Source
r/DaystromInstitute•
lemrtom

The Federation caused the Romulan Supernova and the Praxis explosion. And Spock was probably involved both times.

The Federation has always been presented to us as a force of peace and union between races. And to an extent that is true. The fact that 150 planets, inhabited by a wide variety of species, have managed to unite under one Federal government, sharing technology, allowing free movement between their worlds, and who knows what else is certainly commendable. But in spite of its peaceful spirit, the Federation was actually very powerful, and has spread really fast. So much so, that at times it has produced conflicts with races that were either expansionist themselves, or unwilling to share their expansion with others. I would argue than, in some cases, the Federation's expansionism has been so aggressive, that some races that could potentially be friendly to them from the beginning, got distrustful and felt a need to respond.

This was clearly the case with the Dominion. When it first ventured into the Gamma Quadrant, the Federation blatantly ignored the Dominion's pleas for it to stay out of its limits and its issues. The Federation not only didn't listen, but also insisted that there was no way they would back out, or stop the incursions into their space (as Dax tells the Jem'Hadar in "The Jem'Hadar"). This logically sparked a response from the Dominion: first by going Kamikaze against the fleet that went to rescue Sisko and then– when they realized the message wasn't received, and that instead of staying out the Federation launched a quest for the Founders – by outright infiltrating the Alpha Quadrant powers. And we know how that ended.

An interesting occurrence during the Dominion war (or actually, far before it even begun) was the Federation's reaction towards the Founders. When it was obvious the Dominion wouldn't back down and let the Federation into their territory, and let alone open up to assimilation, Section 31, working with several Starfleet officials, decided they would put an end to the power behind the Dominion and they planted the diseases that almost wiped them out. What I'm saying is that they went straight to genocide, without even taking the time to fully know or understand the Founders. Straight to genocide. Just like that.

I would argue this was not the first time the Federation took extreme measures to deal with their enemies. The conflict with the Klingons was long, painful and costly. And the Empire proved to be extremely resilient and willing to do great sacrifices to stay if not ahead, at least on par with the Federation from a military perspective. This forced the Federation to divert a lot of its resources to attend this conflict. Until Praxis exploted, that is.

The Praxis explosion was an extremely convenient event for the Federation. It forced the Klingons to divert most of their resources to try to save their home world from becoming uninhabitable. And I'm pretty sure they had to change their focus from war with Starfleet, to keeping their home front in order. After all, the explosion would have meant a great opportunity for some Klingon colonies to secede, and from vassal races within the empire to declare independence. And they couldn't allow that.

Fortunately for them, the benevolent Federation came to their rescue. In no time, the Feds agreed to sign a peace treaty, and to assist the Klingons in their efforts to rescue their home world. And they definitely delivered, as against all predictions, Q'onos was still livable a century after the explosion (when all Klingon models predicted the planet would no longer be so after about 50 years).

The end of the Klingon conflict meant a great relief for the Federation. So much so that they were able to pretty much dismantle the military side of Starfleet, and turn it only into an exploration (and "peaceful" expansion and assimilation) force. Of course there were other races still out there which were potentially dangerous. The Cardassians were certainly a pain, and the Federation went to war with them. But I would argue that they never represented an actual threat, as Starfleet fought the war without ever re-militarizing itself. Until the Borg conflict, that is.

Another superpower that was lurking around were the Romulans. But due to their isolationist nature (at least when it came to the Federation - something that is understandable given their history with the Vulcans, and their early conflict with the Humans) and to what I would argue was a massive disadvantage in terms of military power, they didn't pose a significant threat. By signing the Treaty of Algeron and pledging not to use cloaking devices (a technology the Federation clearly didn't need, as it was so much more advanced than everyone else), by respecting the border, and by having the possibility to combine forces with the Klingons thanks to the alliance, they pretty much deactivated the Romulans for more than a century.

But then something changed. With the Federation weakened by the Dominion war and the Klingon economy pretty much destroyed, the Romulan position suddenly became relatively stronger. It is no wonder that during that time some elements within the empire started to call for an invasion of the Federation. It was, after all, a unique opportunity. Then in 2379 Shinzon came to power, supported by those elements. And his first order of business was to invade the Federation and attempt to destroy Earth. Things didn't work out. But suddenly the Romulans proved they had become a real threat. One that needed to be deactivated at all costs. In 2387, only 8 years after the Shinzon incident, a star near the Romulan system went supernova, and due to an unexplained phenomenon that allowed the explosion to travel faster than the speed of light, the explosion destroyed their world.

