Then how did she escape to Vulcan?
Sulu: "She's supposed to have transwarp drive"
- Thread starter Shat Happens
- Start date
The warp speed changes are documented in the TNG Writers' Bible, so more than "fanon", since it comes from the creators themselves.
It's in the novelisation, IIRC.
Once again, what I called fanon was not that the changes occurred, but ascribing the Excelsior experiment as the reason why they occurred.
Again, it's fanon that I wouldn't have a problem with.
Last edited:
The original plan -- for ST II -- was simply to throw a bone to George Takei, who was very reluctant about doing ST II if Sulu had nothing exciting to do. Of course, the line about promotion to captain didn't end up in the final film. Similarly, the encounter with an ancestor in 20th century San Francisco, in ST IV, was also a thrown bone to keep George interested, but one which also didn't end up in the final film.
According to the supporting cast, they thought of each Trek movie as "probably the last time we'll work together on Star Trek". Sulu on the Excelsior bridge in ST III wouldn't work, since Captain Stiles was being used as an antagonist.
I disagree. I think Sulu on the Excelsior could have worked really well.
Sulu receives orders from Harry Morrow to stop Kirk, but the ship conks out because of Scotty's sabotage. But they're able to repair the ship and follow Enterprise to Genesis. When the Excelsior arrives, the planet is in its death throes. The Klingon Bird-of-Prey attacks, and the Excelsior dispatches her easily. They find lifesigns on the planet, and start beaming people up--it's the Enterprise crew! Sulu has his orders, but when he sees that Spock is alive and Kirk pleads with him, he orders Excelsior to Vulcan.
It's basically the same Sulu subplot from Star Trek VI, now that I think about it, but there's no reason why it couldn't have worked in III. And maybe there was some way of keeping "I... Have had... Enough... Of... You!"
Judging by its Security Division, Starfleet doesn't exactly have it together.
The other thing that bothered me was Scott being made the captain of Engineering on an experimental craft.
As others have pointed out, and is even alluded to in the film, Mr Scott is something of a technical wizard. Suffice to say he'd likely been writing papers on Transwarp theory, been involved heavily with various SCE technical subcommittees, and possibly even had a hand in earlier the development of earlier prototypes, before someone decided to throw the whole thing into that bucket of bolts.
I disagree. I think Sulu on the Excelsior could have worked really well.
Sulu receives orders from Harry Morrow to stop Kirk, but the ship conks out because of Scotty's sabotage. But they're able to repair the ship and follow Enterprise to Genesis. When the Excelsior arrives, the planet is in its death throes. The Klingon Bird-of-Prey attacks, and the Excelsior dispatches her easily. They find lifesigns on the planet, and start beaming people up--it's the Enterprise crew! Sulu has his orders, but when he sees that Spock is alive and Kirk pleads with him, he orders Excelsior to Vulcan.
It's basically the same Sulu subplot from Star Trek VI, now that I think about it, but there's no reason why it couldn't have worked in III. And maybe there was some way of keeping "I... Have had... Enough... Of... You!"
That would throw a real wrench into TVH....
Not insurmountable though. Styles could have been Sulu's first officer. A brief establishing scene with Sulu, Scotty, and Styles could have set the dynamic giving Sulu and Scotty a moment to reflect on where their loyalties lie. He could have joined Scotty in beaming out, or Rand could have beamed them out and worked to wipe the transporter log. Excelsior could even have turned up at Genesis at the end and Sulu could have ended up on the Bounty for reasons.That would throw a real wrench into TVH....
I wish that the TOS supporting crew had been given more to do outside their classic TOS roles.
Uhura's scene in STIII was great but it would have been better if she had been given a couple of lines after the others beamed out to show her real purpose to interfere with the security response and then escape to the Vulcan embassy. Uhura's fate was superfluous and assumed.
There were vague plans to consider using Chapel or even Rand as an aide to Morrow that could have been nice, showing that others were lobbying for Kirk. Additional scenes by characters costs more money though. Nimoy had to work to get Grace her (presumably fairly cheap as she had no lines) post-production cameo and it's a lovely homage to the fans.
^The OP stipulated that Excelsior would destroy the Klingon BOP, so in this scenario there wouldn't be a Bounty in TVH. You're substituting the scenario as presented with one of your own.
I agree that leaving Uhura's fate hanging was an odd choice, and I'm glad the far-superior novelization cleared that up.
I liked Grace's cameo. I feel as though having her as an aide to Morrow assisting in the plot might have been stacking the deck a bit too much in favor of Our Heroes. As it is there are reasonable arguments that they steal the Enterprise a bit too easily.
I agree that leaving Uhura's fate hanging was an odd choice, and I'm glad the far-superior novelization cleared that up.
I liked Grace's cameo. I feel as though having her as an aide to Morrow assisting in the plot might have been stacking the deck a bit too much in favor of Our Heroes. As it is there are reasonable arguments that they steal the Enterprise a bit too easily.
I'm currently watching Mission Impossible on Legend and there were easily more ways that other characters doing their bit could have made the theft of the Enterprise more realistic. Chapel using medical credentials to get Kirk in to see McCoy or using one of her trademarked hyposprays on the guard if Sulu was busy on Excelsior. As I said, Rand working or 'accidentally' preventing Excelsior's transporters from sending in a security team could have made Federation security look less like a joke.
There are lots of classic story tropes that could have worked at the planet. If Excelsior turned up while the BoP was cloaked, they may not have known what was going on or the ship could have suffered damage from the planetary break-up. Sulu could have beamed down to the planet just as the final fight was going concluding, and beamed Saavik to Excelsior. Maltz could have been expecting 3 to beam up. Lots of different possible variations.
You could have had a stand off where Sulu on the BoP asks Styles to stand down and he chooses to to let the BoP escape to Vulcan. Who knows if it would have been more compelling but it would certainly have been possible for Excelsior to get to Genesis shortly after the Enterprise. The Mutara sector was a long way away. Plenty of time to catch up.
True, and if Excelsior flies in to save the day against a bunch of renegade Klingons, that also steals a chunk of the thunder from STVI.
There is some irony to the idea that there's a timeline in which Our Heroes time travel back in Excelsior, but because they're flying back with a full crew in a top of the line starship instead of in a bucket of bolts with a very small number of people, they end up contaminating the timeline and things end up worse than they already were.
Honestly, they should have kept that in. Sulu should have had a new ship.
Yeah, that's what I've always wondered.
Scotty may have inadvertently saved the lives of everyone on the ship!
