Be aware, you are about to experience some full-frontal
nerdity if you keep reading. I have a
theory regarding the often contradictory (and perhaps overdone) use of time
travel in the Star Trek narrative. This
theory covers all six shows (yes, I in fact count the Animated Series (TAS), and even Voyager
(VOY) ) and the new timeline which I think was masterfully created in the
2009 film Star Trek.
For a while now I have been involved in a play-by-email role-playing
game set a few years after the Dominion War in the Prime Trek universe. In case you aren’t familiar with that term,
the script for the 2009 film used it to designate the continuing narrative
which started with the Original Series (TOS) included all the series through Enterprise (ENT), and the first ten
films. Therefore, Leonard Nimoy’s
character was referred to as “Spock Prime” being from the original
timeline. Anyway, the RPG has been a lot
of fun (shout out to Steven and the gang) and is really more a form of
collaborative writing than rolling dice.
My only complaint is I don’t always have the time to dedicate to the
stories that they deserve, but while sitting in the middle of the desert with
my Firm watching people steal porta-johns (true story), I will often shake my
head in disbelief and escape internally to thinking about fiction that needs
writing, including the Game. This
particular story involves the political and scientific dealings with the planet
that houses the Guardian of Forever, made famous in what is widely regarded as
the best of TOS, the episode “City on the Edge of Forever.” So, the different examples of time travel and
methods thereof in Trek have been on my mind as I collaborate with fellow fans
to tell this story. What I have realized
is the descriptions and uses seen in the original episode with The Guardian do
not make sense unless they are incomplete.
I am well aware of the controversy surrounding the great
Harlan Ellison’s original version and what made it to TV under the hand of the
great Gene Roddenberry. However, in this
discussion, I plan to use only what has appeared on screen as official or
“canon” information. You will see that some
of Ellison’s original intention made it into the aired version, though changes
left some inconsistency. Yes, I know the
real world storytelling reasons behind problems I will point out, but I am
arguing in universe.
Quick diversion: Once upon a time fans of a particular thing
loved that thing and would vehemently defend it even in the evidence of
narrative error. In the 70s and 80s
there was a magazine called “Trek Magazine” (I know, not very original)
dedicated to pointing out how inconsistencies in Trek episodes were not in fact
inconsistencies at all, and providing explanation. Marvel Comics for years gave out the
“No-Prize;” not for pointing out a mistake in a comic, but for pointing it out
and explaining why it wasn’t really.
Look, when you have literally hundreds of contributors to a narrative
over decades things are going to slip through the cracks. We as fans once accepted that and rolled with
it, helping the Powers That Be out when necessary. Now it seems fandom exists to decry the
things it loves. Maybe it’s the
internet’s fault, maybe it’s because fans hold things in higher regard than
entertainment is worthy of, I don’t know.
I’ve been guilty of some of this bashing myself. Could be time to stop. Or, if you didn’t like something, STOP
WATCHING IT.
Back to my original point:
I wish to make two assertions. One, there is in fact NO Prime timeline
in Star Trek. Rather the shows are
scattered about similar, even interactive timelines and causality chains
created when characters from one change what’s in another. Two, the timelines of Trek are similar and
linked because of a central hub to their existence: The Guardian of
Forever. It is not just a lumpy doughnut
you can time travel with.
Trek 2009 illustrates the first point very well. When something alters the existent chain of
events that defines a timeline, the timeline does not change, but rather a new
divergent path is created. I am not
arguing a la Schrödinger that every
decision creates a new timeline, but rather only when one is externally
altered. Evidence of these parallel
timelines all already well established in Trek: the Mirror Universe being the
most obvious. The sideways universe in Voyager’s “Year of Hell” would be
another, or the timeline shown in the final VOY episode where it took them 16
years to get home. I think however there
are more, a lot more and indeed from our perspective as outside observer, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) takes place over at least three
different timelines, possibly more. TOS
does not take place in the same timeline as VOY or Deep Space Nine (DS9), and perhaps not even in the same timeline as
The Wrath of Khan.
A very similar set of events to the TOS we observed did
precede those stories, but not the exact narrative because of altered
histories. I would argue TOS, which
clearly puts The Eugenics Wars in the 1990s is somehow separate from the Khan
in TWOK claiming he was on Earth “two hundred years ago.” If we assume TOS takes place in the 2260s
(and honestly, most Trek dates are conjectures based on the year 2363 given by
Data in the first season of TNG) then TWOK is in the 2270s or 2280s (Kirk
mentions a man he hasn’t seen in 15 years).
Two hundred years earlier puts Khan firmly in the mid to late 21st
Century. Sure, figure of speech, etc.,
but Khan is brilliant and dramatic. He
might use hyperbole, but I doubt he would undercut. However, we see the VOY cast specifically go
to 1996…and there is no devastating Eugenics War. In DS9 we see them visit the 2020s and an
America clearly heading toward trouble… like the trouble First Contact shows us the world recovering from in 2063. World War Three, presumably Colonel Green’s
war which ENT would indicate includes ideas of genetic purity.
Now, look at TNG episode “Parallels” which actively shows
Worf bouncing between similar yet different universes. Some are so similar as to escape basic
notice. Some are variations so different
as to drastically alter known history.
