We’ve discussed some of the things that have changed in the Star Trek Universe several times but what about the things that haven’t? The Point of Divergence for the Trek Timeline is Nero’s appearance in 2233 and its encounter with the USS Kelvin. This is used to explain the different uniforms, the upgraded technology and things happening differently than we remember in the original timeline. Some things in the Trek Universe were set in motion prior to that event or were from a part of the galaxy unaffected by Nero’s interaction with the past. So what’s the same?

1. V’Ger

The Voyager VI unmanned space probe was still launched in the late 20th Century and as far as we know all of its interactions with the unknown race of sentient machines still took place. This means the V’Ger intruder that we saw in Star Trek: The Motion Picture is still on its way to Earth in 2273.

2. The Whale Probe

The giant probe from deep space we saw in Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home still hasn’t received a call from its whale friends so in the year 2286 Earth will be visited and almost plunged into a new Ice Age. Originally Kirk and crew were on Vulcan in a stolen Klingon Bird of Prey when it “attacked” Earth. Will they still be in a position to save Earth by going back in time to pick up a couple whales?

3. Nomad

Launched from Earth in 2002 and having a very similar story as V’Ger, the Nomad Space Probe is on it’s way back into Federation space. In the original timeline the Enterprise encounters the probe in 2267 (TOS: The Changeling) as it wipes out the Malurian system. When they bring it onboard it wipes Uhura’s memories and kills Scotty. How will the new timeline Kirk react to this bit of fun?

4. The Kelvan Empire

In 2268 an expedition group from the Kelvan Empire (TOS: By Any Other Name) from the Andromeda Galaxy visited our galaxy with the intention of invading and taking over. Once again Kirk and the Enterprise crew were there to save the day. Will they be stopped in the new timeline?

5. Q

The Q are still out there. Will we get to Farpoint faster than we were supposed to in 2363? Will Jean-Luc Picard be the captain? In this new timeline, who knows?

6. The Borg

The Borg have been around since at least 1484 AD when they controlled a handful of star systems in the Delta Quadrant. They are out there and they are growing stronger. Hopefully this new timeline doesn’t change too much and someone will be there to slow down or stop their advancement. Otherwise sometime in the future we may have trouble.

That’s just a few of the things that haven’t, or shouldn’t have, changed in the new “alternate” timeline created by Nero’s arrival in 2233. Can you think of any more? I’d love to hear about it in the forums.

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It’s About Temporal Mechanics

“Time travel. Since my first day on the job as a Starfleet captain I swore I’d never let myself get caught in one of these godforsaken paradoxes – the future is the past, the past is the future, it all gives me a headache.”

–Kathryn Janeway Star Trek: Voyager “Future’s End: Part 1”

We’ve talked several times on episodes of Dork Trek about time travel and the new JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. We’ve briefly mentioned alternate timelines and what is “real” Star Trek so I thought I’d take a minute to posit a different take on the matter and perhaps make peace with Space Adventure Movie 2009.

Today I’m ready to say that JJ Abrams didn’t destroy the original Prime Timeline of Star Trek. It had already been done almost 13 years earlier in a more devious, quiet move by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, the team behind most of Star Trek: The Next Generation!

Read the details after the break.

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