I remember watching this with a friend. We were flipping through channels and came across one airing Star Trek. At first I was disappointed because I thought I had missed most of First Contact and we tuned in at the finale. Then Cochrane pulled out a gun, shot the Vulcans and this intro played, and my mind was BLOWN.
well he could have. The guy is drunk but he is a genius, his baby the Phoenix is under apparent danger. After a WWIII and blag blah blah they were in a ceasefire (the black chick told that to picard) post-war period with highly advanced experimental tech...drunk as hell... the only logical thing to do is to take no chances SHOOT! CONQUER OR BE CONQUERED! ... luckily he was so f'ing lit he was like "whatever lets go to more shots" in our timeline.
I remember when I saw this on TV. This was my thought process: "Oh cool, it's the ending of First Contact. I bet that Enterprise is doing an episode that involves what happened with Cochrane and the Vulcans right after first contact. This should be interes...WHAT THE FUCK HE JUST SHOT HIM?! WHAT THE FUCK?"
+Iomeces I was just thinking, I wasn't a Trek fan when Enterprise was on, but I get goosebumps thinking what long-time fans were thinking when they saw the Terran Empire insignia in the opening credits. The idea of making an episode as if it were made inside the mirror universe was pure genius.
I'd long since given up on Enterprise, and was just random channel surfing, and literally thought I WAS watching First Contact when it came on. I was seriously wondering what the hell was going on.
The best part of their mirror universe episode was that it was it's own, self contained thing. No criss-cross apple sauce transposing of characters, just a story of a different version of these characters, in a different version of the Star Trek universe.
The regular cast acted like a bunch of pirates as their mirror selves. Over the top scratches the surface. Archer was insecure and neurotic about not being as accomplished as "Prime" Archer. Absolutely total fun.
Mirror universe event: The Xindi attack Earth on the say so of Sphere Builders who are threatened by the Terrans. Their weapon is intercepted, it's pilot interrogated. The Terrans send a fleet into the expanse and systematically exterminate the Xindi.
@@victort.9466 That actually was just a reused scene from Season 3 in one of the battles involving Enterprise, the Xindi-Primates, Aquatics, and Arboreals versus the Xindi-Reptilian and Insectoids. It's very blurry but if you pause it you can see the heavy hull damage Enterprise took at Azati Prime a few episodes earlier.
What I like best about the intro is that there's some scenes that are the same, such as the launch of the Saturn V rocket and the launch of the Phoenix, but they're put in a different light with new context. Proof that context matters!
1:32--I remember seeing the sequence from this point and thinking, "That's not how it happened!" At that moment I knew that in the mirror universe, this was the start of the Terran Empire.
Actually it was hinted that the Empire was alot older than that. It was mentioned that the history of the Empire went further back to at least the 1950's or more.
Ya totally - it was mentioned in an earlier episode they had visited Earth before any ways. T'Pol's grand ma. So it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that it happened in an alternate universe. However, what if the one who stayed behind was a renegade branch of Vulcan and slowly orchestrated these events. Ya, that's right. en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Carbon_Creek_(episode)
The_Gaming_Syndrom tal vez en el universo espejo nunca estuvieron en una tercera guerra mundial y se hayan unificado los que aceleró el proceso de creación de más naves de guerra.
Years ago, my brother and I were flipping through channels on tv when we stumbled on this. We thought it was the movie First Contact, so we decided to watch the rest of it. Once Cochrane pulled out the shotgun and killed the vulcan, we were stunned thinking it was a deleted scene or an outtake. It seemed like the ending of Dumb and Dumber when Lloyd imagines killing Mary's husband
Two episodes, but you're right. A season set just in the Terran Empire would have probably gotten them another two or three more seasons in the long run, maybe.
They have, it's called Star Trek discovery, set in a nightmarish hellscape with overly emotional, incompetent characters who kill their own people and suppress every differing opinion, other species or even people in in the future with either threats of or outright violence.
I just had a realization while sitting on the toilet watching this... Don't judge me! One man's split second decision between handshake or pull out the shotgun can cause such a huge difference in history.
@@KingreX32 Even so, there's a point there. But yes, the divergence goes way back. The opening of the intro points to something back to an ancient sailing raft. The seeds of the Terran Empire building a more authoritarian and perhaps dark (in some people's view) human history. In theological terms, Eve still gave an apple to Adam, but a more imperial-minded one. Cain would still kill Abel, but out of a drive for power, not personal animosity.
In this universe all of our losers throughout history won. It wasn't a split decision. This was just what humanity became because the worst people throughout history won.
I somehow caught this for the first time flipping channels. "Cool! 'First Contact' is on. I guess it's been a while I don't remember some of these background shots. Wait. WHAT!?!"
I would watch that to be honest, a season for each series. And it's really just the Terran Empire kicking the shit out of all the bad guys from each one
A dystopian sci-fi series? We have lots of those, The Expanse, Andromeda, Battlestar Galactica, etc. Better to let Star Trek focus properly on the prime universe... which they have been totally unable to do until SNW.
So, my friends got into Star Trek recently. They enjoy the positivity and ways of solving problems without just violence, like Star Wars did, and they asked me to line up a schedule for the five of us. They have 0 info on it, and didn’t even know what the Borg were. I *CANNOT WAIT* to show them this episode and see their jaws drop.
