The Great Chronological Run-Through
- Thread starter Deranged Nasat
- Start date
In that case, don't forget to include Divided We Fall, the four-issue miniseries I wrote with John Ordover, and whose story was coordinated to mesh with the DS9 post-finale books being edited at that time by Marco Palmieri.
Cool project. Aren't some of Marvel's 90s comics part of the "novelverse" due to characters introduced in the comics showing up in the novels?
And what about scenes like the stuff in the past from the Destiny trilogy? Those aren't being read when they occur?
Or how about the Eugenics Wars novels? I thought they were novelverse. Shouldn't they be read fairly early on?
And what about scenes like the stuff in the past from the Destiny trilogy? Those aren't being read when they occur?
Or how about the Eugenics Wars novels? I thought they were novelverse. Shouldn't they be read fairly early on?
The Starfleet Academy series from Marvel introduced a character who is now aboard the Titan. And that series had a major crossover with several of the other titles at the time.
I have a timeline thrown together from various sources, pre-prepared for a project like this. It won't be perfect and it will probably miss a few things others think should be on there. That's one reason I'm including a "Next Time...", so people can ask after things they think should be on there that I've managed to overlook.
Oh, yes, thanks for reminding me. Verad and his purists causing unrest on Trill. I don't think I had that on the list - I'll need to add it in.
Between Abyss and Demons of Air and Darkness?
The Columbia chapters in Gods of Night will be showing up post-Enterprise, as a coda of sorts to the era, but the rest of it will wait until I finally get up to 2381. Once Erigol goes boom, we'll leave everyone to their mysterious fate...
The Eugenics Wars will come in the 2260s, partly because those plots jump about so much that it's hard to pin them down (I'm not breaking things up until small pieces just because I can, I am going to be a bit sensible about it
), and partly because I wanted to start this with First Contact, which is where the story of Trek really begins, I think (I included a prologue/lead-in about the Third World War and the path to first contact, though).
What about when Quinn transported himself and Voyager to the moment of the Big Bang?
And what about the Mirror Universe and Myriad Universes series?
And are you counting Rihannsu, The Q Continuum, Invasion!, New Earth, and plausible pre-relaunch novels in general?
And what about the Mirror Universe and Myriad Universes series?
And are you counting Rihannsu, The Q Continuum, Invasion!, New Earth, and plausible pre-relaunch novels in general?
Well, I think that would fall within the "not sensible" category.
I'm afraid there isn't an obvious set of rules here, because it's all about my subjective judgement, but I don't want this to get silly. It's simply that approaching the Trek 'verse (that is, my preferred Trek 'verse) chronologically hopefully makes for a fresh take on some of it, and it'll be interesting to see what emerges. Sometimes - but not often - I'll have single chapters or other small parts in isolation, like with part two of The Sundered, but only if they're self-contained enough that it works, that it's still satisfying to read (and I'm certainly not chopping up TV episodes or films!) This is me approaching the chronology as a story, if that makes sense. 
They're on the list, and will be running in parallel. So we'll be popping over to the mirror universe every now and then to see what they're up to, and taking occasional trips into other timelines. The Mirror Universe at least is part of the story - it intersects with the prime universe often enough, and Enterprise had episodes set there entirely, so really they're "normal" chapters that just happen to take place elsewhere. Myriad Universes is included too, because the stories there aren't random "what ifs" (they are, of course, but bear with me
) but actual events that are "legitimately" happening...just in a different timestream. ()They're still novel-verse consistent, just detached from the main body. Sadly, no (except The Q Continuum, which I think can fit). That's no judgement on their worth, simply that I want this to be one consistent narrative, which is how I've always experienced Trek - like I say, I was introduced to the shows and the current novel continuity together, and this project is supposed to be a journey through that self-contained interpretation of Trek, in all its different facets. If I can squint a bit and make a story fit, I will, but most older novels are out (Not all; they'll be a few surprises in there!). This certainly isn't *the* Star Trek, just the one I consider my "headcanon", so to speak - hence you'll see occasional personal "retcons" and reconciliations along the lines of the canonically-mandated T'Pau one. Nothing major, just musing on how to smooth those odd bumps. Maybe I'll find my old avatar with the axe - this is my Trek, and it must all fit together!
(Seriously, please no-one take this as a judgement against all the great non-"novel 'verse" books, or think that this is anything other than a fully subjective, artificial perspective.)
^I completely understand. I myself am uncertain as to whether I want to take the time and sort out every single story for my own personal Star Trek database.
In the spirit of "continuous narrative" though, wouldn't you at least want The Pandora Principle for Saavik's background and post-TMP story, New Earth: Challenger for Gateways: Chainmail, Vendetta for Before Dishonor, etc?
