I would like to point out that ST 2 thru 4 is not a trilogy in the traditional sense. There was no preplanned beginning, middle and ending in place before TWOK started shooting. In fact ST3 might have been a Spockless outing if Paramount hadn’t let Nimoy direct. Who know’s how that would have fared?

Canon is supposed to be fun, which for me, it is.

As for the purists, well, some people will never be satisfied.

If it is okay for TVH’s one line of dialogue to supercede everything prior to that which may have been seen as a contradiction, then why is it not okay for Morrow’s dialogue in TSFS (which Bennett wrote and Nimoy directed) to supercede anything in “The Menagerie”/ “The Cage”? The first season of TOS is one big timeframe mess anyway. On episode even places the TOS-era as much as 800 years from 1966! I don’t see the logic.

In any case, my initial assertion still stands firm. I have no doubt that Morrow’s dialogue in TSFS was an unitentional error in the writing and directing department. Yet you do not hear any fans claiming that Leonard Nimoy “raped their childhood” by contradicting “The Menagerie”.

Why should Abrams’ STXI be held to such a higher standard?

I realize that it wasn’t you who implied that, but it is the general idea of what the post you first responded to was about.

Thanks, Harry. I have coffee all over my keyboard now!

#210—”So where do we measure forward to? The events of TWOK? of Space Seed? of Terrell’s birth? We don’t measure to any one of these with precisely 200 years because the “two centuries” of time is an estimate of what has passed, not a precise calculation.
Which brings us to “In the 23rd Century…”

It’s all a moot point. TVH, which is the conclusion of the same trilogy and story-arc, firmly places the timeframe in the late 23rd Century–which conforms to much more traditional interpretations of when the stories take place.

“I did not offer my comments at #190 about Morrow as a defense of April’s “canonization.” There is simply no way to reconcile his comment with any other comments about 1701’s age and therefore must be wrong. 1701 is no less than 28 and possibly no more than 46 at the time of TSFS.”

I don’t doubt for a second that Morrow’s dialogue in TSFS is an unintended error. Bennett and Nimoy screwed up. But that was the whole point. In the grand scheme of things, no one is accusing Leonard Nimoy of “raping their childhood” by allowing such a contradiction/canon violation in that film, so why should JJ Abrams be held to such a higher standard in STXI?
As for April, it just has not been made legitimate, as opposed to some of the other elements of TAS. If anything, it has been contradicted by the timeline later. Furthermore, a case can be made that, since all live action Trek is considered canon, the most recent edition should take precedence whenever a contradiction inevitably comes up (and actually does). After all, there is no way to reconcile the timeline being completely all over the place in the first season of TOS anyway.
It was the films which established once and for all that Star Trek took place in the 23rd Century (and TVH which really narrowed it down to the “late” 23rd Century for sources like Memory Alpha and the like). All future spinoffs were based upon that, starting with TNG. So the question is, why is it okay for TVH’s establishment of the timeline once and for all to supercede everything prior, but not okay for TSFS to contradict “The Menagerie”/”The Cage” and other episodes from the first season? That makes no sense….

Yeah I was getting really inspired, I wanted to try and make the Bridge module turn back slightly towards the Camera all Sexy and stuff, and have
that port Nacelle looking downward with a bit of cockiness to it. The fin on the Starboard one was Mutilated somewhat and the mid part of the saucer was looking straight ahead, Emotionless yet eager almost. Ah well, I don’t want to be a Purist here or anything. oh and thanks Buckaroo.

“Two centuries, we estimate.” “Did I hear it say I had been sleeping for two centuries? ” “You have 200 years of catching up to do.”

This is conversational English and not precise measurements. In conversation people tend to round their numbers. How much wiggle room does that provide? Would 180 years be close enough? 190? How about 210 or 220?

In TWOK we see the same tendency. Just prior to
“On earth, two hundred years ago, I was a prince, with power over millions”
we have
“Save your strength, Captain, these people have sworn to live and die at my command two hundred years before you were born.”

So where do we measure forward to? The events of TWOK? of Space Seed? of Terrell’s birth? We don’t measure to any one of these with precisely 200 years because the “two centuries” of time is an estimate of what has passed, not a precise calculation.
Which brings us to “In the 23rd Century…”
All that is necessary for this line to be true is for the events of Space Seed to occur after 2185 (or after 2184 for those of you who think the 23rd century begins in 2200.) In other words, adding the 15 years of exile to 2186 (2185) results in 2201 (2200), the first year of the 23rd century.

Then there’ that “date” on the Romulan Ale, which I touch on in my response to 199.

(BTW I did not offer my comments at #190 about Morrow as a defense of April’s “canonization.” There is simply no way to reconcile his comment with any other comments about 1701’s age and therefore must be wrong. 1701 is no less than 28 and possibly no more than 46 at the time of TSFS. BTW this upper limit is from The Cage. The 18 years of the survivor camp coupled with “You won’t believe how fast you’ll get back. The time barrier’s been broken. Our new ships can-”)

199
Would a bottle of Romulan Ale that has been smuggled across the Neutral Zone have a Terran date on it? No, it wouldn’t.
————————–
All the above is speculation though, an alternate way of looking at the “facts” presented in the TWOK and Space Seed. Not arguing that it is “canon.” IMHO, however, it is more consistent than the superficial interpretation that made its way into the subsequent movies. And I personally think that haviing the time frame of TWOK just barely into the 23rd century really plays into the psychology of the movie. Putting a younger crew on the ship, Kirk feeking his age etc.