Sulu: "She's supposed to have transwarp drive"

[Pauln6]

It would have made more sense if he was going to be first officer but let's not forget Scotty was made captain of engineering with no briefing on transwarp either. It's possible that the top secret nature of the project meant that crew only got briefed after being in post.

 

[Oddish]

If transwarp drive was in experimental stages in the 2270's, it was probably a thing by the 2370's. They just called it warp drive. Maybe it was due to faster acceleration, or more efficiency, rather than a major speed boost.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Scotty was always reading his technical manuals. I'm sure he was up to speed on transwarp theory, although obviously not a 'believer.' "Aye, and if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon!"

 

[JonnyQuest037]

let's not forget Scotty was made captain of engineering with no briefing on transwarp either.

Why are you assuming he didn't receive briefing offscreen?

 

[Pauln6]

Why are you assuming he didn't receive briefing offscreen?

Scotty knew nothing about his transfer until he was told with a day's notice and was very sceptical of the project before then so it didn't sound like he had prior knowledge. He would likely have had some kind of briefing after appointment but the deleted line in STII was that Sulu would have his own command by the end of the month, perhaps for the Excelsior shakedown cruise, based on STIII. Maybe the briefing would have been given beforehand but not necessarily a month beforehand.

It is weird that they didn't post both Sulu and Scotty to Excelsior given the original plan for the character.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but the idea of the "transwarp drive" is a fairly large continuity gaffe. It was first introduced in "Star Trek III", which Scotty famously sabotaged, and was then later seen in both "TNG" and "Voyager". But each time, it was almost presented as if no previous version of it had been invented or depicted before.

 

[fireproof78]

Scotty knew nothing about his transfer until he was told with a day's notice and was very sceptical of the project before then so it didn't sound like he had prior knowledge.

Probably briefed once transfer was completed.

 

[FormerLurker]

The only plothole that's ever bothered me about STIII is how Stiles knew Kirk was in charge of stealing the Enterprise. Starfleet Command has no reason to tell him about Kirk wanting to go back to Genesis; it's not his business.

 

[tharpdevenport]

And another "or maybe":

Or maybe the transwarp drive did fail/or was impractical. Warp engines were refined and higher speeds were possible, necessitating a warp scale re-draw. Reasoning: The Enterprise (no bloody A, B, C, D, E, of bloody F) when at warp nine or faster, yet barely took it, but by ST: TNG times 9.9 was possible, but drained the ship at after a few hours of that that, it had to power down and re-charge. Warp ten, according to that awful episode of Voyager, you are going so fast that hypothetically you would occupy every point of the universe at the same time, which that would not possible from a simple TOS speed change from warp 9 to a TNG 9.9, the scale would HAVE to have been re-drawn.

This would also account for the alternate future from "All Good Things..." where the re-fit Enterprise is ordered over warp 13. Warp 13 by the warp scale still in use in Voyager, would means something beyond all structural limitations and beyond occupying every point of the universe at the same time. That's just absurd. Starfleet would be made up entirely of salamander babies. Just think of all them murdering Janeway would have to do.

It's just an unspoken on screen given that transwarp failed and warp scales were re-drawn.

It's also possible said improvements in warp speed, were nearly or were equivalent to the new capabilities of warp technology, making it redundant and pointless to re-fit ships and have two systems going at the same time (pre-existing warp speed ships, and new ships with transwarp).

 

[C.E. Evans]

The only plothole that's ever bothered me about STIII is how Stiles knew Kirk was in charge of stealing the Enterprise. Starfleet Command has no reason to tell him about Kirk wanting to go back to Genesis; it's not his business.

I think Styles just used common sense or intuition. Who else would steal the Enterprise right out of Spacedock other than the person most associated with it at the time? Especially if that person had a certain...reputation for bold acts. If Styles guessed wrong, then he simply would have been wrong, but he wasn't, IMO.

 

[JoseNoodles]

Well it was apparently never tested. Starfleet invested a fortune in an all new class of ship to power this amazing transwarp drive and... it didn't work?

Like, no prototypes or proof of concept tests. Just a giant super star ship.

"It'll work bro, trust me."

"Like dude, my dad owns a dealership. Trust me on this transwarp stuff, browski."

 

[ZapBrannigan]

AFAIK, that's still just fanon, but it's as good an explanation as any, and it would work for me.

TNG's recalibrated warp scale is canon, not fanon.

The proof: Nomad's energy bolts came in at "warp 15." But in "Encounter at Farpoint," even Q himself could not reach warp 10, because the new scale is a logarithmic, asymptotic curve in which 10 represents infinity. Or Q was toying with us, and the Enterprise-D could not reach warp 10, despite 100 years of improvements. Still a pretty strong argument.

