Berman and his crew did a great job carrying on for Roddenberry. So much quality Trek came out when he was in charge. Without TNG, DS9, Voy, Ent, and the TNG movies, the 60th anniversary would not look the same. I can't name everyone in Berman's group but his team did amazing work. Not everything was perfect of course and we laugh and groan together at the missteps, but the collective body of work is outstanding. Thanks, Rick Berman and company, for growing Star Trek and giving us so much great entertainment.

When I first learned this would be the story, my first thought was "gee, she would have been over 50". I know there are cases where women do get preggers past 50, but it's still a rarity.

I tried doing some math in my head concerning this. I don't believe Beverly's age was ever stated on the show, so my best guess would be that she had Wesley at around 24 (I'm surmising Starfleet Academy is like a 4 year school and she marries Jack Crusher after graduation then has Wesley a year later), then at the start of TNG Wes is 14-15 (I think) and so she would be 38, making her 45 at the end of TNG. I'm unsure as to how much time passes after FC concerning when Insurrection and Nemesis take place, I'll guess Nemesis takes place 3-4 years after FC. From the way they talk in episode 3 when she explains to Picard why she never told him about having Jack, it sounds like this would be even farther along. It's unclear if they were trying to make a relationship work as they describe between FC and Nemesis and there is the thing about her going off to head Starfleet Medical again after Nemesis (I know to some it's not official as it's in the deleted scenes).

So maybe we can just jot it down to that in 300 years the human body evolves in ways we don't see. Look at the Betazeds, Mrs. Troi was having a baby at around 70.

I know it's just a nitpick, but, wasn't anyone else thinking about her age?

Two months ago, I posed the question "Does Canon Matter to You?" to Star Trek fans on Reddit. The results were illuminating and across the board as to whether canon should be strictly observed, observed generally, or ignored altogether.

Canon--the principle that what happens in a Star Trek episode is "fact" within the Star Trek universe and should be represented consistently in later stories--has always been a divisive issue among fans. On one extreme are fans who insist that nothing be changed. If Klingons are depicted a certain way in one series, they should be depicted the same way in every series. On the other extreme are fans who are not bothered by inconsistencies or can explain away such inconsistencies either due to nuances in language (Kirk was a literal Boy Scout but not a "boy scout" in the sense of someone who always follows the rules) or time travel shenanigans that have altered the timeline.

For our purposes, the terms canon and continuity are used interchangeably, though, as one fan pointed out, canon usually refers to a body of work such as that of a particular author or works accepted as authoritative such as by a church.

The use of the term canon among Star Trek fans is interesting, as it implies that lore is sacrosanct (a term used by one fan) and must be respected. The term canon makes things sound more serious than they really are, or, arguably, should be in a fictional universe. This is not to downplay the importance of canon. As I've argued elsewhere, a sense of continuity creates verisimilitude. It helps immerse the reader or viewer in the world of the story and facilitates our suspension of disbelief. Inconsistencies undermine a fan's involvement and can throw viewers out of the story.

But how do fans really feel about canon? The responses to my question provide a bit more nuance. Out of 438 responses, 64 addressed the question directly. The rest drifted off topic or were follow-up conversations that offered no new insights, which is expected in any social media thread.

From those 64 responses, six themes emerged: strongly in favor of canon, vexed by specific changes or inconsistencies, recognized the difficulties in maintaining canon (a sort of neutral position), okay with intentional deviations, prefer a general sense of continuity, and don't care about canon. The totally unscientific results of the responses are shown below:

64 responses

15 (23.4%)                                         General Sense of Continuity

13 (20.3%)                                         Vexed by specifics

 8 (12.5%)                                          Deviate with intentionality

7 (10.9%)                                           Difficulty in maintaining canon

14 (21.9%)                                         Strongly in favor of canon

7 (10.9%)                                           Don’t care about canon                                  

Total: 99.9%

(The results do not add up to 100% because some responses fit more than one theme.)

Some sample responses from each theme are given below. (Some have been edited for grammar and clarity.)

General sense of continuity

I see Star Trek as a broadly consistent framework for stories. … But for me, the consistency that really matters is about the overall vision. LordCouchCat

Canon should be guidelines that are neither too strict or too loose. . . . Destroying Vulcan was way across the line imbartsimpsonwhothru

I want new Star Trek to respect existing canon to about the same degree that TNG respected TOS canon, or DS9 respected TNG/TOS canon. So, like 80%. MadContrabassoonist

I like it, but I don't mind ignoring a contradiction if it's in service of telling a better story. That's preferable by far to doing some crazy gymnastics in a season finale to cover for some inconsistency that must have been brought to the producers' attention months after they started shooting dimgray

Vexed by specifics

The fact that Romulus was destroyed in 2387 should not change. Neither should how the technologies operate change drastically within the same time period. I'm referring to tech like warp drives, transporters, replicators, phasers, photon torpedoes, and holodecks. midasp

