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Possible reference to STO in Discovery S4? *spoilers for episode 5 of Discovery S4*

naabal421#0722 naabal421 Member Posts: 162 Arc User
edited December 2021 in Ten Forward
In the newest episode of star Trek Discovery, when talking about who might have the technology to make the Dark matter anomaly threatening space, Admiral Vance lists off the Metrons, Nacene, "the surviving members of the Iconian Empire", and the Q, as groups with the technology or power to make such an anomaly. As far as I am aware only STO has had the Iconians still be alive, even the novels had them all dead. Could this be a subtle reference to the Iconian's return in STO?

They also mention Risian caracals, another thing I believe is something STO invented.

If the mods feel like this belongs in Ten Forward move it. I just found it possibly related to STO.
Post edited by rattler2 on

Comments

  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 5,051 Arc User
    I'm thinking of other explanations, but so far I'm not succesful.
  • rattler2rattler2 Member, Star Trek Online Moderator Posts: 58,670 Community Moderator
    Interesting that the Iconians got a mention. Could be a subtle nod to STO? Perhaps. But until they come out and say it, or give more context that lines up with STO's story... we can at least hope.
    Anyways I am gonna go ahead and move this to Ten Forward.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
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  • starkaosstarkaos Member Posts: 11,556 Arc User
    Caracals are definitely a reference to STO. While there are Caracals on Earth as felines in Africa, Central Asia, Middle East, and India and might still exist in the 31st Century, I seriously doubt Ruon Tarka was talking about a feline from Earth. Especially, when he is a Risan. Memory Alpha just created their Caracal page today and only mentioned this episode, Star Trek Online, and the terran feline.
  • themetalstickmanthemetalstickman Member Posts: 1,010 Arc User
    That line really makes me think that STO is being canonized in some way. It’s definitely a leap between TNG and DS9’s “long-dead ancient Iconians” and DISCO’s “surviving members of the Iconian Empire.”

    IIRC, there was a rumor when PIC was coming out that the PIC writers/CBS consulted with the STO team. Considering how closely PIC deals with the Romulans, it would make sense that they might want to canonize some aspects of STO. Now that DISCO has referenced surviving Iconians, that rumor has grown in credibility, in my mind at least.
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  • phoenixc#0738 phoenixc Member Posts: 5,881 Arc User
    That line really makes me think that STO is being canonized in some way. It’s definitely a leap between TNG and DS9’s “long-dead ancient Iconians” and DISCO’s “surviving members of the Iconian Empire.”

    IIRC, there was a rumor when PIC was coming out that the PIC writers/CBS consulted with the STO team. Considering how closely PIC deals with the Romulans, it would make sense that they might want to canonize some aspects of STO. Now that DISCO has referenced surviving Iconians, that rumor has grown in credibility, in my mind at least.

    The Romulan supernova thing in PIC was just Kurtzman following JJ Abrams most likely.

    They could have done it much better than they did though, they really need to get out of that ridiculous city-state mindset. It is an Empire, one of the big three powers in the area so loosing Romulus, while tragic, would be no worse than a major realworld nation losing a city (which has happened to nations, like when New Orleans had to be abandoned for a while after Katrina) on the functional imperial level. That is something for another thread though.
  • starkaosstarkaos Member Posts: 11,556 Arc User
    That line really makes me think that STO is being canonized in some way. It’s definitely a leap between TNG and DS9’s “long-dead ancient Iconians” and DISCO’s “surviving members of the Iconian Empire.”

    IIRC, there was a rumor when PIC was coming out that the PIC writers/CBS consulted with the STO team. Considering how closely PIC deals with the Romulans, it would make sense that they might want to canonize some aspects of STO. Now that DISCO has referenced surviving Iconians, that rumor has grown in credibility, in my mind at least.

    The Romulan supernova thing in PIC was just Kurtzman following JJ Abrams most likely.

    They could have done it much better than they did though, they really need to get out of that ridiculous city-state mindset. It is an Empire, one of the big three powers in the area so loosing Romulus, while tragic, would be no worse than a major realworld nation losing a city (which has happened to nations, like when New Orleans had to be abandoned for a while after Katrina) on the functional imperial level. That is something for another thread though.

    The devastation to the empire depends on how centralized the government was and how much warning there was. So all the politicians and other elites would be able to leave safely from Romulus, but all the infrastructure on Romulus used for running the empire would have to be left behind. So losing Romulus would be far more damaging than losing a normal city like New Orleans and more like losing Silicon Valley.
  • rattler2rattler2 Member, Star Trek Online Moderator Posts: 58,670 Community Moderator
    The Romulan supernova thing in PIC was just Kurtzman following JJ Abrams most likely.

