Enterprise Episode 6 (Spoilers)

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Originally posted by Miymaani
I think the term "phase pistol" is just so new that the "jargon" word "phaser" hasn't quite come around to use. First it's gotta be a slang verb, "I phased his ***", then the object becomes associated with what it does, hence, phase-er... and eventually the jargon becomes the standard usage.

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Actaully, it seems that the word is a derivative from a Vulcan word. In Strange, New World, while everyone is going nuts from the psychoactive pollen, T'pol says to Tucker "Give me the phase pistol" or "Drop the phase pistol" or something close to that...the vulcan word for "phase pistol" is "pha'zar". (pha'=phase, zar=pistol?)

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Originally posted by darkwing duck1
Actaully, it seems that the word is a derivative from a Vulcan word. In Strange, New World, while everyone is going nuts from the psychoactive pollen, T'pol says to Tucker "Give me the phase pistol" or "Drop the phase pistol" or something close to that...the vulcan word for "phase pistol" is "pha'zar". (pha'=phase, zar=pistol?)

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I have argued before that I think this is a "borrowed word", Spanish and Japanese both have versions of "Computer" in their language that are borrowed from English (the word for Ice Cream is borrowed as well if I recall my Japanese language course from 10+ years ago). The Vulcans might simply have borrowed the term, or perhaps she refered to it as a "FAY-zaar" (phonetically) to better hide what she was saying from him.

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Originally posted by darkwing duck1


Actaully, it seems that the word is a derivative from a Vulcan word. In Strange, New World, while everyone is going nuts from the psychoactive pollen, T'pol says to Tucker "Give me the phase pistol" or "Drop the phase pistol" or something close to that...the vulcan word for "phase pistol" is "pha'zar". (pha'=phase, zar=pistol?)

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Since Humans are so reliant on Vulcan technology, it is entirely possible that "Phase"" is a Humanization of a Vulcan word. "Phase" may have nothing to do with the operation of the weapon at all, merely being a Human word close to the Vulcan and not even having a similar meaning in translation.

Despite what we saw in the Andorian Incident it is evident that not all Vulcans are complete pacifists. It seems logical that they would develop a weapon technology that allowed the harmless incapacitation of foes, while allowing the option of deadly force if absolutely required.

It would also explain why the Humans have a pistol-sized version but not ship-mounted versions.

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Originally posted by Publius


I have argued before that I think this is a "borrowed word", Spanish and Japanese both have versions of "Computer" in their language that are borrowed from English (the word for Ice Cream is borrowed as well if I recall my Japanese language course from 10+ years ago). The Vulcans might simply have borrowed the term, or perhaps she refered to it as a "FAY-zaar" (phonetically) to better hide what she was saying from him.

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Good point!

Just for the record, though, she pronounced it "phah (short-a sound)-ZAAR".:)

IIRC, "Phaser" is actually supposed to be an acronym for PHASed Energey Rectification (not sure on that last word there).

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"Phaser" is actually supposed to be an acronym

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That's an assumption - admittedly a reasonable assumption - not backed up explicitly on screen. Granted, it's in the technical manual. However, this new enterpretation ("humanization" of a Vulcan technical term actually unrelated to "phase") has some interesting possibilities too.

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Originally posted by Diamond


That's pretty deep digging. We know the 'Starfleet' of Enterprise is NOT that of the Federation. It's Earth's spaceships. Ans 'Starfleet' could be a ubiquitous nickname. The name officially on the books could be 'UESA' or whatever it was.

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The point is (as Phantom says), why not pick a different name? The writers had an opportunity to pick something that fit into the ST universe continuity better and they just didn't care. Obviously it's their work that becomes "canon" but that doesn't mean they can't do some research into the vast works of ST material out there and try to make things fit together better.

Most of the RPG books say Starfleet was formed as the military and exploration arm of the Federation--of course this is not "canon". As a matter of fact, in the early episodes of TOS, Starfleet Command was called something like "Starfleet Control" instead, so there is some variance on the naming here.

I keep hearing that the fans are too nitpicky as far as continuity is concerned, but I think Star Trek set that up for itself because of the nature of the show. When a series presents as many details as Star Trek did, and makes some effort to have continuity, fans become involved and have expectations that this continuity will be preserved. And it's not like the writers don't have plenty of reference material to work from--do they not care? Don't have time? Knowing that the desire for continuity is out there, and given the vast amounts of reference materials, spending time preserving continuity should be at least a medium-priority task for the ST TV teams...

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I disagree. Tuvok was different from Spock was different from T'pau. It's a hundred years earlier. 19th century humans are going to have a tremendously different society than 20th century humans. But they're still human!

