Alternate reality

AT: "nt" "Alternate reality" was one of the terms used by Nyota Uhura to describe the timeline changes caused by the arrival of the mining vessel Narada in 2233 from the year 2387. (Star Trek)

Beginning of alternation

The Narada emerges from a black hole, initiating the alternate reality.

The planet Romulus was destroyed by a star going supernova in 2387. Ambassador Spock was able to halt the supernova, via the use of red matter, to create a black hole but was too late to save Romulus from destruction. The Narada, a Romulan mining ship under the command of Captain Nero, was pulled into the black hole, followed by Spock's ship, the Jellyfish.

Nero placed blame on the Federation for the loss of his homeworld, and sought revenge. He emerged from the black hole in 2233 (coincidentally, around the same time that James T. Kirk was born). The USS Kelvin was the first ship that Nero encountered and attacked; Captain Richard Robau put his first officer, Lieutenant George Kirk, in command before ordering the evacuation of the ship and agreeing to come aboard the Narada. There, Captain Robau was interrogated, regarding the whereabouts of Spock, whom Robau was unfamiliar with and, moments after he informed Nero of the current stardate, the Romulan captain used his own teral'n to kill Robau.

Nero then proceeded to attack the Kelvin. Kirk used the Kelvin's weapons to prevent Nero from destroying the evacuating shuttles departing the Kelvin, ultimately sacrificing himself by ramming the Kelvin into the Narada. Kirk's actions saved some 800 lives, including his wife, Winona Kirk, and their newborn son, James T. Kirk, but was unable to destroy the Narada.

As a major consequence of these events, James Kirk grew up without his father and without ambitions his father gave him in the prime reality. However, he was persuaded by Christopher Pike to join Starfleet.

Destruction of Vulcan

Ambassador Spock, a traveler from the prime reality and an inhabitant of the alternate reality.

In 2258, Nero captured the Jellyfish as it emerged from travel through the black hole. He marooned Spock on Delta Vega, and used a portion of the remaining red matter aboard to destroy the planet Vulcan. While marooned on Delta Vega, Spock encountered the alternate James T. Kirk and made him aware of the prime reality and the altered past. (Star Trek)

Background

The alternate reality runs parallel to the prime reality as a new quantum reality. The prime reality is where many of the events seen in the Star Trek universe have occurred, and, according to Star Trek writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, their film allows the prime reality to continue. [1]

Star Trek screenwriter Roberto Orci in a post on Ain't It Cool News [2] and Director J.J. Abrams in an interview with MTV [3] gave the reason why technology in the alternate reality is more advanced than it is during the same period in the prime reality: Scans of the 24th century Narada, taken by the Kelvin, were brought back by the surivors on the shuttles. This led to the technological advancements not seen in the prime reality.

External link

• Analysis of changes in the alternate reality