![]() ![]() Such arcs are often what makes a character compelling enough to tempt authors into writing a prequel about them in the first place. They gain wisdom, confidence, or a better moral compass, and we love them for it. Some of the most compelling characters are those who go through major changes by the story’s end. Audiences like to be surprised at a story’s end, and there’s only so much surprise a prequel can deliver. ![]() Less obviously, this also reduces satisfaction. The ending is unavoidably spoiled as a function of being a prequel. If we know things are going to turn out okay, we won’t have any reason to worry about the outcome. To explain all that, Discovery’s writers send half the cast to the future at the end of season two, then gather everyone else in a room and make them pinky swear not to mention anything that contradicts the timeline. ![]() Likewise, it goes beyond any suspension of disbelief that Spock has had a super-famous sister this whole time and she was never mentioned. It would ruin the entire plot of Voyager, since they could just use it to jump home. The later Star Trek shows can’t have Discovery‘s spore drive hanging around. If something happens that does appear to break the established timeline, that both confuses the audience and raises the specter of a contrived plot device to cover everything up. * We know Earth won’t be destroyed by the Xindi in Enterprise’s third season, because then the TNG characters would have nowhere to get sage advice from Boothby the plain-talking gardener! Anakin’s lightsaber can’t be lost in the prequel trilogy Luke needs to get it in A New Hope. The same dynamic applies to important factions, items, towns – almost anything. We know nothing too bad can happen to Moiraine or Lan in the Wheel of Time prequel novel New Spring, because they need to be alive and in possession of all their limbs when Eye of the World starts. Fates Are PredeterminedĪny time you use a recognizable person, place, or thing * in a prequel, your options are immediately restricted. On the bright side, the reasons for this are easily condensed into a single list, so at least we know what we’re dealing with. Prequels are an especially challenging type of story to write, and many authors simply aren’t prepared for the extra difficulties. Nothing in the original trilogy outright says they didn’t do that! But we all know that wasn’t the implication. Sure, it’s not technically a retcon that Leia went on a thrilling adventure with Obi-Wan when she was ten. Even when a prequel is good, there are usually little things that feel off. More often than not, prequels answer questions no one was asking, completely muck up the timeline, or are just boring. Prequels have a well-deserved reputation for being bad, to the point that even devoted fans will often groan when they hear that their favorite story is getting a prequel installment. ![]()
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