Tomorrow is Yesterday

[CorporalCaptain]

^ That's quite a collection of retcons* to avoid having to make only a single retcon.

* - Of course they are retcons, because Schneider, Roddenberry, et al. didn't intend the time frame implied by "Squire" to be off and especially by so much compared to what was established later.

 

[blssdwlf]

^ That's quite a collection of retcons* to avoid having to make only a single retcon.

* - Of course they are retcons, because Schneider, Roddenberry, et al. didn't intend the time frame implied by "Squire" to be off and especially by so much compared to what was established later.

What is being retconned though? Jaeger, the geophysical scientist, doesn't specify a particular "period" of style or history. If it was Spock or a historian describing the scene it would have a different weight.

JAEGER: Notice the period, Captain. Nine hundred light years from Earth. It's what might be seen through a viewing scope if it were powerful enough.​

Jaeger's believes the furnishings are "period" as in "belonging to or characteristic of a past historical time, especially in style or design" (dictionary definition) and knows that they are 900 light years from Earth. But he isn't certain enough to say exactly what time frame though and couched his assessment with a "might be seen" versus "it's from the French Revolutionary period". And since there is also Salt Creature in the furnishings it is arguable that Trelane is just screwing with them and has the room furnished with his own preferences.

KIRK: Then you've been looking in on the doings nine hundred years past.​

Kirk from the time of being unfrozen to the next line of dialogue only glances around twice but mostly maintains eye contact with Trelane. He's not checking or confirming the period either and only confirming the implications of visual observation over a 900 light year distance. IMHO.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

^ That's quite a collection of retcons* to avoid having to make only a single retcon.

* - Of course they are retcons, because Schneider, Roddenberry, et al. didn't intend the time frame implied by "Squire" to be off and especially by so much compared to what was established later.

I disagree completely. A retcon is when you have to deny and re-imagine what happened on screen because it does not work. My explanation of "Gothos" leaves the original show intact because it does work when interpreted right, when understood in the light of later information. No retcon is needed.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

A retcon is when you have to deny and re-imagine what happened on screen because it does not work.

Without resulting to mental gymnastics, what happened on screen was that they set TOS in about the 27th or 28th century.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Without resulting to mental gymnastics, what happened on screen was that they set TOS in about the 27th or 28th century.

You don't get it. Star Trek is deeper than that. It must not merely be watched, but grasped and understood. There are layers to discover.

 

[Warped9]

A trick when watching something is to know when to take what is said literally and when to take it figuratively.

Trelane could move his planet about at will. His drawing room appeared to be a mixture of styles and odd artifacts. And Jaeger is never established as a historical specialist or expert. ZapBrannigan’s explanation fits and neatly addresses the backstory’s inconsistencies.

During the story things are moving fast and no one really notices certain things don’t add up. But a later debriefing after the events would surely lay out the inconsistencies.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

A trick when watching something is knowing when the show runners are trying to confuse the audience.

 

[Noname Given]

Every TOS fan knows the term: IDIC

"Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations"...

But how many fans remember the term: YATI ?

"Yet Another Trek Inconsistency"

 

[Mytran]

That's what I used to think, that you can't make sense of the "Gothos" time references. But you can, if you realize that Starfleet officers are not always as smart as they think they are. Here's how I frame the explanation:

• Jaeger's hasty assessment of Trelane's period decor is influenced by knowing that we encountered Gothos 900 light years from Earth. Jaeger wouldn't know one century's decor from another; he simply jumps to conclusions and figures that the Earth period being imitated must line up with the distance in light years. But it doesn't.

• The planet Gothos is Trelane's toy. He flies it through space at will— it can even outrun and corner the Enterprise. Trelane can go anywhere he wants to. He probably studied the Earth up close at various times over the centuries, saw a crazy quilt of mixed period references, and then flew off to distant reaches of the galaxy.

Conclusion: Gothos just happened to be 900 light years from Earth when the Enterprise ran across it. That tells us nothing about what century Kirk is in, because Trelane flies that planet around at warp speed. Thus "The Squire of Gothos" presents no problem at all for dating the series.

I like that theory a lot
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/star-trek-chronology-dating.122637/page-2#post-4142770
Nothing nefarious implied, but it makes me wonder how many times "new" Trek theories have been independently discovered again and again over the decades!

 

[Neopeius]

I like that theory a lot
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/star-trek-chronology-dating.122637/page-2#post-4142770
Nothing nefarious implied, but it makes me wonder how many times "new" Trek theories have been independently discovered again and again over the decades!

And hey, if you watched Beckett, you'd get a VERY skewed idea of what 12th Century costumage was like...