In the spirit of "continuous narrative" though, wouldn't you at least want The Pandora Principle for Saavik's background and post-TMP story, New Earth: Challenger for Gateways: Chainmail, Vendetta for Before Dishonor, etc?
Saavik's background, I think, is covered well enough elsewhere (drawing on TPP, of course, but the other stories tell us what we need to know). Vendetta is on the list; there are a fair number of pre-continuity books that are, actually; those retroactively included, those that fit well enough anyway, those that can fit with a little minor fudging.
^Gotcha. One last question on this matter for now: what about all the recent stand-alone TOS novels?
I look forward to reading how this great journey is going. I'm kind of doing something similar, but different - I'm reading Trek novels by publication date. I have hundreds, filling up two bookcases, some I've read before, some I haven't. I've been reading some of the old Bantams - Spock Must Die, Spock:Messiah, the New Voyages short stories. They're fun, but shocking at times. There's especially a lot of Kirk/Spock subtext in some of the old novels that wouldn't be so blatant in modern novels. There's clearly a lot of fan fic writers going pro here, and a fairly lax editoral control. Not that I mind, I like K/S.
I've gotten sidetracked reading the early novels of Karin Slaughter (mystery/thrillers) really good, but no Trek connections, but soon I'll be reading the Phoenix duology.
I started doing this Trek lit marathon chronologically, so I did recently re-read some great newer Trek novels, Burning Dreams, a novel telling Pike's story very good, and the excellent six novel Klingon epic Errend of Fury/Vengeance by Kevin Ryan.
I've gotten sidetracked reading the early novels of Karin Slaughter (mystery/thrillers) really good, but no Trek connections, but soon I'll be reading the Phoenix duology.
I started doing this Trek lit marathon chronologically, so I did recently re-read some great newer Trek novels, Burning Dreams, a novel telling Pike's story very good, and the excellent six novel Klingon epic Errend of Fury/Vengeance by Kevin Ryan.
The Valiant, parts one and three (that is, books one and three)
It's 2069, very soon to be 2070, and Valiant has been in space since 2065. In retrospect, this is odd, that such a vessel could have been prepared and launched only two years after warp drive was proven viable. Then again, there might well have been a push to start exploring as quickly as possible - even calls (or the vaguely floated idea) to find new planets undamaged by nuclear fallout? The crew seems multinational, also a bit difficult to work with, since there's neither a global unity on Earth at the moment nor, presumably, enough of a functioning international forum to coordinate disparate national groups. Maybe the corporatists are funding these missions? Perhaps the backers of Project Phoenix had plans for expedition craft and in the aftermath of the war are contributing in more straightforwardly altruistic fashion to get things back on track?
Still, the crew, whoever they are, are in good spirits. The Humans, we must assume, are working quickly, throwing a lot of effort into the space exploration business. I suppose it makes sense, since it's not like Earth is necessarily much safer or easier to live on at the moment. Possibly they're being a little too quick to embrace interstellar travel, though, because Valiant doesn't seem to have much of a plan other than 'fly around' (presumably straight north or south, to have gotten to the barrier in only four or five years at such low warp speeds - oh, who am I kidding, pretending speed and distance is ever going to make sense in this universe?
) Still, it's all a bit odd - which can't be helped when Valiant's launch date was decided pretty much before anything else about this universe.
(Note: Friendship One probe was launched in 2067, Conestoga in 2069. Typically, it's the unmanned robot that's going to be the most successful. To make up for the lack of hapless Humans to meet with disaster, Friendship One will inspire the Uxali race to destroy themselves instead. So long as something disastrous happens to someone, the universe is satiated.)
Anyway, the ship is knocked off course and blunders through a strange barrier that its instruments can't define, and the necessary repairs are complicated by the fact that one of the crew has been enhanced by the barrier's unknown energies (space-magic, basically), and has become a superman. Strangely, the Eugenics Wars don't come up at any point. Still, there's discussion on what to do about this, and by the time compassion and respect for their crewmate/fellow being are judged to weigh less on the scale than matters of practical survival in deep space, it's too late. Like the director of Vanguard with the Nausicaans, or like the Trill when faced with the L'Dira ship, lack of preparedness and simple faith in the assumed nobility of others conspire to cause suffering. It's a hard road when you're new to space, but what else can you do? Once again, the universe is shown to be dangerous and there aren't any easy answers, not when you're this inexperienced anyway. The captain of Valiant (Carlos Tarasco, in case you're wondering) made all the right calls - caution balanced with boldness, empathy and responsibility in equal measure, willingness not to jump to conclusions - and it wasn't enough. Like Dax, though, the Valiant people did have the right idea. And they get their reward for it, most of them. Because...