But Scotty being younger than Kirk and the degree to which T’Pring has been in this show is annoying. Johnny_Radar

100% agree on Discovery Klingons. You could come up with a headcanon to explain it, but they didn't give us any explanation, it was just this weird thing that seemed to happen for no reason. KuriousKhemicals

La'an is cool but if she is descended from a still missing Khan, where are her augmentations? Doesn't have any? Then why even bother when she already has a harrowing Gorn escape backstory? Gutripper3k

Deviate with intentionality

Deviate from canon only with intentionality when it serves a story, and you better be sure it’s worth it. MoreGaghPlease

I'm fine with breaking canon if it means we can tell a better story. Introducing the Cardassians in TNG as a long running adversary that we've been fighting a war against for years, but never mentioned before strains credulity. But look what it gave us. The entirety of DS9 spawned from that decision to introduce a new enemy. It was worth it. hullgreebles

TNG is to a certain extent 'in medias res.' We've had the Enterprise B and C come and go, we didn't follow them, this is 'the next generation.' Things have happened we're not privy to. Charming_Figure_9053

Difficulty in maintaining canon

The more lore you know, the easier to offend, of course, but some things are simply not in the same universe. imbartsimpsonwhothru

Canon is nice for nerd fun, but terrible for storytelling. Like fundamentally, it’s an entertainment franchise. They have been pumping out stories for 60 years. The whole broader Star Trek universe is really just some window dressing that’s built up over time and that doesn’t matter much for the stories each episode and movie tries to tell. Choice-Sympathy8235

I think it's really impressive when a show can maintain consistency with 900 episodes of canon (looking at you, Prodigy and Lower Decks), but I don't think it's that important. What I really care about is that a series is actually trying to tell me a story (or set of episodic stories) that is good and written with purpose. Star Trek is a group project. dianthus-magenta

Strongly in favor of canon

Canon is what adds value and depth to a story over time. If you're not respecting canon, then you're just doing a reboot, or a remake. J-Shade

Hire someone who has watched Star Trek to sit in on the writers room... that is all you need. tnetennba77

Yes. It does matter to me. Still annoyed about the plot of the first episode of Enterprise. How the devil is Q'onos 2 weeks away from Earth at warp 5? That would be like 30 seconds at warp 9? McRando42

I expect people to do their research. I view a show like Star Trek like doing a period piece. You treat writing an episode like doing one for a series set during WWII. You shouldn’t be expected to read a biography of Eisenhower and get the smallest details of his life correct but you shouldn’t get the basic details of WWII battles and technology wrong. DJWGibson

Don't care about canon

I care as much about canon as James R. Kirk does. ZigZagZedZod

Not really TBH. Been watching for 40+ years. It's fun to know the ins and outs but I'm not super bothered by it. Canon has always been a mess. Outrageous-Win-8297

Canon is how we compare new versions of Star Trek to previous ones, which is at least half the fun of watching the new ones. Otherwise, not such a big deal. Besides, they've had enough time travel shenanigans by now that history has been rewritten multiple times. genek1953

Thanks to everyone who participated in the earlier thread. I hope I have not misrepresented your views. I welcome any corrections or further discussion.

So, what does all this tell us? If 64 responses are any indication (and they might not be), canon matters to a large number of fans. More than three quarters of the responses stated that at least a general sense of continuity is desired. Canon does not have to be strict, and it's open to reasonable variations (such as the introduction of the Cardassians as long-time Federation enemies we'd never heard of before). But changes should be made because the story or franchise benefits from them in a substantial way.

In the end, telling good stories is what Star Trek is all about. Canon plays a valid and valuable role in telling those stories.

Check out this post on by Substack: https://greggildersleeve.substack.com/p/does-canon-matter-results-of-an-unofficial?r=17caqm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

This is a repost from the StarCraft subreddit, just as a disclaimer.

I'm curious as to what anyone who is familiar with both franchises might think if the Zerg Swarm from StarCraft encountered the Borg Collective from Star Trek.

Both are hive mind species that grow their ranks at least in part by taking enemies and converting them into more Zerg or more Borg.

I am curious what you think might happen on two levels? What would happen to the individual organisms if a Borg drone ended up infected by the Zerg hyper-evolutionary virus or else a directed infestation, and what do you think might happen to a Zerg organism assimilated by Borg nanoprobes?

And secondly, if there would be any interactions between the two hive minds, what do you think the result would be? Would one hive mind come out victorious, or would they merge into one? Do you think it would make a difference if the leader of the Swarm was the Overmind, Kerrigan, Zagara, or something/someone else? What would any of those leaders and/or the Borg hive mind look like if one subsumed the other, or if they became a single combined entity?

