But isn't Discovery set only a decade before TOS? Nero would have crossed over by now or is my timeline off?
So why is it impossible that first contact could be different if we are in the Kelvin timeline . Next Gen doesn't exist yet. If we are in the alternate timeline maybe Next Gen don't go back into the past and it is changed. Anything is possible. As Janeway would say time travel give me a headache.
I don't think we're supposed to take that Nero crossing over sped up first contact with the Cardassians. We may have never seen them in the 23rd century shows/films (they only both debuted on TNG in 1991 when TUC was being produced), but that doesn't mean they weren't around. Going by Memory Alpha, the Cardassians already achieved interstellar travel by the 22nd century ("Dead Stop", "Observer Effect"), so it would seem reasonable that first contact would have taken place much sooner than the 24th century.
Plus again, there was a Cardassian on Vulcan in at most the 23rd Century. That may have caused the Federation to send out feelers.
We don't know though. In the Kelvin Universe Praxis has already exploded. They already know what Romulans looks like. Kirk is Captain sooner. Ships are different. Who knows what else is different, so taking an alternate Universe as evidence for First Contact might not be accurate.
Fair enough. I still think it would be neat to see a Cardassian in this show. If the early rumors of this show being set after TUC were true, it would have been cool to see their rise to power and the initial conflicts that serve as a prelude to the Border Wars.
Because it would be one of the first cases of a human choosing to live extensively among another race - especially if we're taking ENT into account. So I'd be interested in what Cochrane found so intriguing or amenable about them he chose the Centaurans - especially given that this implies they were a VERY early human/alien contact (if not a Federation founder) and we know almost nothing about them from the shows.
I'd love for DSC to take the leap and show us a lot of TOS-era races that got sidelined in the later installments. We got a bit of the Andorians and Tellarites in ENT, and they show up in DSC, but I can stand to see more. The Gorn are still criminally under-utilized, though this is years before they're known to the Federation. The Tholians got some limelight in Enterprise, but since they show up when anything weird happens (like time travel), they could probably interdict another spore drive episode or something relating to that. Would also love Edosans and the Caitain to have screen recognition. We know Caitains are out there because of Star Trek IV, but wider acknowledgement would be welcome.
I chose the following 1). Kzinti - Because having seen them in TAS I find them very interesting and would like to learn more about them; especially if TAS has now been made cannon I would be curious to see how they handle them and I believe I read on Memory Alpha they related to the Caitians (similar to the Vulcans and Romulans they separated from eathother) 2). Suliban - I’ve always found them interesting and am disappointed the ENT writers didn’t find a way to use them properly. I really want to know what happened to them (I also read on memory alpha they planned to bring them into VOY and explain what happened to them; they were displaced by the Borg, but don’t use this storyline I don’t want the Borg in DIS even if they are my favourite Star Trek enemy). Also don’t revive the Temporal Cold War nonsense. 3). Tholians - I’ve always found them interesting and underused I would definitely love to see how their handled in DIS. I always felt they needed more screen time in ENT
Alpha Centauri is an earth colony founded in the late 21st and early 22nd centuries and doesn't have a native alien population according to ENT. It claimed independence from earth and then later joined the federation as a sovereign nation. Cochrane moving from Earth to Alpha centauri would be like someone moving from america to europe.
I’d love it if we saw the Breen and it turned out that Weyoun was just pulling Damar’s leg about the whole “their home world is actually quite nice and not a frozen wasteland” thing. Heck, there’s potential for a tenuous alliance between the Breen and the Andorians (because cold planets) that soured around the era of DSC and causes a “Cold War” (pun intended) between the two species and the disco has to mediate? I’d prefer to see Burnham use her considerable persuasive powers for diplomacy more in s2.
Here's another idea for a new alien species, a race of 'Techno'-paths. A telepathic species that has evolved over time with their technology to be able to communicate and control technology, such as piloting their vessels mentally and hacking into Federation technology with their minds. Further commentary on how our reliance on technology is defining so much of our lives and what it means to be human in the modern world.