Was blowing up Romulus a good idea?

[Timo]

Beats me. Perhaps it turns the supernova back into a star? OTOH, his actual wording is that it's gonna "absorb the exploding star" - perhaps this means that if an explosion does happen, then a properly placed black hole will protect Romulus by absorbing the part of the blast that would otherwise hit the planet, so Romulus can thumb its nose at the passing wave and then continue orbiting a white dwarf.

That's just a matter of interpreting and speculating, though. What the movie shows and tells is a separate thing, and the movie shows and tells that the homestar of Romulus blows. Alternate, disagreeing interpretations won't help.

Say, let's say it was Hobus, somewhere out in the sticks, that blew. Turning it into a black hole might not directly kill anybody. But Spock thinks it's his sacred duty to drop the red matter into the blast wave even after Romulus turns to dust. That won't touch Hobus, not across all those lightyears (we know well enough what red matter does, from the other times it gets applied in the movie). And not only will it not save Romulus, it will fail to save the galaxy, because the wave will continue its merry rampage in every other direction.

Keeping the action local keeps it within the potency envelope of red matter as defined in the movie (a droplet or a whole barrelful only creates this barely Narada-sized hole with a bit of pull across visual ranges but none across interstellar ranges). If we must, we can say Spock dropped a series of vials to stop the supernova, but we can't ramp that up to ridiculous numbers. OTOH, it would be helpful if Spock indeed created a series of black holes - all the more plausible for Nero and him to fall into one of those, then...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ithekro]

If one applies Next Generation era known advanced technologies to the Jellyfish, it becomes rather easy for Spock to get to the center of an exploding supernova with metaphasic shields and the like.

 

[Nyotarules]

The whole execution was poor, all that red matter when you only need one drop, going on such an important mission all by yourself when you're over 150 plus years old, anything can happen to you. It was doomed from the start.

 

[Tenacity]

My idea is the entirety of the Red Matter isn't "usable," only the Matter at the core of the sphere. The stuff around the core is basically worthless and serves only as a container.

 

[DonIago]

I've figured it's kind of like any recipe that involves eggs. You can produce X amount of Red Matter, but not fractional amounts of it.

 

[fireproof78]

The whole execution was poor, all that red matter when you only need one drop, going on such an important mission all by yourself when you're over 150 plus years old, anything can happen to you. It was doomed from the start.

Unless Sock was one of the few experienced enough to handle it, as well as the possibility that the Jellyfish also served as the collection vessel for Red Matter. That way, if containment was lost, you could just warp drive it somewhere uninhabited and it would detonate safely.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Unless Sock was one of the few experienced enough to handle it

As a Vulcan might say, It is illogical to expect a simianoid creature which is clearly fashioned from human footwear to be capable of piloting an interstellar vessel.

 

[WebLurker]

Newcomer here.

While it worked for the story they were telling, I vote no. It kind of hamstrings the potential for stories with a post-Nemesis Romulus and inflicts penalties on the prime universe for the needs of the Kelvin timeline.

 

[Tenacity]

^ Probably were a lot of other ways to get Nero truly pissed off.

 

[DonIago]

Newcomer here.

While it worked for the story they were telling, I vote no. It kind of hamstrings the potential for stories with a post-Nemesis Romulus and inflicts penalties on the prime universe for the needs of the Kelvin timeline.

Except that at the time nobody expected the Primeverse to be visited on the screen again. And even when it is, now, it's well before these events occurred.

Besides, did it not open up at least as many story possibilities as it closed?

 

[Set Harth]

Yeah, I mean, the remaining Romulans just designate a new capital, right?

No big whoop.

 

[The Wormhole]

Besides, did it not open up at least as many story possibilities as it closed?

The problem there is that one of the primary mediums in which the Prime Universe is still active, the novels, aren't allowed to touch the matter, so whatever storytelling possibilities it opened are kind of a moot point at the moment,

 

[Greg Cox]

The problem there is that one of the primary mediums in which the Prime Universe is still active, the novels, aren't allowed to touch the matter, so whatever storytelling possibilities it opened are kind of a moot point at the moment,

But the movies and TV shows should not have to worry about the effect on the books when, say, deciding whether to blow up Romulus or not. As far as the movies were concerned, the Prime Universe version of Romulus was expendable because they were rebooting the film franchise anyway.

It's our job, as tie-in writers, to roll with the punches and let the movies and TV series lead the way, not the other way around.

