What follows here is a spoiler-intense, speculative discussion of what could be several key plot points in director J.J. Abrams' upcoming sci-fi summer adventure, STAR TREK, opening in theaters May 8th. If you have linked to this page unintentionally and wish to preserve your enjoyment of the film without encountering plot spoilers, this is your one and only warning to turn back. If you're staying to read on, let's go boldly onward!
Given the recent plot revelations in Paramount's official prequel comic Star Trek: Countdown Issue 3, I'm developing a feeling (and a theory) that what has long been touted as a 'time travel story' in STAR TREK may well be a rather clever misdirection from the actual core of its story.
UPDATED 04.01.09: Our review of Countdown #4 proves this article of speculation was 100% right.
Countdown Issue 3 reveals the growing threat of the Hobus system supernova, a stellar explosion which (let's face it, through somewhat dubious circumstances) threatens not only local planets and systems but the entire galaxy. Plausible or not, the important point is not lost on Nero, who just witnessed the utter destruction of his home planet Romulus by this exploding star. As Issue 3 opens, Nero arrives too late to save his beloved wife and unborn child who perished on the planet with most of the Romulan population — and indeed, the first Federation ship to arrive on the scene was also too late to help. Nero's grief and vengeance makes for quick departures of the Federation ships offering aid to survivors and his personal war against Starfleet begins.
While Nero wreaks havoc in the quadrant, dispatching Federation and Klingons alike, Spock takes on the mission to deliver a small amount of red matter — refined decalithium, a highly volatile power source being secretly mined by the Federation and Romulans — to the Hobus system in an attempt to halt the nova's expansion and end its galactic threat.
While Spock embarks on this mission in the Jellyfish vessel, specifically engineered to withstand the extreme temperatures near the supernova, Nero has had his modest mining ship Narada bio-engineered with stolen Borg technology. The nano-engineering of Borg tech turns his duty ship into a massive squid-like behemoth which can literally evolve better weapons, stronger defenses and increased adaptability to any battles or hardships it encounters. But here is the key: thus far, neither Spock's Jellyfish nor Nero's Narada has any evidence of time travel capabilities — at best, they both have warp speed ability but nothing more exotic or experimental than that in 24th century terms.
So, if neither Spock's nor Nero's ship can deliberately travel in time, how do both characters end up in the past of the 23rd century in this 'origin story' about the earliest days of James Kirk and the Enterprise crew? Without specific technology to propel them back in time, and apparently no logical reason to want to vault back a century in history, is the dramatic device of time travel incidental or accidental in this story, given the events of the plot set up in Issue 3 of the official prequel comic?
Instead the story emphasizes how Spock plans to stop the Hobus star supernova by 'injecting' it with red matter, a drop of which would create a unique singularity — a homemade black hole — that should collapse the rupturing star upon itself and thus save the galaxy from further destruction.
But instead: what if Nero ends up intercepting Spock on his mission, and though battle or subversion, the singularity gets created with both ships in proximity? Could this singularity create a wormhole-like effect in time, sending them both back into the past?
If Spock saves the future by destroying the Hobus nova, but both he and Nero get thrown back in time by the fallout of his mission, then in effect Nero gets the chance to save his Empire retroactively in the past, since he's too late to do so in the present.
This theory might clear up several perceived problems in story logic raised in prior speculation before Issue 3:
1) Nero had no intention of changing the past, so he need not have a time travel-capable ship.
2) Spock need not have a time travel ship either, and if they both go into the past together, then this may eliminate the problem of how does Spock find Nero? They both arrive in the 23rd century — perhaps in slightly separate times or places — and a WTF? moment ensues for both.
3) Nero, stranded in history, now attempts to change his past to save Romulus, his wife and unborn kid, and the entire Empire by defeating young Kirk and Starfleet. Even if Nero never lives to see the outcome of his personal war, it's a small price to pay for the salvation of his lost Empire and to honor the memory of the lost family he mourns.
4) Spock can track Nero by his actions which are aberrations in the 23rd century history Spock already knows, and he can enlist his younger self and shipmates aboard the Enterprise to combat Nero's interference.
Might this be the reason we see the Narada emerging from an inky swirling vortex in the latest STAR TREK theatrical trailer? Perhaps the Narada is actually arriving in the past through the singularity Spock created. Unless it's a deliberately reversed shot, in which case the Narada is entering the singularity — but either way, the same plot point applies. Is this shot above the method of time travel, a local singularity black hole created by the use of decalithium red matter?
