When do the various Star Trek timelines split?

October 17, 2023 4:42 PM

The original Star Trek series had the minimalist Enterprise, and the Next Gen bridge seemed like a logical outcome from that; more recent Enterprises have hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights. I have a faint memory that one of the movies had a bit where it gets set up that they're diverging timelines, or something. When does that happen?

I'm sure this is all on Memory Alpha or similar, but I'm partway through Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Discovery, and don't want to run into plot spoilers for any of them. I'm not looking for a timeline showing when the shows are set, but specifically for how the design changes.

posted by The corpse in the library to Media & Arts (17 answers total)

Best answer: You're thinking of Star Trek (2009), the JJ Abrams-directed "reboot" which created a splinter timeline in 2233. It's never been established exactly when that takes place, but the opening scene ends with the (premature) birth of James T. Kirk, presumably a month or two earlier than previously established.

That movie, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond are the only Trek filmed properties to take place in this timeline. All Trek television takes place in what was retronymicly named the "Prime Timeline", which is the same timeline established in The Original Series.

The design changes have nothing to do with any of this.
posted by rhymedirective at 4:52 PM on October 17, 2023 [8 favorites]

Best answer: FWIW, the alternate "JJVerse" timeline is usually referred to as the Kelvin Timeline, after USS Kelvin, the ship that was attacked by the Narada.
posted by kschang at 4:58 PM on October 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Ah, that must be it. The different aesthetics for the ships are just things we accept then, right?
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:50 PM on October 17, 2023

Designs change all the time. Navy destroyers from the 1940s look different than Navy destroyers now. Even the role of the ships has changed with new technology and tactics. I've always accepted different designs/aesthetics in Star Trek ships as natural choices derived from the ship's role and era (staying "in universe," of course; the aesthetics of the 60s were not the aesthetics of the 90s are not the aesthetics of the 2020s).
posted by lhauser at 6:13 PM on October 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I will add that in addition to that "big divergence," the currently-airing show Strange New Worlds has included a couple of time-travel shenanigans episodes that not-subtly suggest that any differences between the canon in SNW and the canon in prior Treks have to do with Romulan agents messing with history. I wouldn't consider this a "different timeline," but it does mean there are a few small things that are different canonically speaking.

The aesthetics, yes, are just something we accept. Although there are a few technologies that we see in Discovery that seem more advanced than the tech in the Original Series which the show explains away why they seem to disappear/tech "goes backwards" (in non-timeline-divergence ways).
posted by branca at 6:40 PM on October 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

TOS Klingons look different from TNG Klingons, and aside from lampshading it in that one DS9 episode, it’s just A Thing That Is. The show/later movies got more budget and new designers, so the forehead prosthetics became more involved. Varied production design is, I think, the same. 1960s TOS looked cool in the 1960s. 1980s TNG (first Trek I grew up with as it aired) looked cool in the 1980/90s, but now a lot of the production design is 80s/early-90s-in-spaaaaaace. I’m pretty sure nu-Trek will also look very “of the 2020s” to folks revisiting it in 30 years, too.
posted by Alterscape at 10:55 PM on October 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

In Trek there is a "prime" timeline and alternate timelines which temporarily exist and replace the prime timeline. By the end of the story, the "prime timeline" is generally recovered. Examples include the alternate Borg-occupied earth of Star Trek: First Contact and the alternate 23rd century that La'An experiences in the latest season of Strange New Worlds. This latter story does introduce the idea that elements of the prime timeline are malleable (the specific dates of the Eugenics Wars in this case) and yet still lead to an essentially identical history of Starfleet. This is where all the TV shows take place (though some have episodes that take place in the mirror universe, see below)

For some reason, the events of the Kelvin universe created an "alternate reality" instead. This universe continues independently of the prime timeline. As far as I know, only Spock and some Romulan arrived in the Kelvin universe from the prime universe, and otherwise travel between them does not occur.

The "mirror universe" also somehow exists in parallel with the prime timeline, with the same people but in different situations.
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 2:04 AM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

TOS Klingons look different from TNG Klingons, and aside from lampshading it in that one DS9 episode, it’s just A Thing That Is.

