Discovery premise rumors

[trekfan_1]

Well Bryan Fuller did hint that there would be at the very least a tie-in to Section 31 with his previous comments regarding whether the "31" in the registry meant a connection to Section 31 being part of the show:

"There are aspects of our first season that, depending on how well versed you are in that mythology, you could either read into it a connection or not."

https://moviepilot.com/posts/4026228

To me "Aspects of our first season" doesn't quite sound like something that would be part of a defined, well established plot point and part of the main premise as this rumor suggests. But then again Fuller could of intentionally been vague or maybe some of his work was changed by the TPTB and have been re-written to cleary include Section 31 as a main focal point.

Regardless I'm still taking this "rumor" with a few grains of salt at this point.

 

[Ometiklan]

Makes me wonder what stuff the network didn't like from the original pitch? What were they trying to plan for?

It doesn't sound to me like the network disliked elements of the pitch, but rather were reacting negatively to the latest progress report, i.e., the show was still running behind, necessitating another delay in the premiere.

As for the existence of a working cloaking device (whether of Romulan or Klingon origin) in 2254/2255, reading this discussion, I think I am can accept it. Decades of development of television sci-fi, fleshing out the Star Trek universe, and adding a bunch of prequel material in Enterprise that stretch or break continuity all make me accepting of a cloak in this time period. Basically, instead of invalidating decades of sci-fi/Trek developments, I think I can make headcannon space for Spock/"Balance of Terror" was wrong and functional cloaks were known at the time.

 

[LtChange]

It just occurred to me if it is really a Section 31 ship, than all that they do is off the records. This is how they could make some "continuity mistakes" like having a Romulan story or something that will not affect the timeline as it will have no official Starfleet record. Very clever ...

 

[Philip Guyott]

As for the existence of a working cloaking device (whether of Romulan or Klingon origin) in 2254/2255, reading this discussion, I think I am can accept it. Decades of development of television sci-fi, fleshing out the Star Trek universe, and adding a bunch of prequel material in Enterprise that stretch or break continuity all make me accepting of a cloak in this time period. Basically, instead of invalidating decades of sci-fi/Trek developments, I think I can make headcannon space for Spock/"Balance of Terror" was wrong and functional cloaks were known at the time.

In my head canon 'Future Guy' taught both the Suliban and the Romulans how to build cloaking devices, thus messing up the timeline. Indeed, at the 2009 VegasCon both Manny Coto and Brannon Braga stated that 'Future Guy' was going to have been a Romulan. However Braga later claimed that 'Future Guy' was meant to be a future version of Archer trying to fix the timeline, even to the point of trying to kill his younger self. I prefer the Romulan idea myself.

Future Guy from Star Trek Horizon​

Having said all that, because the timeline was reset at the end of season three it is possible that in that moment the Romulans lost their early cloaking technology. This is why the Romulan drone ships in season four, as advanced looking as they were, did not have the ability to cloak. Believing Romulan vessels shouldn't have cloaking devices as early as the 2150s, Mike Sussman therefore wanted the drone ships to use a different form of camouflage. Therefore the basic premise is that from season four onwards there would have been no more cloaking devices thus restoring continuity with TOS. At some future point in the series the Enterprise crew would have taken note of the fact the Romulan Star Empire has somehow lost this major technological advantage. However this was not made more explicit in the show. Therefore if there are cloaking devises in Discovery I am still going to blame it on the temporal cold war.

It just occurred to me if it is really a Section 31 ship, than all that they do is off the records. This is how they could make some "continuity mistakes" like having a Romulan story or something that will not affect the timeline as it will have no official Starfleet record. Very clever ...

The only thing that I cannot get my head around is why the Federation ambassador Sarek would be involved with a section 31 ship. Not unless he has a twin brother who defected to the Romulan Star Empire! If true did Spock recognize the family resemblance in 'Balance of Terror' (a touchstone for the series) and not say anything. "Fascinating"!

Crazy fan theory idea: Wouldn’t it be interesting if it turned out that Sarek was really a Romulan by birth but brought up as a vulcan? Perhaps his father was a defector working with the Federation. Section 31 finds out about this and uses it to blackmail Sarek to work for them. If this blackmail starts to take place a few years before 'Discovery' this would explain the real reason why he did not approve of Spock joining Starfleet as he knew the organization had a dark side. The lack of communication between them both was to protect Spock as much as possible.

 

[Phoenix219]

In my head canon 'Future Guy' taught both the Suliban and the Romulans how to build cloaking devices, thus messing up the timeline. Indeed, at the 2009 VegasCon both Manny Coto and Brannon Braga stated that 'Future Guy' was going to have been a Romulan. However Braga later claimed that 'Future Guy' was meant to be a future version of Archer trying to fix the timeline, even to the point of trying to kill his younger self. I prefer the Romulan idea myself.

Future Guy from Star Trek Horizon​

Having said all that, because the timeline was reset at the end of season three it is possible that in that moment the Romulans lost their early cloaking technology. This is why the Romulan drone ships in season four, as advanced looking as they were, did not have the ability to cloak. Believing Romulan vessels shouldn't have cloaking devices as early as the 2150s, Mike Sussman therefore wanted the drone ships to use a different form of camouflage. Therefore the basic premise is that from season four onwards there would have been no more cloaking devices thus restoring continuity with TOS. At some future point in the series the Enterprise crew would have taken note of the fact the Romulan Star Empire has somehow lost this major technological advantage. However this was not made more explicit in the show. Therefore if there are cloaking devises in Discovery I am still going to blame it on the temporal cold war.

The only thing that I cannot get my head around is why the Federation ambassador Sarek would be on a section 31 ship. Not unless he has a twin brother who defected to the Romulan Star Empire! If true did Spock recognize the family resemblance in 'Balance of Terror' (a touchstone for the series) and not say anything. "Fascinating"!

