Skip to main content

star trek - How old was Porthos when Scotty killed him?



In Star Trek 2009, we meet Montgomery Scott in exile on Delta Vega. Scotty says his exile happened because he caused Admiral Jonathan Archer's dog Porthos to disappear during a test of an early prototype of Scotty's transwarp transporter.


We all remember Porthos as the beagle that Archer cared for in Star Trek Enterprise. Dogs today tend not to live more than 15 or 20 years. This implies that Star Trek 2009 was set only a few years after Archer saved Earth from the Xindi in Star Trek Enterprise. Unless future medicine causes dogs to live 50 years.


Can someone connect the timeline elements together, so that we can see how old Porthos was when Scotty killed him?



Answer



Is the dog Porthos?


I include this section because I didn't initially believe it could be the same dog, but research proved me wrong.


Robert Orci, one of the writers of Star Trek (2009), answered this question in a 2009 Q&A on TrekMovie.com1:



QUESTION: Forget with it was Admiral Jon Archer (as it obviously was!): is the beagle mentioned Porthos? Has veterinary science advanced so much? (Please say yes!)


Orci: YES!




So shut me up.


How old would Porthos be?


We don't know exactly when Archer first got Porthos, although we know he's had him from a puppy. "Broken Bow", the first episode of Enterprise, is established as taking place in 2151:



Archer: Enterprise starlog, Captain Jonathan Archer. April 16, 2151.


Star Trek Enterprise Season 1 Episode 1: "Broken Bow"



So Porthos has been around at least since April 2151.


Meanwhile, in Star Trek (2009), Spock gives the stardate after taking command of the Enterprise:




[T]he Enterprise BLASTS AWAY -- in the distance, THE ENTIRE PLANET OF VULCAN SWALLOWS INTO ITSELF -- A TERRIFYING, UNIMAGINABLE IMPLOSION -- UNTIL NOTHING IS THERE BUT DARKNESS. Over this, we HEAR:


SPOCK (V.O.): Acting Captain's log. Stardate 2256.42: I have assumed command of the Enterprise


Star Trek (2009) - 2007 draft



According to Izkata's answer to this question, that stardate corresponds to February 11, 2256.


Later dialogue from Scotty indicated that he made Porthos disappear six months prior:



Starfleet Officer (cont'd): Six months I've been living on nothing but Starfleet Protein Nibs and the promise of a real food delivery!


[...]



Scotty: I told my instructor I could not only beam a bird from one planet to an adjacent planet in the same system -- which is no big deal anyway -- but if I were so inclined I could actually do it with a lifeform! So I tested it on Admiral Archer's prize beagle. Which... was a mistake


Star Trek (2009) - 2007 draft



Six months before the above date puts us around August 2255.


So Porthos was at least 104 years old.



1 The questions are asked and answered in the comments under the blog post. I've tried to permalink to Orci's reply, but may not have succeeded


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

star wars - What "exactly" happens when someone turns to the Dark Side?

When I saw the original Star Wars saga as a kid, the concept of the Dark Side imprinted in me was quite simple. You did a bad thing, so you're a bad person so you go to the Dark Side and keep doing bad things. Now, obviously this doesn't hold true in reality. In my mind it is perfectly reasonable for Luke to kill the Emperor and Vader and then just flee the Death Star and rejoin the Alliance. After all they are at war, those are enemy officers that have captured him and are taunting him by threatening with death of all loved ones and the whole operation was intended to kill the Emperor anyway. The same would hold true for Anakin. He could have killed Mace Windu to save the Chancellor and Padme but that doesn't mean he's going to then go mad and kill all Jedis including children. It doesn't add up from a merely psychological point of view. He had a set of objectives and that made him want to keep the Chancellor alive (quite valid by the way, Mace Windu is quite clums...
Post a Comment
Read more

star trek - Warning regarding forward saucer section in Nemesis?

In Star Trek: Nemesis , just before the Enterprise rams into the Scimitar, Picard sends a text message from his captain's chair arm pad to Troi — who is manning the helm in lieu of the crewman who was just blown out through what was once the view screen — indicating that she should put full impulse on standby. (Literally, if you watch the scene closely, Troi's console prefaces the order with "TXT MSG" !) My question is: Did Picard also somehow warn crew members in the forward saucer section about what was about to happen? The ramming of the Scimitar was a heat of the moment decision. Considering that he also resorted to calling the auto-destruct sequence shortly after (which ended up being offline), he probably was of the mindset that any losses would be acceptable in order to hault Shinzon's march to Earth. Still, I'm curious. Answer The original script indicates that he called for the crew to " brace for impact ". Whether that call (or the comma...
Post a Comment
Read more