The title comes from Shakespeareās Macbeth, Act V, sc v, fatalistically describing the inevitability of death and banality of life:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Lifeās but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Shakespeare has a long history with Trek. Apart from Picardās interest in his plays, the Bardās words have lent themselves to episode titles, including TOS: āThe Conscience of the Kingā (Hamlet), āDagger of the Mindā (Macbeth), āAll Our Yesterdaysā (Macbeth), ST VI: The Undiscovered Country (Hamlet), VOY: āMortal Coilā (Hamlet).
In TNG: āThe Defectorā, Picard performs Henry V, and Data and he do the same in āEmergenceā. Picard uses the excuse of the away team being actors performing A Midsummer Nightās Dream in āTimeās Arrowā. In DS9: āImprobable Causeā, Garak and Bashir debate Julius Caesar. In ENT: āIn a Mirror, Darklyā the similarities between Shakespeareās plays between the Prime and Mirror Universe are mentioned. Various bits of Shakespeare are quoted as well, notably General Chang, a Shakespeare aficionado in ST VI and Spock quoting Hamlet in DIS: āPerpetual Infinityā.
The Stardate is 1581.2, whereas last episode it was 2393.8, and it was stated that 1224.3 was four months prior to that. Pelia says she still has a bunker in Vermont in case this āāno money, socialist utopiaā thingā doesnāt work out, echoing explicitly for the first time the fan view that yes, the Federation economy is basically socialist in nature. She has a painting she claims is a fake and says the Louvre can stop calling her, indicating that at least the institution and some art survived World War III. Her artifacts have labels identifying them as the property of the Archeology Department.
LaāAn spars with MāBenga. The doctor was shown to be a proficient fighter in SNW: āThe Broken Circleā, and actor Babs Olusanmokun is a 2nd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. On the wall of the gym we see Klingon-esque weapons on the wall, including a few that look like variants of the standard batāleth and mekāleth.
The dying stranger tells LaāAn there has been an attack in the past, and shows her a holographic diagram which weāve seen on the main viewer of the 29th Century Federation timeship USS Relativity (VOY: āRelativityā), using the TCARS interface (as opposed to LCARS). This indicates heās either from the 29th or 31st Centuries, as Agent Daniels used a similar interface in ENT. At some point between the 31st and 32nd Century, following the Temporal Cold War the Temporal Accords included a complete ban against time travel (DIS: āDie Tryingā).
The blurry ripple that accompanies the change in history is reminiscent of the visual effect used to signal a shift into an alternate timeline in TNG: āYesterdayās Enterpriseā. The disappearance of the time agent and LaāAnās continued existence in this altered timeline is attributed to her holding on to his device.
Kirk is wearing a different badge insignia, and identifies the ship as the United Earth Fleet ship Enterprise. Spock is in command of a Vulcan ship, the ShāRel, so this timeline doesnāt appear to have a Federation, and the Vulcans are losing a war with the Romulans.
Itās of note that of Kirkās two appearances in SNW so far, they have both been alternate timelines versions - which still jibes with Prime Kirkās claim in TOS: āThe Menagerieā that he only met Pike once, when he took over command of the Enterprise.
LaāAn says Starfleet has regulations to deal with situations like this. Given the Temporal Cold War impacted at least the 22nd Century, that doesnāt surprise me. The Department of Temporal Investigations was first seen in DS9: āTrials and Tribble-lationsā and the licensed novels say it was first created in 2270. As we find out later, the DTI doesnāt exist yet in SNWās time, but LaāAn implies that regulations dealing with time travel exist. That means Starfleet acknowledges the existence of the phenomenon, rejecting the 22nd Century Vulcan Science Directorateās determination of that time travel is impossible (ENT: āCold Frontā).
Despite Kirkās identification of being in New York, mid-21st Century, theyāve landed in Toronto, specifically Yonge Dundas Square. Kirk claims never to have been to Earth at all, having been born in space on the USS Iowa. His counterparts were born in Iowa, USA, in the Prime Universe 2333 and on the USS Kelvin in the Kelvin Timeline. Kirk says in his time Earth was a battleground, occupied and now a ruin. Earth is filled with clouds of ash that wonāt clear for a thousand years and has underground lunar habitats.
Kirk says indignantly to LaāAn asking him about revolving doors, āIām from space.ā In ST IV, when Gillian Taylor asks Kirk if heās from outer space, he replies, āNo, Iām from Iowa. I only work in outer space.ā
Kirk hustles chess for cash. Kirk has been established to be an excellent chess player ever since TOS: āWhere No Man Has Gone Beforeā. Kirk beat Spock regularly at 3D Chess (he calls the 2D version āidiotās chessā), and in this timeline he also kept beating his XO, a woman.
Kirk points out that if they fix LaāAnās timeline, theyāll destroy his, which is consistent with the model of the Trek timeline as a palimpsest - overwritten rather than branched.
Addressing Kirkās worry that he wonāt even exist in LaāAnās timeline, she says sheās heard stories about Kirk from his brother Sam (who was still a member of the crew last time we checked). Kirk and LaāAn both remember the bridge explosion - one of the longest in the world destroyed soon after completion - from their timelines, so this isnāt the nexus point. The bridge seems to be fictional, as I canāt identify a real world bridge in Toronto that resembles it.
LaāAn identifies the charring on the wreckage as that left by a photonic bomb, a technology that wonāt be developed for at least a century. Photonic technology was first seen in ENT: āThe Expanseā as a precursor to photon torpedoes, using variable yield antimatter warheads, so the timeline is consistent.
(Continued in comments)
āKirk claims never to have been to Earth at all, having been born in space on the USS Iowa. His counterparts were born in Iowa, USA, in the Prime Universe 2333 and on the USS Kelvin in the Kelvin Timeline.ā
Alt-Kirkās ship is identified as the UEFS Enterprise when Laāan first enters the bridge, but I also heard his place of birth as being the USS Iowa.
Does that imply that humanity has multiple military space fleets? Or maybe that unification of Eartherās governments didnāt happen until after Kirkās birth in this timeline?
Technically, he doesnāt say his ship is the UEFS Enterprise. He identifies his ship as the āUnited Earth Fleet Ship Enterpriseā. Why am I splitting this particular hair? Because we hear lines like āthis is the Federation starship Voyagerā all the time and we never think that it should be the FSS Voyager.
Which is a roundabout way to say that it is entirely possible that itās the United Earth Fleet Ship USS Iowa/Enterprise and no extra fleets or unification history need apply.
Rewatch the scene where Laāan enters the bridge, and keep an eye on the dedication plaque to the left of the turbolift.
It identifies the ship as the UEF Enterprise.
Good catch!
A script slip that made it past continuity, then, is the Doylist explanation. Watsonian I would then prefer it to be that the USS Iowa be a civilian ship distinct from UEF ships rather than a different military fleet or pre-unification one.