The third part of the novel, very short, details the aftermath of the Valiant's destruction (Tarasco going down with the ship and the superman). The surviving crew slowly come to realize that they've been affected by the barrier too, only in a far more beneficial and subtle way. Once they all realize that everyone's similarly changed, they relax and happily settle a nearby planet together, clearly (and somewhat disturbingly) satisfied with their situation. They're no longer quite what their people would currently recognize as Human, and they're okay closing the door on Earth and embracing their new world.
Continuity:
Interestingly, sexual orientation can be determined by genetic analysis at this point.
We get confirmation of psionic abilities in Humans, apparently low-level and in a very small minority. Unfortunately, we don't have any sense of the fallout of this discovery, nor how confirmation of these abilities was made. Has this affected Earth society in any fundamental ways (or at least did it, before the war gave them other things to worry about)? Notably, one has to be tested for the ability in ways than remain unexplained; it's not there in the genes like sexual orientation. Presumably it's not well understood?
We get our first true Human colony world here, albeit another stranded offshoot. How many species go through things like this? Maybe not to the same extreme - no god-like-powers, etc. - but a situation wherein their early years as a warp power see them launching ill-planned expeditions that sometimes disappear, only for later explorers to rediscover them, finding lost outposts of their people scattered about?
The Valiant has shields, apparently, which doesn't quite track. We must assume they're referring to a different technology, a far more primitive form of protection.
Next time: "Broken Bow". Back on Earth, in the absence of god-like powers, Humanity instead relies on Faith..of the Heart.
It's 2069, very soon to be 2070, and Valiant has been in space since 2065. In retrospect, this is odd, that such a vessel could have been prepared and launched only two years after warp drive was proven viable. Then again, there might well have been a push to start exploring as quickly as possible - even calls (or the vaguely floated idea) to find new planets undamaged by nuclear fallout? The crew seems multinational, also a bit difficult to work with, since there's neither a global unity on Earth at the moment nor, presumably, enough of a functioning international forum to coordinate disparate national groups. Maybe the corporatists are funding these missions? Perhaps the backers of Project Phoenix had plans for expedition craft and in the aftermath of the war are contributing in more straightforwardly altruistic fashion to get things back on track?
Still, the crew, whoever they are, are in good spirits. The Humans, we must assume, are working quickly, throwing a lot of effort into the space exploration business. I suppose it makes sense, since it's not like Earth is necessarily much safer or easier to live on at the moment. Possibly they're being a little too quick to embrace interstellar travel, though, because Valiant doesn't seem to have much of a plan other than 'fly around' (presumably straight north or south, to have gotten to the barrier in only four or five years at such low warp speeds - oh, who am I kidding, pretending speed and distance is ever going to make sense in this universe?
) Still, it's all a bit odd - which can't be helped when Valiant's launch date was decided pretty much before anything else about this universe. (Note: Friendship One probe was launched in 2067, Conestoga in 2069. Typically, it's the unmanned robot that's going to be the most successful. To make up for the lack of hapless Humans to meet with disaster, Friendship One will inspire the Uxali race to destroy themselves instead. So long as something disastrous happens to someone, the universe is satiated.)
Anyway, the ship is knocked off course and blunders through a strange barrier that its instruments can't define, and the necessary repairs are complicated by the fact that one of the crew has been enhanced by the barrier's unknown energies (space-magic, basically), and has become a superman. Strangely, the Eugenics Wars don't come up at any point. Still, there's discussion on what to do about this, and by the time compassion and respect for their crewmate/fellow being are judged to weigh less on the scale than matters of practical survival in deep space, it's too late. Like the director of Vanguard with the Nausicaans, or like the Trill when faced with the L'Dira ship, lack of preparedness and simple faith in the assumed nobility of others conspire to cause suffering. It's a hard road when you're new to space, but what else can you do? Once again, the universe is shown to be dangerous and there aren't any easy answers, not when you're this inexperienced anyway. The captain of Valiant (Carlos Tarasco, in case you're wondering) made all the right calls - caution balanced with boldness, empathy and responsibility in equal measure, willingness not to jump to conclusions - and it wasn't enough. Like Dax, though, the Valiant people did have the right idea. And they get their reward for it, most of them. Because...