This is just something I have wondered for a while as a fanfic author, and I'm curious as to what others in the community might think.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and for sharing any thoughts you might have. Wishing you all the best! ^_^

Watching through Voyager and just watched "The Q and the Grey". It got me thinking about the origin of the Borg. I had the thought that the Q seek to add to the continuum that which will make them better, just as the Borg seek to add species to their collective that will improve it. Then I had the thought that the origin of the Borg could be a Q that was kicked out of the continuum and sought to make a continuum of his own in fleshly terms via the Borg and using knowledge retained from his time as a Q. Finally, I had the thought that he might not have been a fully fallen Q, but instead was still a Q that decided that he could strengthen the Q by creating the Borg collective, having it forcibly assimilate many species, adding their uniqueness to the collective, with the end game of eventually bringing the whole Borg collective into the Q continuum to strengthen and enliven it, perhaps even doing so at multiple points in time to keep fighting the stagnation that the Continuum tends towards. Perhaps there are some salient facts that I am missing, so please give me your thoughts on it.

I’m an elder millennial and I’m happy we have new trek, but I see the issues with it. The stuff that bugs me even as a liberal bugs you. But holy cow. SNW season 4 felt like they finally were getting it right. If you look at all old trek the one common thing is the crew are strangers and become family. SNW finally felt like I family

BUT I needed to say I started Star Fleet academy with a mind set that this would be just not good, and my gosh, I’m loving every second. They are building relationships, the science is TV science’ing and the lead Caleb was actually perfectly cast! I really thought Hollywood Hunter was not the right choice but after I discovered she is Lanthenite. It just all fits.

And it’s like PARAMOUNT, you just finally get it. You get what new trek needs to be. The old ways plus (pardon the pun) the stuff for the next generation and it feels like now that you finally figured out the formula and the only way to go is UP
You’re backing off.
You have good stuff here. I tell you. Keep putting this stuff out and you will be back to the top TV, attending the award shows. Water cooler talk. So idk please keep this up. If you double down we will go with you!! ❤️

I've always been interested in a map of Star Trek. I know there've been numerous attempts and one was even included in the Picard series. I just stumbled across a clip from a TNG episode and am curious if it reinforces or undermines any of these map attempts, or hasn't been considered at all.​

In "The Mind's Eye", the Klingon governor of the Empire's Kriosian colony says rebels fighting for independence have been captured who were armed with hundreds of Federation phaser weapons. He thinks the Federation is secretly supplying the rebels. He says it's the only Klingon colony on the border of Federation space and thinks Kriosian independence would reduce Federation vulnerability to a Klingon attack.

No clue how big this Kriosian territory is. If it's a native people who colonized their own star system or perhaps others near to them before the Klingons conquered them, does this mean to Klingon-Federation border is very small?

Personally, I'll probably get some hate here, I enjoyed Enterprise. We've seen a ton of TOS era and TNG, Voy and DS9 are all around the same time. I would love to see a series after NX01 is decommissioned and the early foundings of the Federation, maybe even Archers presidency.

if Strange New Worlds has now made the Animated Series canon that means that Kzinti and their history entered the Star Trek universe through a unique crossover with author Larry Niven, who adapted his own Known Space universe concepts for the Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS) episode "The Slaver Weapon" (1973).

Like they did with Tasha in Yesterday’s Enterprise. I know she didn’t leave on great terms, but in be curious to know about some story ideas/pitches to bring her back for a one off?

I've only read Woman of Tomorrow and watched Lanterns. I plan to read/watch more of what they've made. What do you a series made by them would be like?

I imagine since it's HBO there'd be at least episode with graphic nudity so maybe the crew goes to a Caligula/Rome planet. And that's the only episode they really do that sort of thing.

We never see Archer with a little poop-baggie.

This is my favorite quote especially with Leonard Nimoys delivery

https://youtu.be/JFwhPbsr5RU?is=5Rykp8o4ZfRpM59k

Not gonna lie, “Dr Bashir, I Presume” was quite a different episode than I expected. I expected something more akin to being DS9’s “Measure of a Man” or what SNW would later do in “Ad Astra per Aspera”. Like the bulk of the episode being Julian having to defend his place and Starfleet despite his augmentations. I mean I did like the episode it actually was, I think it’s a great episode. It just was very different.

I was re-watching Generations the other day. During the climax and everyone evacuating the star drive section, we see Crusher evacuating sickbay. We also see families/children rushing to safety, leaving everything behind (that poor little girl and her teddy bear)

I only just now questioned the why of it? Was sickbay not already in the saucer section? Was it really 'safer' to evacuate paitents to crew quarters?

Was the school and most family living quarters not already mostly in the saucer section as well?

I’m going over just some of my favorite quotes from the series, I’m not sure if that’s the kind of thing you guys like but it’s seemingly gotten a lot of fun convo out of it yk so why not 🤷‍♂️

https://youtu.be/5eSudL3r_JE?is=4jaIQzwR7AbD3oSP

Repost for spelling mistakes lol
One of my favorite quotes