There is a remarkable amount of evidence that suggests The Orville is actually a real 100% Star Trek series set in the Star Trek universe, just in the Kelvin Timeline.
As we know, the timelines diverged so the further along we go, the universes will naturally look less and less like each other, which lead to a seemingly different universe, but as we'll see all the major changes have been hinted at and foreshadowed by the Kelvin movies.
Where are the Vulcans, the Klingons, the Romulans... ?
Vulcan blew up, so there are statistically too few Vulcans in the Galaxy for the crew of The Orville to run into them. We'll probably never see them on the show and that's 100% realistic.
Because Nero blew up fiftyish Klingon ships, the Klingon-Romulan alliance never happened, leaving Romulans with slow ships and relatively isolated, withering over the years.
Because Praxis exploded early Federation-Klingon alliance never happened. Leaving Klingons also at a disadvantageous position.
Being Klingons and Romulans they still attacked each other, and the Federation as well, and then the darker, Section 31 infused Federation obliterated them because they were too much of a bother.
They don't exist anymore. Dead as the Iconians.
Who are the Krill?
Some people adopted Krall's(the fella from Beyond) philosophy and technology that changed them into that look and became the Krill because they didn't know how to spell proper.
What happened to transporters?
By discovering transwarp beaming so early, scientist also soon discovered that beaming damages subspace, so transporter technology was banned. Completely 100% banned. And then forgotten.
Quantum Drive?
Because Romulans and Klingons were no longer a threat, and an era of peace ensued, the Federation spent the research money allocated for "quantum torpedoes" on "quantum warp drive" instead. They dropped the "warp" bit after a while because ti was too long to say so it's just "quantum drive" now.
Pop culture references?
Being peaceful, people had way to much time on their hands so instead of just reading Shakespeare and listening to classical music they also had time to watch all the crap TV from this period.
The Union?
Because Section 31 was revealed early, and the whole obliterating the Klingons and the Romulans was kinda harsh, that was a lot of bad press, so at some point Federation decided to rebrand themselves as the "Union".
It all fits and makes 100% sense.
As we know, the timelines diverged so the further along we go, the universes will naturally look less and less like each other, which lead to a seemingly different universe, but as we'll see all the major changes have been hinted at and foreshadowed by the Kelvin movies.
Where are the Vulcans, the Klingons, the Romulans... ?
Vulcan blew up, so there are statistically too few Vulcans in the Galaxy for the crew of The Orville to run into them. We'll probably never see them on the show and that's 100% realistic.
Because Nero blew up fiftyish Klingon ships, the Klingon-Romulan alliance never happened, leaving Romulans with slow ships and relatively isolated, withering over the years.
Because Praxis exploded early Federation-Klingon alliance never happened. Leaving Klingons also at a disadvantageous position.
Being Klingons and Romulans they still attacked each other, and the Federation as well, and then the darker, Section 31 infused Federation obliterated them because they were too much of a bother.
They don't exist anymore. Dead as the Iconians.
Who are the Krill?
Some people adopted Krall's(the fella from Beyond) philosophy and technology that changed them into that look and became the Krill because they didn't know how to spell proper.
What happened to transporters?
By discovering transwarp beaming so early, scientist also soon discovered that beaming damages subspace, so transporter technology was banned. Completely 100% banned. And then forgotten.
Quantum Drive?
Because Romulans and Klingons were no longer a threat, and an era of peace ensued, the Federation spent the research money allocated for "quantum torpedoes" on "quantum warp drive" instead. They dropped the "warp" bit after a while because ti was too long to say so it's just "quantum drive" now.
Pop culture references?
Being peaceful, people had way to much time on their hands so instead of just reading Shakespeare and listening to classical music they also had time to watch all the crap TV from this period.
The Union?
Because Section 31 was revealed early, and the whole obliterating the Klingons and the Romulans was kinda harsh, that was a lot of bad press, so at some point Federation decided to rebrand themselves as the "Union".
It all fits and makes 100% sense.