Crazy fan theory idea: Wouldn’t it be interesting if it turned out that Sarek was really a Romulan by birth but brought up as a vulcan? Perhaps his father was a defector working with the Federation. Section 31 finds out about this and uses it to blackmail Sarek to work for them. If this blackmail starts to take place a few years before 'Discovery' this would explain the real reason why he did not approve of Spock joining Starfleet as he knew the organization had a dark side. The lack of communication between them both was to protect Spock as much as possible.

People would hate retconning Sarek that fully, but it could help explain a lot; the emotional half brother; Spock's later obsession with reunification, even Saavik's Romulan heritage. It could add a new narrative to the entire family.

 

[Phoenix219]

It doesn't sound to me like the network disliked elements of the pitch, but rather were reacting negatively to the latest progress report, i.e., the show was still running behind, necessitating another delay in the premiere.

As for the existence of a working cloaking device (whether of Romulan or Klingon origin) in 2254/2255, reading this discussion, I think I am can accept it. Decades of development of television sci-fi, fleshing out the Star Trek universe, and adding a bunch of prequel material in Enterprise that stretch or break continuity all make me accepting of a cloak in this time period. Basically, instead of invalidating decades of sci-fi/Trek developments, I think I can make headcannon space for Spock/"Balance of Terror" was wrong and functional cloaks were known at the time.

I figured its kind of like; Cloak is made; Cloak is beaten. Cloak is upgraded to a new type; Cloak is decrypted. Same reason why TNG cloaked ships can't fire while cloak... Kirk beat that tech in VI. The cloak we deal with in Discovery would be a much earlier prototype then the one they stole during TOS, but would be a much newer prototype then the stuff seen on ENT.

 

[mdtauk]

"Smoothing over diplomacy"...

What if the Discovery is an Intelligence gathering ship? The Lieutenant Commander being a spy/intelligence officer/section 31 agent, with the crew unaware of her true mission.

The name Discovery would have that double meaning then.

She may have been tasked with obtaining a cloaking device from the Klingons. And the rest of the crew are oblivious at first.

 

[Timo]

Whether featured in DIS or not, the cloaking device is thematically central to the concept, sort of. It's a good example of all those advanced technologies that our heroes from all eras keep on encountering, because they don't interact just with their backward next-door neighbors but also with advanced civilizations and godlike forces. There's nothing new over the sun, and cannot be, for heroes who travel across a universe not in synch with itself.

Yet every set of heroes appears impressed by the revelation of technologies or facts their predecessors had already encountered. Cloaking remains secret; time travel remains secret; heck, S31 remains secret. Sometimes our heroes are impressed by things they themselves already encountered! If DIS introduces the Romulans, this isn't in contradiction with "Balance of Terror" because it's natural for Starfleet officers to forget... They forgot about invisibility, after all.

So, what's going on there? Are our heroes stupid all? Or eating amnesia pills for breakfast? Perhaps DIS will indeed feature S31 and show it assigning those pill dispensers to everybody, for the greater good of the Federation... Our heroes mainly forget about important state secrets and superweapons, after all, and making that happen should be prime employment for the shady organization.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Smoked Salmon]

I'll calling fake. As someone else hinted at, the name Discovery suggests exploration, and let's not forget that Bryan Fuller, who created the shows premise, said years ago that he wanted to take Trek back to the exploration and frontier nature of TOS.

This just stinks of fan fic.

 

[Blooded]

Whatever the premise, I'm just excited to have a new Star Trek show. It's been too long.

If indeed S31 is the way they are going to get around potential continuity issues then, quite frankly, that's a brilliant piece of creative from Fuller and co. Gives them a lot of creative freedom, and likely allows for the kind of characters who appeal to days television audiences. A TNG-type crew won't cut it in today's TV and, quite frankly, we've already seen that a couple times already.

 

[F. King Daniel]

FWIW, Klingons had cloaking devices during the Pike-era in the novel "Children of Kings" and one timeline over in 2258 (and 2233 in deleted scenes) in "Star Trek"

 

[RJDiogenes]

This does sound pretty fake. At least I hope so. I don't really want the focus to be on politics and war.

 

[Michael]

This does sound pretty fake. At least I hope so. I don't really want the focus to be on politics and war.

Yeah, does sound fishy to me, too. I wouldn't mind a well-told story about politics, though. But not this.

 

[OtherGene]

Well it's super speculative at this point. But if that's the premise, I could get down with that. Sounds interesting.

I agree. I mean, we've done exploratory Star Trek, seeking out new life etc. so why not try something different?

 

[Blooded]

I agree. I mean, we've done exploratory Star Trek, seeking out new life etc. so why not try something different?

This is what it's all about. We've done space exploration. Now let's get shows and films that flesh out the universe we love so much.

Personally, I'm game for anything that changes up the formula.

 

[Horizons96]

I did wonder why there was that mysterious cloaking sound at the end of the trailer....

 

[psCargile]

If true, you need a fungus expert why?

 

[Kemaiku]

If true, you need a fungus expert why?

Obviously to engineer bioweapons onboard to kill races threatening the Federation, maybe this guy is the ancestor of the operative who designed the Founder virus in DS9.

To boldly....kill everyone without regard. Yeah this isn't sounding like a good show.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

To boldly....kill everyone without regard. Yeah this isn't sounding like a good show.

LOL wow that is a huge leap from outright speculation based on an unconfirmed rumor to prediction of the show's impending doom.

 

[Ridcully]

Eeh...bad fanfic...
While I do like the frontier and unknown factor....oh well I do hope it will be decent in some way....but man they are horrible at keeping this thing known! Star Trek undercover...Section 31 indeed!