The third part of the novel, very short, details the aftermath of the Valiant's destruction (Tarasco going down with the ship and the superman). The surviving crew slowly come to realize that they've been affected by the barrier too, only in a far more beneficial and subtle way. Once they all realize that everyone's similarly changed, they relax and happily settle a nearby planet together, clearly (and somewhat disturbingly) satisfied with their situation. They're no longer quite what their people would currently recognize as Human, and they're okay closing the door on Earth and embracing their new world.
Continuity:
Interestingly, sexual orientation can be determined by genetic analysis at this point.
We get confirmation of psionic abilities in Humans, apparently low-level and in a very small minority. Unfortunately, we don't have any sense of the fallout of this discovery, nor how confirmation of these abilities was made. Has this affected Earth society in any fundamental ways (or at least did it, before the war gave them other things to worry about)? Notably, one has to be tested for the ability in ways than remain unexplained; it's not there in the genes like sexual orientation. Presumably it's not well understood?
We get our first true Human colony world here, albeit another stranded offshoot. How many species go through things like this? Maybe not to the same extreme - no god-like-powers, etc. - but a situation wherein their early years as a warp power see them launching ill-planned expeditions that sometimes disappear, only for later explorers to rediscover them, finding lost outposts of their people scattered about?
The Valiant has shields, apparently, which doesn't quite track. We must assume they're referring to a different technology, a far more primitive form of protection.
Next time: "Broken Bow". Back on Earth, in the absence of god-like powers, Humanity instead relies on Faith..of the Heart.
I always hated the decision of the Okuda Chronology to put the Valiant's launch date in 2065. That book was too rigid about insisting that every reference to "200 years" or any round number like that had to be exactly 200 years plus or minus zero, rather than assuming they were just rounded off. (Except in the case of TWOK, where they increased the stated 15-year interval to 18 years for reasons that remain unclear.) It makes no sense at all for the Valiant's flight to be that early. They should've treated the "200 years" from the second pilot as a rough estimate, made it more like 180 years prior.
For that matter, there's no way to reconcile the Valiant with what we know from Enterprise. NX-01 was said to be the first Earth ship ever to make it even 90 light-years from Earth. Also, it was the first ship to travel at more than warp one-point-something. Now, the nearest edge of the galactic disk is something like 500 light years away. If we go by the TOS cube-of-the-warp-factor scale, then warp 1.7, say, would be about five times the speed of light, and it'd take 100 years to get to the rim. If it had been launched so soon after Cochrane's first flight, it would've probably been more like warp 1.2, and would've needed nearly 300 years to get to the rim -- in other words, it wouldn't have even reached there by the time the Enterprise showed up in "Where No Man."
I suppose, though, that this could be reconciled if we assume the Valiant was caught in one of the many space warps that seemed to hover around local space in the 20th-21st centuries -- maybe the "magnetic space storm" mentioned in the log buoy -- and believed by Earth authorities to have been destroyed less than 90 light-years from Earth.
The novel's depiction of the Valiant is problematical as well. It's too much like a 23rd or 24th-century Starfleet vessel -- a crew of eighty, at least seven decks, lifts, deflector shields (which we now know it couldn't have had that early), ops officers, security guards, an electroplasma system, the works. The only concessions to the earlier era are the weapons: lasers and atomic missiles. Even when the book first came out, I couldn't believe something so advanced could be launched just four years after Cochrane's first prototype (remember, the original Chronology put that in 2061, before FC bumped it to '63 and made the '65 date for the Valiant even more ludicrous). But it's impossible to reconcile with Enterprise, since NX-01 also has seven decks and a crew of 85, and it's supposed to be a quantum leap beyond anything Earth had previously achieved.
As for sexual orientation being determinable by genetic analysis, that's unlikely, since current thinking is that it's shaped more by epigenetic and developmental factors. (Prenatal development, that is.)
For that matter, there's no way to reconcile the Valiant with what we know from Enterprise. NX-01 was said to be the first Earth ship ever to make it even 90 light-years from Earth. Also, it was the first ship to travel at more than warp one-point-something. Now, the nearest edge of the galactic disk is something like 500 light years away. If we go by the TOS cube-of-the-warp-factor scale, then warp 1.7, say, would be about five times the speed of light, and it'd take 100 years to get to the rim. If it had been launched so soon after Cochrane's first flight, it would've probably been more like warp 1.2, and would've needed nearly 300 years to get to the rim -- in other words, it wouldn't have even reached there by the time the Enterprise showed up in "Where No Man."
I suppose, though, that this could be reconciled if we assume the Valiant was caught in one of the many space warps that seemed to hover around local space in the 20th-21st centuries -- maybe the "magnetic space storm" mentioned in the log buoy -- and believed by Earth authorities to have been destroyed less than 90 light-years from Earth.
