#strange new worlds theory

[anewstartrekfan]

Strange New Worlds Tarsus IV theory that’s probably wrong but eh

I think Sam and Jim’s mom was murdered on Tarsus IV.

Based on the newest episode of SNW, we know George Kirk Sr. is still alive. But neither brother brings up their mom when arguing about how their dad is only proud of Jim. However Jim does bring her up when he was talking about his past. (I do not care for that scene but I’m gonna have to use it for my point) specifically saying during his childhood, his mom, Sam, and himself would follow his dad to each new posting.

Jim was around 13 when Tarsus IV happened. So technically the end of his childhood. Meaning there’s a chance he stopped following his dad’s postings after the massacre. What could cause the family to switch gears except a tragedy?

Imo it also retroactively makes Jim being a witness who saw Kodos commit the crime make more sense.

“Kodos began to separate the colonists. Some would live; be rationed whatever food was left. The remainder, would be immediately put to death. […] Children watching their parents die, whole families destroyed. Over 4,000 people. They died quickly, without pain, but they died.”

With how Spock described the massacre in conscious of the king, it almost sounds like Kodos and his men went door to door murdering the people he deemed less valuable. Given George Kirk Sr.’s status in Starfleet, if Kodos were to deem any or all of George’s family less valuable, he would probably want to be there for the execution. Kodos thought he would go down in history as a hero for this after all. He would want to be there for the “big,” moments.

I’m also betting the relief that arrived was not from the Kelvin, but a different starship. Further reinforcing the conclusion Jim came to about his dad.

“My mom, brother, and I, we spent my whole childhood chasing him from one posting to another. Barely seeing him. When I’d ask why, my mom would always say, he’s helping people who really need it. […] If my dad chose to help total strangers over me, it must… must be important.”

[trekkiehood]

People who know Una's secret

-Chirs -M'bega -Chapel -La'an

Chris - would never tell and is blindsided by the arrest. Also no implications were made that he knew and was hiding info as that would likely result in him getting in trouble.

M'bega - while he could have made a medical report about it I highly doubt it. He has/had too many of his own secrets. And again, there's no implications that it was an accidental slip or M'bega would probably get in some sort of trouble. Then again he's at a lower rank in TOS so it's possible. Still unlikely.

Chapel - tattling is so not her vibe. And she moves up not down the ranks and leaking that info would soooo ruin her character for me.

La'an - ticked to find out about the lies. Leaving the Enterprise. Promoted. Doesn't seem all that upset about not being able to contact Una. Never seen in TOS. Known to be a stickler for the rules.

I'm not saying La'an sold out I'm just saying I wouldn't be shocked at the revelation.

[hollowwhisperings]

Kingdom Key & Kingdom Hearts: A SoRiku Theory

The Kingdom Hearts series (& its creators) actively emphasizes the ways that its primary protagonist, Sora, is a "normal, ordinary boy". Yet Sora wields the iconic Kingdom Key, the Ultima Keyblade & even a x-blade (as forged by Xehanort): Sora's Story has been that of a Chosen One, even as he fits the archetype of one "Unchosen".

This theory explores the nature of Choice within the KH series, specifically in the context of "Destiny" and prophecies. It employs the "Riku is The Light" & "Necklace" theories, as well as elements of "Sleeping Realm". It also casts Riku as one of those Strange Women in Ponds who Distribute Swords as a Basis of [Galactic World Order].

Sora's story seemingly begins as a Classic Hero's Journey only for such a reading to fall flat when Expectations such as "Getting The Girl" and "Becoming a Keyblade Master" pointedly do not happen.

The driving force of the KH series has always been Riku: Riku wished to see worlds beyond his home, knowing the truth of the KH Multiverse well before proof literally crashlanded in the form of Kairi (a literal shooting star).

It is Riku's Heart that drew the attention of the Worlds at large to the Destiny Islands: the brightness of his light lead Terra, Aqua & Xehanort to meeting Sora in the first place.

Terra chooses Riku as a future Keyblade Master.

Aqua chooses Sora for the sake of preserving Riku's Light, the events of BBS teaching her that the strongest lights cast the longest shadows.

