Sela's affects on the timeline

[WarpTenLizard]

Sela. One of the most underused characters in the franchise.

Her unlikely backstory seems to have been used as little more than an excuse to let Denise Crosby play a Romulan. And that is a massively wasted opportunity IMHO.

Here we have a character who was "never meant to be," born out of a flunke in the timeline. In "Yesterday's Enterprise," Tasha Yar helped fix the past; but she also changed the future, when she had Sela. (Assuming the entire event wasn't a predestined causality-loop.)

We know from "City on the Edge of Forever," "Year of Hell," "Past Tense," and many other episodes, how much one person can alter history. Edith Keeler living just a few extra decades indirectly caused the Nazis to win WWII and the Federation never to form. Having Pike captaining the Enterprise instead of Kirk during "Balance of Terror" changed the outcome of the war.

So how might the introduction of a human/Romulan hybrid have affected the timeline? How might the original timeline have been different, subtlely or not-so-subtlely, without Sela?

Would no Sela mean that a different Romulan character like Nero or Oh ended up filling her position, and making different decisions? Sela had it in for Klingons; what if a different Romulan made an alliance with them instead? Or just took a less covert approach to sabotage?

Could Sela's hybrid natire have helped or hurt the Romulan Empire in some subtle ways? (What if her hybrid genes were used to cure some epidemic?) Could the simple fact that she's half-Human, yet a powerful Romulan leader, have contributed to the Romulans gaining some respect for Humans, affecting relations with the Federation?

Could her aunt Ishara Yar--also a shady leader, on Turkana IV--have had some dealings with Sela, that wouldn't have occurred without the family relation? (Maybe Sela impersonated her mother to manipulate her aunt for some plot. Or maybe one saves the other with a complex organ transplant only possible for family.) Without Sela, could something between the Romulans and Turkana IV have not occurred, that causes a butterfly effect of changes in the timeline?

Discuss.

 

[Dukhat]

Even if Sela’s existence changed the timeline in some way, it certainly didn’t look like it changed it all that much. The bigger issue with the character was her ridiculous over-the-top nature. So a twenty-something girl somehow is put in charge of not one, but two huge military operations, and horribly fails at both, while having a chip on her shoulder about her mom and Picard for very flimsy reasons. No wonder we never saw her after Unification: she was probably executed for gross incompetence, along with whoever put her in that position in the first place.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

I'd say alliances between Romulans and Klingons happen, with or without Sela. Maybe a more sneaky Romulan would have allied with a less... well... loud Klingon family and things would have created a far bigger headache for the Federation than Sela managed to.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

Even if Sela’s existence changed the timeline in some way, it certainly didn’t look like it changed it all that much. The bigger issue with the character was her ridiculous over-the-top nature. So a twenty-something girl somehow is put in charge of not one, but two huge military operations, and horribly fails at both, while having a chip on her shoulder about her mom and Picard for very flimsy reasons. No wonder we never saw her after Unification: she was probably executed for gross incompetence, along with whoever put her in that position in the first place.

Sela's incompetence is definitely something that could have changed the outcome of certain events.

 

[CoveTom]

Well, we saw the original timeline in all the episodes prior to "Yesterday's Enterprise" and then we saw it revised with Yar having gone back and Sela having been born. At first glance, they appear pretty similar. But think about the actions of the Romulans throughout the series.

The Romulans were almost completely absent from the first season. It was noted that the Romulans had not had contact with the Federation in quite some time. And the only reason they do show up is because of the Borg attacks on outposts along the neutral zone.

In the second season, putting aside the fake Romulan ships in "Where Silence Has Lease" and "Peak Performance," the only time we see the Romulans is in "Contagion" when Iconia has been discovered in the neutral zone. Other than that, they are still completely absent.

In the third season, they do show up a couple of times, but both times are when the Enterprise is responding to distress calls. In "The Defector," they do make some aggressive moves against the Enterprise in the neutral zone, but their main goal had been exposing their own traitor.

So for the first three seasons, we see now indication that the Romulans are being overly aggressive against the Federation or even that they want to have much contact at all.

And yet, in season four, they start becoming more openly aggressive and plotting against the Federation, even going so far as to kidnap a Starfleet officer and use him to try to incite a war. And from that point on, the Romulans are clear adversaries.

So could it be that Sela popping into the timeline resulted in the renewed conflict between the Romulans and the Federation? Could it be argued that without her, and those changes in the timeline, they would have remained relatively non-aggressive as they were in the first three seasons?

 

[somebuddyX]

There's also the idea that this is always what the timeline looked like, from a fourth dimensional perspective. There's no way to really tell for sure, so I don't really care canon wise. I've thought about alternate versions of "Yesterday's Enterprise" before, so on a fanon level I think it's possible.
I'm really trying to think if she had an effect on the timeline, but to be honest I find her so boring I can't even get a bearing on her. I think she fell down an open storm drain after "Unification" and was never seen again.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

Well, we saw the original timeline in all the episodes prior to "Yesterday's Enterprise" and then we saw it revised with Yar having gone back and Sela having been born. At first glance, they appear pretty similar. But think about the actions of the Romulans throughout the series.

The Romulans were almost completely absent from the first season. It was noted that the Romulans had not had contact with the Federation in quite some time. And the only reason they do show up is because of the Borg attacks on outposts along the neutral zone.

In the second season, putting aside the fake Romulan ships in "Where Silence Has Lease" and "Peak Performance," the only time we see the Romulans is in "Contagion" when Iconia has been discovered in the neutral zone. Other than that, they are still completely absent.

