Enterprise-J future thoughts and questions

[somebuddyX]

I've had some thoughts and questions over the years about the future where the Enterprise-J is seen, from the episode "Azati Prime" and thought I'd write them down. I included a transcript of the scene from here.

Enterprise J Observation Lounge
DANIELS: Welcome aboard, Captain.
ARCHER: Daniels. Where am I?
DANIELS: You're on Enterprise. Enterprise J to be exact, a distant relative of your ship. We're four hundred years in the future.
(There's a battle going on outside in a murky purple haze.)
ARCHER: I'm going to assume you brought me here for a good reason.
DANIELS: Look out there. It extends fifty thousand light years in all directions, and it is growing.
ARCHER: I've seen it before.
DANIELS: I know, in the Expanse.
ARCHER: You know about the alien we found, the test subject?
DANIELS: He belongs to the same race that built the Spheres. They're altering this space to make it habitable for their species. It's a prelude to invasion.
ARCHER: We came to the same conclusion.
DANIELS: It's getting harder and harder to surprise you, Captain. (the ship shakes from an impact) I've brought you to a monumental moment in history, the battle of Procyon Five, where the Federation engaged the Sphere Builders.
ARCHER: The Federation? You've mentioned them before.
DANIELS: Vulcans, Andorians, Ithenites, Klingons. Dozens of species, including humans, all unified in a powerful alliance. Sphere Builders.
(The large ship is blown to smithereens.)
DANIELS: The Federation wins the battle, they drive the enemy back into their trans-dimensional realm. If the Federation had lost, the Sphere Builders would have spread throughout the galaxy. They would have wiped out everything. This species has technology which allows them to examine alternate timelines. They've seen this future and they want to change the outcome, so they contacted the Xindi and convinced them that humanity was a dangerous threat.
ARCHER: They want the Xindi to destroy us.
DANIELS: Without humanity, the Federation will never exist. You have to make the Xindi understand that humanity isn't the enemy. In fact, it's humanity that will protect them from the Sphere Builders when this battle is won. Contact them. Make peace.
ARCHER: They're about to deploy their weapon.
DANIELS: I know.
ARCHER: I can't let that happen.
DANIELS: If you destroy their weapon they will only build another. You are the only one who can convince them of what I have told you. It is crucial to history that you do not sacrifice yourself.
ARCHER: My concern is with preventing the deaths of billions of people. If that's a problem for history, then history will have to suffer.
DANIELS: Send someone else.
ARCHER: I won't do that!
DANIELS: Captain, you have to believe me. You are making a catastrophic mistake.
ARCHER: You've made your share of mistakes.
DANIELS: This isn't one of them.
ARCHER: Send me back. Send me back now!
DANIELS: Take this.
(A coin-sized disc.)
DANIELS: It's Xindi. A family medal that belongs to one of the crewmen on this ship. There are Xindi serving aboard Enterprise J.
ARCHER: Why are you giving this to me?
DANIELS: In case you change your mind.
ARCHER: I won't.

• Is Daniels from this timeline or some other one, or it doesn't really matter?
• Do you think the real star Procyon is meant to be where the Battle of Procyon V took place?
• There are similarities with the prime timeline, in that there's a Federation and with there being an NCC-1701-J there would have to have been a NCC-1701 and all ships between, but the specific details could have been a whole bunch difference.
• There are Klingons in the Federation. Now this could just be references to Worf and other individuals but I like the idea that the whole Klingon Empire became part of the Federation.
• There are Xindi in Starfleet.
• The Delphic Exapanse "extends fifty thousand light years in all directions". Isn't a bit odd that the Federation let this thing get so big before dealing with it? Presumably Earth and the Federation are inside the expanse by this point in time. Were the Xindi protecting the sphere network in this timeline too, so it was impossible for the Federation to do anything about it?
• How long did the Federation fight the Sphere Builders and when did the invasion happen? Were the Sphere Builders defeated as soon as they invaded or was it longer?
• I know it turns up in Star Trek Online but I'm not a fan or the arc-welding of storylines in that game.

It's an interesting timeline to me and reminds me of the Myriad Universes books in potential of giving individuals and organisations quite different outcomes than the ones that actually occurred. Cheers.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

I like to imagine the Enterprise-J is now a multi-generational ship on her way to the Andromeda galaxy.

Daniels comes from a solid timeline because his presence is part of the NX-01's history. The Department of Temporal Investigations likely originated owing to his shenanigans.

Procyon sounds cool. Real-universe astronomy is more wondrous than stuff we can imagine.

The Klingon culture may have tired of war and expansion and decided to develop its artistry. Judging by Discovery, they were supremely talented. Being a Federation member might have given them the peace and security to shine.

I wonder how many Starfleet humans would feel comfortable serving alongside an Insectoid Xindi? Most of us have a natural aversion to bugs, and if a Redshirt stepped on an ant colony on an away mission, would the Xindi draw its phaser to incinerate them? All that clicking and chittering would definitely unnerve me, and I'd move into Orville territory by trying to communicate with it using a geiger counter and an old radium-dial wristwatch.