One of Worf’s main indicators (and the audience for that matter) of his
dislocation is the shield hanging on the wall in his quarters. Remember, though Worf passed through the
quantum fissure on the shuttle on his way back to the Enterprise, he doesn’t
start jumping realities until he is in proximity to Geordie’s VISOR. Therefore, the Enterprise on which the
episode begins is this Worf’s original ship.
When he enters the party in his quarters, there is a round shield
hanging to the left of the doorway, and it and other decorations change as the
shifting begins. At the end of the
episode, Worf returns—supposedly where he should be—to his quarters. The shield is not there. We the observer are not in the universe we
started in.
 |
| Before. |
 |
| After. |
TNG shifts again at least
once. In the aforementioned First Contact the Enterprise under
Picard goes back and assists Zephram Cochrane against the Borg and to make the
first warp flight. As we will see in ENT
this has lasting effects when a chunk of Borg sphere is found a century later
in Antarctica. I propose First
Contact creates an entirely new version of the 22nd
Century. Indeed, perhaps this is why the Temporal Cold War has a front
here, why the NX-01 seems to be so
much more advanced than it should be, and indeed why in Trek 2009 the
Kelvin—before any changes have been made by Nero—has a crew of 800. The opening scene is not in fact in the TOS
timeline but a version changed by the Enterprise-E’s presence in 2063. Multitudes of timelines overlayed and
interacting, but on some level distinct, yet close enough to provide us a
fairly coherent, if not perfect narrative.
Something has to link all of this together. The chains of events, emergent personalities
(look at the success of Kirk in ANY of these timelines), are linked
somewhere. Something is affecting these
timelines to make sure they stay on a basic track. Something makes sure the
eddies and flow of time bring Kirk and Spock to the right place in the 1930s to
find McCoy. Something makes sure the
Enterprise happens to intercept and finally assist Gary Seven in the
destruction of a warhead. Something
makes sure 22nd Century Earth gets a boost of future tech before
“Future Guy” starts giving tech to the Suliban.
Something makes sure Picard will be ready to fight an outbreak of
anti-time, that Sisko will be drawn to the wormhole, and that old Spock will be
in a cave on Delta Vega to keep yet another version of Kirk on track. Either the entire universe(s) is based on
ridiculous coincidence or time in the Star Trek narrative has a protector, a
guide, a…Guardian.
The very title “Guardian of Forever” tells us it is not just
a lazy gate waiting five billion years for someone to step through (“since
before your sun burned hot in space…”); rather we have evidence something is
holding the Treks together and there are only a few other candidates for doing
so. Q?
Perhaps, but VOY in their Q stories show us the fallibility of that
being/race. I have always kind of held
out that Q was in fact the eventual evolutionary fate of the Human race, but
either way we see a limited pervasiveness and interest from the Q in Federation
affairs, basically the humans. Whatever
is making the Trek universe tick covers all of existence and not just Q’s pet
Picard. The Preservers? We know they have been around a while, and
may even be the humanoid progenitors of life in the Alpha Quadrant as
discovered in the TNG episode “The Chase.”
The however seem far more likely to affect things on a temporal scale
(get on our ship, we are taking you somewhere safe so you don’t get wiped
out). Same goes for Gary Seven’s
bosses. Far too grounded by recruiting
locals from a time for a time…though there may be no reason to think there isn’t
a connection.
Further, look at the incongruities we see in the
episode. The Guardian claims no builders
(I am my own ending, my own beginning). Yet, later it tells Kirk and Spock it cannot
change the speed at which it shows time because of how it was made. This really just gives it an excuse to put
Kirk where it wants to: Long enough before McCoy to fall in love with Edith
Keeler. That’s right, the Guardian is
not just letting them fix time, it’s grooming James Kirk. It is here we see Kirk cast aside the woman
he loves for a greater good. This
defines who Jim Kirk is, and continues to for decades. The Guardian needs Kirk a certain way. The Guardian admits to Spock’s description
that it is a portal to other times and
dimensions. This is why Spock,
falling into the same Black Hole in 2383 doesn’t fall back as far as Nero; he
won’t be able to stop the Narada on his own, or even help the Kelvin stop
it. The Guardian ensures he will be in
Kirk’s life at the right moment to shape the Kirk in this new variant
timeline. It remains unchanged as the
universe seemingly shifts around it after McCoy’s alterations of history. I submit that the Guardian is the central
point around which all possible Trek timelines and dimensions flow, and it
takes active interest in keeping these universes in a particular shape. Not always exactly the same, but connected
and similar, perhaps as support structures within the quantum foam to keep a
particular bubble, or cluster of bubbles, from popping. The Guardian of Forever is the Star Trek universe.
Yes, outside actors will change things (Nero, Future Guy on
ENT) but in the end, the Guardian will make sure the universe is. The Guardian abides to coin a phrase.
So, next time you’re getting caught up on some Trek,
wondering why the Enterprise just to happens to end up in the 20th
Century:
Or Picard happens to be at the center of a chronal paradox:
Or Janeway
happens to be able to tweak a divergent timeline out of existence by the end of
the season:
Or Sisko happens to have become commander of the station nearest
the beings who may have created him:
Or Archer happens to run into a race from
the 24th Century he should know nothing about:
...remember it is no
coincidence. The Guardian is watching.
All images property of Paramount or CBS. Images borrowed from the awesome http://www.trekcore.com/
All images property of Paramount or CBS. Images borrowed from the awesome http://www.trekcore.com/
