Worf & Parallels

[Gojira]

just rewatched this episode. I do like it a lot! I have one question though....maybe this has been been discussed before....but when Worf gets dizzy it singles that he has traveled to a parallel universe. But what happened to the Worf that already existed in those other Parallel Universes? The episode doesn't really address that.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Nor does it address why all those different Worfs wound up in the same shuttlecraft at the same time.

 

[Kor]

I thought it was implicit that the Worf who was in that universe got switched to another universe too, maybe or maybe not the one that "our" Worf had just left.

Kor

 

[Mojochi]

While there's no knowing for sure. I've always interpreted it as Worf is swapping out with other Worfs, who in turn end up in his prime quantum reality while he is in theirs, & then they most likely revert back to their original one once he exits theirs. The only other way to look at it is that he is permanently displacing every Worf he replaces in some other unknown way, & instead of reverting back to their original reality when he exits theirs, they are passed off to some other alien one, in some other type of pattern or even randomly. I prefer the former notion. It just makes more sense in my head, but either is possible I guess

Honestly, the ONLY thing I don't like about this episode is that nothing was ever mentioned about how this situation affected prime Worf's comrades. Since we see a Worf on their ship during this, it's fair to assume at least one, & possibly multiple Worfs visited that ship during this, one of whom would have been quite distraught to find out that not only wasn't he the 1st officer, but that his kids didn't exist & his wife had never even thought of him romantically.

I feel like it was a rather unfortunate & somewhat cheap cheat to reset the clock at the end so that none of them retain those memories. Frankly, I was never really sold on the Troi/Worf relationship. While it made a certain amount of sense for his character, it really seemed off for hers. There's really nothing from which to glean the possibility of her finding him a worthwhile match. HOWEVER, if she'd been visited by a Worf, who in his reality was her husband & father of her children, she might have seen him in an entirely different light, and it could be exactly the type of thing that could make her open herself up to that possibility. As it stands, we just have to assume that because "our" Worf saw HER in that light, that he somehow began changing how he behaved toward her, & that, in itself, stirred her feelings for him, which is a little less impressive a story imho.

 

[NigellaDeanna20]

just rewatched this episode. I do like it a lot! I have one question though....maybe this has been been discussed before....but when Worf gets dizzy it singles that he has traveled to a parallel universe. But what happened to the Worf that already existed in those other Parallel Universes? The episode doesn't really address that.

My best guess would be that all the other versions of Worf probably swapped places with the original genuine Worf every time he time-shifted. Thatd be my guess.

 

[marsh8472]

Maybe both worf's are the same except his brain state got replaced. For the same reason when he suddenly has a red uniform after shifting into another reality the body belongs to the old worf just like the red uniform does.

 

[Mojochi]

Maybe both worf's are the same except his brain state got replaced. For the same reason when he suddenly has a red uniform after shifting into another reality the body belongs to the old worf just like the red uniform does.

It's an interesting theory, but they figure out the whole thing because Worf's body has a different quantum signature. He is not indigenous to that quantum reality

 

[marsh8472]

It's an interesting theory, but they figure out the whole thing because Worf's body has a different quantum signature. He is not indigenous to that quantum reality

Yeah I was thinking about that too. Maybe it's the same physical matter as the Worf indigenous to that universe except the quantum signature of that matter changed into something else. Plus we have evidence of duality between the mind and body presented to us in these other episodes: DS9 "The Passenger", Voyager "Warlord", Voyager "Cathexis", TOS "Turnabout Intruder", ENT "The Crossing". Where the spirit of Worf of the prime universe is inhabiting other Worf's in other universes and prehaps suppressing Worf's consciousness of each universe while he inhabits their bodies.

 

[Gojira]

It's an interesting theory, but they figure out the whole thing because Worf's body has a different quantum signature. He is not indigenous to that quantum reality

The episode makes it look like it is his consciousness and not his physical body that is being moved from universe to universe. That's why I asked the question. To the observer looking at Worf his physical body doesn't look like it is going anywhere.