With Romulus destroyed, it seems the Federation came to the rescue. Leaving all bad blood behind, and initiating a process which would help the empire restore itself and heal. But with diminished power and a new dependency on the Federation, very much like the one the Klingons had after Praxis. A dependency that would probably lead to a long peace, and a potential alliance. And why not to a Vulcan reunification?

It seems logical to me, that a government that didn't hesitate to commit genocide at the first sign of trouble with another civilization (like they did with the Founders), would not have issues destroying first a moon, and a couple of solar systems later in order to cripple the most significant threats to secure their position, and in a way assimilate the races that were most reactive to their expansion in the first place. If I were a superpower in the Galaxy, I would be very worried about the Federation. They will certainly do anything not just to destroy me, but to bring me into their club.

Spock's Role

Finally I'd like to point out that Spock may have been involved in both incidents. When Praxis exploded, the then Captain negotiated the early peace agreement with Gorkon, which led to the Peace of Kithomer. Years later, it was Spock who showed a sign of good will to the Romulans by trying to "save" the star (and use commas here, because I believe the red matter thingy was never gonna work, and he was just trying to establish good faith to later advance with a peace offering like the one he had given the Klingons over a century early). So I can only wonder if he was in it from the beginning, or just an unwilling participant in two terrible attacks.

Posted Dec 3, 2019, 11:25 PM UTC · edited

1417
staq16Ensign•

It's a very compelling theory with, IMO, one significant flaw; the Praxis explosion, if deliberate, was an insane gamble.

The explosion's effects will take decades to destroy Qo'nos - leaving a war-ready Klingon fleet in being which could still do colossal damage to the Federation before its supporting logistics failed. Beta canon has covered this a few times, with bad results for the Federation, and even in the prime universe the near-alt timeline of Yesterday's Enterprise sees the Federation falling. The same problem applies to Mirror-Georgiou's solution of destroying Qo'nos.

Blowing up Praxis could quite easily unleash the worst conflict in the Federation's history to date, which does not seem like the actions of an intel organisation trying to engender the long-term health of the Federation.

13
lemrtomOP•

I agree in that, if the theory turned out to be true, it would be an insanely risky move. However, I believe that the explosion did occur at a very particular moment at which the odds of the Klingons attacking were lower. For a start, Gorkon, a rational man who was open to peace (given the right circumstances) was in power. The Empire was also at an especially bad time financially, after so many years of conflict. So I'd say that whoever did cause the Praxis explosion (provided it was deliberate) did factor those variables in, and decided the timing was correct for this kind of gamble.

The Klingons were not like the Jem'Hadar, in that in spite of being fierce warriors, and proud, they did have a lot to lose as well. And, as stated at the dinner on board the Enterprise at STVI, they were worried about their future and spent a lot of time thinking about it. So even if desperate times could have thrown them into a full scale conflict with the Federation, I don't believe they were ready to make that gamble. And the Federation knew it.

Finally, I'd like to point out that when the reward is huge (like ending a conflict that had been spanning for over a century, and deactivating for good the worse threat the Federation faced in its history), a risky gamble may seem acceptable. As Rule of Acquisition 62 says: The riskier the road, the greater the profit.

5
KingofMadCows•

Except peace with the Federation wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.

The Klingons could simply sign a peace treaty with the Federation in order to prevent the Federation from taking advantage of their weakened state. And once they no longer have to worry about being invaded by the Federation, they could go invading weaker races and taking over their resources in order to make up for the loss of Praxis and Qo'nos. Then in a decade or two, they might emerge in an even stronger position.

1
lemrtomOP•

But what's to stop the Federation from becoming stronger as well? If you look at this in dynamic terms, you have to apply the same logic to the Federation. In fact, with more time, the Federation can add new members, new technologies and grow much faster than the Klingons.

1
KingofMadCows•

Except that's clearly not the case. Look at what happened with "Yesterday's Enterprise." The Klingons were kicking the Federation's butt. In DS9, the Klingons were able to fight the Cardassians and the Federation at the same time. And that's a Klingon Empire that took a more peaceful route.

What if the Klingons had decided to be more aggressive after Praxis and invaded other races to make up for the loss of Praxis and Qo'nos and then decided to fight the Federation after a couple of decades of build up? You think the Federation would fare better than in "Yesterday's Enterprise" where the Klingons went to war after decades of peace?

4
waluigee•

Well written and persuasive.

It seems reasonable that the admiralty at Starfleet, the premier organization for interplanetary diplomacy that conveniently doubles as the head of the military and intelligencia, would attract the most diabolical hardliners.

