The title comes from Shakespeareā€™s Macbeth, Act V, sc v, fatalistically describing the inevitability of death and banality of life:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Lifeā€™s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Shakespeare has a long history with Trek. Apart from Picardā€™s interest in his plays, the Bardā€™s words have lent themselves to episode titles, including TOS: ā€œThe Conscience of the Kingā€ (Hamlet), ā€œDagger of the Mindā€ (Macbeth), ā€œAll Our Yesterdaysā€ (Macbeth), ST VI: The Undiscovered Country (Hamlet), VOY: ā€œMortal Coilā€ (Hamlet).

In TNG: ā€œThe Defectorā€, Picard performs Henry V, and Data and he do the same in ā€œEmergenceā€. Picard uses the excuse of the away team being actors performing A Midsummer Nightā€™s Dream in ā€œTimeā€™s Arrowā€. In DS9: ā€œImprobable Causeā€, Garak and Bashir debate Julius Caesar. In ENT: ā€œIn a Mirror, Darklyā€ the similarities between Shakespeareā€™s plays between the Prime and Mirror Universe are mentioned. Various bits of Shakespeare are quoted as well, notably General Chang, a Shakespeare aficionado in ST VI and Spock quoting Hamlet in DIS: ā€œPerpetual Infinityā€.

The Stardate is 1581.2, whereas last episode it was 2393.8, and it was stated that 1224.3 was four months prior to that. Pelia says she still has a bunker in Vermont in case this ā€œā€˜no money, socialist utopiaā€™ thingā€ doesnā€™t work out, echoing explicitly for the first time the fan view that yes, the Federation economy is basically socialist in nature. She has a painting she claims is a fake and says the Louvre can stop calling her, indicating that at least the institution and some art survived World War III. Her artifacts have labels identifying them as the property of the Archeology Department.

Laā€™An spars with Mā€™Benga. The doctor was shown to be a proficient fighter in SNW: ā€œThe Broken Circleā€, and actor Babs Olusanmokun is a 2nd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. On the wall of the gym we see Klingon-esque weapons on the wall, including a few that look like variants of the standard batā€™leth and mekā€™leth.

The dying stranger tells Laā€™An there has been an attack in the past, and shows her a holographic diagram which weā€™ve seen on the main viewer of the 29th Century Federation timeship USS Relativity (VOY: ā€œRelativityā€), using the TCARS interface (as opposed to LCARS). This indicates heā€™s either from the 29th or 31st Centuries, as Agent Daniels used a similar interface in ENT. At some point between the 31st and 32nd Century, following the Temporal Cold War the Temporal Accords included a complete ban against time travel (DIS: ā€œDie Tryingā€).

The blurry ripple that accompanies the change in history is reminiscent of the visual effect used to signal a shift into an alternate timeline in TNG: ā€œYesterdayā€™s Enterpriseā€. The disappearance of the time agent and Laā€™Anā€™s continued existence in this altered timeline is attributed to her holding on to his device.

Kirk is wearing a different badge insignia, and identifies the ship as the United Earth Fleet ship Enterprise. Spock is in command of a Vulcan ship, the Shā€™Rel, so this timeline doesnā€™t appear to have a Federation, and the Vulcans are losing a war with the Romulans.

Itā€™s of note that of Kirkā€™s two appearances in SNW so far, they have both been alternate timelines versions - which still jibes with Prime Kirkā€™s claim in TOS: ā€œThe Menagerieā€ that he only met Pike once, when he took over command of the Enterprise.

Laā€™An says Starfleet has regulations to deal with situations like this. Given the Temporal Cold War impacted at least the 22nd Century, that doesnā€™t surprise me. The Department of Temporal Investigations was first seen in DS9: ā€œTrials and Tribble-lationsā€ and the licensed novels say it was first created in 2270. As we find out later, the DTI doesnā€™t exist yet in SNWā€™s time, but Laā€™An implies that regulations dealing with time travel exist. That means Starfleet acknowledges the existence of the phenomenon, rejecting the 22nd Century Vulcan Science Directorateā€™s determination of that time travel is impossible (ENT: ā€œCold Frontā€).

Despite Kirkā€™s identification of being in New York, mid-21st Century, theyā€™ve landed in Toronto, specifically Yonge Dundas Square. Kirk claims never to have been to Earth at all, having been born in space on the USS Iowa. His counterparts were born in Iowa, USA, in the Prime Universe 2333 and on the USS Kelvin in the Kelvin Timeline. Kirk says in his time Earth was a battleground, occupied and now a ruin. Earth is filled with clouds of ash that wonā€™t clear for a thousand years and has underground lunar habitats.

Kirk says indignantly to Laā€™An asking him about revolving doors, ā€œIā€™m from space.ā€ In ST IV, when Gillian Taylor asks Kirk if heā€™s from outer space, he replies, ā€œNo, Iā€™m from Iowa. I only work in outer space.ā€

Kirk hustles chess for cash. Kirk has been established to be an excellent chess player ever since TOS: ā€œWhere No Man Has Gone Beforeā€. Kirk beat Spock regularly at 3D Chess (he calls the 2D version ā€œidiotā€™s chessā€), and in this timeline he also kept beating his XO, a woman.

Kirk points out that if they fix Laā€™Anā€™s timeline, theyā€™ll destroy his, which is consistent with the model of the Trek timeline as a palimpsest - overwritten rather than branched.

Addressing Kirkā€™s worry that he wonā€™t even exist in Laā€™Anā€™s timeline, she says sheā€™s heard stories about Kirk from his brother Sam (who was still a member of the crew last time we checked). Kirk and Laā€™An both remember the bridge explosion - one of the longest in the world destroyed soon after completion - from their timelines, so this isnā€™t the nexus point. The bridge seems to be fictional, as I canā€™t identify a real world bridge in Toronto that resembles it.

Laā€™An identifies the charring on the wreckage as that left by a photonic bomb, a technology that wonā€™t be developed for at least a century. Photonic technology was first seen in ENT: ā€œThe Expanseā€ as a precursor to photon torpedoes, using variable yield antimatter warheads, so the timeline is consistent.

(Continued in comments)

  • JohnnyDelirious@startrek.website
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    1 year ago

    Rewatch the scene where Laā€™an enters the bridge, and keep an eye on the dedication plaque to the left of the turbolift.

    It identifies the ship as the UEF Enterprise.

    • khaosworks@startrek.websiteOPM
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      1 year ago

      Good catch!

      A script slip that made it past continuity, then, is the Doylist explanation. Watsonian I would then prefer it to be that the USS Iowa be a civilian ship distinct from UEF ships rather than a different military fleet or pre-unification one.