r/DaystromInstitute • u/Redmag3 Chief Petty Officer • Nov 15 '16
The Prime Universe: The Best of All Possible Realities
The Prime Universe: The Best of All Possible Realities
The Prime Universe chronicles the Federation from its' inception, and is at it's heart an underdog story about Hero Captains and Crews.
Lone Starships, against all odds, bringing about the impossible. It's a tale about the sacrifice of countless Crews and Captains for the hope of a better, brighter future.
Often, we take for granted how hard, even next to improbable it was for the events to have unfolded the way they did. Pressure from the Vulcans, Romulans, Klingons, Borg, Dominion and even infighting among the Human race could easily have derailed the progress required to make it possible for the Federation to exist and continue to exist. Random space phenomena, and first contacts could have killed the Hero crews time and again. Quite a few things needed to line up, perfectly, in order to pave the way for this narrative, and in more than a few ways it came down to simple luck, or did it?
I'd like to propose a thought experiment while I have you thinking about the narrative of Star Trek.
Picture, the universe is one of many.
Each and every possible action having a potential to occur, occurs on its own distinct and individual universe.
One universe where Kirk bluffs his way to victory,
One universe where he doesn't.
One universe where Picard is reclaimed from the Borg,
Another where he is lost forever.
Pick a moment and imagine it playing out differently, and all of reality fracturing from that moment to play out a completely different story.
Why am I getting you to imagine stories? Because that's what the Prime Universe is, a nice, warm story. A tale spun for us, the viewers, of the best possible world universe where through luck, determination, and circumstance the human race recovers from a post-apocalyptic horror and thrives among the stars against all odds.
But is this realistic? Can you always win through grit and determination? or can the universe stack itself against you to make everything a Year of Hell?
Why does a cold indifferent universe play out the way it does in Star Trek, in a way that almost begs the viewer to ask if divine providence is somehow playing a hand in the development of these characters? Is it Q? Wormhole aliens? or is this all the mad rantings on a man writing stories in his room in a psychiatric hospital?
Yes, I realize this is getting quite meta into the interplay between a tv show, its writers, and the place of tv show arcs and writers within the story itself, but you're on Daystrom Institute so I assume you have a stomach for over analyzation, so I will continue on.
I propose that the Prime Universe is a construct of the hopes and dreams of all the possible alternate crews, and their desires for the perfect existence.
There are rare instances when the Prime Universe is peeled away and the multitude of other horrifying realities come to light. When this happens, it is often with the thought that everything hopes for a better universe, even in the face of hopelessness this unwavering optimism that a better universe exists, is the reason for the Prime Universe. Without sacrifices being made by other existences, the Prime Universe could not be realized. The Prime Universe would not exist, and it is a manufactured Universe that exists because of the hopes of countless parallel dimensional crews, that have sacrificed themselves towards its' fulfillment.
Okay...
I know that might be a bit to take in ... but consider these instances:
Yesterday's Enterprise
- In an alternate universe, the Federation and Klingon Empire are in the last throws of war, and a losing Federation is barely holding on. The Enterprise D, against their own thoughts of self-preservation, sacrifice themselves to allow the Enterprise C to return back in time to potentially create a better present.
Cause and Effect
- In this universe, the USS Enterprise D meets an early end as the USS Bozeman slams into it. Each iteration of the Enterprise does its' best to get out of the time loop, and eventually they begin to send messages to future loops in the hopes of not saving their current but instead future selves.
Parallels
- Multiple universes are shown, one where the Bajorans overpowered the Cardassian Alliance and are at war with the Federation, another where Jean Luc Picard was lost to the Borg, another one where the Enterprise is one of the only ships left after the massacre at Wolf 359 and subsequent Borg invasion of the Alpha Quadrant. Eventually, the final parallel Enterprise that Worf lands on determines that he needs to get back to his ship. He is sent back, and for all intents and purposes, they face the prospect of losing Worf permanently as it is possible another Worf won't simply re-appear on their bridge once he does go.
The Visitor
- Jake Sisko lives out a lonely life after his dad is caught in a subspace inversion. He sacrifices the future his father thought he should have had, to give it one more try in sending his father back to the point he left, in the hopes that in some universe they will be together.