Xehanort chooses Riku as a Dark Vessel, whispering to him & encouraging him to doubt, to mistrust.

It is assumed, by Sora and by Riku, that Riku was also the person responsible for "opening the door" to the Darkness that felled the Destiny Islands. Yet throughout his childhood, each attempt by Riku to open the mysterious door on the play island failed and, when Darkness Falls, it is Kairi who is found at its source (Kairi, who had been expelled from her home by a version of Xehanort & whose heart harboured yet another fragment of the Seeker of Darkness).

Regardless of whether he truly opened the Destiny Islands to Darkness, Riku believed it & through Darkness did he find "freedom" to explore the Worlds Beyond, just as he had always dreamed... except for one, rather significant detail becoming derailed: Sora's presence by Riku's Side.

The two were separated and Sora was almost lost: even with Darkness swallowing Riku whole, the light within his Heart acted in time to save Sora by entrusting to him 'Kingdom Key'. Riku's Keyblade. A physical manifestation of Riku's Heart.

(notably, the "Kingdom Key-D" found by King Mickey was found not too far from the scene where Kingdom Key manifested: it is plausible that this keyblade was also manifested by Riku's Heart, perhaps alongside its 'Light' counterpart - I'd need to check the timeline to see how such a theory holds up)

Kingdom Key was entrusted to Sora, a subconscious act of Riku's Heart that mirrored an earlier act of protection Riku gave to Sora: on the night where Kairi fell to the Destiny Islands, a young Sora felt frightened and a young Riku swore to protect his dearest friend. This oath was sworn in turn sworn by Sora to Riku. They sealed these oaths with tokens they held close: while Sora's charm gifted to Riku remains unknown, Riku entrusted Sora with a crown charm he had had since infancy.

When Riku was 5, Riku entrusted Sora with his Crown. Both boys swore to protect the other.

When Riku was 15, Riku's Heart entrusted itself to Sora in the form of 'Kingdom Key'.

When Riku was ~16, he subconsciously protected Sora by becoming the latter's Dreamel Eater. Within the same timeframe, Riku sacrificed himself entirely to save Sora at the Keyblade Graveyard (an act of sacrifice, an act of True Love).

At every instance where Riku has been at a crossroads, knowingly or not, his Heart has Chosen Sora's: Riku, presumed descendant of Ephemera and a child of the Destiny Islands, has always & continues to choose Sora.

When the pair were reunited in KH2 and confronted the threat of Xemnas, the two fought as one & passed their keyblades between each other intuitively

When the pair existed in parallel realms of Sleep, separated but connected, their heartbeasts joined to form a Waltzing variation of the melody 'Dearly Belove'. They then fought in sync with a Combined Blade, formed from the keyblades "Mirage Split" and "Nightmare's End", acting again as two halves of a whole.

When Riku was to meet his end in the Realm of Darkness, far within the abyss, Sora appeared to him and they once again wielded their Combined Blade. Beast had once reaponded to a 15 year old Riku's questioning of his impossible arrival to Hollow Bastion, where Beast's Beloved Belle was held hostage, that he had "simply believed": belief brought Sora to Riku in the Realm of Darkness, belief brought Sora to the Final World in the wake of Riku's Ultimate Sacrifice.

The premise of Kingdom Key & its counterpart, Kingdom Key-D, being Manifestations of Riku's Heart & indicative of Riku's being the "Child of Destiny" does run into some Logistical Obstacles.

One, if Riku's Keyblade is being wielded by Sora (& Mickey, assuming the two keys were originally one) then whose keyblade is Riku wielding?

Two, how can Riku's Heart manifest multiple keyblades? Posession by Ansem Seeker of Darkness explains 1 of the "extra" keyblades (the key of "all hearts"). The bequeathing ceremony by Terra could explain another. Kingdom Key-D is definitely connected to Kingdom Key yet never specifically associated with Riku, evem being wielded by King Mickey (a stranger to Riku, at that point).

To the first: if Riku's keyblade is being wielded by Sora (& its counterpart by King Mickey), how can Riku wield another keyblade in KH1 even before getting possessed?