Well, not quite: Enterprise did a couple episodes explaining the change with an "augment virus" ("Affliction" and "Divergence"). Amusingly, no similar effort was undertaken to explain the addition of (more subtle) forehead ridges to the Romulans between TOS and TNG, but since Romulans and Klingons share a border and had all manner of historical interactions (canonically, albeit off-screen), one could headcanon that the Klingon augment virus jumped species, if one were pedantic enough to bother even typing out all of that.

The different aesthetics for the ships are just things we accept then, right?

Accept, yes, but also sometimes highlight consciously. If you watch only one Trek episode w/r/t this Ask thread, it must be DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations".
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:26 AM on October 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

My favorite goofy tongue in cheek fan theory is that all Trek is preenactment of historical events. Any shortcomings in special effects, costuming, or set dressing is the fault of the contemporary producers, while still allowing people on Tumblr to draw illustrations of Cardassians as they really are. (Usually eight foot tall snake people.)
posted by zamboni at 5:14 AM on October 18, 2023

Ah, that must be it. The different aesthetics for the ships are just things we accept then, right?

Doyle, his arms wide.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:35 AM on October 18, 2023 [7 favorites]

TOS Klingons look different from TNG Klingons

Let's say Klingons are real. The TOS Klingons look the way they do because that was as close as they could get to looking like real Klingons with the visual design technology available at the time. TNG Klingons look different--and presumably closer to real Klingons--because the technology available lets them get a closer approximation.

Same thing with the ships. USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is the same ship in both TOS and Strange New Worlds. They look different because the technology available to Strange New Worlds lets them get closer to the real USS Enterprise.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:52 PM on October 18, 2023

As far as I know, only Spock and some Romulan arrived in the Kelvin universe from the prime universe, and otherwise travel between them does not occur.

There was an episode of Discovery that mentioned someone had crossed over from the Kelvin timeline so that the Federation in the Prime timeline is aware of Kelvin. It was part of the storyline dealing with Michelle Yeoh’s character.
posted by jimw at 1:00 PM on October 18, 2023

There was an episode of Discovery that mentioned someone had crossed over from the Kelvin timeline so that the Federation in the Prime timeline is aware of Kelvin.

Terra Firma, Part 1.

spoiler

The arrival of Yor means the Federation in the 32nd century is aware of the alternate timeline, so it's causally irrelevant (barring further Time War funny business) for shows other than Discovery.

posted by zamboni at 2:28 PM on October 18, 2023

In Discovery, Captain Pike mentioned per his request holographic interfaces were being stripped from the Enterprise because he hated holographic interfaces. This of course rationalized why 60s Star Trek did not have holographic interfaces.
posted by rochrobbb at 4:37 AM on October 19, 2023

The question is not entirely answerable, for some of the reasons outlined above. And at this point, the franchise is knocking on the door of a thousand instalments, created by hundreds of writers and directors and cinematographers and art directors and production designers each with differing approaches (some more idiosyncratic than others). Arguing over what is canon and are this and that in the same continuity are time-honoured traditions for viewers of the show.

To take an example: the captain in the original series is well-known as James T. Kirk. In his very first appearance (“Where No Man Has Gone Before,” 1966), his best friend becomes the antagonist of the episode and creates a grave for him with the name James R. Kirk on the headstone. We can thus argue that everything after that first episode is non-canonical and there’s only ever been one episode of real Star Trek. Sure, why not.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:35 AM on October 19, 2023

In his very first appearance (“Where No Man Has Gone Before,” 1966), his best friend becomes the antagonist of the episode and creates a grave for him with the name James R. Kirk on the headstone.

The 'canon' justification is that Mitchell forgot Kirk's middle name. But yes, it's all made up and the points don't matter.

Arguing over what is canon and are this and that in the same continuity are time-honoured traditions for viewers of the show.

Gosh, yes. They get particularly exercised about the Discoverse.
posted by zamboni at 6:47 AM on October 19, 2023

The 'canon' justification is that Mitchell forgot Kirk's middle name.

My own thought is that what could be more passive aggressive than intentionally misspelling a tombstone?

Decades ago my workplace ordered new business cards and someone* had the printer “fix an error” by changing the surname of an easily-vexed coworker. Although his last name was in fact Dunlop, he received a box with 500 cards proclaiming him to be Mr. Dunbar.

* Their relationship in latter-day terms is easiest to describe in terms of The Office: Tim and Gareth, or Jim and Dwight.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:14 AM on November 29, 2023