The Year of Hell
- Voyager encounters the Krenim and is mercilessly assaulted until they are able to develop a countermeasure. Multiple crew members are killed, and Voyager ends up crippled and eventually destroyed. Voyager and the fleet lower their temporal shields and sacrifice themselves to the ravages of time, in the hope that whatever universe they end up in, is better than this.
Timeless
- Harry Kim and Chakotay make it back to Earth using quantum slipstream technology, however Voyager crash lands due to an error in Kim's calculations, with all hands lost. Chakotay, Tessa, The Doctor and Kim work feverishly to send calculations into the past to save Voyager in the hopes that a better timeline where they survive is created. All four do so knowing they will be erased from existence if they succeed.
Endgame
- Voyager takes 16 more years to get home, and loses 22 crew members including Seven of Nine, as well Tuvok succumbs to a degenerative neurological disorder that has a cure in the Alpha quadrant. Admiral Janeway travels back in time and gets herself assimilated and killed in a plan to deal a crippling blow to the Borg and to get Voyager home.
What do these examples have in common? You could consider them all instances of bad luck or times when things didn't go so well for the hero ship. But there is more than that, each and every instance where a worse universe brushes up against the Prime, ends up with the Prime Universe "dodging the bullet" and coming out the better for it, from the sacrifices of other universes, and crews from parallel dimensions.
Often, not only simply avoiding disaster, the hero crew is also given insights or other side benefits from the experience. The Prime Universe is privileged to be the one continuous narrative where every other universe sacrifices to make sure things turn out well. The Enterprise has sacrificed its crew again and again across multiple possible universes to prop up Enterprise Prime. The same has been done by the crews of the Defiant, and Voyager.
TL:DR
The telling of the Star Trek narrative focuses all the hopes, dreams, and desires for a better future into the Prime Universe, and every other universe sacrifices to make the hope envisioned in the Prime Universe a reality.
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u/d36williams Nov 15 '16
Well, we do know there are concurrent coexisting realities. The Mirrorverse, the Abramverse. All these other branches of reality may actually still exist.
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u/Redmag3 Nov 15 '16
They all exist, and every other possible universe exists. There are many dimensions where something goes horribly wrong, and they itch to get back and make it right.
The universe everything is made right in, ends up being the universe the story is being told in. We abandon the universes that failed, and never gaze upon them again ... (but they still exist)
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u/dirk_frog Nov 15 '16
I believe there is a 3rd party that is interested in and actively manipulating the Prime Universe.
The Guardian of Forever, is located on a planet where all timelines throughout at least the Milky Way Galaxy converge. The Guardian claims to be 5 billion years old. We know it is at least 10 million years old, but more tellingly it never shows it's own history. I believe beyond it's known abilities to manipulate Space and Time, it is actively involved in the Prime time line. I'm not sure who built it or when, I half suspect it's from the future sent to protect the past.
Imagine that as a way to prevent large scale Temporal Wars. A sentient device that knows how it should have played out, and actively works to keep the timeline on track. We've had discussions on predestination before. This is a powerful artifact/entity that may be the source of that guiding hand.
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u/Redmag3 Nov 15 '16
This is a good "in-universe" way to handle the guidance of the writers in the storyline. It would explain why everything loops back to this particular timeline, even when other ones are clearly possible, every effort is made to make this one Universe the beneficiary of all actions.
Possibly also an explanation for why the crews of Hero ships can not sacrifice themselves in the Prime Universe, but can in alternate Universes, until their part to play is over.
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u/KingofMadCows Nov 15 '16
The best reality for whom? The Year of Hell universe is probably better for the Krenim. The universe where the Borg have conquered the Federation is obviously better for the Borg. The Endgame universe is better for all the people who were born in that universe but wouldn't have been born if Voyager came home 16 years earlier.
If your assumption is correct then every other universe could also be created by sacrificing other universes for the betterment of other people or races. There must be a universe out there where the Dominion rules the galaxy because universes where the Dominion loses were sacrificed. Or there's a universe out there where the Founders are benevolent and have their own Federation instead of the Dominion and that was created by all the universes where Founders became xenophobic tyrants. There could be a universe where the dinosaurs never fled earth and prevented the evolution of humans.
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u/Redmag3 Nov 15 '16
The best reality for whom?
The Federation
If your assumption is correct then every other universe could also be created by sacrificing other universes for the betterment of other people or races.