There are several immediate & varyingly plausible explanations: Riku's nature as a "Child of Destiny" allowing his Heart to churn out keyblades on demand like some Fey Lady of Avalon; or the other keyblades were not actually manifested by Riku at all.

While I greatly enjoy the imagery of Riku playing the "Lady of the Lake" to Sora's "Arthur" in KH1, given Sora's opening dream sequence already set Riku as being stuck in a Body Of Water (which is additionally representative of Darkness), it is Stretching Things to assume all other Plot Focused keyblades were ALSO fished out from Riku's Heart.

Perhaps Riku's Heart simply conjured new keyblades in response to Sora's Heart taking in new quests: Riku's Heart supplying keys to the metaphoric doors of Sora's Heart Hotel.

It is more likely, however, that the "new" keyblade wielded by Riku (the one currently known as "Braveheart") is a manifestation of SORA'S Heart: Riku entrusted his crown & his heart to Sora, first on the night of the Meteor Shower & then on the night the Islands Fell; Sora, in turn, entrusted his sword & heart to Riku. It explains how each boy readily wields the keyblade of the other & fits within the theme of their hearts beating in sych.

Riku choosing Sora, Riku's entrusting his Heart (literally & figuratively) with Sora, resulted in Destiny Itself 'choosing' Sora: if Riku represents Kingdom Hearts, the subject of his love would naturally become beloved by the Worlds in turn.

Sora acting as "[the] One Sky, One Destiny" due to Sora having the 'Heart' of Destiny through its child (Riku)'s love.

Sora is not only Riku's Dearly Beloved, Sora is THE "Dearly Beloved": beloved by the Worlds, entrusted with their Hearts & appointed their Savior. And all because, dull and ordinary boy that he may be, it is Sora's naturally normal self that Riku fell in love with. Sora may not be any more innately special than anyone else but Sora is special to RIKU, the love between them (knowingly or not) serving as the driving force of their stories & of Destiny itself.

[justreckin]

“Not my first rodeo, Sess.  Or should I call you Q?”

            “Q?” the demon reeled back, yanking the contract from her hand.  A moment later his face was centimeters from hers, squinting fiercely.  Recognition seemed to dawn on him and his mouth fell open in delight, “Well I’ll be.  It’s Commander, isn’t it?  Commander Una Chin-Riley?  You always were Kathy’s favorite.”

            Eve blinked, “Do I want to know who that is?”

            “Oh, delightful woman, I assure you.”  Suddenly his face was in hers once more, “So, how did you come to be here, I wonder.”  Sesselman, Q, circled her slowly, an absolutely delighted grin on his face.  From the corner of her eye Eve caught the look on Sam’s face.  That would be something to deal with later.  “Time travel?  You Illyrians always were rather long-lived.”

            Eve grit her teeth, “I wouldn’t know.”

            “No?” Q circled her again.

            “No.”  Setting her jaw, Eve stepped right up to the demon, “But we’ve got more important things to deal with.”

            “More important?” Q glanced down at the contract in his hand, “Ah yes.  You mortals, always so serious about a little death and destruction.”

            Eve arched an eyebrow, “So if I make a wish, are you going to follow through with it?”

            “Oh yes, yes,” Q waved a hand.  “The contract is binding.  And I always play by the rules.”

            “I’m not sure I believe that.”  Eve rolled her eyes when Q pouted, “Fine, I wish you were human.”

            “Haha!  Wrong—wait, human?”  Q whimpered a little, a fiery orange glow bathing the demon’s body.  “Starfleet,” he gasped, “Never any fun.”

            “Wasn’t trying to be.”

            Q snickered, “Well played ma chère.  Until we meet again, Commander.”  With a snap of his fingers, and a bright flash of light, he was gone.

            Eve jumped back.

            “Okay,” Sam snapped, “What was that?”

            Eve shook her head slowly, “Extra-dimensional… Y’know what?  Let’s not go there.”  She turned to cross the street.

            “Wha—wait, Eve!” Sam scrambled after her, “Eve.  How do you know that man?”

            “I don’t.”

            “That didn’t sound like a conversation you have with someone you’ve never met.  Hey,” they’d made it across the street and Sam reached out to grab hold of her, “Hey.  Eve, talk to me.  Or… what did he call you?  Commander U—”

            Eve whipped a hand up, “Don’t.”

