"Tapestry" I: How could things have been different?

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Tapestry is a great episode and an example of what makes Trek great. So, let's apply the principle to other characters. What turning points do we know of in the careers of other characters and what could have resulted if these characters madedifferent choices at these points?

Sisko and Worf are good examples: both considered leaving Starfleet. If Sisko had followed up on his threat of leaving starfleet to work at the fleet yards at Earth, the entire Dominion War could have turned out VERY differently (though we have to consider that the Prophets wouldn't allow this, let's consider this possibility anyway for the sake of argument) Worf also become important in Fed/Klingon relations in later DS9.

[Mark]

Without Sisko, I don't think that the wormhole ever even would have been discovered. They would have just chalked up the disappearence of the Cardie ship to the Bajorans, and started another conflict between Cardassia and Starfleet. Assuming for a minute that things turned out similar to the way they did, had Woft left Starfleet for the Nabrite Alliance, Starfleet NEVER would have ended the Klingon conflict, and the AQ would indeed have gone up in flames.

[Deepcrush]

You really shouldn't try to hard to count out plot fate. You would lose most of your story without the main characters. The characters don't just stand for themselves but for the type of people that they match. You couldn't remove a foil.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

You really shouldn't try to hard to count out plot fate. You would lose most of your story without the main characters. The characters don't just stand for themselves but for the type of people that they match. You couldn't remove a foil.

Well, we're taking a step "outside" of the series here and just looking at different possibilities. It's like a Q-inspired What If? game (with parallels to another great Q ep, AGT).

[Deepcrush]

Then there would have been no Dominion War, the Cardis would have gone back to war with the UFP, the Klingons would just be them and Martok would never have come to power. That last part would have been bad as that means the KE would most likely not end up joining the UFP.

[Captain Seafort]

Without Sisko, I don't think that the wormhole ever even would have been discovered. They would have just chalked up the disappearence of the Cardie ship to the Bajorans, and started another conflict between Cardassia and Starfleet.

If Sisko had quit rather than accept the DS9 posting not only would the wormhole likely not have been discovered, but Dukat's ship wouldn't have been lost (IIRC he was following Sisko's runabout at the time). Therefore no repeat Cardassian war. The biggest problem would probably have been the Maquis, who wouldn't have become the power they did by Eddington's time, as their sucess was largely based on the crippling of the Obsidian Order in the Omarian Nebula, and the Cardassian military at the hand of the Klingons. Therefore the insurgency would have dragged on ad infinitum.

That last part would have been bad as that means the KE would most likely not end up joining the UFP.

I'd say it's unlikely the Klingons would join the Federation under Martok - he considers the Feds close allies, but equals, not superiors. The Klingon Empire is no more about to become a Federation member than the UK is about to become the 51st state.

[Deepcrush]

The KE is said to join the UFP in the 25th. Besides, its more like a nation joining the UN then the US.

[Captain Seafort]

The KE is said to join the UFP in the 25th.

Source?

Besides, its more like a nation joining the UN then the US.

Hardly - the UFP has a centralised military, foreign policy, and legal system. Its inhabitants have been described as "Federation citizens". It's a sovereign state.

[Deepcrush]

Source?

Enterprise, E-J - I know we covered this before but I can't remember the thread. Give me some time to find it.

Hardly - the UFP has a centralised military, foreign policy, and legal system. Its inhabitants have been described as "Federation citizens". It's a sovereign state.

The UN has this, other then the military, the only problem is that in the UN none of it works.

[Captain Seafort]

The UN has this, other then the military, the only problem is that in the UN none of it works.

No, it doesn't. The UN is a collective security apparatus - it has no foreign policy, because it has no authority over non-members, and it has no citizens, because it is specifically a collection of states, not a state in its own right.

[Deepcrush]

Fair enough, I just figure that the UN is closer to the UFP then the US.

[Captain Seafort]

Fair enough, I just figure that the UN is closer to the UFP then the US.

A better analogy for the UFP would be the US itself - because of the federal system. Its structure is certainly a lot looser than most European countries.

[Deepcrush]

Conceeded

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Another example: what if Spock had gone along with Sarek's wishes and gone into a "proper Vulcan line of work?" Either directly or indirectly, Spock played a vital role in the TOS Federation; the later world of TNG could have been entirely different without a Spock in Starfleet.

[Mark]

On a different tread I mentioned a fan fic webisode called Star Trek of Gods and Men. That was a great what if. The premise is that Charlie X wants revenge on Kirk, but Kirk has already been lost in the Nexus. So Charlie goes to the Guardian of Forever to travel back in time to extract his revenge. Chekov, Uhura, and Jon Harriman beam down to stop him, but instead Charlie goes threw, and we suddenly see the universe as it is without James Kirk. Starfleet has become somthing like the TE, and is ruled with an iron fist by one God-Emperor Gary Mitchell (who since Kirk wasn't there to stop him, killed Chris Pike and rose to power). Chekov is a freedom fighter, Harriman is Captain of the Enterpirse-nil (un refitted) and Uhura is married to a Vulcan. Those three slowly remember how things are supposed to be and I'll stop there so as not to ruin it if anyone wants to see it. It really showed the effect one man can have on the world (or the universe in Kirk's case)