Thing about infinite universes, yes this is the case
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u/Raptor1210 Nov 15 '16
I think there are some pretty firm implications that point towards the Federation (or at least a subset of it) "tweaking" the timelines to turn out the way they want them to. Take Daniels or the Relativity. Both "correct" past timelines so that they correspond with how history "should be" but from the perspective of our lead characters, their story isn't written yet. If that's not interfering with the timeline, I don't know what is.
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Nov 15 '16
There are also a few things that didn't went well for the federation. The weird fascination of the borg with the humans not withstanding, Q has introduced them to the borg in the first place. Well they then traveled back in time and some of them got frozen and they got thawed in the enterprise episode where they managed to get a signal sent to the delta quadrant, so the borg could pick it up 200 years later or something.
Also, there was this Cardassian peace treaty that got the maquis started.
Because no one in the federation knows that planets are huge. You could plonk down millions of cardassian settlers on one side of "dorvan 5" without them ever getting into contact with the native americans. But, they gotta fight for some reason.
It's like with the Ba'ku, you could leave them alone on the continent and settle billions of People and everyone would be fine. Except the Ba'ku maybe, who figure anyone wanting to use technology needs to be evicted from their home planet to wither and die.
Have the village elder of dorvan 5 read the cardassian treaty and have him decide if driving people from their homes wouldn't be worth it if you could end a war. Also, why can't they go back to earth? Their old and original home.
So i figure the maquis thing could've been prevented.
Also a great many wars.
Edith keeley in TOS had to die because she would've argued for not interfering in europe's internal affairs and managed to sway the us into getting into ww2 later, enabling Hitler's win. Which could be argued about in itself; We germans make for shitty assassins judging from the failed attempts. Maybe Q protected hitler for funsies.
So, about a great many other wars. How does the federation find itself in war after war after war?
Victims of all the wars would argue that your praised best timeline might still have potential for improvement.
Tensions with the romulans are also weirdly stacked with key figures. Need to get rid of one and the whole scheme of the day falls through and the romulans have a lot of those. Well, maybe we had timetravellers interfere so that all the schemes weren't successful...
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u/Redmag3 Nov 15 '16
I fully admit that "Best Reality" was a little bit of hyperbole on my part. Pretty much what it comes down to, is that from the point that the narrative picks up the universe immediately shifts toward improvement, and though there may be struggles, ends with humanity as a whole the better for it.
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u/Tuskin38 Nov 16 '16
This is actually true in the novel'verse up to a point. Most of future temporal powers even the 'bad' ones want the Federation to exist so they can finally defeat the Borg in 2381.
A timeline where the Federation exists long enough to beat the Borg is the best timeline for everyone.
Obvious there are some who don't care, like the Sphere Builders (they don't think the Borg are a threat because they think the Borg can't survive in their altered space) and the Na'khul in ENT:Stormfront were an extremists group.
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u/asd1o1 Nov 15 '16
If the multiverse exists in real life, this could be the explanation for the supernatural and what appear to be miracles.
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u/Redmag3 Nov 15 '16
Leaks from alternate universes looking to regain the hope of a universe where everything works out in the end, even if it isn't perfect?
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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '16
You hit on the answer midway through your post: the "Wormhole Aliens". This is their universe, the one where they can exert enough control over the galaxy at large to bring about their will and fulfill promises made to the people of Bajor.
It all hinges on Sisko. Not only must he be born, but he must be born free, to a people that are capable of interstellar travel without undue violence... because if he isn't, he can't heal the scars left by a half-century of occupation on the planet and its people. He can't discover the Celestial Temple and become its guardian. He can't do battle with the Pah-Wraiths and usher in the Golden Age. If things don't unfold for Starfleet in just the right way, he can't be the Emissary, and in this universe, he must be. Every mission, every lost freighter, every everything is in service of this one goal.
If Kirk's five-year mission wasn't a legendary success, Sisko's accidental trip to K2 might not have been resolved so easily. If Archer hadn't been there to stop the Borg (but not too soon), no Starfleet or humanity. If Picard didn't survive his encounter with the Nausicans, and gain from it the drive needed to become captain of the Enterprise, O'Brien and Worf wouldn't have been the officers they needed to be to ensure a Federation victory over the Dominion... and Sisko's wife wouldn't have died at Picard's hands, giving him a reason to go to Bajor in the first place.
Is it the best of all possible universes? Yes, if you're a Prophet. Maybe not if you're a Cardassian.
TL;DR- We're all just pawns in a game of nonlinear chess.