            “C’mon Eve!  You’re the one who was all over me this morning about lying!  And now, what?  Twice?  In one day?”

            “I’m not lying!” she snapped.  “I’m not,” she repeated at his skeptical look.  “I wasn’t lying then, and I’m not lying now.  I don’t… I have no idea what that man was talking about.”

            “You knew enough to call him something completely different—”

            “You’re right, I did.  But Sam, I don’t have answers to your questions.  For either of us.” 

[paininmyass-ometeicphotons]

Okay what’s your craziest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds theory??

Mine: The gorn that hatched from Hemmer inherited all his best traits and those Gorn are the reason the whole species seems more civilized by the time of “Arena”.

[aemondismyromanempire]

2023 CHARACTER WRAPPED

Thank you so much for tagging me @wolfdressedinlace 💕

Aemond Targaryen (House of the Dragon)

2. Bernadette Rostenkowski (I've only now discovered TBBT properly, don't judge me 🥹)

3. Rhaenys Targaryen (House of the Dragon)

4. La'an Noonien-Singh (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

5. Helena (Orphan Black)

No pressure tags: @sassypain @sapphire-moths @babyblue711 @hoaryoldbitch @ivvvyory @terrorofthetrident @aegonx @smokesandsugars

[marascout]

Okay, yes, musical episode. Fabulous. LOVED IT. 10/10 will watch again

But can we talk about how Carol is pregnant and JIM KNOWS???? That's literally an enormous plot point and I can't reconcile it with the original timeline. You can't just hand wave that. We have to be in an alternate universe and I don't know what that means for anyone on this ship anymore.

[goodobservationshirley]

That is not a human gesture I am familiar with. It’s designed to break old habits.

[waitingintheskyyy]

Una and April

I'm curious about this duo because all we know about them is that he sponsored Una 's application to Starfleet Academy and also promoted her. However, he was forced to admit at her court-martial that had he known about her Illyrian heritage, he would not have sponsored her application. Now this might not sound too much of a big deal because nobody likes illyrians and no one wants to break the rules but the thing that makes me question if this has something more hidden deep down is this:

(disclaimer: I don't own any of this art, the source is the comic Star Trek early voyages issue#17)

NOW I know that comics are NOT CANON but it really has my brain filling up with crazy theories about this guy

[ichayalovesyou]

SNW Theory: Una is Why Pike Survives The Accident

In Ghosts of Illyria when La’an is infected with the Light Virus, she attempts to jump into the warp core and Una stops her. But not before they both recieve severe exposure to radiation, Una’s Illyrian genetic modifications save them both.

When she held onto La’an, it provided her with chimeric antibodies that not only spare them both from the radiation but allowed Chapel & M’Benga to use the antibodies from La’an to derive a cure from her blood.

Whose to say those antibodies aren’t still present in La’an’s body?

In A Quality of Mercy, Admiral Pike says that two cadets die in the accident. Maat Al-Salah, and presumably the girl whose console explodes that Pike fails to drag out in time before becoming grievously wounded and exposed himself.

Those cadets die from that level of exposure, Spock dies from a similar level of exposure in WoK, but Pike doesn’t, why? Unless…

Una (likely out of necessity) does something similar for Chris, protecting him the way she saved La’an. If/when she saves him, similar chimeric antibodies would be in him.

It would not prevent him from being injured or prevent him from being severely irradiated, but he would survive long enough for medics to get to him and prevent it from killing him.

I think one of the many reasons Pike actively chooses to live the difficult life the accident’s aftermath leads to. Other than he’s not one to give into despair, and is acutely aware of his own worth to those who love him. It’s this:

Even if Starfleet medicine can’t do much to help his quality of life, what they learn from his survival will lead to better treatment for Delta radiation survivors like him. If Pike possesses chimeric antibodies from Una that made the difference between life and death for him. That would absolutely support that notion.

[anewstartrekfan]

Spitballing Strange New Worlds s3 episode ideas, Spock edition:

(With Sam Kirk crashing the blog at the end)

Keep in mind I’ve only seen s2.

