I have been thinking about an interesting concept which has not quite yet been dealt with as far as I can remember in the Star Trek universe.
We have had many storylines throughout all of the Star Trek series which deal with often perverse, abhorrent and twisted ‘alternate realities’ and parallel universes (not including the JJ Abrahams reboot). It is often the case that our heroes travel in to these mirror universes ‘through a mirror, darkly’ and encounter moustache twirling versions of themselves who often commit horrendous crimes and atrocities against individuals, groups of people or even entire civilisations.
I would like to run an alternate (excuse the pun) narrative past you all.
How would a character feel if he or she were to cross the barriers between two universes but do so ‘through a mirror, brightly’? We have seen one or two examples of this with little consequence to the character’s from a psychological perspective (Vedek Bareil, Captain Lorca, Georgio), but what would happen if a *nice* person travelled from an evil alternate universe and encountered ‘prime time line’ equivalents of the characters who were oh ever so evil in the said mirror universes? How would that character feel about *good* versions of the characters who killed their loved ones? Commited genocide or other terrible unmentionable acts?
What would happen if a prime universe character was transported in to a twisted mirror universe at a young age, spending a large portion of their life experiencing the atrocities and hell like conditions there, but suddenly found themselves back in the prime time line with the ‘hero’ good guy variations/personas?
How would this character feel about the ‘good’ variations of the darker variations of their peers? Psychologically, would the character be able to forgive or forget what he or she has seen? Especially if the prime universe version of themselves had already been killed by Simone in the prime timeline? Could they even be friends? Would they be scarred beyond return from the experience, treating the ‘prime characters’ with contempt? Or would they recognise that they are now in a better place and be able to brush off the past experiences, realising that they have not and would not happen in this ‘prime timeline’?
We have had many storylines throughout all of the Star Trek series which deal with often perverse, abhorrent and twisted ‘alternate realities’ and parallel universes (not including the JJ Abrahams reboot). It is often the case that our heroes travel in to these mirror universes ‘through a mirror, darkly’ and encounter moustache twirling versions of themselves who often commit horrendous crimes and atrocities against individuals, groups of people or even entire civilisations.
I would like to run an alternate (excuse the pun) narrative past you all.
How would a character feel if he or she were to cross the barriers between two universes but do so ‘through a mirror, brightly’? We have seen one or two examples of this with little consequence to the character’s from a psychological perspective (Vedek Bareil, Captain Lorca, Georgio), but what would happen if a *nice* person travelled from an evil alternate universe and encountered ‘prime time line’ equivalents of the characters who were oh ever so evil in the said mirror universes? How would that character feel about *good* versions of the characters who killed their loved ones? Commited genocide or other terrible unmentionable acts?
What would happen if a prime universe character was transported in to a twisted mirror universe at a young age, spending a large portion of their life experiencing the atrocities and hell like conditions there, but suddenly found themselves back in the prime time line with the ‘hero’ good guy variations/personas?
How would this character feel about the ‘good’ variations of the darker variations of their peers? Psychologically, would the character be able to forgive or forget what he or she has seen? Especially if the prime universe version of themselves had already been killed by Simone in the prime timeline? Could they even be friends? Would they be scarred beyond return from the experience, treating the ‘prime characters’ with contempt? Or would they recognise that they are now in a better place and be able to brush off the past experiences, realising that they have not and would not happen in this ‘prime timeline’?
