By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Nowadays, Star Trek fans often complain about continuity issues caused by shows like Discovery And Strange new worldsbut these complaints are not really new. In fact, various plot points on Business sparked a wave of fan anger regarding continuity changes, and these complaints continued with the release of the Kelvinverse films. Historically, fans have blamed the writers for these problems, but it turns out that all of Star Trek’s biggest continuity problems might have been caused by Captain Picard during the events of First contact.
Star Trek: First Contact Did It
As you will remember, Star Trek: First Contact had continuity issues built right into its narrative thanks to a plotline about the Borg traveling to 21st century Earth and ruining the timeline as we know it. Captain Picard followed the Borg into the past and defeated them while other members of his crew helped Zefram Cochrane achieve humanity’s historic first warp-speed flight. This flight attracted the attention of nearby Vulcans and brought Earth into a wider galaxy, but even though the film implies that Picard completely corrected history, later continuity issues prove that he could have made things worse .
Before going any further, it is important to focus on some of the Star Trek continuity issues that fans have been focusing on since Business began airing in 2001. This show retconned the Vulcan mind merge to become something that only certain Vulcans could do and that their society frowned upon, which was at odds with everything we knew about it since The original series. Other continuity problems stem from the show’s clumsy insistence on having episodes with the Ferengi and the Borg, two races that apparently no one in Starfleet had ever heard of before Picard’s misadventures in The next generation.
It’s not Nero’s fault
The later Star Trek reboot films attempted to avoid continuity issues by explaining that it was a different universe in which 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 healing blood, or even why Sulu is now openly gay. While it is possible to explain other changes such as the increase in the size of Starfleet ships following Nero’s one-off attack on the Federation, none of these particular changes can really be attributed to this. , but one theory holds that this could all have been caused inadvertently. by Picard.
All timeline changes to Star Trek continuity in the Kelvinverse the films make sense in the wake of Nero’s attack, and none of Enterprise’s continuity issues make much sense. However, some fans have noted that, while saving humanity from the Borg, Picard made major changes to the timeline in 2063. It is entirely possible that this explains the apparent continuity changes in Business (which begins in 2151) and Star Trek (2009), which takes place in 2255.
Picard and the butterfly effect
Obviously, this Star Trek theory isn’t perfect, but it could explain many of the continuity changes that audiences are complaining about. Think of it like the butterfly effect: even small changes Picard made in the past could have major impacts on the future. First contact was released five years ago Business and 13 years before the first Kelvinverse film, so it would make sense that we are now witnessing a timeline that has been permanently altered by Picard’s shenanigans, with each new on-screen adventure affected by Picard’s previous actions.
This theory would explain the later problems linked to Star Trek: Discovery continuity that ranged from changes in the appearance of Klingons to Spock suddenly having a brilliant Mary Sue sister we’ve never heard of. Interestingly, Strange new worlds Implicitly supports this theory thanks to an episode that confirmed that major details like Khan’s date of birth were changed due to constant interference from time travelers.
Now, it’s one thing to have a fun theory about Star Trek, but it’s another for fans to accept this as the reason for all these major continuity changes. For better or worse, however, fans should prepare for even more changes. Given that the next Trek movie will be an origin movie seemingly resembling First Contact with aliens and humanity joining the United Federation of Planets – events we’ve literally already seen on screen – it seems Trek continuity will never be fully consistent with its decades of established lore.
Too bad. Perhaps the next time Captain Picard travels to the past, he can focus on the meaning of his franchise. Or just make it interesting again. Honestly, we would settle for that!