The novel's depiction of the Valiant is problematical as well. It's too much like a 23rd or 24th-century Starfleet vessel -- a crew of eighty, at least seven decks, lifts, deflector shields (which we now know it couldn't have had that early), ops officers, security guards, an electroplasma system, the works. The only concessions to the earlier era are the weapons: lasers and atomic missiles. Even when the book first came out, I couldn't believe something so advanced could be launched just four years after Cochrane's first prototype (remember, the original Chronology put that in 2061, before FC bumped it to '63 and made the '65 date for the Valiant even more ludicrous). But it's impossible to reconcile with Enterprise, since NX-01 also has seven decks and a crew of 85, and it's supposed to be a quantum leap beyond anything Earth had previously achieved.
As for sexual orientation being determinable by genetic analysis, that's unlikely, since current thinking is that it's shaped more by epigenetic and developmental factors. (Prenatal development, that is.)
Grrrrrrr. I wrote a lengthy reply and then the computer ate it when I tried to post, and not even the fact that I "copied" it before hand helped save it. It was completely deleted from history. Future Guy (we'll meet him next time) clearly doesn't wish my speculation to be known. Too close to the truth, I presume? 
Try again; the inferior second version:
Yes, it does seem like a 23rd Century ship, doesn't it?
The explanation I have to go with in order to make out of this something that - hopefully - approaches some manner of sense (or at least strikes out in the right direction) is that Valiant was swallowed up in the First Contact chaos, and the Starfleet of a century later doesn't realize just how ground-breaking and impressive the craft actually was. History records that the ship existed, that it was built by...someone. Someone prepared or at least very opportunistic, and with a great deal of resources to deck it out with impressive facilities at very short notice. Perhaps one of the surviving mega-corporations, hoping to capitalise on earlier support for Project Phoenix, or to leverage themselves into a position where they'd benefit from exploitation of extra-solar resources? They fit Cochrane's drive onto their existing we-sank-all-of-our-remaining-resources-into-this-thing space vessel model (probably an in-system science boat hastily retrofitted for warp), gather together some idealistic scientist-explorer types eager and willing to risk crewing it even absent any real oversight programs or coordinating authorities, launch it "for the shared good of all mankind" (profit! profit! profit!), then everyone else waves it off and turns their attention to other matters; rebuilding Earth, reforming their governments, building anti-Vulcan bunkers in the hills because their old enemies are now in league with aliens, etc.
Some 'Space Agency' is formed from those nations able to pull themselves together, it builds Conestoga and probably Friendship One; people largely forget about Valiant. Combined with the 'storm' sending them far, far further than they were expected to be (as you say, some sort of subspace or warp phenomenon), no-one is aware of how far it went, and in the chaos of the next few decades the specifications of its design, its originators and sponsors, and the sheer amount of privately-held resources sunk into it, are lost?
I doubt that makes much in the way of actual sense, but it's the best I can do. It would certainly help a bit if we bumped the story forward fifty years. Who's going to stop us?
Try again; the inferior second version:
Yes, it does seem like a 23rd Century ship, doesn't it?
The explanation I have to go with in order to make out of this something that - hopefully - approaches some manner of sense (or at least strikes out in the right direction) is that Valiant was swallowed up in the First Contact chaos, and the Starfleet of a century later doesn't realize just how ground-breaking and impressive the craft actually was. History records that the ship existed, that it was built by...someone. Someone prepared or at least very opportunistic, and with a great deal of resources to deck it out with impressive facilities at very short notice. Perhaps one of the surviving mega-corporations, hoping to capitalise on earlier support for Project Phoenix, or to leverage themselves into a position where they'd benefit from exploitation of extra-solar resources? They fit Cochrane's drive onto their existing we-sank-all-of-our-remaining-resources-into-this-thing space vessel model (probably an in-system science boat hastily retrofitted for warp), gather together some idealistic scientist-explorer types eager and willing to risk crewing it even absent any real oversight programs or coordinating authorities, launch it "for the shared good of all mankind" (profit! profit! profit!), then everyone else waves it off and turns their attention to other matters; rebuilding Earth, reforming their governments, building anti-Vulcan bunkers in the hills because their old enemies are now in league with aliens, etc.
Some 'Space Agency' is formed from those nations able to pull themselves together, it builds Conestoga and probably Friendship One; people largely forget about Valiant. Combined with the 'storm' sending them far, far further than they were expected to be (as you say, some sort of subspace or warp phenomenon), no-one is aware of how far it went, and in the chaos of the next few decades the specifications of its design, its originators and sponsors, and the sheer amount of privately-held resources sunk into it, are lost?