 

[Nakita Akita]

While there's no knowing for sure. I've always interpreted it as Worf is swapping out with other Worfs, who in turn end up in his prime quantum reality while he is in theirs, & then they most likely revert back to their original one once he exits theirs. The only other way to look at it is that he is permanently displacing every Worf he replaces in some other unknown way, & instead of reverting back to their original reality when he exits theirs, they are passed off to some other alien one, in some other type of pattern or even randomly. I prefer the former notion. It just makes more sense in my head, but either is possible I guess

Honestly, the ONLY thing I don't like about this episode is that nothing was ever mentioned about how this situation affected prime Worf's comrades. Since we see a Worf on their ship during this, it's fair to assume at least one, & possibly multiple Worfs visited that ship during this, one of whom would have been quite distraught to find out that not only wasn't he the 1st officer, but that his kids didn't exist & his wife had never even thought of him romantically.

I feel like it was a rather unfortunate & somewhat cheap cheat to reset the clock at the end so that none of them retain those memories. Frankly, I was never really sold on the Troi/Worf relationship. While it made a certain amount of sense for his character, it really seemed off for hers. There's really nothing from which to glean the possibility of her finding him a worthwhile match. HOWEVER, if she'd been visited by a Worf, who in his reality was her husband & father of her children, she might have seen him in an entirely different light, and it could be exactly the type of thing that could make her open herself up to that possibility. As it stands, we just have to assume that because "our" Worf saw HER in that light, that he somehow began changing how he behaved toward her, & that, in itself, stirred her feelings for him, which is a little less impressive a story imho.

Worf not a worthwhile match???
What?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!
He was pretty good looking back in the day even as a Klingon.

 

[Mojochi]

Worf not a worthwhile match???
What?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!
He was pretty good looking back in the day even as a Klingon.

lol I meant mostly that he is not really her personality match. He's uptight, aggressive, somewhat closed minded, & even slightly conservative. Even as conservative as she is (for a Betazoid), she's way more relaxed, social, free thinking, open-minded etc... It's almost as polar opposite a match as Quark & Kira would be

The episode makes it look like it is his consciousness and not his physical body that is being moved from universe to universe. That's why I asked the question. To the observer looking at Worf his physical body doesn't look like it is going anywhere.

I can see people taking it that way, from basic observance, & if in one of the realities Worf had been scarred or with a different hairstyle or something, I might be inclined to see it that way, but lack of that evidence plus how the phenomenon is described, it's his physical body that is what is not synchronous with the reality he's in... which is pretty crazy, because he does end up transferring into a reality where he wears a different uniform.

I'm happy to reverse my way of thinking on it, but is there some other way to interpret "the quantum flux in Worf's cellular RNA extends to the subatomic level. It is asynchronous with normal matter. In essence, Captain -- Mister Worf does not belong in our universe."?

The shuttle passed through a quantum fissure, a fixed point across the space time continuum, which served as a keyhole into multiple quantum realities, which he ends up being pulled into, the whole him.

 

[Sakonna]

My interpretation of this episode has always been that the Worf of each universe was erased when "our" Worf jumped into their reality. When there would be another shift, that universes Worf would not return, he was just gone, blinked out of existence.

I went a lot darker with it than the rest of you, I guess!

 

[Mojochi]

My interpretation of this episode has always been that the Worf of each universe was erased when "our" Worf jumped into their reality. When there would be another shift, that universes Worf would not return, he was just gone, blinked out of existence.

I went a lot darker with it than the rest of you, I guess!

I honestly don't see any reason why that's not just as possible, except that it's TNG, & almost nothing is that grim lol

 

[Gojira]

I can see people taking it that way, from basic observance, & if in one of the realities Worf had been scarred or with a different hairstyle or something, I might be inclined to see it that way, but lack of that evidence plus how the phenomenon is described, it's his physical body that is what is not synchronous with the reality he's in... which is pretty crazy, because he does end up transferring into a reality where he wears a different uniform.

I'm happy to reverse my way of thinking on it, but is there some other way to interpret "the quantum flux in Worf's cellular RNA extends to the subatomic level. It is asynchronous with normal matter. In essence, Captain -- Mister Worf does not belong in our universe."?

The shuttle passed through a quantum fissure, a fixed point across the space time continuum, which served as a keyhole into multiple quantum realities, which he ends up being pulled into, the whole him.

