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Based on what we know, how does First Contact occur in the Star Trek 2009 timeline? And does First Contact mean the Enterprise-E crew is still somehow canon in this timeline?

Star Trek: Enterprise is still canon (Scotty mentions "Admiral Archer" and neither Spock nor Nero would have been able to interfere with that point in the timeline), and the Borg from First Contact were encountered in one episode. A model of the Phoenix is in Admiral Marcus' office, and Spock and Nero entered the black hole after the Next Generation films, and thus after the Enterprise-E altered and/or restored the timeline.

So did First Contact occur the same way in the reboot/JJverse? And if so, does that mean that the Enterprise-E crew are still canon in this timeline, but only for the duration of the events of First Contact? I can't wrap my head around any of this; can you?

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First contact would have happened exactly as it historically happened in the prime universe. On April 5, 2063 Zefram Cochrane made his first warp flight, alerting the Vulcans and the rest is history. Any thing to do with the Borg was not recorded in the prime timelines history, and most likely would not have been recorded in alternate history either.

The intent of the reboot, as Keen points out, is to start fresh while keeping the background history the same.

Spock: Nero's very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the U.S.S. Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party.

Uhura: An alternate reality.

Spock: Precisely.

However, since history is locked at the point nero goes back in time, to what had already happened in the prime universe WHEN Nero goes back in time. This means, as hypnosil points out that all of the time traveling that TOS, TNG, Enterprise, DS9, Voyager did in the prime timeline to pre Nero incursion Still happened in the past.

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Which means Picard did stop the Borg at first contact, however, this does not mean the new timeline will have a Picard in the 24th century.

Its important to note that Nero left 2387 after TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY had already tampered with the past, and Nero arrives in 2233 of the Prime timeline, and his presence causes the paths of the Prime and Alternate versions to diverge. But at the point of arrival he arrives at 2233 of the Prime timeline that had already been Tampered with by the other crews.

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Himarm
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  • Yes, see Keen's answer here for support for the branching timeline model in both the dialogue of the movie and in a chart from Star Trek Online. – Hypnosifl Oct 15 '15 at 20:30
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    There must have been other changes too. Unless Voyager also went back in time then the computer revolution of the mid 90's wouldn't have happened. – Xantec Oct 15 '15 at 20:31
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    I'm confused about what you are saying regarding Picard. It's true that we don't know if Picard will one day be in charge of the Enterprise D in the new timeline (because no stories have thus far been told in that era). But was he and his crew still present in 2063? Did the branching of the timelines somehow "erase" their contributions during the movie First Contact? – Thunderforge Oct 15 '15 at 20:32
  • If Nero's arrival was the critical event with everything changing after then, then the events of First Contact, including the presence of Picard and crew, would still have to have taken place in the new timeline. Whether that Picard et. al. are from the prime timeline or the new one would be up in the air. – Xantec Oct 15 '15 at 20:37
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    @Thunderforge whether or not picard showed up at 2063 doesnt really mater, the cochranes ship was damaged by the borg, so if the borg went back in time, then picard had to go back in time to fix the ship, if the borg didnt go back in time the ship would have worked to begin with. the point is even in the Main timeline picards presence never made it into history. – Himarm Oct 15 '15 at 20:44
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    @Himarm Debatable; according to an episode of Enterprise, Zefram Cochrane drunkenly admitted to the events of First Contact (cyborgs and humans from the future) in a public speech. That doesn't necessarily mean Picard went back, but clearly something happened – Jason Baker Oct 15 '15 at 20:46
  • @JasonBaker we know in Enterprise, the events with picard probably happened, (because the authors included those things for fun) but in TNG they did not have this record, as they would have had the first encounter with the borg, and this knowledge someone went back in time(im sure data would have rattled it off) so its suspect if any interference even happened the until our version of the enterprise E went back in time,they technicly(i assume) would have also returned to an alternate timeline that diverged from the original, but its all wishhy washy goblygook bLARG lololol my head hurts – Himarm Oct 15 '15 at 20:51
  • our prime timeline really follows out prime crew, not the actual original timeline imo >.< – Himarm Oct 15 '15 at 20:52
  • @Himarm - If you don't specify whether Picard showed up in 2063, I don't think you're really answering the intended question. And I think in the branching timeline model, if Spock and Nero came from a timeline where Picard had been in 2063, then they should still have been in the 2063 of the new timeline they arrived in, since the new timeline would only have branched from the previous one when Nero first arrived (as shown in that diagram from Star Trek Online). – Hypnosifl Oct 15 '15 at 21:21
  • @Hypnosifl good point, since we progressed to the point were picard had done it, before they go back in time, then everything that tos, tng, and voyager had done in the past, would have already been done in the past in the alternate timeline. good point – Himarm Oct 15 '15 at 21:34
  • @Hypnosifl that better? – Himarm Oct 15 '15 at 21:42
  • @Himarm - Yup, looks good to me, though to avoid any possible confusion you might consider changing that one part to "This does not mean the NEW timeline will have a Picard in the 24th century". – Hypnosifl Oct 15 '15 at 21:45
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    @Himarm: Re: "its suspect if any interference even happened the until our version of the enterprise E went back in time,they technicly(i assume) would have also returned to an alternate timeline that diverged from the original": Not necessarily. The Star Trek universe has depicted time travel working in various ways: sometimes there are causality loops instead of alternate timelines. This variation is acknowledged in one episode of Voyager, but the mechanics are never explained. – ruakh Oct 15 '15 at 23:49
  • I've always suspected that the version of TOS that we saw was the one where the computer revolution didn't happen, and that in the original timeline the NX-01 was named "Dauntless". – Emsley Wyatt Nov 16 '17 at 05:36
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In the new timeline Picard might not become captain or the Enterprise - D might not meet Q who is responsible for introducing the Enterprise -D to the Borg which starts the whole Borg problem. I would theorize that in the new timeline, First Contact occurred without the assistance of the Enterprise - E and without any interference of the Borg because this timeline is completely different and events are occurring at different times or not at all. those future events did not occur. Enterprise has already met Khan and in the prime timeline that doesn't occur until later on. Maybe NuSpock has info about the Borg and Q from old Spock and the Federation avoids contact with them this time.