    But then how do you reconcile the fact that both Nero and Spock came from the Prime Universe if it didn't happen, let alone any references to the Prime Universe in the Kelvin Timeline?
    The initial problem was that Star Trek was split between Paramount (movies) and CBS (Everything pre KT Movies) until they remerged. That's why we got a direct reference to the Kelvin Timeline in season 3 of Discovery. It does sound like they watered down just how much of a threat the supernova was, but it still happened.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
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    colored text = mod mode
  • phoenixc#0738 phoenixc Member Posts: 5,881 Arc User
    starkaos wrote: »
    That line really makes me think that STO is being canonized in some way. It’s definitely a leap between TNG and DS9’s “long-dead ancient Iconians” and DISCO’s “surviving members of the Iconian Empire.”

    IIRC, there was a rumor when PIC was coming out that the PIC writers/CBS consulted with the STO team. Considering how closely PIC deals with the Romulans, it would make sense that they might want to canonize some aspects of STO. Now that DISCO has referenced surviving Iconians, that rumor has grown in credibility, in my mind at least.

    The Romulan supernova thing in PIC was just Kurtzman following JJ Abrams most likely.

    They could have done it much better than they did though, they really need to get out of that ridiculous city-state mindset. It is an Empire, one of the big three powers in the area so loosing Romulus, while tragic, would be no worse than a major realworld nation losing a city (which has happened to nations, like when New Orleans had to be abandoned for a while after Katrina) on the functional imperial level. That is something for another thread though.

    The devastation to the empire depends on how centralized the government was and how much warning there was. So all the politicians and other elites would be able to leave safely from Romulus, but all the infrastructure on Romulus used for running the empire would have to be left behind. So losing Romulus would be far more damaging than losing a normal city like New Orleans and more like losing Silicon Valley.

    The Romulans always had the slowest drives of the three main powers, they are the least likely of the three to have direct control over everything from the capital. They are not the Iconians who had instant travel and so could easily have fallen into that overcentralization trap, the Romulans would have had provinces the same way the real-world Roman empire did.

    While one province (the capital one) may fall into turmoil, and the economy as a whole would almost certainly have taken a hit, the empire in general should have been able to weather it easily enough, especially since there was plenty of time to evacuate all the government officials to the fallback positions that all even-halfway sane governments have. And the Romulans are clearly paranoid enough that they absolutely would have that kind of contingency planning in place.
  • rattler2rattler2 Member, Star Trek Online Moderator Posts: 58,670 Community Moderator
    The problem is though... who steps up to lead? A sudden power vacuum like that is bound to have massive repercussions. Who is next in line to lead the Star Empire? How badly mangled is the military leadership? How badly mangled is the civilian leadership? Are there individuals willing to take advantage of the situation to make a power play?

    It would basically turn into who has claim to the throne. If the Roman Empire lost Rome itself... then which province has claim to be the new capitol? Who leads the military?
    Its a recipe for civil war as infighting is bound to happen, caused by the more oportunistic people make a power grab.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
    normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
    colored text = mod mode
  • phoenixc#0738 phoenixc Member Posts: 5,881 Arc User
    rattler2 wrote: »
    The problem is though... who steps up to lead? A sudden power vacuum like that is bound to have massive repercussions. Who is next in line to lead the Star Empire? How badly mangled is the military leadership? How badly mangled is the civilian leadership? Are there individuals willing to take advantage of the situation to make a power play?

    It would basically turn into who has claim to the throne. If the Roman Empire lost Rome itself... then which province has claim to be the new capitol? Who leads the military?
    Its a recipe for civil war as infighting is bound to happen, caused by the more oportunistic people make a power grab.

    Why would there be a power vacuum at all? It is not like Shinzon's bloody coup that killed all of the Praetorate/Senate in one swoop, when it became clear that the world was in danger the first ones evacuated would be those government officials so power would remain constant. The only difference would be that those officials would command from a different location.

    In theory that would have worked with even less warning, even if the government had to operate from ships for a few days, or for that matter probably even no warning at all since the provinces could govern themselves until the alternate imperial officials set up in one of the fallback positions (though that worst case one would probably be prone to the kind of infighting you suggest).

    Like Ancient Rome, the provincial governments would have the day-to-day governance infrastructure rather than the imperial one. The imperial level was more about keeping the provinces in line and working together, managing external diplomatic and war issues, and creating new empire-wide laws.

    That is why I said that Star Trek had a bad habit of thinking in citystate terms all too often instead of star-nation terms, a bad habit which PIC cranked up to laughably unbelievable levels.
  • legendarylycan#5411 legendarylycan Member Posts: 37,284 Arc User
    The Roman Empire DID lose Rome itself - quite a few times.

    It still survived a good long while after all those instances.​​
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