@@voxdraconia4035 If there's one thing I've never been accused of it's being a non-Trekkie. :-) I think the fact that I've seen every episode of pre-Discovery Trek multiple times (well except for a few TAS episodes I've only seen once and the ones I refuse to re-watch), would be a reasonable Trekkie pedigree. I say "long time" because until 2013 I'd only seen TOS, so I didn't see it when it came out. I also saw IAMD before I saw First Contact for the first time (which I've now seen many times), so I suspect my initial experience was much different from most.
I saw the episode promo for this episode before It aired so I knew it was going to be set in the mirror universe. But If I hadn't and went into this blind I would've been like "What the fuck is going on? Why did Cochrane shoot the Vulcan captain/Ambassador?"
I remember first time watching this on TV, I didn't know the title of the episode or I'd have suspected it to be a Mirror Universe episode. I was like wait, is that the First Contact movie, and then oh shit what the hell is going on when Cochrane shoot the Vulcan, then it all became clear during the credits. Masterful intro, so unexpected the first time.
This is our universe for sure. As we have leaned even within the last decade, humans do not tend to learn from mistakes, entertain facts what conflict with our prejudices, and often aspire to be as vile as possible. Let's be honest, we won't be shaking hands in our 2060s.
Interesting how they took the closing scene in ‘First Contact’ and completely subverted expectations. Out of all of Enterprise’s episodes, the Mirror Universe ones were pretty good, and the dark musical theme sets the mood and tone so well.
Supposedly the plan was for season 6 to be just Mirror Enterprise for the first half, then to have the crossover at the end be why Archer and the Nx01 aren’t mentioned in the rest of Trek.
When I first saw this, I thought that it was a flashback to the events pf ST: First Contact; and was totally caught off guard when Cochrane shot the Vulcan. But then when the credits rolled, and I saw the Terran Empire logo at 2:07; I thought "Mirror Universe? F*CK YEAH!!!"
You know, I was thinking that this would have really been the "true" depiction of events, had the Borg not have intervened, forcing the TNG crew to also intervene. As a result of the intervention, the "true" timeline was created, effectively making the Star Trek timeline to be an artificially created one. Whoa...
No there were timeline differences before this event. Dr. Flox mentions that classical Earth literature is much more violent in the mirror universe (except for Shakespeare).
in the novels, she married shran to get the still intact andorian military on her side, then shran exiled her, so she teamed up with tpol and her vulcan rebellion to regain the throne, in turn she granted vulcans the same equality status as terrans. She then created a clone dynasty, for three generations, up to the TOS era, where her third teenage version was overthrown by Spock.
this is exactly what the whole series should have been about. then; maybe, it could have lasted 10 seasons ( but with WAAAAY more goatees cause i frickin loved the goatees in tos! )
I think that our reality, may be most of the time, looks just like the "Mirror Universe". I sincerely hope that humanity will overcome our differences and unite for good...
It be weird if we had real life mirror mirror darkly of ourselfs and government. But yeah intro was mad cool. Specially when ship bombed city on the moon.
I don't think that it has something to do with the Enterprise-E, in the prime universe, humanity has learned from their mistakes and tried to make something different, but in the mirror universe humanity still hasn't learned from their mistakes.
The mirror Universe is more like an empire and they usually have this insatiable need to conquer anything that encroaches their space. It wasn't about learning from their mistakes. More like it was about what to conquer next. Also keep in mind that the mirror Universe only mirrored humanity. Every other species remained the same.
In William Shatner's "Star Trek" novels, he proposed an interesting idea: When the Enterprise-E went back in time to stop the Borg in "First Contact", Dr. Crusher used a memory-suppression drug on Cochrane and everyone else that had had contact with the Enterprise crew, to "blank" their knowledge of the future. But, in accordance with the theory of "The Infinite Worlds of Maybe", where every action that can have multiple outcomes results in "splinter" universes where all those outcomes happened, there was a universe where the drug didn't work on Cochrane and he remembered everything. And the first thing he did was tell the Vulcans about the Borg and where to find them. Horrified by what they had learned, the Vulcans (with the held of the humans) focused everything on getting to the Delta Quadrant and wiping the Borg out before they could become a threat. This kind of victory made the humans feel invincible and they used the momentum they gained from it to subjugate the Vulcans, then eventually conquer the Andorians, Tellarites and anyone else they could, resulting in the Terran Empire. Completely non-canon, of course, but it's my personal favorite explanation for it all.
Well in cannon (soft and hard) there are 3 Terran Empire's. The 1st is actually the prime Universe but with a mucked up timeline (what you just said). Then there is the Terran Empire that arose from an Axis victory in WW2 (what we see here). And lastly but my personal favorite is the Roman Empire conquering the world rather than collapsing and going on basically be not-kickoff (of Romans) Romulans.
@@mitchellmelkin4078 Archer would want to take his time, really make the rebels suffer. Draw it out. He would likely have laid waste to Vulcan to make a major example.
