Guardian of Forever
The Guardian of Forever is a machine that features in Star Trek.
Contents |
History
The Guardian of Forever was a construct created long ago by an ancient race that resided in the Milky Way galaxy.
The Guardian was first discovered by the crew of the USS Enterprise in 2267. Encountering powerful waves of space displacement, which Spock described as 'ripples in time', the Enterprise tracked the waves back to their point of origin on a previously-uncharted planet. Doctor Leonard McCoy, suffering from paranoid delusions as a result of an accidental overdose of cordrazine, beamed down to the surface in an attempt to escape the ship. Searching for McCoy, Captain James T. Kirk and Spock encountered and made contact with the Guardian, who offered them the chance to explore the past. As the Guardian was displaying images from Earth history, McCoy emerged from hiding and leapt through the time portal, arriving on Earth in the year 1930. The landing party soon discovered that they had lost all contact with the Enterprise, and the Guardian informed them that McCoy had effected a change in history, wiping out their civilization. Realizing that they would have to correct the damage to history, Kirk and Spock had the Guardian replay Earth history, and traveled through the portal to a point in time prior to McCoy's arrival. Eventually successful in their effort to restore the timeline, the Guardian returned all three of them to their proper place and time only a moment after they initially departed. (TOS: The City on the Edge of Forever)
During the Temporal Wars, many were said to had attempted to use the Guardian as a means of travelling through time for he conflict. To prevent this, the Guardian of Forever decided to relocate itself far from its original location where by the 32nd century it moved to the planet Dannus V in the Gamma Quadrant. By 3189, the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery were looking for a cure for Philippa Georgiou who was suffering from time/dimensional displacement illness. Using data acquired from the Sphere data, they located a potential solution on Dannus V where they were unaware that this was actually the Guardian of Forever. Michael Burnham and Philippa Georgou encountered Carl who showed a doorway as a solution that would weigh the influence the person had on the timeline. Philippa Georgiou upon entering it was transported back to the Mirror Universe where she had a chance to re-enact the events prior to her departing that reality. She was then transported back to the current where the Guardian revealed its identity and opened a portal to a time where Geourgio was needed which was also where she would not suffer from time/dimensional displacement illness. (DIS: Terra Firma, Part 2)
Overview
In appearance, the Guardian of Forever appeared physically as an inert, crudely asymmetrical, circular gateway--a rough-hewn torus--comprised of a quasi-metallic substance that defied sensor analysis and was able to display the flow of time itself, even though it could not alter the "speed at which it displayed the past." (TOS: The City on the Edge of Forever)
The Guardian was able to speak to anyone who asked it a question, though the meaning of its responses was not always clear.
It was able to take on a humanoid facsimile in order to interact with others where one such guise was known as Carl. (DIS: Terra Firma, Part 2)
The Guardian could detect changes in the timeline, but typically provided ihts users little help in figuring out how to change it back. And being in the vicinity of the Guardian when such changes occur isolates those from the effects of the change in the timeline.
It was not bound to a location and could relocate itself across space. (DIS: Terra Firma, Part 2)
Notes
- The Guardian of Forever was created by Gene Roddenberry where it featured in the setting of Star Trek: The Original Series in the episode "The City on the Edge of Forever".
In other media
Video games
- In Star Trek Online, the Guardian of Forever appeared in the setting of the MMORPG where it featured in the mission "City on the Edge of Never". This involved using the Guardian to travel through time to stop Klingons intent on altering history.
Novels
Appearances
- Star Trek: The Original Series: "The City on the Edge of Forever"
- Star Trek: Discovery:
External Link
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