I doubt that makes much in the way of actual sense, but it's the best I can do. It would certainly help a bit if we bumped the story forward fifty years. Who's going to stop us?
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Heh, that's true. The various hero starships are almost always stumbling across farflung remnants of 21st/22nd-century human spaceflight-- even in the Delta Quadrant! Friendship One, the Valiant, the O'Neill habitats, Terra 10, SS Mariposa, the Offenhouse cryonics satellite, and there must be others I'm forgetting about. Where are all the lost Andorian colonies/spaceships?
"Broken Bow"
So, here we are starting Enterprise.
"Broken Bow" is an interesting title. Obviously, it's the name of the place where the Klingon courier crashed, but I think a case can be made that it references far more than that. It also describes the launch of Enterprise NX-01, and more generally the effort to extend Humanity's reach into space. As we open, the Humans are preparing, after many setbacks and frustrations, to finally launch into deep space as a true starfaring power. Naturally, the launch doesn't go according to plan. On top of this, the mission is of course being led, being propelled forward by, an Archer. An Archer trying to shoot his arrow (pilot his ship) true and steady, to share in his father's success; to make his father's dream a reality and/or to spite Soval (we'll get to this interplay of optimism and bitter frustration in a bit).
Earth is doing well. Certainly it looks to have recovered from the wars of a century prior, and Trip tells us that hunger and large-scale disease are no longer in evidence. Cochrane's speech canonizing the "strange new worlds" piece as a genuine in-universe mission statement is nice, as is the fact of Cochrane's appearance. Seeing him in formal clothes is rather amusing; he still doesn't look entirely comfortable.
Alien in your cornfield? Quick, throw water on it! They don't like water. Seriously, though, it's interesting that the Klingon is the guy we're clearly supposed to be rooting for here, even as the effort is made to make his people even more 'barbarian' in their appearance.
The most important theme of the episode, and quite arguably of the entire series, is the frustrated relationship between Humans and Vulcans. Earth is chafing under Vulcan patronization and the Vulcans are clearly dissatisfied with the Human refusal to accept that events should unfold on a particularly Vulcan timescale and to their satisfaction. The Vulcans are a race used to control and to repression, and they extend it beyond policing their own emotions (and, as we'll later see, their society) to judging the normal behaviours of their protégé species. With our experience of the rest of the galaxy involving in this episode a seedy trade outpost at Rigel, an interstellar band of terrorists and, well, Qo'noS, the fact that the Vulcans work to keep their region of space stable and well-policed is perhaps easier to understand. Still, overbearing Vulcans are clearly the real obstacle here, not augmented Suliban.
Archer turns a potential disaster to his advantage, using the Klaang situation as an excuse to get the mission underway, outmanoeuvring the Vulcans who would use it as reason to postpone the launch further. Admiral Forrest, while maintaining a respectful manner in his interaction with Soval, clearly hoped that by bringing Archer in something like this would be made to happen; Earth is obviously walking a line here between asserting its independence and not wishing to rock the boat with the Vulcans.
What's obvious with Archer and Trip in particular is that the Humans have somewhat internalized their role as rebels and seem to find a perverse satisfaction at times in playing their part - and the Vulcans reciprocate. At times, exchanges between Archer and T'Pol, or Soval, Tos and Archer, come across almost as games. They play off each other and all too easily embrace the roles they've become accustomed to. Humans aren't as bad as a certain other race we'll be meeting a few episodes down the line, but clearly they've not truly resisted being placed in the Vulcans' shadow at all, because their very efforts to prove themselves independent just reinforce the dynamic. Granted, Vulcans must be very, very frustrating; look at how pleased Archer is when Soval raises his voice. He got a rise out of him! Success! If only it were the Tellarites who landed ninety years ago; Humans would do well butting heads with them. It might be a healthier relationship.
Trip's attitudes come close in some scenes to outright racism. In a sense it's played quite well, I think, in that we get several perspectives on what we're seeing, introducing a complicated dynamic that later episodes can delve into or unravel further. Archer and Trip see a representative of the powerful, overbearing authority sent here to wag her finger at them, and treat her accordingly, while the audience sees a single outsider who's outnumbered, which makes the Humans' attitudes a bit uncomfortable to watch at times, and contrast with their otherwise likeable portrayal. The writing does seem to acknowledge this - T'Pol's comment about being trained to endure "offensive situations" is clearly referencing more than the smell. Archer and Trip see "a Vulcan", not the person, but the audience is perhaps allowed to see another angle.