I'm not sure how to interpret "Threshold." Mabye Voyager just chewed the pooch with that one.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

TNG's recalibrated warp scale is canon, not fanon.

The proof: Nomad's energy bolts came in at "warp 15." But in "Encounter at Farpoint," even Q himself could not reach warp 10, because the new scale is a logarithmic, asymptotic curve in which 10 represents infinity. Or Q was toying with us, and the Enterprise-D could not reach warp 10, despite 100 years of improvements. Still a pretty strong argument.

I'm not sure how to interpret "Threshold." Mabye Voyager just chewed the pooch with that one.

Of course TNG's warp scale is canon, as are the existence of differences between TOS's and TNG's.

The statement I made was regarding WHY it was recalibrated in-universe.

 

[Ssosmcin]

The only plothole that's ever bothered me about STIII is how Stiles knew Kirk was in charge of stealing the Enterprise. Starfleet Command has no reason to tell him about Kirk wanting to go back to Genesis; it's not his business.

"Commander Starfleet" - Morrow who just ordered but didn't actually drink with Kirk while discussing taking the Enterprise back to Genesis - hailed the Enterprise, which Chekov told Kirk about. Kirk didn't have Chekov reply, but no doubt Morrow had put two and two together and called Excelsior to intercept.

And Uhura probably didn't lock Mr. Adventure in the closet while he starved to death. She left the transporter, he promptly got out and alerted security. And Mr. Adventure DID recognize Kirk.

 

[Dukhat]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but the idea of the "transwarp drive" is a fairly large continuity gaffe. It was first introduced in "Star Trek III", which Scotty famously sabotaged, and was then later seen in both "TNG" and "Voyager". But each time, it was almost presented as if no previous version of it had been invented or depicted before.

Not really. There's a difference between 'transwarp drive' and a 'transwarp conduit,' which is what the Borg et. al used. The former seemed to just be an enhancement to regular warp drive; the other seems to be a wormhole-like passage. Two different means of travel that coincidentally share a similar name.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I don’t really know what recalibrating the warp scale actually means.
You can measure your speed increase in a linear fashion, but then your power consumption will definitely not be linear.
Or you can measure your power consumption as linear and then your speed increase will not be linear.

Or neither.
I’ve seen a graph at some point that shows each warp factor as a huge peak in the graph. When you pass it, power consumption falls off greatly and then increases steeply again when approaching then next warp factor. But each warp factor peak has then a significantly higher peak.
I don’t know how realistic this is, but it seems the most interesting to me.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think recalibrating the warp scale is generally a means of simplification. Someone decided that something like Warp 187.234 was too cumbersome and redrew the scale so that Warp 10 was an absolute value and anything beyond Warp 9 would be approaching ludicrous speed and be more than fast enough for our heroes to get anywhere they needed to be to save the day, IMO.

 

[FormerLurker]

"Commander Starfleet" - Morrow who just ordered but didn't actually drink with Kirk while discussing taking the Enterprise back to Genesis - hailed the Enterprise, which Chekov told Kirk about. Kirk didn't have Chekov reply, but no doubt Morrow had put two and two together and called Excelsior to intercept.

We heard every word that was spoken to Stiles regarding that: "Sir, someone is stealing the Enterprise!" No one on the bridge told him it was Kirk when he got there. Stiles was too vain to have called for clarification in between. So when exactly did he hear it was Kirk?

And Uhura probably didn't lock Mr. Adventure in the closet while he starved to death. She left the transporter, he promptly got out and alerted security. And Mr. Adventure DID recognize Kirk.

She locked him in. Once the plot went into effect, and McCoy was broken out, all Enterprise personnel were pursued. Security sent to the transporter found Mr. Adventure after the fact. Of course he recognized Kirk, Kirk spoke at his commencement the previous spring.

 

[Ssosmcin]

We heard every word that was spoken to Stiles regarding that: "Sir, someone is stealing the Enterprise!" No one on the bridge told him it was Kirk when he got there. Stiles was too vain to have called for clarification in between. So when exactly did he hear it was Kirk?

From the moment he rose form his cot to the time he exited the turbolift, anything could have happened. Stiles could have heard from the bridge with a follow up. And really, was Stiles actually too vain to get full information? He was probably hoping it was Kirk just for the opportunity to take him down a peg. It's well within reason to think he'd try to find out.

She locked him in.

There is no indication that she locked the door. She threatened him with a phaser and he obediently sat in the closet until...later.

 

[FormerLurker]

There is no indication that she locked the door. She threatened him with a phaser and he obediently sat in the closet until...later.

This is one of those instances where headcanon is based on the novelization and/or earlier script drafts, which state that she locked him in so that when she beamed out he couldn't immediately call Starfleet Command and inform them the plot was afoot. If he had, Excelsior would have been able to keep Enterprise from leaving Spacedock rather than having to pursue.