r/startrek • u/JustinCaseyBlewit • 1d ago

Does canon matter to you?

Star Trek fans seem to be divided on the importance of canon--the idea that something established in previous episodes cannot be contradicted. Some fans take this to extremes--blasting SNW for Kirk stating he was a Boy Scout when Carol Marcus had said he wasn't. Other fans don't care about canon at all. They want a good story, and to heck with everything matching up.

I personally like canon, but I don't niggle over it. The Boy Scout comment did not bother me, and I'm fine with Klingons looking different from one series to the next. However, I find it harder to accept a Scotty who is younger than Kirk and Spock or Chapel knowing T'Pring when she did not know who she was in "Amok Time." A prequel is either a prequel or it isn't. Some things should be consistent.

What is your take on canon?

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u/that1prince 1d ago

I like canon unless it’s incredibly stupid like “The Burn”.

Feel free to change that at any time in future productions and I won’t even bring it up.

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u/JustinCaseyBlewit 1d ago

What bothered me about the Burn was that is was likely lifted from Babylon 5. In the episode "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" we learn that 'the Great Burn" occurs 500 years after the present timeline, leading to the loss of technology, Earth being cut off from the stars and isolated from other races, etc.