I'm looking at this from the perspective of the other characters in the scenes. To the observers like Data, Picard etc al. what they see is Worf talking to them, suddenly gets dizzy, and then starts acting strange claiming things have changed.

But from the perspective of those that were just interacting with him, nothing changed. To the observer Worf didn't physically go anywhere. If these multiple Worfs were phasing from one universe to another shouldn't there have been something physically observable to those interacting with Worf while it happened?

I know in stories like this you can't examine it too closely or it will fall apart...but I'm just having fun!

 

[Mojochi]

I'm looking at this from the perspective of the other characters in the scenes. To the observers like Data, Picard etc al. what they see is Worf talking to them, suddenly gets dizzy, and then starts acting strange claiming things have changed.

But from the perspective of those that were just interacting with him, nothing changed. To the observer Worf didn't physically go anywhere. If these multiple Worfs were phasing from one universe to another shouldn't there have been something physically observable to those interacting with Worf while it happened?

I know in stories like this you can't examine it too closely or it will fall apart...but I'm just having fun!

You know, a bit of FX on the transformation might have made it clearer that he was being transported in some way, but I think the ambiguity was a deliberate point of the episode. No one seems to believe him at first. He's not even sure what to believe himself early on. By having it go almost unnoticed, they raise the level of mystery about it,

Besides, who said he's phasing? He could just simply be ending up there, as simple as walking through a door without taking a step. These other quantum realities just overtake him

It is fun

 

[Noname Given]

just rewatched this episode. I do like it a lot! I have one question though....maybe this has been been discussed before....but when Worf gets dizzy it singles that he has traveled to a parallel universe. But what happened to the Worf that already existed in those other Parallel Universes? The episode doesn't really address that.

Actually, it kind of does in that during the Shuttle heading into the fissure sequence we see A LOT of different versions of Worf doing various things to 'seal' said fissure. The focus of the episode was on 'our' TNG Worf - but obviously there were many versions of the 1701-D's scanning the fissure (which was how hundreds of them suddenly appeared) and many were swapping Worfs and Shuttles'.

Also, you can intimate that everything the other Universe Data said about what might happen when the fissure is sealed DID happen to other Worfs (IE some appeared at about the same time as the incident, some after, and I'm sure some didn't make it back, or ended up in a different Universe, but now with no way to return - or at least they can't return via the now sealed fissure.) hell, for all we know - WE went with Worf to a DIFFERENT TNG on-screen Universe (which you can use to explain discrepancies like Borg Sphere remains in Antarctica is ST:FC, etc. ).

 

[Sakonna]

hell, for all we know - WE went with Worf to a DIFFERENT TNG on-screen Universe (which you can use to explain discrepancies like Borg Sphere remains in Antarctica is ST:FC, etc. ).

This is how I head canon every seemingly irresolvable continuity error. It's not a mistake, we just jumped one universe over.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I can picture one of the other Worfs winding up in the prime universe. Walking up to Troi and kissing her. Then seeing Picard walking around the ship and declaring red alert.

I got the impression that our Worf wasn't the only one shifting. Lots of other Worfs went to the bat'leth tournament, any of them could have flown through the same region of space.

It's possible the scene on the shuttle meant that many Worfs on many other ships came to the same solution at the same time and for a moment the shuttles merged into one reality.

On paper I think it makes sense that Worf and Troi would be attracted to each other. Polar opposites attracting, not to mention the mild Freudian resemblance. The actors on the other hand had no chemistry as a couple.

 

[Greysun]

The Worf that gets pushed out of his dimension finds himself in the body of Captain Archer. At that point Worf has to strive to put right what once went wrong, hoping that his next leap will be the leap home...

OR perhaps the displaced Worfs collect in another universe that would otherwise be Worfless. They could start a barbershop quartet and work their way up to a Klingon chorus line as more Worf's collect.

OR they're simply dead. Based on Troi's comment "they tell me there's a good chance my Worf won't return" it seems likely that they're either killed when Prime Worf pushes them out, or permanently displaced.

 

[Noname Given]

OR they're simply dead. Based on Troi's comment "they tell me there's a good chance my Worf won't return" it seems likely that they're either killed when Prime Worf pushes them out, or permanently displaced.

^^^
hey, it's Troi. What the character actually knows about 'Star Trek's science' could fit on a napkin.