Admittedly, there's an issue if Nero arrives far enough in the past to interfere with Kirk's father's generation, if that's Nero's first arrival point in the 23rd century. Perhaps Nero thinks he's killed Kirk pro-actively by destroying the Kelvin and thus claims victory... only to learn Kirk was saved by George's actions, as the new trailer states quite directly. How Nero passes the time between George Kirk's death and Jim's Academy years is unclear. But overall the main story point remains: like STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN, the villain fails to hit his target and is shocked to learn his war of vengeance with Starfleet continues on when adult Kirk enters the Academy.
Naturally this news prompts Nero to attack Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, and when this attack ensues, it may well provide the impetus for the crew to rush aboard the Enterprise. While Captain Pike's ultimate fate is not yet known with certainty, the trailer heavily implies that Kirk takes command of the ship under crisis conditions, and if so then it's mano-a-mano between Kirk and Nero, the Enterprise vs. Narada, and the main action of the story follows.
By making time travel an unintended diversion from Nero's vengeance in the 24th century, it actually gives him plenty of time (literally) to exact his revenge in the past: the singularity time travel resets the story clock by a century and it's all out war between the Federation and a lone Romulan invader all over again!
Also, if Nero destroys the Kelvin (and George Kirk with it) using Borg-modified technology on the Narada, this is a new threat which then prompts many technological changes in Federation "past we knew" as their scientists and engineers respond. Given the Cold War-like race to develop better ships, weapons and defenses, this alternate universe Enterprise has flat screen control panels, transparent heads-up display viewscreens, etc. The Kelvin attack spurs technological development faster than it did without Nero's interference in the TOS timeline.
Ships, tricorders, transporters and the like don't look exactly the same as before because they aren't the same — yet by and large, the crew's lives still converge on their mutual destiny aboard the Enterprise as 'intended' but including different circumstances in their lives in this timeline due to Nero's presence.
This is especially true in Jim Kirk's case since his own past was directly affected by Nero, yet even the most drastic change he suffers — George commanding the Kelvin for 12 minutes, saving hundreds of lives including Jim's, but dying at the hands of Nero — still steers Jim's destiny right back onto the bridge of the Enterprise. And as the trailer reveals, Christopher Pike is still the one facilitating that 'destiny' for James T. Kirk, just as it happened before!
TREK co-writer Roberto Orci has offered hints recently on his theories of how quantum mechanics and the like have influenced his story, and the more he has revealed, the less importance the dramatic device of time travel appears to have in the story. Rather, it's the relative changes that Nero enacts in this alternate timeline which creates the spine of the story, now how he got there. Yet hints have also been made that there is an overall 'tide' to the universe, and indeed one man like Nero can only effect a limited, local sphere of influence on galactic events. Nero's actions have strong impact on the particulars of Kirk and Spock's past, but only after the point of the Kelvin attack, so the changes he creates are by nature (or theoretical physics) limited in their scope and outcome.
The larger trends, while slightly changed like a thrown pebble rippling the water of a stream, continue onward as intended by the galactic flow of previous events. These 'vectors' in history can't be drastically diverted by one man or one ship from the future, but Nero can create several small disturbances in these paths which can multiply to create uncertainty in the outcome of specific events. Thus the story unfolds: can Nero destroy enough of the past to save his own future? This question being raised, it may become increasingly clear that the story device of time travel is not the main focus of this plot, but merely the catalyst which sets these characters in action.
Indeed, if the time travel in STAR TREK ends up a one-way trip for both Nero and Spock, then it quickly becomes moot as a story element — the dice being thrown, now all these characters must react to new circumstances and claim their stakes on the future once again. In TREK's storytelling terms, this venture into the past soon becomes a battle for the present, which is the only aspect of time in which any of us have effect or control over our lives. Alternate timeline or not, depending on how the story ends, STAR TREK will beam us into the present events of the 23rd century and the gathering of Kirk, Spock, Bones, Sulu and Uhura aboard the Enterprise to see how it all began . . . again!
Admittedly this isn't a perfect theory, but given the evidence unfolding before us, I think perhaps such a scenario of unintended time travel and how that supports STAR TREK's story is worth exploring. MISSION: TREK 2009 will amend and expand on this speculation as new revelation of story points and hints develop. |