 

[The Wormhole]

But the movies and TV shows should not have to worry about the effect on the books when, say, deciding whether to blow up Romulus or not. As far as the movies were concerned, the Prime Universe version of Romulus was expendable because they were rebooting the film franchise anyway.

It's our job, as tie-in writers, to roll with the punches and let the movies and TV series lead the way, not the other way around.

Still, as there were no plans to revisit the Prime Universe onscreen when Trek XI was made, and then the novels were forbidden from touching the material, one can't say the destruction of Romulus "opened storytelling possibilities." The ones who are allowed to do something with those possibilities aren't, and the ones who normally would aren't allowed to.

 

[Greg Cox]

But if the original objection is that blowing up Romulus Prime was a "mistake" because it would limit any future Prime Universe movies or TV shows, one can certain argue that, hypothetically, a blown-up Romulus offers just as many story options as an intact Romulus. Future screenwriters would just have to deal, as would any sequel in any franchise, with the stuff that happened before.

Hell, they blew up the original Planet of the Apes in the second movie, but didn't stop anyone from making three more movies, two TV shows, a remake, and reboots.

 

[DonIago]

Still, as there were no plans to revisit the Prime Universe onscreen when Trek XI was made, and then the novels were forbidden from touching the material, one can't say the destruction of Romulus "opened storytelling possibilities." The ones who are allowed to do something with those possibilities aren't, and the ones who normally would aren't allowed to.

By that reasoning, whether Romulus was intact or destroyed was irrelevant.

 

[Romulan Loyalist]

Hasn't Romulus always been irrelevant? It would seem that even to Roddenberry it was mainly about the Federation and the Klingons. Think about it - Klingons have a canon language, the Romulans were denied one - even when one was created.

The Klingons, although warlike and all but barbaric, are at peace with the Federation... Whereas the Romulans, much more logical, calculating, and reasonable - are essentially the bane of existence for the Federation on all but select times in history. Why not destroy them? They were easily ignored and used as throw away villains.

Destroying Romulus opened up story-lines yes.. But it also closed a lot more. It would seem however, that there is more a fan-base for the Federation (obviously, considering it is supposed to be the possible future for human advancement) and the Klingons - which there always has been an enormous support for.. After all, Klingon is considered a language that one can learn - Romulan, regardless of the fact it exists - is not.

The Romulan situation is made even worse in STO - but thankfully it is not Canon - as of now.

 

[DonIago]

I fail to see how it could reasonably be argued that destroying Romulus closed more storylines than it opened. The Romulan people still exist, the Romulan military still exists...

If it had been Earth that had been destroyed, would the same argument apply? Because I can see how destroying Earth would open up a heck of a lot of interesting story possibilities.

 

[Romulan Loyalist]

The only story-lines existing currently show (although they are only existent as far as STO) that more Romulans were killed than survived.. That there is a fractured and almost nonexistent empire - and the 'Romulan Republic' has been created, which is just a minor power that serves the Klingons and the Federation.. What sort of story line is that?

Perhaps it may be more palatable to those who prefer to see a Federation and Klingon dominated quadrant.. But I digress.

Destroying Earth would not harm the Federation as much as destroying Romulus does the RSE... Think about it..

The whole of Romulan culture, expansion, and activity is based on the superiority of Romulus to the rest of the Empire. In the Federation - Earth is merely the world used as the 'capital' so to speak.. The Federation is not culturally tied to Earth - Earth is like a hub... and a new hub could be created. Vulcan is gone - (so far) - and the Federation did not fall.. It was a core world.. Part of the foundation of the Federation... The Romulan Star Empire - is all together focused on the expansion, of the influence, of Romulus... Not Remus, or some other planet within the Empire..

Looking at the way the story has gone so far, (yes in STO - but lets just use it as an example) the writers are eliminating the Empire - and forcing it to become a proxy of the Federation and The Klingon empire.

Imagine the Klingon Empire if Qo'noS was destroyed? Oh wait... The writers would never do that! There would be thousands of comic-con goers surrounding their offices, dressed in Klingon warrior outfits, chanting IN KLINGON, waving bat'leths and burning the writers in effigy.

Romulus has always been a throw away villain. Regardless of how much more it offered than the Trek writers ever were willing to explore.

 

[DonIago]

It sounds to me like you're extrapolating how one set of writers chose to handle the situation to draw a broad conclusion.