As Star Trek celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, with a new film on the horizon and some unfortunate news, coupled with the fact that some may not have read the related comics, I am writing a timeline of the new Star Trek universe today to help everyone better understand its settings and stories. It's worth noting that the original Star Trek universe is officially referred to as the Primary Universe or Primary Reality, while the new version is called the Alternate Reality (Nero, 2233), meaning Nero's arrival in 2233 rewrote history and branched off into another reality. After all, Star Trek has many parallel universes, so it's important to specifically mention that Nero caused this.
In the original timeline, in 2387, Spock, who was already serving as a Romulan ambassador, discovered the threat of a supernova. He reported it to the Romulan Senate, hoping the Romulans would accept Vulcan assistance. However, due to Spock's Vulcan heritage, the Senate dismissed the threat as exaggerated and a Vulcan political conspiracy. Nero, however, had witnessed the supernova's destructive power firsthand and also reported it to the High Council, but the Council still refused to act, citing the Vulcan conspiracy theory.
Nero, utterly disillusioned with bureaucracy, began cooperating with Spock. Along the way, they received help from Data, who was already a captain, and arrived at Vulcan, where they met with Picard, who had retired and was serving as an ambassador. However, the Vulcans' historical animosity overshadowed logic; they were unwilling to provide their red matter compression technology to the Romulans. This made Nero feel that the political system was corrupt, so he told Spock to succeed or pay the price, then returned to his homeworld to evacuate his people.
Ultimately, it was too late. The supernova destroyed Romulus, the homeworld of the Romulan Star Empire, and Nero's pregnant child, along with everyone else, perished. He and his mining vessel crew shaved their heads and adorned themselves with totems and tattoos to mourn their compatriots, then began to seek revenge against Vulcan and the Federation, who had refused to help. He first destroyed the Federation rescue ships, then rendezvoused with the surviving Romulan fleet, acquiring weapons and systems that integrated technologies from the Borg, Klingons, Vulcans, and Romulans. He transformed his mining vessel into an invincible warship, easily overwhelming even fleets led by Worf.
At the same time, the retired Geordi brought his developed ship, the Jellyfish, which contained a red matter dispenser. Spock decided to personally destroy the supernova. Meanwhile, Picard and others encountered Nero and saw a severely wounded Worf. They had no choice but to beam him back, but Nero seized the opportunity to attack. However, the Enterprise-D was not destroyed. Nero, unwilling to waste any more time, pursued Spock, and together they entered the artificial black hole created by the red matter.
Although they entered the black hole together, due to the different flow of time, Nero's warship, the Narada, traveled 154 years into the past, arriving in 2233. Their arrival caused an anomaly, prompting the USS Kelvin to investigate. Nero's vengeance against the Federation transcended time; he had read Captain Kirk's history while traveling with Spock, and thus attacked the Kelvin. However, Captain George Kirk sacrificed himself to cover the escape of his wife and most of the crew. James T. Kirk was born in an escape pod at this moment, and after seeing his father for the last time, the Kelvin launched a suicide attack against the Narada. Because George died earlier than in the original timeline, the timeline was altered, branching off into another reality.
Nero, consumed by vengeance, personally killed some crew members who attempted to abandon ship. At this point, Klingon forces discovered them. Despite Nero's fierce resistance, the Narada's systems were malfunctioning after the Kelvin's impact, so everyone was imprisoned on a Klingon prison planet. The Klingons intended to study the Narada's secrets. Nero remained imprisoned for 25 years (until 2258). Afterward, he led his crew in an escape, returning to the Narada, and learned that Spock was about to emerge from the black hole, so he set an ambush. During these 25 years, Kirk and others joined Starfleet Academy for training and boarded the Enterprise.
Nero and his crew attacked Vulcan. They used the ship's mining device to drill a hole near the planet's core. Even though the Enterprise crew attempted to stop them, they could not save Vulcan from being destroyed by the artificial black hole generated by the red matter. The elder Spock, captured by Nero, watched helplessly as his homeworld perished.
After Kirk was marooned on Delta Vega during an argument with young Spock, he met the elder Spock and Scotty there. Subsequently, after everyone returned to the Enterprise, Kirk cleverly regained command. They then executed a daring plan, using the artificial black hole created by red matter to drag Nero and his crew into it. Finally, the elder Spock met his younger self. The elder Spock instructed his younger self to assist Captain Kirk and not to rely solely on logic in all matters, entrusting him with the rebuilding of Vulcan.
時間倒回於1970～1996年
In 2259, Khan was interrogated by the Federation Council. Kirk, however, presented his own research, claiming that Khan's current appearance differed from his 20th-century self, suspecting he was a different person, and demanded Khan explain his true identity. Khan then recounted his origins. (The appearance in this image resembles the original version of Khan; as for why he looks different in the new version, please read on.)
The timeline change occurred in 2233, so events before 2233 happened in both the old and new universes. Khan was born in 1970; his mother had already passed away, and he was missing a leg. A doctor named Heisen was conducting a eugenics program, abducting orphans for experiments, and Khan was one of the children taken. Because he only had one leg, a student tried to bully him, but Khan's violent tendencies led him to kill the student. The fact that he could do this despite having only one leg surprised Dr. Heisen.
In 1985, Khan killed Dr. Heisen and escaped the facility with his fellow genetically engineered companions. They began to infiltrate and disrupt, eventually dominating India, and started threatening and negotiating with other nations. However, various countries retaliated, and the Eugenics Wars erupted between Khan and the world in 1992. Initially, they held the advantage, with one-third of the world under Khan's rule. But by 1996, China developed a bioweapon virus specifically targeting Khan and other genetically engineered individuals, forcing the heavily casualties-ridden Khan to retreat to Australia and escape into space via a shuttle in cryogenic sleep.
In 2258, Admiral Alexander Marcus was troubled by the ongoing war with the Klingons. At this time, he discovered Khan's spacecraft. He then altered Khan's appearance and erased his memories, giving him the false name John Harrison, and tasked him with carrying out covert infiltration and sabotage missions, mostly against the Klingons. This ultimately led Khan to recall his past. His private investigations revealed that Marcus had also imprisoned his people, prompting Khan to retaliate, and he was subsequently declared a fugitive.
In 2258, the Enterprise discovered the SS Valiant, a spacecraft that had been missing for centuries. Spock found that an unknown force had killed everyone on board. Subsequently, they passed through a Galactic Barrier, resulting in nine deaths and numerous injuries, one of the injured being Kirk's good friend, Mitchell. Unexpectedly, Mitchell awoke with superpowers, becoming a threat and causing immense destruction. Ultimately, Kirk had no choice but to painfully kill his best friend to prevent Mitchell from harming more people.
Note: *This comic storyline is adapted from the original pilot episode