them as well.
A thought I had was that it might be a rotating display, but the reflections of the wall off other elements in the set don't look like visual effects. On the other hand, they'd only have to show a few of the names changing to sell it.
Sure, he could retire eventually.
But LT as final rank contradicts Tom's captaincy of the USS Mercury during the Iconian War.
Honestly, it'd be funny if he never became more than a Lieutenant because:
1. He wanted to remain a test pilot
2. Unlike all other Star Trek characters but Worf, actually being demoted and having a criminal charge against him meant he was never getting promoted.
3. Paris actually retired to raise his child after the events of VOY
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The what now?
It certainly was a choice to have some major characters like Paris an Bashir stuck at the ranks we last saw them, when other characters were given higher ranks than what we saw. But I do suspect that if any future show wants to depict/reference Paris or Bashir at a higher rank, they’re not going to stop just because of a set piece on Starfleet Academy.
I am concerned, though, that it will needlessly impact any novels or comics, who may be required to be consistent with what was depicted on the wall.
Well considering the latest comic continuity was contradicted by the shows a month before it even started and they just kept rolling with it Im not sure how much itll really matter.
Oh? How so?
My dates could be mixed up so forgive me if Im mistaken but to my recollection Lower Decks revealed Sisko never returned just prior to the comics coming out. Both in 2022.