I will never forget the first time I saw this.... I had never seen any mirror episodes in my life...their very existence had somehow mabaged to elude me. Though i had seen First Contact prior. And my heart swelled when i first watched that movie. When this episode came on, I had just gotten home from school. I didnt realize this was gonna be an alternate universe Trek... I saw this scene come on, and my heart swelled with pride and joy once more... So when i saw Cochrane pull out that shotgun, shoot the peaceful Vulcans, and then this intro sequence... *My 15 year old Jaw... Was On. The fvcking. Floor...* And my heart with it. Terrified at whatever the Hell i was now bearng witness to. But it clicked in my head what i was seeing when they placed that sword-in-the-Earth flag on the Moon's surface. "This is an alternate universe of Trek. Some twisted impersonation!" This was my introduction not only to this episode, but to the mirror side of Star Trek itself. The Terran Empire, and all it's sadistic ways. Many episodes of which I've gone back to, watched, and enjoy thoroughly. But this intro will always hold a special place in my heart. Not only for the biggest shock value I've ever been gobsmacked with in my life. But also because it's just an overall fantastic song, and a badass animation to compliment it. ❤
"When you meet the enemy, he will be beaten, there will be no pardon, you will make no prisioners. Who falls into your handy will be in your hands. Just as the Huns under King Attilla made a name for themselfs that make them appear mighty in recognition to this day, so may the name of humanity in the universe be recognized in a way that never again an alien dares to look at a human the wrong way"
I remember when this happened. After this incident a group split off and created a faction that was intent on rebelling against Cochran. We tried to contact Picard but they were long gone by then. And as a result we have ISS, and not USS designated space ships.
I remember when this aired and initially thinking they must have been showing first contact and it ran over. And then Cochrane killed the Vulcan and I got very excited for a new Mirror Universe episode. 🤣🤣
Brilliantly executed. While the overly sentimental 'hopeful' normal intro kind of wears on you, the contrast that the Terran intro is spot on. Also really funny is the Terran flag as shown during the Nazi march at 2:06 shows all nations on Earth like the UN flag to show a united Earth (Or should I call it Terra?). But unlike the UN flag that has the univerally agreed neutral territory Antartica as the centre so no one contry is given more importance it appears Algeria/Morocco is considered the centure of Terra or at least is considered neutral territory.
This scene blew my middle school mind when I saw it haha. I remember thinking "oh this is lame, it's just the scene from that super lame movie-HOLY CRAP HE JUST SHOT THAT DUDE!!"
Terrans were dumb though. Isolationism and spying on others to steal tech research makes more sense. I agree with the early 20th century British fascist Oswald Mosley who pointed out isolationism when you have enough resources secured must be the end goal. The problem throughout history is expanding until an empire collapses on itself in some way: the US must save itself, as an example, by returning to neutrality.
Wish i had seen this when it was on. My nights off changed during season 2, so i lost track of the show then. No DVR in those days. The opening credits sequence is excellent. Looks like the wars lasted decades. It was called the Terran Empire, right? I have seen various clips on here. Looks imaginative and well done.
delavalmilker Actually, later in the episode, it is revealed that that Vulcan was part of an invasion force. That "live long and prosper" bit was just a ruse
Mirror universe humanity had it right. The Human Empire was successful, to an extent. Then the Enterprise crew walked in, they messed it up. They got Spock in power over there. When Spock tried being sensible, it resulted in humanity getting it in the pants.
By Spock's calculations, the Terran Empire would have collapsed in 240 years anyway. His attempt to trasform it into something more democratic and civilized was just a desperate try to avoid the unavoidable.
Shendue Or it was to deliberately soften up the Empire's defenses so they would be overrun by their enemies. Sort of a revenge on the Terrans for the betrayal and enslavement his people had endured at their hands.
@@barbiquearea No, Spock found the vision of a different paradigm to be compelling and logical. The plan he initiated wasn't desperate, but very precisely calculated and resulted in an approximation of the Federation. All non-canon of course, but well written in a three novel series.
HAHAhahahahahaaaaa X'D When I first watched that scene, my dad and I laughed our ass off. We didn't see that coming, and it's absolutely brilliantly done. Well done, Manny Coto. You managed to salvage something great out of an overall shitty series before.
It's almost like he was frustrated about not being able to do the Vulcan salute, so he overreacted and shot him. lol "That's for making me fail and look silly, in front of my friends!"
It wasn't a shitty series, it might not be as good as the other star trek series, but its quite good, besides, at this time, humans were just starting deep space explorations, which is why Archer was so naive at the first 2 seasons.
***** It really wasn't well written or thought out at all. Yeah, they're just starting out in space, but that doesn't mean every character should be as big of an idiot as they are in the series, especially Archer who, until season 4, was the single worst captain in the history of Star Trek. A moron with no technical skill, negotiation skill, combat training... it's like his brain was replaced with a gerbil on a wheel. The moonlanding in the 60's was also a first step towards space travel, but they still planed for contingencies and scenarios, they went up with proper equipment and methodical planning. There is none of that in Enterprise. For crap's sake, according to the final episode, their engineer--who has to look after a warp core--learned engineering by working on BOATS.
Spike Prime "still planed for contingencies and scenarios, they went up with proper equipment" Well, they did, Enterprise was equipped with those spatial torpedoes, that although cool looking, were near to useless, the phase cannons weren't installed because Enterprise left the shipyard earlier and yeah, i agree of archer not being...smart, and i agree with all of the opinions that T'pol had about him, like being irresponsible, putting his emotions ahead of reason and etc. Which lead to them getting into a lot of trouble, but well, many of science fiction shows have their episodes based on moments of trouble.
I think the fact that the crew didn't ace every encounter gave it a more realistic tone. Bad guys seem more threatening when they can actually beat you. I like that it didn't have the "we're the Federation/good-guys and we always win" mentality.
I remember watching this with a friend. We were flipping through channels and came across one airing Star Trek. At first I was disappointed because I thought I had missed most of First Contact and we tuned in at the finale. Then Cochrane pulled out a gun, shot the Vulcans and this intro played, and my mind was BLOWN.
so was the vulcans...
@@philip8498 you fking legend😂😂
You didn't think Mandela Effect?
If I hadn't seen it, I'd have thought, "YES! I'm in the parallel dimension where that movie ended right!"
