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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Star Trek fans these days often complain about the continuity problems caused by shows like Find out a Brave New Worldsbut such complaints are not really new. Indeed, a varied plot points about Enterprise started a wave of fan anger about continuity changes, and those complaints continued with the release of the Kelvinverse films. Historically, fans have blamed the writers for these issues, but it appears that Captain Picard may have caused all of Star Trek’s biggest continuity problems during the events of the event. First Contact.
Star Trek: First Contact Did it
As you will remember, Star Trek: First Contact continuity concerns were built directly into its narrative thanks to a plot about the Borg traveling back to 21st century Earth and ruining the timeline as we know it. Captain Picard followed the Borg into the past and defeated them while others in his crew helped Zefram Cochrane complete humanity’s historic first high-speed flight. This flight caught the attention of nearby Vulcans and brought Earth into the wider galaxy, but although the film suggests that Picard had set history completely stable, later sequel problems prove that he could have made things worse.
Before we go any further, it is important to focus on some of the Star Trek continuity problems that fans have focused on ever since Enterprise The show started airing in 2001. That show rewired the Vulcan mind into something that only certain Vulcans could do and was frowned upon by their society, which conflicted with everything we knew about this. The Original Series. Other continuity problems come from the show’s awkward insistence on having episodes with the Ferengi and the Borg, two races that no one in Starfleet seemed to have ever heard of before Picard’s misadventures in The Next Generation.
It’s not Nero’s fault
Later Star Trek reboot films tried to avoid continuity issues by explaining that this was a different universe where the Romulan Nero traveled to the past, changing history forever. But that still doesn’t explain why Chekhov’s age is different, why Khan has a different ethnicity and healthy blood, or even why Sulu is now openly gay. While it’s possible to explain other changes such as an increase in Starfleet ship size as a result of Nero’s timey-wimey attack on the Federation, none of these specific changes can really be attributed to that, but one theory says that all this could have been caused unintentionally. by Picard.
Not all of the timeline changes to Star Trek continuity are in the Kelvinverse movies make sense as a result of Nero’s attack, and none of Enterprise’s continuity problems make much sense at all. However, some fans have pointed out that while saving humanity from the Borg, Picard made major changes to the timeline in the year 2063. It’s entirely possible that this would explain the apparent continuity changes in Enterprise (which begins in the year 2151) a Star Trek (2009), which takes place in the year 2255.
Picard And The Butterfly Effect
Obviously, this Star Trek theory isn’t perfect, but it could explain many of the continuity changes audiences are grappling with. Think of it as the butterfly effect: even small changes made by Picard in the past could have a big impact in the future. First Contact came out five years earlier Enterprise and 13 years before the first Kelvinverse movie, so it would make some kind of meta sense that we’re now seeing a timeline that’s been permanently altered by Picard’s shenanigans, with every new on-screen adventure affected by the actions of earlier Picard.
This theory would explain the later issues with the Star Trek: Discovery progression that ranged from changes to the appearance of the Klingons to Spock suddenly have a wonderful sister Mary Sue that we have never heard of. Interestingly, Brave New Worlds implicitly supports this theory thanks to an episode that confirmed that major details such as Khan’s date of birth were changed due to the constant interference of time travelers.
Now, it’s one thing to have a fun Star Trek theory, but it’s another for fans to accept this as the reason behind all these major continuity changes. For better or worse, however, fans need to prepare for even more change. Given that the next Trek film will be an origin film it will apparently be a remake of the first tie-in aliens and humanity joining the United Federation of Planets – events we’ve literally already seen on screen – it looks like Trek’s continuity will never quite live up to its decades of established lore.
Oh, well. Maybe the next time Captain Picard travels to the past, he can focus on making his franchise make sense. Or just make it interesting again. Honestly, we’d settle for that!