In the third season, they do show up a couple of times, but both times are when the Enterprise is responding to distress calls. In "The Defector," they do make some aggressive moves against the Enterprise in the neutral zone, but their main goal had been exposing their own traitor.

So for the first three seasons, we see now indication that the Romulans are being overly aggressive against the Federation or even that they want to have much contact at all.

And yet, in season four, they start becoming more openly aggressive and plotting against the Federation, even going so far as to kidnap a Starfleet officer and use him to try to incite a war. And from that point on, the Romulans are clear adversaries.

So could it be that Sela popping into the timeline resulted in the renewed conflict between the Romulans and the Federation? Could it be argued that without her, and those changes in the timeline, they would have remained relatively non-aggressive as they were in the first three seasons?

This is really eye-opening! Thanks so much for this response.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Would no Sela mean that a different Romulan character like Nero or Oh ended up filling her position, and making different decisions?

Nero was a decalithium miner. That’s what make his vendetta significant, he was a common person with no real power that lost everything he had despite the best efforts of the Federation, and in particular Spock.

Oh was a Tal Shiar agent that was also a part of the Zhat Vash.

Sela, while working in the shadows was not Tal Shiar, and was high up the food chain with the rank of commander; she was seen as far more valuable to Romulans society than Nero was. And was also the Romulan liaison to the House of Duras. And did not seem to harbour anti-synth sentiments, just hostility towards Data, who was helping out the Romulan underground movement that Ambassador Spock was a part of. That does suggest that she would have been open minded to ally with Lore to try and destroy the Federation if the thought had occurred to either of them, or if they were aware of each other. Oh wasn’t allying with any synths, at all.

Sela had it in for Klingons; what if a different Romulan made an alliance with them instead? Or just took a less covert approach to sabotage?

Klingons and Romulan are always allying with each other, despite an antagonistic relationship with one another: the tech exchange in the 2260s, Khitomer Conspiracy in 2293, Klingon civil war in 2367, Dominion War. Even the Zhat Vash movement is implied to include Klingons, or have cells on Klingon worlds.

Sela’s association with Klingons on its own isn’t unique. The interest would be around allying with the House of Duras, who would be more in line with the Klingons of the TOS era. And even then, Sela steered clear of Duras sisters' plot regarding Soran and the Nexus, and didn't even offer use of her warbird. Provided that Sela did not get punished at all for her failed plot. And numerous non-canon sources like to suggest that Sela moved even further up the rankings instead of executed despite her failure, becoming an admiral durng the Dominion War, or a Romulan politician by the time of the Romulan supernova crisis.

The question would be which Romulans would take Sela’s place?

Tomalak, who was Picard’s intellectual equal?

Taris, who’s ship was briefly captured by the Iconians?

Selok, who posed as Ambassador T’Pel and was embedded in the Federation for years, suggesting that she was spying on the Federation long before the events of “Yesterday’s Enterprise”?

Taibok, who seemed to be an associate of Sela's?

Toreth, who despised the Tal Shiar, but would follow their orders anyways if prompted? But also had no problem killing any of them. And she as also known for holding her own against Klingons instead of allying with them.

Maybe Rakal doesn’t get killed by the resistance, preventing Troi to pose as her and be embedded as a spy on Toreth’s ship?

Toketh, who was in charge of a secret prison camp watching over Klingons capture at Khitomer not long after the Ent-C’s destruction?

Maybe Donatra or Tal’Aura have different career paths that prevent them from being commander or senator, respectively? Or a Hiren that does not become Praetor and get overthrown by Shinzon?

That’s not even taking the Romulans seen in DS9 or VOY into account.

Could the simple fact that she's half-Human, yet a powerful Romulan leader, have contributed to the Romulans gaining some respect for Humans, affecting relations with the Federation?

I think Romulans overall did have respect for humans, based on the events of “Balance of Terror” and how the Neutral Zone is laid out. The NZ not a bubble to contain the Romulans. The outposts are aligned with each other several lightyears apart. The Romulans never seem to go above or under the NZ, despite space being three dimensional to regularly fly around in Federation space. There’s no reason for the Romulans to honour how the NZ is laid out, yet they did that for 110 years. And then again in their 50 year hiatus.

It's Sela that did not have respect for humans. Or at least humans aligned with the Federation.

Could her aunt Ishara Yar--also a shady leader, on Turkana IV--have had some dealings with Sela, that wouldn't have occurred without the family relation?

It's never been conformed that Ishara Yar and Sela ever met. And at the time the Ent-D crew met Ishara, they had no idea Sela existed either.

Without Sela, could something between the Romulans and Turkana IV have not occurred, that causes a butterfly effect of changes in the timeline?

In the “Yesterday’s Enterprise” timeline, the Federation is at war with both the Klingons and Cardassians (the Cardassian war is not mentioned, but overlaps with what we learn as TNG progresses of that conflict still going on by the 2360s), and don’t seem to have any idea that the Borg are coming (suggesting they never had an encounter with Q in that timeline). The Romulan’s whereabout are unknown, but is can be presumed that they are dealing with the Borg. And Yar lives several extra years, though does not seem to have known Worf or Troi, who’s are nowhere to be seen.

In that timeline, the Ent-D probabaly would not meet Ishara Yar. And Turkana IV is a likely Klingon target. And might have been conquered already.

The changes in the timeline from the events of "Yesterday's Enterprise" allows for the Yar family line to continue. And the Romulan refugee crisis does leave the door open that some of them may have been resettled on Turkana IV, allowing Ishara and Sela to meet.