@@philip8498 🤣😂🤪
LOL!!! Awesome, eh!?
I literally cannot watch the ending of First Contact now without thinking of this and expecting Cochrane to pull out his shotgun and shoot the Vulcan
Same
Yeah i think we both agree we pick our choice for the future.
well he could have. The guy is drunk but he is a genius, his baby the Phoenix is under apparent danger. After a WWIII and blag blah blah they were in a ceasefire (the black chick told that to picard) post-war period with highly advanced experimental tech...drunk as hell... the only logical thing to do is to take no chances SHOOT! CONQUER OR BE CONQUERED! ... luckily he was so f'ing lit he was like "whatever lets go to more shots" in our timeline.
Its the only true ending
@@TheGamingSyndrom I think we should as star trek fans petition for that to make this story canon.
Now that is how you start a mirror universe episode with a bang.
Christopher Scholl - 💯% "LITERALLY"!
"Bang" is right...
Actually with a boomstick
More like *BLAM!*
More like PEW PEW
I remember when I saw this on TV. This was my thought process:
"Oh cool, it's the ending of First Contact. I bet that Enterprise is doing an episode that involves what happened with Cochrane and the Vulcans right after first contact. This should be interes...WHAT THE FUCK HE JUST SHOT HIM?! WHAT THE FUCK?"
+Iomeces I was just thinking, I wasn't a Trek fan when Enterprise was on, but I get goosebumps thinking what long-time fans were thinking when they saw the Terran Empire insignia in the opening credits. The idea of making an episode as if it were made inside the mirror universe was pure genius.
+Iomeces What if... That mirror universe... is OUR universe...?
.... We are capable of this... And worse...
+Whoami691 All the footage up to the present day is historical in our universe.
+Iomeces I reacted almost EXACTLY the same.. CRAZY and BRILLANT INTRO!
I hope one day someone makes a mirror Star Trek series. I guarantee that it would be more popular than Game of Thrones today.
Interesting dichotomy here...
Vulcans: "Live long, and prosper."
Terrans: "Eat shit, and die!"
Hell yeah!
Duke nukem will agree with you
Klingon/Cardassian/Bajoran Alliance: "Your mothers have SMOOTH FOREHEADS!"
Suppress your emotions & explore the universe! 🖖
It's only logical, they said!! 😡
@CallMeOgmios That sounds better.
This ripoff first contact scene made me so happy. It was such an unexpected punch to the childhood throat
This comment makes me happy. :-)
I'd long since given up on Enterprise, and was just random channel surfing, and literally thought I WAS watching First Contact when it came on. I was seriously wondering what the hell was going on.
I wondered WTF happened too, until I saw the credits roll with the Terran Empire "dagger" logo, and thought "Mirror Universe"! Hell yeah!
The shots with the Vulcan and with James Cromwell were from First Contact
I don’t know what you mean, this is the real universe version of the first contact scene.
Jesus Christ, Cochrane. Just because you can't do their gang sign doesn't mean you have to off them like a Crip!
LOL
But if you can't do the gang sign, they might shoot first. ;)
Apperently only some people can do the sign, and the actor for Zefram Cochrane could not
They in the wrong hood, homie! They reppin different hoods!
@@zfoxfire That's how they do it in Discovery, amirite?
The best part of their mirror universe episode was that it was it's own, self contained thing. No criss-cross apple sauce transposing of characters, just a story of a different version of these characters, in a different version of the Star Trek universe.
Although they do discover an old TOS ship from the regular universe which was confusing.
@@sirmount2636 Not really, it was necessary for the story and I think it did fit with continuity!
You're gonna hate Star Trek Discovery..
@@drdelewded There's many other reasons to hate that show. Appropriately titled "STD."
@@atlev I liked it. I just meant because of all the universe flip floppity.
Best Enterprise Episode for me, because the over the top acting and actions were perfectly suited to the mirror universe
It was a great two parter. Probably my favorite for the show as well.
I can't believe that your here, from over 4 years ago!
the actors admitted it was fun for them
The regular cast acted like a bunch of pirates as their mirror selves. Over the top scratches the surface. Archer was insecure and neurotic about not being as accomplished as "Prime" Archer. Absolutely total fun.
Mirror universe event:
The Xindi attack Earth on the say so of Sphere Builders who are threatened by the Terrans.
Their weapon is intercepted, it's pilot interrogated.
The Terrans send a fleet into the expanse and systematically exterminate the Xindi.
Honestly I could believe that
@@dakit3724 honestly, it's an awesome idea. Let's do that.
You don't mess with the Terran Empire.
The Xindi are the intro. They are the last shot before the logo and it looks like they are on the run from the Terran Empire.
@@victort.9466 That actually was just a reused scene from Season 3 in one of the battles involving Enterprise, the Xindi-Primates, Aquatics, and Arboreals versus the Xindi-Reptilian and Insectoids. It's very blurry but if you pause it you can see the heavy hull damage Enterprise took at Azati Prime a few episodes earlier.
Pulled out a shotgun from his pocket like it was GTA
What I like best about the intro is that there's some scenes that are the same, such as the launch of the Saturn V rocket and the launch of the Phoenix, but they're put in a different light with new context.
Proof that context matters!
Their big mistake was assuming every race that discovers warp drive is peaceful. xD
They should have learned that from the Klingons!
Or the Frangi that made like the Terrains and stole their shit. They didn't go all genocidal but still.
MasterT3318 and the Borg and Klingons
The Klingons of the Mirror Universe aren't so bad as ours.
