[Ensign Kal]

I still think Spock Prime could get back (BTTF 2 had the same scenario, and they did get back), but that's just me, so take it as you will

[MissionTrek08]

Originally Posted by Commodore

The manner in which both Spock Prime and Nero came into this new timeline/altered was by accident and probably can't be reproduced without destroying this new timeline (and everyone living in it) in the process...

I don't know why it would destroy this new line, but the method itself is entirely unpredictable in its results, which makes it tactically useless in attempting to predict its use.

It's like sitting in a slingshot to travel to a destination, but you have no control over which way the sling is pointed and how far back it's pulled. You land wherever the hell it sends you and best of luck on arrival!

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

After seeing the film I still don't totally buy this idea that the original timeline goes on existing unaffected. There was really nothing on screen that lends credence to that. They established that their destinies were being changed quite well. They did nothing to establish that there is some other timeline still in existence. We all have that information as a result of the interviews that were done leading up to the film's release. If you hadn't read those interviews all you would see on screen is a history that is being altered by a bad guy. It had more in common with Back to the Future then it did the TNG episode parqllels for instance.

[kevin]

I agree the film doesn't do a good job of explaining that the original universe still continues but I think it still does.

Even if I am taking that more from the interviews than the actual script.

As such, no I don't believe so. Spock is clearly at the end apparently not indicating any attempt to try to return to his own time. He's working to help the Vulcan race continue and prosper on their new home.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

To be fair, I never expected them to establish parallel realities coexisting. They wanted to establish this new rebooted reality. That was their intention all along. We had some good debates about that here.

[MissionTrek08]

Originally Posted by Captain Tom Coughlin

After seeing the film I still don't totally buy this idea that the original timeline goes on existing unaffected. There was really nothing on screen that lends credence to that. They established that their destinies were being changed quite well. They did nothing to establish that there is some other timeline still in existence.

My question is, how could they have done that without switching between universes, which would only create confusion?

And if one needs proof: where is the proof that the primeline no longer exists?

It seems a longer stretch to assume some cosmic force erased the primeline through an unseen, unknown side-effect than it is to assume that it remained unchanged. And since people and ships from the primeline didn't blink out of existence in the new universe, then why should the prime universe cease to exist either?

Plus, as Spock explains the theory on the bridge, Uhura specifically says "alternate reality" and Spock agrees. Alternate, by definition, implies a second version, not a self-erasing single version, because without such side-by-side comparison, a true alternate cannot exist.

"Mirror, Mirror" in TOS is a ... prime... example of this.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

The line from Uhura was definitly a nod to us fans who were aware of the interviews that pointed to this multiverse theory. But, I still think that you need to have knowlege of those interviews to draw that conclusion from the film.

[radoskal]

Personally I'm on the side of the people who feel cheated. Alternate Timeline and Alternate Dimension (universe) are two different things, lets get this straight from the get go. Something like the Mirror Mirror universe or Every single universe variation pictured in the TNG episode parallels, are alternate dimensions. These can coexist side by side and not affect each other at all unless there are extenuating circumstances (freak transporter accidents and the like) Alternate timelines on the other hand are things like what happen in Yesterdays Enterprise, City on the Edge of Forever and First Contact these are altered through time travel incursions and any alteration PERMANENTLY CHANGES THE FLOW OF HISTORY UNLESS THAT ALTERATION IS PREVENTED/REVERTED otherwise...as people have said before the plot of First Contact would have made NO sense. The borg went back in time and asimilated earth in another universe...whoopdie friggin doo...im gonna go to ten forward and get a prune juice.

So as hard as it may be for people to believe..."Whatever we may have been in that alternate reality is GONE"

OK so this IRKS me teribly...but what IRKS me even more is because of this JJ has utterly failed in his quest to bring new fans into the trek franchise...how do you think a fan who loved the new Trek would react to trek II III and IV for example...."but wait I though Vulcan was destroyed" "That was in the alternate timeline" "oooh well thats lame..and so on and so on...It was my beleif that JJ was gonna make a film that you could watch and then use as a springboard to jump into TOS or the TOS films....obviously I was MISTAKEN.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

It doesn't really bother me at all because I went into this movie with the mindset that it was a reboot all along. I thought they did an excellent job of it too. As Missiontrek rightfully points out above, it would have been far to confusing to show multiple timelines coexisting. You are trying to reboot the franchise and draw in new viewers. They need to make people care about this universe. Now they have done that, and hopefully will make a few good sequals.

So for the casual viewer they get a good time travel movie. For the diehards, they have the multiverse explanations put forth in the interviews (and hinted at by Uhura).

[Mjolnir2000]

Originally Posted by delliott101

Well, Parallels wasn't a time travel story.... yes... but you are missing the point. It is an alternate timeline/parallel universe story. The fact that Picard stayed assimilated in a few of the timelines, while the Prime line had him returned PROVES alternate timelines exist side by side... at least in the Trek Universe.

Alternate realities exist side by side as a result of quantum indeterminacy. Let's pick a given point in a time in one universe, and lets call this A. For simplicity, say that A only contains a single electron, and an observer himself free (somehow) from quantum effects. Now when the observer tries to measure the spin of the electron, A will branch into two parallel worlds as a result of this measurement - one in which this spin is positive, and one in which it is negative - lets call these B and B'. So we now have:

A
/ \
B B'

With B and B' existing parallel but independent to each other. Now allow things to continue in both universes for awhile:

A
/ \
B B'
/ | | \
C C' C'' C'''

Due to other quantum events, we now have four parallel worlds. Finally, suppose that the observer in world C' decides to go back in time to an instant just before A, and destroy the electron altogether. Even though C' existed independently from it's neighbors, the act of going back in time to before A will prevent all of the C universes from existing.

Even though all the universes in Parallels existed (for the most part) independent of each other, the act of going back in time to the 23rd century and destroying the Kelvin will prevent all of those universes from existing.