I would argue it is, in fact, false that humans have evolved beyond the vices of seeking power and selfishness, even in the 23rd-24th century. Picard makes this claim to Q en route to Farpoint. Certainly, the Federation as a whole achieves a higher fidelity to egalitarian and humanist ideals, but it would be a Shakespearean-level irony to discover that the engine of these societal improvements were captained by genocidal Machiavellians.

Q may have been intervening exactly because the Q were aware of this duplicitous nature. ”Could the crew of the Enterprise be the counterexample for what is otherwise a run-of-the-mill primitive child-race?”. It was a test that may have saved humanity.

Another set of evidence lies in Captain Jellico’s difficulties with the Enterprise crew showcase just how different the Enterprise and Picard’s culture were from the norms at Starfleet. Add the clashing between Picard and Admiral Satie, These were decorated, well-renowned personalities in the upper echelons of Starfleet.

TL;DR: This is my new head canon.

10
majicwalrus•

I question this theory on the grounds that we see all of the Enterprise's crews do pretty terrific things, we also see this in many other crews through many series and franchises. It's too much to conclude that Enterprise is an anomaly. However, as the flagship it might have a crew selected which best represent the values of a Federation ship. Even compared to Voyager which only had one non-human bridge member even before their accident Enterprise-D was chock full of them. A Betazoid, Android, Klingon, and not one but two of Starfleet's best command officers.

That being said, I think we take it for granted too often that the Federation has it completely figured out or that Starfleet is an idyllic peaceful benevolent superpower without competing interests within its own ranks. At the very high levels of Starfleet there is a lot of political maneuvering. In Discovery we see a Vice Admiral exercising enough power, through their connections, to essentially move forward with another genocidal plan to blowup Kronos. This plan ultimately fails, but it shows that there are always elements within the Federation and Starfleet that are up to no good. So many good stories come from the conflict of doing what is morally and ethically superior and connected to your values than what you are being directed to do, no matter how persuasive the argument is. Starfleet officers are tested on this and still we see mutineers (once, redacted, but whose counting) and later we see deserters in the form of the Maquis. All conflict over moral high ground despite authority, in the traditional sense.

It's sort of emblematic of all of these examples I can think of that ultimately the good crew prevails. The crew of the Equinox were basically committing genocide as well - or at least target racial murder. No matter the reasons that was unacceptable, so the Voyager crew "wins" the day and the superior moral position prevails. The genocides are stopped, the planet explosions averted, and the crises mitigated by the good guys with the good value system. When we see Spock be the Ambassador to the whales, the Klingons, and the Romulans - he's doing so because of natural disasters. This shows the value the Federation places on cooperation and assistance. Narratively the stories are told so that team Moral High Ground wins, even if they don't always 'win.'

Thought provoking thread. 5 out of 5 Torpedos.

8
waluigee•

Definitely thought provoking.

I do agree that the rank and file - the vast majority of people - work dutifully and genuinely strive for the highest ethical aspirations with no ulterior motive.

In fact, even those who destroy worlds and explode stars may be acting with the ultimate goal of peace and minimal loss of life.

It may be only the most brilliant and perhaps unintentionally “evil” people - the “Lt. Barclay’s” who aren’t tragically affected with social anxiety - among the Section 31 and other shadow leadership who can even entertain these kinds of shenanigans, cold calculations in the name of securing the “greater good”.

It does seem extremely disproportionate to blow up a star to neutralize the Romulans. That seems like an execution error. In fact, there are a lot of execution errors. We see this play out every time Kirk, Picard, The Emissary disobey a direct order from Starfleet Command. Yet, the main goal of peace and prosperity for the Federation is one step closer, collateral damage be damned.

The Borg also possess this drive for the greater good, and might be considered the civilization-scale “Data” analogue to the Federation. Notably, there is never any actual malice: whenever their invitation to assimilate a child-race was refused, they made the patronizing decision to keep moving toward “perfection”. In the Federation’s case, it seems very reasonable that “perfection” might mean a very similar kind of cultural assimilation to some leaders, who have similar patronizing attitudes.

Finally, the large failure rate for these types of operations is undeniably linked to the cultural tension between those who aim unwaveringly for the greater good and those who pause to consider the ethical quandaries of doing so.

2
lemrtomOP•

I think your comment is spot on. I do not believe that the admiralty, or the people who would potentially come up with the idea to blow up a moon or turn a star into nova are acting with an evil mindset. They care about protecting the Federation, and about eliminating potential threats before they are able to pose a real threat to them.