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I suppose it adds some depth to the races, making them less stereotypical (there are some dishonest Vulcans, the Andorians aren't always the bad guys). But--when the Vulcans abandoned (or learned to control, or whatever you want to call it) their emotions, it was implied that the "Vulcans never lie" legend came from this. Now we must wonder if it was just that--a legend. It seemed at one time that their devotion to logic did not permit dishonesty (Spock, being half-human, was an exception). I must admit watching this episode that there are some situations where it might seem "logical" to lie. T'Pring never actually lied about anything, she just made choices they weren't expecting...

As I recall there was still some hostility toward Spock in TOS so maybe the Vulcans were not so nice for a while in the early years of the Federation. Still, Vulcans like T'Pau and Sarek were so highly regarded, and the humans put down so much by the Vulcans in TOS, that it seemed the Vulcans always had the higher moral ground...

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Simple. A phase pistol has two settings- stun and kill. So we were told in Enterprise #2. A phaser has stun, heat, kill, and desintegrate. That's a significant difference. And who knows what other advanced features? Perhaps the phasers store more power.

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Not so simple. A larger issue is--why allow phase pistols to have stun at all? We never saw Pike's (and the remote colony) phasers with the adjustable barrels stun anyone (it doesn't mean they couldn't, but...) Stun is certainly a nice feature because it allows you to disable someone without seriously harming them, but in terms of storytelling we might have more story potential with devices where you have to make the hard choice about harming someone. If either way would not violate canon, why not take the route that creates more story potential, and depicts the Enterprise in a less advanced setting?

My issues with the show are not so much with the breaking of canon as with the fact that they could have made different design choices that DID NOT break canon and at the same time created a lot more story potential. The transporters sure were broken-in fast...

Another thing--in the Earth-Romulan wars the humans and Romulans could not see each other because they did not have ship-to-ship visuals. This was clearly stated in TOS. Yet all the ships we've encountered in Enterprise seem to have ship-to-ship visuals...

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Originally posted by Salinger


To use the books and other derivative works would be a logistical nightmare. If the producers came out and told their writers to use the various fiction and non-fiction sources as canon, can you imagine what sort of fact checking would have to go on just to get a show approved? You would basically force every single writer into reading all the novels. Um, that's insane.

And, I wouldn't doubt that anyone writing for Star Trek has a copy of the Star Trek Encyclopedia at hand.

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I think it's possible for someone at the studio to be dedicated to continuity--most TV shows have someone in this role anyway, don't they? And they don't have to read all the novels. There are plenty of compilation references available, like the Star Trek Encyclopedia. But the Star Trek Encyclopedia is not complete--I know there are some things missing from TOS. Someone could use this, along with other references, such as Bjo Trimble's Concordance(?), and produce a more thorough bible for the show. Especially since Paramount seems to cling to full rights for all this stuff anyway...

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The people making Star Trek already get raked over the coals for every single continuity error that shows up on screen. Can you imagine what it would be like if they were then forced to adhere to everything that was ever set down in print about Star Trek?

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This statement sort of supports our position--since they're going to be raked over the coals, coming up with a master bible seems like a good idea. Again, they don't have to read all the novels to have better consistency, and each writer doesn't have to do the checking. I might also point out that they haven't even been 100% consistent between series, so just having a bible for all the series, instead of everything "ever set down in print," would be a start. You are suggesting an extreme solution to make the entire discussion of a solution seem untenable. You don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water...

Why do people always insist on the books being added to canon? Most of them are complete pieces of poo (IMHO)...and some go so far as to introduce insane tech, species or even concepts.

Now not wanting to P.O. a bunch of people by insulting their favorites, I won't mention which ones are the biggest criminals in this, but I will say this. What's wrong with just having the TV shows and Movies be canon?

I mean they can barely keep that canonized from week to week (and before everyon starts slagging B&B again, TOS had some wonderful conitnuity errors, and TNG even more) so why try and add a book where one writer decided the Romulans are a noble race of misunderstood beings, vs another book where another writer decided they were corrupt, sneaky, devious race of political and social climbers?

The books have to far reaching implications to be canonized....hell I would rather see the Animated Series be made Canon long be for any single book.

But again this is IMHO.

Now that said I like The Andorian Incident, and enjoyed that while the Andorins were brutal they were not stupid. They knew something was up, and in the end they were right.

And I like the fact that the Vulcans are sneaky...just goes to reafirm my theory that they are actually Romulans from the future ;)

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Originally posted by Captain Zymmer
Why do people always insist on the books being added to canon? Most of them are complete pieces of poo (IMHO)...and some go so far as to introduce insane tech, species or even concepts.