The Sphere Network just might have taken the Federation by surprise. The Expanse might have collapsed in one timeline only to rematerialize in another. It's not a linear phenomenon.

 

[Prax]

I'm not sure it can be reconciled. It could only be a hypothetical future based on the sphere builders forecasts where Earth is not destroyed, but then, why is Daniels there?

He says Archer can't risk his life because he needs to found the Federation, but Archer lived, destroyed the Spheres and destroyed the weapon. It's all history from Daniels perspective.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The future seen in "Azati Prime" isn't "our" future, where the sphere network and Delphic Expanse are destroyed hundreds of years earlier in "Zero Hour" and then are never seen or mentioned again in any other incarnation of Trek.

Daniels even says it's only a possible future which the Sphere Builders are trying to alter. So should Trek ever depict an Enterprise-J, it could be even more different than the TOS, Discovery (although that's a whole different kettle of reimagination-supposedly-in-the-same-timeline fish) or Kelvin versions of the classic 1701 all are.

As for Xindi in Starfleet, the only reference to them post-ENT is Star Trek Beyond, where Edision/Krall is furious that the Federation "broke bread" with their former enemies the Xindi and Romulans after losing millions of lives to them.

 

[C.E. Evans]

IMO, the Enterprise-J falls into the same category as the three-nacelled Enterprise-D--a ship from a could've been future. For all we know, there may not even be an Enterprise-J in the Prime timeline (maybe the ancient NCC-1701 registry was long retired by then).

 

[USS Firefly]

The Enterprise J is from our hundred years into the future.
So every Enterprise is replaced within a hundred years?
Those ships aren't build to last aren't they?

 

[C.E. Evans]

...So every Enterprise is replaced within a hundred years?
Those ships aren't build to last aren't they?

It's likely not so much the actual designs, but ships named Enterprise are probably put in harm's way more than most vessels, IMO.

 

[somebuddyX]

The first 5 Enterprises lasted 126 years and next six lasts at least 180. Seems about right.
I always felt the future Enterprise-D design as being pretty likely to exist in the real universe. It's just modifications. The Enterprise-J design is less likely to exist but if someone shoved it into the real design lineage I'd be cool with it.

 

[thribs]

Universe Class
Trans-slipstream speeds - can travel to different galaxies in very little time. One of its objectives it to start new colonies in these unexplored galaxies. Has the facilities to create them and develop space craft for said colonies.
Being 2 kilometres long and wide makes it massive. So much so that it has a population of a medium size town. Because of this there is both a captain and governor. Even has a university.

 

[somebuddyX]

I really like the idea of it being alone in another galaxy but with a whole community onboard. I feel like that's similar to the original premise of the Enterprise-D, just on a much grander scale.

 

[thribs]

IMO, the Enterprise-J falls into the same category as the three-nacelled Enterprise-D--a ship from a could've been future. For all we know, there may not even be an Enterprise-J in the Prime timeline (maybe the ancient NCC-1701 registry was long retired by then).

Not really. The events of the battle of Procyon V had to have happened for season 3 of Enterprise to occur. Hence why it’s a Prime starship. Eaglemoss confirmed this by making it part of the canon line.

 

[Yanks]

I've always liked the "J". Slick new thin lines.

I've always assumed that the construction is allowed to be so thin because of advances in structural integrity and shield technology.

 

[thribs]

It only looks so thin due to its size. It has the same thickness as the Enterprise D.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Not really. The events of the battle of Procyon V had to have happened for season 3 of Enterprise to occur.

Nope. Season 3 of ENT would have happened anyway. The Battle of Procyon V was only a possible future event that Daniels wanted to show Archer. Trek has shown possible futures on numerous occasions.

Hence why it’s a Prime starship. Eaglemoss confirmed this by making it part of the canon line.

Eaglemoss also made the three-nacelled Enterprise-D. It's the same thing.

 

[thribs]

Nope. Season 3 of ENT would have happened anyway. The Battle of Procyon V was only a possible future event that Daniels wanted to show Archer. Trek has shown possible futures on numerous occasions.

Eaglemoss also made the three-nacelled Enterprise-D. It's the same thing.

The three nacelled one wasn’t part of the main range though. It was a special issue.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Trans-slipstream speeds - can travel to different galaxies in very little time

The USS Discovery can make that journey in literally zero time.

Just sayin'

 

[C.E. Evans]

The three nacelled one wasn’t part of the main range though. It was a special issue.

Which doesn't mean anything. All Eaglemoss has is a license to produce Star Trek model ships and related merchandise. That's about it.

 

[thribs]

The USS Discovery can make that journey in literally zero time.

Just sayin'

God, imagine the J spinning.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

I wonder if the J is unofficially known as the Jeffries?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Nope. Season 3 of ENT would have happened anyway. The Battle of Procyon V was only a possible future event that Daniels wanted to show Archer.

Indeed.

The Delphic Expanse still exists in the future the Enterprise-J comes from, but ENT's Xindi arc ends with the spheres being destroyed and the Expanse ceasing to exist altogether - in the 22nd century.

Now of course this doesn't mean that there won't ever be an Enterprise-J. There probably will be. It may even look like the one we saw. But it doesn't have to.