Assuming Christine is written out of the show for a little bit so the Doctor Korby romance can happen, maybe explain just how Spock was able to know that Rayna was going to die from being overwhelmed with emotions she was just experiencing for the first time in requiem for methuselah? I mean I assumed he was speaking from personal experience when I first saw it, but it could also be him diagnosing the situation based on what he was taught as a Vulcan.

So far strange new worlds (and from what I’ve heard Discovery too) has gone out of its way to show how Spock ended up in the mindset he was in about emotions and stuff. I think it would be cool if Spock either met someone else, or the events of episode 10 rekindle the Spock/Christine romance, Spock feels something entirely new, and then immediately regrets it when Chapel reveals she’s either engaged, in love with Korby, both, or some bad stuff dies down between him and whoever else he meets. This hypothetical relationship with a random alien doesn’t even have to be romantic.

Let’s say Spock gets caught on an alien world, meets a native, is stuck with them for a bit, and then in a life or death situation, the alien chooses to save Spock when we’d know that before meeting Spock, this character wouldn’t have done this, and somehow dies as a result. I’m thinking poison. Which would play into not only Spock’s actions in Requiem for Methuselah, but also Devil in the Dark. Wherein Spock at first wanted to try to reason with the Horta, but the second Jim was in danger he did a 180. It’s not that Spock would be against nonhuman entities learning human emotions. It’s that he would be far more cautious than Jim was.

“The joys of love made her human, and the agonies of love destroyed her.”

And while Spock is solidifying his stance to be more closed off, Other characters, Pike maybe? could finally open up to their friends. Maybe add some character development for Sam to explain why he’s so competitive with Kirk. Make it beyond daddy issues. Maybe make it mommy issues?

Oooo! I’ve suggested before that Jim and Sam’s mom maybe died on Tarsus IV. Maybe the reason Sam didn’t go on the command track like Jim was that becoming a xenoanthropologist would allow him to understand dead alien cultures discovered on various planets the federation may wish to occupy, or know how to communicate with living natives. And this would allow settlers/colonists to be warned about the local widelife like say, an exotic fungus that infects most of the food supply?

I work Tarsus IV into everything.

Since (in this hypothetical plot line) maybe there were native aliens to Tarsus iv, but because no one could communicate with them or even tried, the colonists weren’t able to be warned about the fungus. It would also be cool because of how it would naturally contrast Jim’s reaction to the massacre.

Jim wanted to be there when the disasters happened to save everyone.

Sam wanted to prevent the disasters from happening to save everyone.

Fun to spitball.

[superanimepirate]

While I liked La'an in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, I don't really like the retcon of the Eugenics war, but it would have been so funny if they retconned Star Trek's Earth History to have Covid 19 occur in relatively the same time it did for us IRL (like 2019-2023 or whatever). It probably could have tied in the Bell Riots and the Reunification of Ireland as well, since the also occurred in the 2020's.

Although, they probably would have had a "the Romulans engineered the pandemic!" plot which...probably wouldn't have gone over well.

[biblioflyer]

I will be out of town when the season finale of Strange New Worlds airs, but I will make the observation that there have been no scenes of Pike gazing lovingly at Batel under white sheets backlit by soft sunlight, so there’s hope right? Low key concerned about La’an’s health over here…:

[mostly-functional]

What if Rukyia is the first Q?

[of-aenar]

Just watched the ghosts of illyria and I think whoever did this show, made an effort. I was a bit surprised to see them use the name Illyria and Illirians since well, it was an actual place and it’s part of certain people’s actual heritage (such as myself) especially in the context of “evil genetic modifiers”. But, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. However, that’s beyond the point, what I meant to say is, I think whoever made the show clearly did the research, because why else name a character Una? I like to believe they knew what they were doing since Una is the river that runs through the region where several Illiryan tribes used to live, and it’s a very popular girl name where I come from. Idk, maybe I’m reading too much into this but it was pretty much impossible for me to miss that part.

[unshatters-your-teacup]

My toxic trait is that I’m still hung up over the use of gravitational microlensing to track that Romulan ship in Strange New Worlds. “Impressive, Mr. Spock” yeah well it would be MORE impressive if you could realistically use gravitational microlensing that way