I also believe the Federation is a bit dogmatic, and as such, it wouldn't surprise me that they would be willing to do some extreme things to extend their "paradise", and to bring everyone into their club, no matter what it takes. Not unlike some crazy religious cult. When you think about it, people in the Federation almost never question their system, and they tend to view races who diverge from their beliefs as inferior (like they do the Ferengis for instance). Honestly, I don't have the highest opinion of the Federation, and believe they act a little brainwashed some times. This is not to say there are some great people working and serving on Starfleet, like Picard and Sisko, but there also are so many Janeways out there who wouldn't give a second thought to doing something awful in the name of security, or to defend their derailed dogma.

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majicwalrus•

On Spock's role, it's equally likely, and I think probably intended, that Spock was a good negotiator and diplomat. He did later become an Ambassador which we know is an even more significant role in the UFP than we are familiar with on Earth. An Ambassador negotiating peace - even if there were a deliberate attempt from Starfleet to destroy Praxis or if Romulus was intentionally destroyed - wouldn't necessarily implicate the Ambassador who was just doing their job.

I have some lingering questions though. How do you blow up Praxis? It's one thing to be able to genetically engineer a disease which could destroy the founders because you see them as an existential threat. It's kind of a different thing to strategically plan the destruction of a moon in order to set up a peace treaty. That seems more like something the Founders would do than the Federation.

Not that this absolves the Federation at all. I think it's pretty clear that at various times throughout Starfleet's history the upper ranks were often misguided and retroactively determined to be "rogue operators." At least when they weren't successful.

3
lemrtomOP•

I agree with your comment on Spock. It is not clear he was involved, I just say it's suspicious he negotiated both times, but it could very well be dye to his diplomatic skills. I mean, better him than an obnoxious ambassador like Lwaxana Troi...

Regarding the destruction of Praxis, they could have sabotaged the mining operation, or planted an explosive device similar to the one they used on DIS on the core. I'm sure it was not a minor operation, and it must have required a lot of work and planning. Also, I wouldn't say the whole objective of the explosion was to force the peace treaty. That was a desirable outcome, but if peace hadn't happened, it would have definitely crippled the Klingons big time, potentially deactivating them as a threat for a long period. So in either case it would have been a success.

2
surt2Chief Petty Officer•

I can definitely see S31 building or stealing a cloaking device, then loading an unmanned Oberth full of a few thousand photo torpedoes, and parking it above Praxis.

2
pfc9769Chief Astromycologist•

then loading an unmanned Oberth full of a few thousand photo torpedoes

It would've been obvious it was photon torpedoes and not a man-made natural disaster, then. Photon Torpedoes use antimatter which would leave behind obvious evidence.

2
tejdog1•

You could headcanon in the spore drive for this farfetched theory, if you wanted to.

A theoretical Crossfield class crewed by Section 31 that jumped into Praxis and later close proximity to Hobus? We have precedent for that in Discovery.

1
majicwalrus•

Fair, but you'd have to have some reason for that to happen. The only Crossfield class/Spore Drive left (as far as we know) is on Discovery. Sure, that ship is more like a TARDIS sometimes than a Starship, but why would anyone do this?

That sort of presumes that S31, specifically Georgiou, knew enough about events in 2293 to be able to accurately predict and or manipulate events to the degree that they were able to fabricate a peace accord by manipulating time. Which, you know, if they could do they could just go back in time and blow up Kronos before Khaless crawled out of the ooze or whatever. That seems like a Star Trek Illuminati level connection. I don't think Section 31 is nearly as powerful as Section 31 wants people to believe.

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tejdog1•

I'm personally not a fan of this "Federation committed multiple crimes against humani... uh... sentient life..." thing that's being proposed in this thread. I'm just offering a theory where it's possible it did happen.

And if Georgiou IS in charge of the remnants of Section 31 post S2 of Discovery, then she comes back in time from the 32nd century. Who knows what information she finds out/brings back with her. As much as the show wants to 'redeem' her, she's an evil manipulative space Hitler.

We have to see what they do with S3 and also the Section 31 show, but it's not... not impossible for this to be a thing. It would paint the Federation/our 'heroes' in a vastly different light, that's for sure.

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majicwalrus•

It’s not impossible, but this is a pretty big stretch. Anything could happen - but nothing in the history of the universe as we know it would indicate that they did. I think it’s a safe bet that they’re not going to interfere with classic Trek movies in such a way that turns the good guys into secret super villains just because they brought space Hitler over from the mirror universe.

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