Among themselves, the Humans are cheerful and generally good-spirited, and they're sketched in quite well. Reed and Trip have a good dynamic already, and Hoshi was very promising here (a shame she'll be underused in the series, as will Mayweather). Phlox actually reminds me in his first appearance, bizarrely enough, of Weyoun. It was like having a more honest and sincere Weyoun in sickbay; his mannerisms, his manner of speech, his odd detachment even as he enthuses about these fascinating people around him.
We also have the dangerous universe/best intentions dynamic we saw on Vanguard, Trill, and the Valiant. Archer and Trip voice the hope that this episode's events will be the last time someone takes a shot at them. Very optimistic (Phlox was right about that, then) given that so far they've been to three alien places, all of them dangerous and alarming.
The sense of Humans being caught up in situations they don't understand and aren't yet considered serious players in is a strength of the episode, I'll say that much.
So, this was our first TV episode. We've seen Enterprise fired from its broken bow and somehow it's more-or-less flying true in spite of it. As Zefram Cochrane would say, "that'll do, Archer. That'll do".
First Appearances of Things That Are Important:
Qo'noS. The juxtaposition of the sophisticated DNA/holographic data storage system with the torches, furs and pointy weapons is quite effective. I also think that leaving the Chancellor's final words to Archer unknown - other than the fact that it's not a thank you - is a good decision. It leaves the relationship with the Klingons very unclear and a little ominous. The Humans have screwed up here somewhere, and they can't yet understand the consequences. Hopefully Archer won't put his foot in it again any time soon where Klingons are concerned. Right, Archer?
Future Guy. In this episode at least, I could swear the figure is Vulcanoid. I see pointy ears and yellowish skin, and a bowl haircut. Is it just me? I would have guessed, for this and other reasons, that he was Romulan. Of course, since the show never answered the obvious question, we find out who and what he actually is in Watching the Clock, where it's more interesting an answer, but still - is it just me, or is that a Romulan?
Pictured: A Romulan.
Suliban Cabal. I'd like to find out more about Sarin. Her story seems interesting - deciding the price was too high for reasons we aren't privy to, winding up stranded on Rigel X, no ship anymore, possessing valuable information.
Rigel System.
Continuity
Trillius Prime is mentioned as a planet Mayweather has been to, a fact which Trip finds impressive (one of their more distant trade partners, one assumes). The novels have confirmed that this is Trill. Other worlds within reach of Earth cargo ships include Draylax and the Teneebian moons.
Next Time: Before our next literature entry, we'll have a couple more episodes. Next up, "Fight or Flight".
So, here we are starting Enterprise.
"Broken Bow" is an interesting title. Obviously, it's the name of the place where the Klingon courier crashed, but I think a case can be made that it references far more than that. It also describes the launch of Enterprise NX-01, and more generally the effort to extend Humanity's reach into space. As we open, the Humans are preparing, after many setbacks and frustrations, to finally launch into deep space as a true starfaring power. Naturally, the launch doesn't go according to plan. On top of this, the mission is of course being led, being propelled forward by, an Archer. An Archer trying to shoot his arrow (pilot his ship) true and steady, to share in his father's success; to make his father's dream a reality and/or to spite Soval (we'll get to this interplay of optimism and bitter frustration in a bit).
Earth is doing well. Certainly it looks to have recovered from the wars of a century prior, and Trip tells us that hunger and large-scale disease are no longer in evidence. Cochrane's speech canonizing the "strange new worlds" piece as a genuine in-universe mission statement is nice, as is the fact of Cochrane's appearance. Seeing him in formal clothes is rather amusing; he still doesn't look entirely comfortable.
Alien in your cornfield? Quick, throw water on it! They don't like water. Seriously, though, it's interesting that the Klingon is the guy we're clearly supposed to be rooting for here, even as the effort is made to make his people even more 'barbarian' in their appearance.
The most important theme of the episode, and quite arguably of the entire series, is the frustrated relationship between Humans and Vulcans. Earth is chafing under Vulcan patronization and the Vulcans are clearly dissatisfied with the Human refusal to accept that events should unfold on a particularly Vulcan timescale and to their satisfaction. The Vulcans are a race used to control and to repression, and they extend it beyond policing their own emotions (and, as we'll later see, their society) to judging the normal behaviours of their protégé species. With our experience of the rest of the galaxy involving in this episode a seedy trade outpost at Rigel, an interstellar band of terrorists and, well, Qo'noS, the fact that the Vulcans work to keep their region of space stable and well-policed is perhaps easier to understand. Still, overbearing Vulcans are clearly the real obstacle here, not augmented Suliban.
