From episode 13 it was concluded that they needed to stop the abuse to the mycelial network or else: Then going back to TNG "Parallels" Shouldn't every parallel universe have been destroyed by some other quantum reality out there? Maybe they were wrong about it destroying the entire multiverse or maybe data was wrong with his statements in parallels. Perhaps for each quantum reality abusing the mycelial network there's another quantum reality saving the day then everything just keeps canceling out. Any ideas?
I don't believe that Stamets fully understands the mycelial network. He didn't even know that it's power can be harnessed like the ISS Charon. The Culber that he 'sees' in the network is a manifestation of the network, which told Paul whatever he needed to hear.
"Granted, that's a worse case scenario. The destruction might in fact be very localized, limited to merely our own galaxy." -Kruge/Dr Emmett Brown
Pretty sure they were just, like, "up the stakes!" and then "up the stakes higher!" and then "up the stakes even higher!" and someone remembered Crisis on Infinite Earths and thought they'd chuck that in there.
And they didn't even bother to explain why all life would cease to exist. Just a lot of "Danger!" talk and such.
If anybody can hook up with the mushroom net just by having the right sort of DNA and then being sprayed by the spores, then the mechanism for affecting all life everywhere seems well enough established. Incorrect DNA merely makes the connection quantitatively weaker; it's difficult to see any way for the difference to be qualitative. And the spores seem to get everywhere, through walls and whatnot if need be; indeed them getting to places is more or less the very point. In the end, the network existing is probably similar to matter existing. There are forces that drive for annihilation, and they seem perfectly balanced at first glance - but in closer analysis, a slight imperfection in that balance allows for a tiny smidgen (that is, one universeful) of matter to survive the onslaught of antimatter. And a slight imperfection might favor heroic rescues of the network over dastardly destruction. (And of course a single hero can rescue the entire network, not merely his own universeful of it, just like a single villain can bring down the whole thing.) Timo Saloniemi
So it had nothing to do with the Flying Spaghetti Monster that lives at the heart of the interdimensional magical mushroom network? How depressing.
Let's just pretend that that never happened... In the same way, let's pretend the klingon-Federation war never happened.
For every reality where a universe was eliminated, there's a reality where it wasn't. To quote Ian Malcolm, "Nature finds a way." Nature is smarter than Humanity and whatever we can think of or invent. Fictional Mycelial Drive and Spore Networks included. I don't think the brain of the Homo Sapien is developed enough or evolved enough to understand the complexities of Everything. If the answer to something complex is simple, then it's not complex at all. There are just things we're not biologically or neurologically fully capable of understanding.
Yeah, the show's plotting turns on whatever arbitrary assertion they pull out of their asses on a given week.
It's just better to ignore the writing of STD. Let's just focus on the good things like............... (let me think of some and I'll let you all know)
TOS certainly pretended there wasn't a war with the Klingons a decade earlier in which 20% of the Federation was conquered, and the Klingons had a foothold within the Sol system. DS9 certainly pretended a Klingon battle fleet made it to Earth Orbit when General Martok said the Klingons never attempted to attack Earth.
I know that was my favorite episode of TOS, the one where they sat down and told the audience all the things that didn't happen.
Yeah, totally. Kirk and Spock were visiting a classroom. Kirk: "There was no war with the Klingons, and Captain Lorca was killed in the destruction of the Buran." Child: "But Spock's sister said-" Kirk: "Spock doesn't have a sister. I know for a fact Spock is an only child, right Spock?" Spock: "That is-" Kirk: "Correct. Now moving on..."
Or how about TNG didn't mention the Cardassian war that only ended shortly before the series until a few seasons in.