Is The Cage canon?
- Thread starter Aike
- Start date
ENT didn't have to match with the Cage... because in effect it was all an illusion. (Interesting parallel, eh?). We see at the very end that this was a holodeck projected experimental simulation on how the original ENT crew might have reacted to various situations they were tested with. I hated the ending when I first saw it, but then appreciated it for eliminating all of the Star Trek universe conflicts.
I love fannish rationalization.
Why? "The Cage" is being aired as one of the Star Trek episodes in many countries, on many channels. So is "Where No Man". While the initiated might know that those two are pilot episodes, this is usually not evident from the way they are aired. "The Cage" should enjoy no special status, such as "you aren't really seeing any of this, it's on the cutting room floor".
Timo Saloniemi
I'll go a step further; I say that there may be a Talosian lurking here in this board that may, or may nor even exist. Perhaps you, the reader are the only one here typing out messages to a single Talosian. So you may be the only human here, under the influence of a Master Talosian. And who REALLY knows what he/she is doing with your body at this very moment. Ponder on THAT puny Earthican..............
P.S. oh yeah....... The Cage is canon irregardless of The Menagerie.
"The Cage" is treated as part of TOS by Paramount now, released as an episode in DVD collections of the series and so forth. So yeah, it's canonical.
But it's true, isn't it? Maybe I missed earlier debates about it... and of course, there's a whole subsection on TrekBBS devoted to ENT which I've stayed away from.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as the backers and producers realized that ENT was failing, they had to find a way to end it quickly... and perhaps with all of the hate mail about the violations of established Star Trek "facts", maybe they thought that the best way would be to treat ENT as if it was just one long simulation? If there's a thread over there that you know of which addresses this, point me to it. This one doesn't quite do it..
I expect that you're kidding, but I'll go ahead and state that it was just the Talosian planet-side stuff that was an illusion - not all of "The Cage" which may have conflicts with ENT. Otherwise, you might as well state that all of Star Trek is an illusion that we in the "real" world watch on TV, or that we in the "real" world are the illusion of Maya as opposed to the reality of Brahman. Both of those are true, but they pop outside of normal Trek discussion and thus normally aren't discussed.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect that when WNMHGB was made, there was absolutely NO intention of saying "let's make this second pilot happening 11 or 12 years after the first pilot".
I realize this is probably an irrelevant point since they were basically planning on "scrapping" the first pilot (The Cage) when they made WNMHGB, so there was probably no thought given as to how the two pilots relate time-line wise. However, in a theoretical and esoteric sort of way, when WNMHGB was made they probably considered it to be happening in the exact same time frame as The Cage and NOT in a time period happening 11 or 12 + years earlier
So since The Menagerie basically ret-conned the material from The Cage as events that happened 13 years prior, I would say the The Menagerie is canon, but The Cage -- in it's originally intended form -- is technically NOT canon.
However, for all intents and purposes The Cage is in fact canon, and my argument for saying it technically was not canon is purely esoteric...I'm just sayin'.
I realize this is probably an irrelevant point since they were basically planning on "scrapping" the first pilot (The Cage) when they made WNMHGB, so there was probably no thought given as to how the two pilots relate time-line wise. However, in a theoretical and esoteric sort of way, when WNMHGB was made they probably considered it to be happening in the exact same time frame as The Cage and NOT in a time period happening 11 or 12 + years earlier
So since The Menagerie basically ret-conned the material from The Cage as events that happened 13 years prior, I would say the The Menagerie is canon, but The Cage -- in it's originally intended form -- is technically NOT canon.
However, for all intents and purposes The Cage is in fact canon, and my argument for saying it technically was not canon is purely esoteric...I'm just sayin'.
I wasn't saying the Cage was entirely an illusion--of course it wasn't. Part of it was, though... remember the keeper telling Kirk about all the illusions he witnessed. That's the parallel I'm talking about, the fact that illusions took place. Anyway, the last episode of ENT shows the entire projection of the ENT crew as a holodeck simulation run by Riker. Which then brings up the question of what was EVER real in that show...
I expect that you're kidding, but I'll go ahead and state that it was just the Talosian planet-side stuff that was an illusion - not all of "The Cage" which may have conflicts with ENT. Otherwise, you might as well state that all of Star Trek is an illusion that we in the "real" world watch on TV, or that we in the "real" world are the illusion of Maya as opposed to the reality of Brahman. Both of those are true, but they pop outside of normal Trek discussion and thus normally aren't discussed.
In a word: No.But it's true, isn't it? Maybe I missed earlier debates about it... and of course, there's a whole subsection on TrekBBS devoted to ENT which I've stayed away from.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as the backers and producers realized that ENT was failing, they had to find a way to end it quickly... and perhaps with all of the hate mail about the violations of established Star Trek "facts", maybe they thought that the best way would be to treat ENT as if it was just one long simulation? If there's a thread over there that you know of which addresses this, point me to it. This one doesn't quite do it..
Nothing in the episode indicates that Enterprise was a simulation. Nor do the producers care about "hate mail". They care about ratings and advertiser dollars. Most of the facts "violated" are fanon and therefore of no consequence.
Ah, now I see, thanks.
Tyler was a bit OCD. And never heard of headphones.
It also aired on television. It just didn't air until the late 80s.
Yes. They also created Hulu.GREAT! so now your telling me I have spent HUNDREDS of hours AND dollar's watching nothing more then an illuusion created by SCROTAL HEADED ALIEN'S!?!?!?!...Now it all make's sense!
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