@@LordDavid04 Yeah... it's weird like that... Klingons = Spooky Vision Cartman from South Park or something.
1:32--I remember seeing the sequence from this point and thinking, "That's not how it happened!" At that moment I knew that in the mirror universe, this was the start of the Terran Empire.
Actually it was hinted that the Empire was alot older than that. It was mentioned that the history of the Empire went further back to at least the 1950's or more.
it was Republic in 1955 some people have said it branch of Old Roman Empire
@ajs1031 It goes back farther then that, it goes back to Ancient Greek times.
@ajs1031 this happening, then your restore Roman Empire in Europa Universalis 4 - vulcans get gang bang.
@@girlgarde Actually it goes farthar back, to the Ice Age! 😂
You would think that the Vulcans would have a backup plan for something like this happening.
Ya totally - it was mentioned in an earlier episode they had visited Earth before any ways. T'Pol's grand ma. So it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that it happened in an alternate universe.
However, what if the one who stayed behind was a renegade branch of Vulcan and slowly orchestrated these events.
Ya, that's right.
en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Carbon_Creek_(episode)
Im sure the totally destroyed humanity after ww3 could withstand all of Vulcan high command with one spaceship.
Not
They probably tried to fight them off with those ridiculously ineffective club-staffs that Kirk and Spock dueled with in Amok Time.
Yeah, it does not make sense at all that the vulcans would just land on a planet with a valuable ship and gamble that humans are a friendly race
The_Gaming_Syndrom tal vez en el universo espejo nunca estuvieron en una tercera guerra mundial y se hayan unificado los que aceleró el proceso de creación de más naves de guerra.
Humanity...Fuck yeah!
The Imperium of Man approves of this message
🙏
I am in this clip. Five shots. I am wearing the green wool cap, and I am just to the right (as we see it) of the tall main actor Franc Ross.
Really? Wow that's awesome!
Years ago, my brother and I were flipping through channels on tv when we stumbled on this. We thought it was the movie First Contact, so we decided to watch the rest of it. Once Cochrane pulled out the shotgun and killed the vulcan, we were stunned thinking it was a deleted scene or an outtake. It seemed like the ending of Dumb and Dumber when Lloyd imagines killing Mary's husband
Absolutely not a comparison I was expecting 😂😂😂😂😂 and now I'm dying laughing at it!
Funnest episode of Enterprise for the intro alone
This version of Captain Archer has the gun in a display case in his private quarters on the ISS Enterprise .
Fuck this being a single episode they should have a Whole SERIES dedicated to the Terran Empire
Two episodes, but you're right. A season set just in the Terran Empire would have probably gotten them another two or three more seasons in the long run, maybe.
They have, it's called Star Trek discovery, set in a nightmarish hellscape with overly emotional, incompetent characters who kill their own people and suppress every differing opinion, other species or even people in in the future with either threats of or outright violence.
@@morriganaego4288 I mean a REAL series not a spoof of it. Though the title fits since that series certainly is an STD.
I agree. I also like the idea of a well written crossover where the two universes meet (obviously not STD).
They actually were planning on doing more mirror universe episodes in the 5th season that never happened.
I just had a realization while sitting on the toilet watching this... Don't judge me!
One man's split second decision between handshake or pull out the shotgun can cause such a huge difference in history.
Aka: Schroedingers shotgun...🤔
There are clues in the episode that this wasnt the divergence point for the Mirror universe.
@@KingreX32 Even so, there's a point there.
But yes, the divergence goes way back. The opening of the intro points to something back to an ancient sailing raft. The seeds of the Terran Empire building a more authoritarian and perhaps dark (in some people's view) human history.
In theological terms, Eve still gave an apple to Adam, but a more imperial-minded one. Cain would still kill Abel, but out of a drive for power, not personal animosity.
In this universe all of our losers throughout history won. It wasn't a split decision. This was just what humanity became because the worst people throughout history won.
I somehow caught this for the first time flipping channels.
"Cool! 'First Contact' is on. I guess it's been a while I don't remember some of these background shots. Wait. WHAT!?!"
Years later, STILL the coolest Trek intro
Brilliant intro, thanks for sharing.
No problem
It's bringing love, don't let it get away!
Break it's legs!
Shoot it in the face!
The mirror universe deserves a full series.
I would watch that to be honest, a season for each series. And it's really just the Terran Empire kicking the shit out of all the bad guys from each one
As long as Kurtzman isn't involved.
@@khyron666ok8 Agreed
feels like discovery season 3 set that up
A dystopian sci-fi series? We have lots of those, The Expanse, Andromeda, Battlestar Galactica, etc. Better to let Star Trek focus properly on the prime universe... which they have been totally unable to do until SNW.
Never have I smiled as much during an opening scene as I did when I saw the shotgun come out. From that moment I knew I'd love this episode. 😎
Brilliant episode. Better theme music than the original. Brilliant changing the opening so it's like we're watching the Mirror version of the show.
I really like how this intro and the usual one, through their use of real footage, both highlight very different but very real facets of human history
Probably the more realistic outcome of first contact had it played out, knowing humans
So, my friends got into Star Trek recently. They enjoy the positivity and ways of solving problems without just violence, like Star Wars did, and they asked me to line up a schedule for the five of us. They have 0 info on it, and didn’t even know what the Borg were.
I *CANNOT WAIT* to show them this episode and see their jaws drop.
Long time Trekkies: did you figure out this episode was set in the mirror universe before seeing the Terran Empire symbol in the opening credits?