Archer turns a potential disaster to his advantage, using the Klaang situation as an excuse to get the mission underway, outmanoeuvring the Vulcans who would use it as reason to postpone the launch further. Admiral Forrest, while maintaining a respectful manner in his interaction with Soval, clearly hoped that by bringing Archer in something like this would be made to happen; Earth is obviously walking a line here between asserting its independence and not wishing to rock the boat with the Vulcans.
What's obvious with Archer and Trip in particular is that the Humans have somewhat internalized their role as rebels and seem to find a perverse satisfaction at times in playing their part - and the Vulcans reciprocate. At times, exchanges between Archer and T'Pol, or Soval, Tos and Archer, come across almost as games. They play off each other and all too easily embrace the roles they've become accustomed to. Humans aren't as bad as a certain other race we'll be meeting a few episodes down the line, but clearly they've not truly resisted being placed in the Vulcans' shadow at all, because their very efforts to prove themselves independent just reinforce the dynamic. Granted, Vulcans must be very, very frustrating; look at how pleased Archer is when Soval raises his voice. He got a rise out of him! Success! If only it were the Tellarites who landed ninety years ago; Humans would do well butting heads with them. It might be a healthier relationship.
Trip's attitudes come close in some scenes to outright racism. In a sense it's played quite well, I think, in that we get several perspectives on what we're seeing, introducing a complicated dynamic that later episodes can delve into or unravel further. Archer and Trip see a representative of the powerful, overbearing authority sent here to wag her finger at them, and treat her accordingly, while the audience sees a single outsider who's outnumbered, which makes the Humans' attitudes a bit uncomfortable to watch at times, and contrast with their otherwise likeable portrayal. The writing does seem to acknowledge this - T'Pol's comment about being trained to endure "offensive situations" is clearly referencing more than the smell. Archer and Trip see "a Vulcan", not the person, but the audience is perhaps allowed to see another angle.
Among themselves, the Humans are cheerful and generally good-spirited, and they're sketched in quite well. Reed and Trip have a good dynamic already, and Hoshi was very promising here (a shame she'll be underused in the series, as will Mayweather). Phlox actually reminds me in his first appearance, bizarrely enough, of Weyoun. It was like having a more honest and sincere Weyoun in sickbay; his mannerisms, his manner of speech, his odd detachment even as he enthuses about these fascinating people around him.
We also have the dangerous universe/best intentions dynamic we saw on Vanguard, Trill, and the Valiant. Archer and Trip voice the hope that this episode's events will be the last time someone takes a shot at them. Very optimistic (Phlox was right about that, then) given that so far they've been to three alien places, all of them dangerous and alarming.
The sense of Humans being caught up in situations they don't understand and aren't yet considered serious players in is a strength of the episode, I'll say that much.
So, this was our first TV episode. We've seen Enterprise fired from its broken bow and somehow it's more-or-less flying true in spite of it. As Zefram Cochrane would say, "that'll do, Archer. That'll do".
First Appearances of Things That Are Important:
Qo'noS. The juxtaposition of the sophisticated DNA/holographic data storage system with the torches, furs and pointy weapons is quite effective. I also think that leaving the Chancellor's final words to Archer unknown - other than the fact that it's not a thank you - is a good decision. It leaves the relationship with the Klingons very unclear and a little ominous. The Humans have screwed up here somewhere, and they can't yet understand the consequences. Hopefully Archer won't put his foot in it again any time soon where Klingons are concerned. Right, Archer?
Future Guy. In this episode at least, I could swear the figure is Vulcanoid. I see pointy ears and yellowish skin, and a bowl haircut. Is it just me? I would have guessed, for this and other reasons, that he was Romulan. Of course, since the show never answered the obvious question, we find out who and what he actually is in Watching the Clock, where it's more interesting an answer, but still - is it just me, or is that a Romulan?
Pictured: A Romulan.
Suliban Cabal. I'd like to find out more about Sarin. Her story seems interesting - deciding the price was too high for reasons we aren't privy to, winding up stranded on Rigel X, no ship anymore, possessing valuable information.
Rigel System.
Continuity
Trillius Prime is mentioned as a planet Mayweather has been to, a fact which Trip finds impressive (one of their more distant trade partners, one assumes). The novels have confirmed that this is Trill. Other worlds within reach of Earth cargo ships include Draylax and the Teneebian moons.
Next Time: Before our next literature entry, we'll have a couple more episodes. Next up, "Fight or Flight".
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I always loved this pilot. I thought that it struck the right tone in seeing humans that are more advanced that Cochrane's time and not quite at Kirk's level. I personally loved the Vulcans from Ent and what was done with them. So interesting. ENT is my second favorite pilot and I'm still a big fan of the series
I see what you did there.
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