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JANEWAY: It was a very different time, Mr. Kim. Captain Sulu, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy. They all belonged to a different breed of Starfleet officer. Imagine the era they lived in. The Alpha Quadrant still largely unexplored. Humanity on verge of war with Klingons. Romulans hiding behind every nebula. Even the technology we take for granted was still in its early stages. No plasma weapons, no multiphasic shields. Their ships were half as fast.
KIM: No replicators, no holodecks. You know, ever since I took Starfleet history at the academy, I always wondered what it would be like to live in those days.
JANEWAY: Space must have seemed a whole lot bigger back then. It's not surprising they had to bend the rules a little. They were a little slower to invoke the Prime Directive, and a little quicker to pull their phasers. Of course, the whole bunch of them would be booted out of Starfleet today. But I have to admit, I would have loved to ride shotgun at least once with a group of officers like that.

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Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
 
NO plasma weapons? Then the Romulan weapon in Balance of Terror really was just a special effect?!?
 

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Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
 
Duh! Even I can graps that Janeway was talking solely about the UFP!

Get this man some more coffee or whatever else he uses to stimulate his brain! HEHE!
 

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Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
 
Nevertheless, this makes the use of plasma weapons in ENT sound like a continuity error.

OTOH, I cannot really agree with Janeway that plasma weapons would be a post-Kirk development worthy of a mention. For one thing, nobody from Janeway-era Starfleet ever uses plasma weapons for any application - the only mention in that era is of Romulan or Cardassian/Dominion plasma torpedoes, which furthermore *aren't* specified as "modern" weapons.

So I'd much rather go with ENT and say that "plasma weapons" represent a bygone technology by the time of Kirk. Perhaps this is even what Janeway meant, in a really convoluted way?

Heatwave-induced rambling rationalization #74656: Kirk does not yet have multiphasic shields to protect him, yet his foes already possess post- plasma cannon weapons and can thus inflict serious damage on him. It's like saying "Custer didn't have kevlar vests or bows and arrows": the former would have protected him from the injun firesticks, while the use of latter by the said injuns would have nicely helped Custer, too.

Timo Saloniemi
 

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Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
 
This looks like a continuity error, since I wouldn't expect Janeway talking about Romulan plasma weapons, when everything else is from the Federation's POV ["Flashback"]. But the error lies with Voyager alone. Starfleet was never supposed to use plasma weapons in the 24th century. And even if there were any special weapon based on plasma discharge, we have never seen it and there would be no reason for Janeway to refer to it.
 

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Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
 
Would'nt it just be easier to consider Enterprise as correct and Voyager as a continunity error?
 

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Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
 
Or both. Anyway, Janeway was way over in the Delta Quadrant, so no-one heard it anyway
 

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