Yes. Because the opening intro focused more on wars and conquest then it did exploration.
See my comment--Cochrane pulling out his gun was my first clue.
Of course .... silly question from a non trekkie ...
@@voxdraconia4035 If there's one thing I've never been accused of it's being a non-Trekkie. :-) I think the fact that I've seen every episode of pre-Discovery Trek multiple times (well except for a few TAS episodes I've only seen once and the ones I refuse to re-watch), would be a reasonable Trekkie pedigree. I say "long time" because until 2013 I'd only seen TOS, so I didn't see it when it came out. I also saw IAMD before I saw First Contact for the first time (which I've now seen many times), so I suspect my initial experience was much different from most.
I saw the episode promo for this episode before It aired so I knew it was going to be set in the mirror universe. But If I hadn't and went into this blind I would've been like "What the fuck is going on? Why did Cochrane shoot the Vulcan captain/Ambassador?"
I remember first time watching this on TV, I didn't know the title of the episode or I'd have suspected it to be a Mirror Universe episode. I was like wait, is that the First Contact movie, and then oh shit what the hell is going on when Cochrane shoot the Vulcan, then it all became clear during the credits. Masterful intro, so unexpected the first time.
This series was lacking, but this two-parter and especially the intro were nothing short of brilliant. Bittersweetly, it shows what could have been.
The scary thing is - this is more like our universe, our Earth.
Plenty of people with humanistic ideals. We aren't all Nazi's.
+Katiara Blackdawn that's not what I was implying. I meant human nature.
Oh yes we are. We are all Romans. We are are all Nazis. Never forget that! For The Empire!
The Terran Empire makes the Romulans look like pansies.
True but the regular universe Section 31 makes the Tal Shiar wet themselves.
1:28 "how ya do that then ya'll? Goddamn space gypsy's! Tryn'a make me do some hand magic or somethin' well ya can fuck right off!"
*gets out gun*
This is our universe for sure. As we have leaned even within the last decade, humans do not tend to learn from mistakes, entertain facts what conflict with our prejudices, and often aspire to be as vile as possible. Let's be honest, we won't be shaking hands in our 2060s.
Best... opening... ever!
Interesting how they took the closing scene in ‘First Contact’ and completely subverted expectations. Out of all of Enterprise’s episodes, the Mirror Universe ones were pretty good, and the dark musical theme sets the mood and tone so well.
Zephram Cochrane all like "hell with the statue"
1:31
When you pick the bad ending
Renegade interrupts. Renegade interrupts everywhere.
They need to make a series out of this
spoilers - ST Discovery
I've been saying that we need a mirror universe series forever
Supposedly the plan was for season 6 to be just Mirror Enterprise for the first half, then to have the crossover at the end be why Archer and the Nx01 aren’t mentioned in the rest of Trek.
Let's face it. This is how it will probably go down.
"I want my goddamn island full of naked women."
When I first saw this, I thought that it was a flashback to the events pf ST: First Contact; and was totally caught off guard when Cochrane shot the Vulcan. But then when the credits rolled, and I saw the Terran Empire logo at 2:07; I thought "Mirror Universe? F*CK YEAH!!!"
Hail the Immortal Emperor of man, lord of the Galaxy! Oh wait, wrong universe. Again!
mikiroony The GEOM is in every universe, heretic. Repant or I BLAM you.
Not enough skulls in the intro. Not the universe you were expecting.
You know, I was thinking that this would have really been the "true" depiction of events, had the Borg not have intervened, forcing the TNG crew to also intervene. As a result of the intervention, the "true" timeline was created, effectively making the Star Trek timeline to be an artificially created one. Whoa...
Then where did the TNG crew come from originally?
Stable time loop?
@@girlgarde They came from the Timeline that they created. Which is what many call the Prime universe.
No there were timeline differences before this event. Dr. Flox mentions that classical Earth literature is much more violent in the mirror universe (except for Shakespeare).
@@theshlauf Why is Shakespeare the exception?
Who else things that we live in the mirror universe? It would make a lot of sense.
in the novels, she married shran to get the still intact andorian military on her side, then shran exiled her, so she teamed up with tpol and her vulcan rebellion to regain the throne, in turn she granted vulcans the same equality status as terrans. She then created a clone dynasty, for three generations, up to the TOS era, where her third teenage version was overthrown by Spock.
First Contact's ending: How colonization was taught in the history books.
This intro: How colonization REALLY happened.
It was portrayed as something light and friendly, but in reality, in our world, it's brutal and genocidal
Such a dastardly subversion of expectations. It's perfect.
this is exactly what the whole series should have been about. then; maybe, it could have lasted 10 seasons ( but with WAAAAY more goatees cause i frickin loved the goatees in tos! )
I think that our reality, may be most of the time, looks just like the "Mirror Universe". I sincerely hope that humanity will overcome our differences and unite for good...
But evil has cookies!
+hamanu666 Which are always before you, but you can never reach and eat them. That's why it's called evil.
I rewatched the intro 6 times! I was totally caught off guard!
this is easily one of my favorite episodes
Best Star Trek Series
0:55 *changes channel on TV remote, "oh it's First Contact, he's going to do the Vulcan salute"*
About 30 seconds later
*WHAT*
I was so suprised about the intro :-)
It be weird if we had real life mirror mirror darkly of ourselfs and government. But yeah intro was mad cool. Specially when ship bombed city on the moon.
I guess the mirror universe is the prime universe because this is how it turned out without the _Enterprise_-E going back in time and intervening.
