Friday, July 17, 2009

Space, the final frontier...

As you are well aware, Star Trek the new movie opened in May of this year. What you may not be aware of is the fact I am a big fan of Star Trek, though not obsessed with it like some people. I have done some things on my other site (http://davidlightfinger.com/wordpress/) referring to the political aspects of Star Trek in relation to the Obama fiasco.

I am also looking forward to playing Star Trek Online, the MMO game from Cryptic Studios. This game will allow you to play one of the myriad of races of the Star Trek universe and align yourself with either the Klingons or Federation in a conflict starting in 2409. This is 30 years after the movie Star Trek Nemesis.

Here is the issue: Star Trek Online is continuing the path set forth by Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. It is not in the JJ Abrams reboot of the series. This has people confused, up in arms, or thankful depending on who you talk to about it.

I'm in the thankful category.

Much of the confusion stems, though, from an error in perception that I personally thought was very clear in the movie, but obviously was not by all the head scratching. This surrounds the events being told in the Star Trek movie in flashbacks (if you can call them that) by Nero and by Prime Spock. In these flashbacks, it is stated Romulus was destroyed and that's what triggered Nero's insane revenge.

The timeline of the event is:
1) A star near Romulus starts to go supernova. The energy of the star threatens the time-space continuum.
2) Nero and Spock go to Vulcan, to get what is called in the movie 'red matter' which will basically cause a short term black hole to suck up the energy of the supernova. If they get back in time, Romulus won't be destroyed.
3) Even with new ambassador to Vulcan's help, Jean Luc Picard, the Vulcans hesitate to help the Romulans. Nero rushes back only to see Romulus destroyed.
4) Spock secures the red matter and loads it on the Jellyfish, a ship created by Geordi LaForge.
5) Nero and his crew go to a Romulan resource station and integrates the Borg tech being researched into their ship, making it the Narada pointy monster in the movie. He then proceeds to wipe out a Klingon fleet led by Worf sent to stop him, and then confronts Data and Picard with the Enterprise-E.
6) Spock arrives near where Romulus used to be and thinks he must sacrifice himself to stop the supernova. Thus, he uses the red matter to cause the black hole. Nero shows up, attacks Spock, and causes the time warp anomaly that starts the Star Trek movie.

Okay, now the question - how do I know all of this? It is in the comic book Star Trek: Countdown, which Cryptic Studios is calling canon for the Star Trek Online game. Now, the problem is only #6 of the above is shown in the in-movie flashback, specifically in Spock's mindmeld with young Kirk. #3 (Romulus's destruction) is shown in Nero's portion of the flashback. The rest is in the comic.

Now, second question, just where does the universes split timelines? It is in #6 above. At the point the Narada and Jellyfish are drawn into the anomaly created by the red matter, the timeline splits. The Narada appears first, and the movie starts. Romulus is destroyed in the Star Trek Online universe, the 'prime universe' containing all the old shows. Prime Spock is now in the alternate universe, the 'JJverse' as some call it.

Yes, unless you understand the theories of the multiverse from comic books, this can all be overwhelming. Another suggestion is to view the TNG episode called Parallels, where Worf starts jumping into different alternate timelines until they all converge at one location with hundreds of Enterprises. This is what is happening here.

Star Trek Online's timeline is now separate from the JJ Abrams movies. The movies, and any tie-ins, will be tightly controlled by CBS/Paramount. Cryptic Studios controls Star Trek Online's timeline (though licensed from CBS). They are integrating novels, comics, and other things that can be added fairly seamlessly.

So please, stop the whining on the STO forums about how this is all working out. People seeing the movie for the first time are now looking into all the franchises and a whole lot more fans are coming about because of this. I think this is a good thing in the long run. Star Trek, despite its flaws, is one of the most cerebral of all science fiction series and sometimes it tosses you for a loop, as above. In the end, though, you are richer for it.

Wow. Six months since I have posted a non-political rant here. Well, there is one coming shortly.