Now not wanting to P.O. a bunch of people by insulting their favorites, I won't mention which ones are the biggest criminals in this, but I will say this. What's wrong with just having the TV shows and Movies be canon?

I mean they can barely keep that canonized from week to week (and before everyon starts slagging B&B again, TOS had some wonderful conitnuity errors, and TNG even more) so why try and add a book where one writer decided the Romulans are a noble race of misunderstood beings, vs another book where another writer decided they were corrupt, sneaky, devious race of political and social climbers?

The books have to far reaching implications to be canonized....hell I would rather see the Animated Series be made Canon long be for any single book.

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Yes, as I said in a previous post, if they could just get a bible to be consistent between the series, it would be a help. I believe I also said they didn't have to read all the books. But some of the reference materials already out there (and not just the Encyclopedia) WOULD help with continuity between the series alone:

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I might also point out that they haven't even been 100% consistent between series, so just having a bible for all the series, instead of everything "ever set down in print," would be a start.

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[i]And I like the fact that the Vulcans are sneaky...just goes to reafirm my theory that they are actually Romulans from the future ;) [/B]

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I've been hearing references to this theory. I guess the set up for this occurred in the pilot with the "communication from the future." Is the theory that the Romulans have gone back in time and have somehow contaminated the Vulcan culture?

I hope we're not going to see Captain Archer wake up in the series finale and see Bobby Ewing in the shower... Or Archer hit on the head with a golf ball, waking up next to his wife Emily in Chicago...

While I like some of these intriguing time travel conundrums, I was really hoping for a "real" depiction of the early years of the Federation in the timeline that has been assumed for the other shows. This theory casts anything and everything presented into doubt. I guess it's an easy out for the writers--they wouldn't have to be so concerned over violating canon, would they?

I have written a few short stories for Star Trek newsletters in the past and I always enjoyed the challenging of writing something that would fit into the framework without breaking established canon. I guess the TV writers just want to do their own thing...

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Originally posted by rgilbert


I've been hearing references to this theory. I guess the set up for this occurred in the pilot with the "communication from the future." Is the theory that the Romulans have gone back in time and have somehow contaminated the Vulcan culture?

I hope we're not going to see Captain Archer wake up in the series finale and see Bobby Ewing in the shower... Or Archer hit on the head with a golf ball, waking up next to his wife Emily in Chicago...

While I like some of these intriguing time travel conundrums, I was really hoping for a "real" depiction of the early years of the Federation in the timeline that has been assumed for the other shows. This theory casts anything and everything presented into doubt. I guess it's an easy out for the writers--they wouldn't have to be so concerned over violating canon, would they?

I have written a few short stories for Star Trek newsletters in the past and I always enjoyed the challenging of writing something that would fit into the framework without breaking established canon. I guess the TV writers just want to do their own thing...

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I see no reason to attribute the Vulcan behavior we've seen so far on Enterprise to the "temporal cold war." Nor, for that matter, does there have to be any sinister intent to it...however the outcomes may seem. Rather, everything so far can be explained in terms of the Vulcans seeking an orderly universe and (in this time frame) allowing the ends to justify the means to a degree they will later abandon.

Holding Earth back from deep-space exploration: looking at it from the perspective of a species with a 200-year-plus lifespan and a past history of volatile, self-destructive behavior, humans are trouble waiting to happen. Only a hundred years ago--much less than one Vulcan lifespan, perhaps no more than two Vulcan generations--humanity blew itself to the brink of extinction in a nuclear exchange. Only ten years after that, suddenly, Earth independently invents warp drive. Not a good sign; a species with a very, very recent history of extremely violent behavior has just made the galaxy its proverbial oyster. From the Vulcan perspective, I can see the urge to keep this species as contained as possible, by any means available (particularly with equally volatile species like the Klingons already out there!).

Breaking the treaty with the Andorians: again, a highly emotional and volatile species with access to interstellar travel--perhaps obtained before the Vulcans could do anything about it, or with the Vulcans choosing to do nothing about it and ending up with a long-term conflict afterwards. From the same perspective--let's keep the universe as orderly as possible--monitoring the Andorians closely even in violation of a treaty begins to make some sense...cultural sense, if not ethical sense in our minds.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Vulcans encountered the Klingons already warp-capable, so that they could take no measures to contain them. If the Klingons knew that, it would help to explain a certain hostility to humans after they co-found the Federation with the mistrusted Vulcans.

In the longer term, perhaps we'll find that the process leading up to the founding of the Federation has Earth, Andoria, and others ganging up on the Vulcans and pushing them to adopt a more open interstellar diplomatic policy including a politically equal alliance. They already have the ammunition, since IDIC apparently exists as a Vulcan philosophical concept in 2151, even though the Vulcans' actions seem less than IDIC-driven.