I don't think that it has something to do with the Enterprise-E, in the prime universe, humanity has learned from their mistakes and tried to make something different, but in the mirror universe humanity still hasn't learned from their mistakes.
The mirror Universe is more like an empire and they usually have this insatiable need to conquer anything that encroaches their space. It wasn't about learning from their mistakes. More like it was about what to conquer next. Also keep in mind that the mirror Universe only mirrored humanity. Every other species remained the same.
no you are wrong this what happen in the Mirror universe because they violent people.
In William Shatner's "Star Trek" novels, he proposed an interesting idea:
When the Enterprise-E went back in time to stop the Borg in "First Contact", Dr. Crusher used a memory-suppression drug on Cochrane and everyone else that had had contact with the Enterprise crew, to "blank" their knowledge of the future. But, in accordance with the theory of "The Infinite Worlds of Maybe", where every action that can have multiple outcomes results in "splinter" universes where all those outcomes happened, there was a universe where the drug didn't work on Cochrane and he remembered everything. And the first thing he did was tell the Vulcans about the Borg and where to find them. Horrified by what they had learned, the Vulcans (with the held of the humans) focused everything on getting to the Delta Quadrant and wiping the Borg out before they could become a threat. This kind of victory made the humans feel invincible and they used the momentum they gained from it to subjugate the Vulcans, then eventually conquer the Andorians, Tellarites and anyone else they could, resulting in the Terran Empire.
Completely non-canon, of course, but it's my personal favorite explanation for it all.
Well in cannon (soft and hard) there are 3 Terran Empire's. The 1st is actually the prime Universe but with a mucked up timeline (what you just said). Then there is the Terran Empire that arose from an Axis victory in WW2 (what we see here). And lastly but my personal favorite is the Roman Empire conquering the world rather than collapsing and going on basically be not-kickoff (of Romans) Romulans.
They could have done an entire season just on the Mirror Universe and the Defiant and alternate Archer and company putting down the alien revolt.
Samurai Momo, Why would it have taken the Defiant more than two episodes to completely wipe out the revolt, let alone an entire season?
@@mitchellmelkin4078 Archer would want to take his time, really make the rebels suffer. Draw it out. He would likely have laid waste to Vulcan to make a major example.
Happy FIRST CONTACT DAY !
Today is April 5, 2021 countdown to 2063 still 42 years off and we're getting close. Live Long and Prosper! 🖖
That intro was so anxiety-inducing, caught me completely by surprise on first viewing.
You know, we're more like that than the people in the Utopian Federation.
Wait, maybe OUR universe is the Mirror Universe! (Dun-dun-dun!)
From this universe point of view its the Federation that's evil and soft, why explore and hold hands when you can conquer instead.
@@OneofInfinity. in this instance, let's annihilate Klingons and Cardassians before they know it. From then, we will rule the galaxy.
The (Dun-dun-dun) was the perfect way to end your comment.
If you say so.
Grow up and stop taking binary morality seriously. It is TV, no such thing as good or evil in reality.
This is one of those scenes that makes watching Enterprise worth it.
awesome to see this when the episode first aired. was so hype
I will never forget the first time I saw this....
I had never seen any mirror episodes in my life...their very existence had somehow mabaged to elude me.
Though i had seen First Contact prior. And my heart swelled when i first watched that movie.
When this episode came on, I had just gotten home from school. I didnt realize this was gonna be an alternate universe Trek...
I saw this scene come on, and my heart swelled with pride and joy once more...
So when i saw Cochrane pull out that shotgun, shoot the peaceful Vulcans, and then this intro sequence...
*My 15 year old Jaw... Was On. The fvcking. Floor...* And my heart with it. Terrified at whatever the Hell i was now bearng witness to.
But it clicked in my head what i was seeing when they placed that sword-in-the-Earth flag on the Moon's surface. "This is an alternate universe of Trek. Some twisted impersonation!"
This was my introduction not only to this episode, but to the mirror side of Star Trek itself. The Terran Empire, and all it's sadistic ways.
Many episodes of which I've gone back to, watched, and enjoy thoroughly.
But this intro will always hold a special place in my heart. Not only for the biggest shock value I've ever been gobsmacked with in my life.
But also because it's just an overall fantastic song, and a badass animation to compliment it. ❤
Best intro ever!
I can't unsee this must be the logic or ear things
I remember seeing this for the first time. I legit burst out laughing at the shotgun bit.
If first contact happends this is exactly how it will go down lol
T'Pol and Hoshi were so fucking sexy in this timeline.
I love the Mirror Universe episodes in all the series!
after he couldn't do the secret Vulcan handshake, he must have shot him out of embarrassment.
"When you meet the enemy, he will be beaten, there will be no pardon, you will make no prisioners. Who falls into your handy will be in your hands.
Just as the Huns under King Attilla made a name for themselfs that make them appear mighty in recognition to this day, so may the name of humanity in the universe be recognized in a way that never again an alien dares to look at a human the wrong way"
Long Live the Terran Empire
And long live Empress Hoshi Sato!
This was so genius
I remember when this happened.
After this incident a group split off and created a faction that was intent on rebelling against Cochran.
We tried to contact Picard but they were long gone by then.
And as a result we have ISS, and not USS designated space ships.
This intro is amazing, and way more mood setting than the main theme.
When I first watched this on TV I thought my VHS of First Contact was still in the TV.
