The prime universe is gone. The only person that is/was aware of it was Spock and those that he told. Spock should of at the end of the movie instead of helping set up a new colony for surviving Vulcans but instead he should of been trying to devise a way to repair the time line. By not doing so he alters the future and allows the destruction of his home planet plus 6 billion Vulcans.
Not at all what I took from the film. Interviews with the writers make it clear this is a parallel universe that branched off of the Prime universe, and the Prime universe is intact. I read that at Startrekmovie.com.
What I took from the film was that whenever someone goes back and screws with time, it creates an entirely alternate reality (same exact thing as "alternate universe," IMO). Therefore if Spock were to travel through time and stop Nero or stop the destruction of Romulus, he wouldn't be "repairing the timeline," he would be
creating a new one. And since there are plenty of alternate realities where Vulcan was never destroyed, there's no point in doing that. No matter what he does, this newly-created reality where Vulcan died is always going to exist. He's needed here, in
this alternate reality, where he can help rebuild the Vulcan civilization.
This opens up an interesting can of worms, for me. I know the original writers didn't intend this, but what the hell... This means that when Bones went through the Guardian in TOS, he didn't alter their reality, he created an alternate universe where Edith Keeler lived. Kirk and Spock were probably shifted into that universe (because of their proximity to the Guardian, I guess) before even stepping through the Guardian. From the Enterprise's perspective, they must've vanished from the planet
and never returned. When Kirk and Spock went through, they created yet another alternate reality where they found Bones and Edith Keeler did die. When they all returned to the future at the end, they didn't return to their original universe; they returned to the future of that second alternate reality Kirk & Spock created (unless the Guardian bridges not just time, but also universes, in which case it could've returned them to their original reality).
Same thing with Star Trek IV and First Contact. They failed to save Earth in their original realities, but in going back through time they created alternate realities where they succeeded.
When Pike is questioned by Nero he says he "prevented genocide" by destroying Vulcan. Pike tells him that he is "blaming the Federation for something that hasn't happened". Nero later says "my purpose is not to avoid the destruction of the home I love but to make sure but to create a Romulus that is free to exist without the Federation". Only they are the ones worth saving.
You misheard part of that. I thought as you did until I listened more closely the second time I watched it. He said his purpose was not "JUST" to avoid the destruction of Romulus. That means his plan was to destroy the Federation
and then go to either 23rd or 24th Century Romulus and save it. He probably knew that if he were to go to 23rd Century Romulus first, they may have stopped him (because they may be ruthless and expansionist, but we have no reason to believe they were genocidal. They'd probably rather conquer a bunch of perfectly good worlds than destroy them). OR, maybe he already contacted Romulus during those 25 years (giving them advanced tech, teaching them about the future, etc., which would explain what he was doing all that time), told them how to save their future, and has their unofficial approval to destroy the Federation on his own. And if he were caught they'd deny they knew anything about it.
As for the "preventing genocide" part, all that means is Nero probably believes he's changing his own timeline. He doesn't agree with Uhura about alternate realities. He agrees with you. Doesn't mean he's right, though.
Since the time line was not repaired, the prime universe is gone.
Which depends entirely on the assumption that this wasn't an alternate universe, but the writers have already stated in interviews and through Uhura that it is. "Alternate reality" is the same thing as "alternate universe." The difference is semantic, IMO.
So Nero in is deluded way is affecting his future by destroying Vulcan and Earth. So why people say that this new movie is an alternate is incorrect. The villain is trying to alter "the future"....his future.
That's not implicit, and even if it were true, that doesn't mean he's correct. As I wrote, if he believes he's saving HIS Romulus, all that means is that he doesn't agree with Uhura about alternate realities. If he does agree with her, then he's trying to save THIS Romulus because in it's still a Romulus (if I found myself in an alternate Earth, I'd still feel an allegiance to it) and destroy THIS Federation out of a mix of spite and jingoism.
) think of Trek as a religion. I think it's merely proof that people can get personally invested in the darndest things.
You got to work hard to make that feel somewhat authenic.