I remember when this aired and initially thinking they must have been showing first contact and it ran over. And then Cochrane killed the Vulcan and I got very excited for a new Mirror Universe episode. 🤣🤣
Brilliantly executed. While the overly sentimental 'hopeful' normal intro kind of wears on you, the contrast that the Terran intro is spot on. Also really funny is the Terran flag as shown during the Nazi march at 2:06 shows all nations on Earth like the UN flag to show a united Earth (Or should I call it Terra?). But unlike the UN flag that has the univerally agreed neutral territory Antartica as the centre so no one contry is given more importance it appears Algeria/Morocco is considered the centure of Terra or at least is considered neutral territory.
Pretty sure that was a ww2 Victory Parade in New York City. The soldiers appear to be wearing American GI uniforms
Quite frankly, if the Earth we live on ever becomes part of a galactic community, THIS is the route we will take.
I`d say it would be more like in babylon 5. Terran empire feels very artificial
Long live the empire.
This scene blew my middle school mind when I saw it haha. I remember thinking "oh this is lame, it's just the scene from that super lame movie-HOLY CRAP HE JUST SHOT THAT DUDE!!"
First Contact, super lame? SMH
@@neilcarter77 It's one of the best Trek movies ever.
Bro 15 year old me would have thrown all my chess pieces at you for calling this movie lame 😂
Say it with me... Even if you don’t like Enterprise, it did the mirror universe episodes best.
@Ferro Equus true but nos we have strange new worlds and the orville
And so began the reign of our glorious empress Sato. All hail the Terran empire.
Terrans were dumb though. Isolationism and spying on others to steal tech research makes more sense. I agree with the early 20th century British fascist Oswald Mosley who pointed out isolationism when you have enough resources secured must be the end goal. The problem throughout history is expanding until an empire collapses on itself in some way: the US must save itself, as an example, by returning to neutrality.
Wish i had seen this when it was on. My nights off changed during season 2, so i lost track of the show then. No DVR in those days. The opening credits sequence is excellent. Looks like the wars lasted decades. It was called the Terran Empire, right? I have seen various clips on here. Looks imaginative and well done.
You can get the DVDs on Amazon.
This is the more realistic version of first contact.
You know what we really need is a mirror universe series
Best opening ever.
That was a very rude thing to do to that nice Vulcan!
Old Spock was cool.
delavalmilker Actually, later in the episode, it is revealed that that Vulcan was part of an invasion force. That "live long and prosper" bit was just a ruse
Please be sarcasm.
It was a prelude to an invasion
David Kelly according to the Terrans it's true
I love the Mirror Universe 😎😎😎
Mirror universe humanity had it right. The Human Empire was successful, to an extent. Then the Enterprise crew walked in, they messed it up. They got Spock in power over there. When Spock tried being sensible, it resulted in humanity getting it in the pants.
In all fairness, after a successful rebellion the Terran Empire was restored to power sometime in the 2400s as a courtesy of Star Trek Online.
By Spock's calculations, the Terran Empire would have collapsed in 240 years anyway. His attempt to trasform it into something more democratic and civilized was just a desperate try to avoid the unavoidable.
Shendue Or it was to deliberately soften up the Empire's defenses so they would be overrun by their enemies. Sort of a revenge on the Terrans for the betrayal and enslavement his people had endured at their hands.
@@MaskedMatter yes, but that's not canon, if you didn't already know.
@@barbiquearea No, Spock found the vision of a different paradigm to be compelling and logical. The plan he initiated wasn't desperate, but very precisely calculated and resulted in an approximation of the Federation. All non-canon of course, but well written in a three novel series.
I love it!
HAHAhahahahahaaaaa X'D
When I first watched that scene, my dad and I laughed our ass off. We didn't see that coming, and it's absolutely brilliantly done. Well done, Manny Coto. You managed to salvage something great out of an overall shitty series before.
It's almost like he was frustrated about not being able to do the Vulcan salute, so he overreacted and shot him. lol "That's for making me fail and look silly, in front of my friends!"
It wasn't a shitty series, it might not be as good as the other star trek series, but its quite good, besides, at this time, humans were just starting deep space explorations, which is why Archer was so naive at the first 2 seasons.
***** It really wasn't well written or thought out at all. Yeah, they're just starting out in space, but that doesn't mean every character should be as big of an idiot as they are in the series, especially Archer who, until season 4, was the single worst captain in the history of Star Trek. A moron with no technical skill, negotiation skill, combat training... it's like his brain was replaced with a gerbil on a wheel. The moonlanding in the 60's was also a first step towards space travel, but they still planed for contingencies and scenarios, they went up with proper equipment and methodical planning. There is none of that in Enterprise.
For crap's sake, according to the final episode, their engineer--who has to look after a warp core--learned engineering by working on BOATS.
Spike Prime
"still planed for contingencies and scenarios, they went up with proper equipment"
Well, they did, Enterprise was equipped with those spatial torpedoes, that although cool looking, were near to useless, the phase cannons weren't installed because Enterprise left the shipyard earlier and yeah, i agree of archer not being...smart, and i agree with all of the opinions that T'pol had about him, like being irresponsible, putting his emotions ahead of reason and etc. Which lead to them getting into a lot of trouble, but well, many of science fiction shows have their episodes based on moments of trouble.
I think the fact that the crew didn't ace every encounter gave it a more realistic tone. Bad guys seem more threatening when they can actually beat you. I like that it didn't have the "we're the Federation/good-guys and we always win" mentality.
i thought this was supposed to be the mirror universe of star trek, not a documentary of the United States
This is what the DIS mirror universe spinoff should be like.
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