History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E10Parallels

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: At the time of production, the rights to the song "Happy Birthday", despite its common use, were privately held. To avoid any sort of legal issue (similar to why it took a long time before [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E11ShipInABottle Moriarty returned to the series]]), the writers thought it safe to substitute "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" instead, despite the rights owners not really seeing this as an issue.

* MasterSwordsman: In both the original and final timeline, Worf was the Klingon bat'leth tournament champion. In the 9th place timeline, an opponent cheated, and in another he had to pull out last minute due to an emergency.

* InSpiteOfANail: All the universes Worf shifts through are at least broadly similar to the "real" one, in that he and most of the same group always end up on the Enterprise. This is vaguely implied to be an actual in-universe phenomenon, as for the most part Worf's brief exposures are "nudging" him into timelines that are relatively close to his own, with only a few minor divergences in most cases.

* ExpendableAlternateUniverse: Of the parallel timelines we get glimpses of, Riker is killed in one, Geordi gets killed in two, and Picard is long dead in one of them. On another note, this is such famous example of the trope, that Creator/JJAbrams used this episode to explain how the new timeline from [[Film/StarTrek2009 the 2009 reboot]]/Kelvin Timeline works with the Prime timeline.

'''Crapsack Riker:''' No! We won't go back!

Worf returns home from winning a Klingon bat'leth tournament and has a [[SurpriseParty surprise birthday party]] thrown for him by Riker. As he reluctantly celebrates being "old enough," he notices several subtle changes in his own reality: The flavor of the cake changes, and Captain Picard suddenly appears at the party after sending word that wouldn't be available. As the ''Enterprise'' works on the Argus Array, a space telescope that is having problems, Worf has more dizzy spells, with more slight perception problems: officers switching positions, appearing and disappearing. More troubling, Doctor Crusher remembers him complaining about a concussion he suffered when he lost the bat'leth tournament. He returns to his room to find his champion's trophy replaced with one for ninth place.

* TheHerosBirthday: Worf's birthday.

* AGlitchInTheMatrix: Worf begins to notice that small details are off from how he remembered them -- the placement of decorations, the positions where people are standing, Starfleet uniforms and insignia, and even Data's eyes changing colour. As the episode progresses, the differences are magnified to the extent that Picard was killed at Wolf 359, Riker is captain of the ''Enterprise'', and Counselor Troi is Worf's wife. Rather than being trapped in a LotusEaterMachine, it turns out that Worf is shifting through increasingly divergent parallel universes.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When Captain Picard starts talking with Captain Riker, Commander Riker shares a surprised look with Lieutenant Worf over seeing Captain Riker and Commander Worf.

* UnevenHybrid: Worf and Deanna's unseen children in the final alternate timeline. Their mother's half-human, half-HumanAlien; their father's a full-on RubberForeheadAlien.

* BookEnds: Worf returning to the ''Enterprise'' after a ''bat'leth'' tournament and going to his quarters, talking with Riker along the way, suspecting a surprise birthday party waiting for him. In the beginning part of the episode, the birthday party takes place, but in the ending, it doesn't, with just Deanna Troi taking care of things until Worf returned.

--> '''Crapsack Riker:''' We won't go back! You don't know what it's like in our universe! The Federation's gone! The Borg is everywhere! ''([[ExplosiveInstrumentation a console explodes in the background]])'' We're one of the last ships left. Please, you've got to help us!\\

* StockFootage: The only new visual effects shots for this episode are the shots of the fissure, and the shots involving thousands of ''Enterprise'' clones showing up. Probably because of the time and expense involved in creating the latter shot, every other effects shot is taken from previous episodes.

* HumanMomNonHumanDad: Worf and Deanna's unseen children in the final alternate timeline. Their mother's half-human, half-HumanAlien; their father's a full-on RubberForeheadAlien.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: It turns out that rights to the song "Happy Birthday", despite its common use, are privately held. To avoid any sort of legal issue (similar to why it took a long time before [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E11ShipInABottle Moriarty returned to the series]]), the writers thought it safe to substitute "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" instead, despite the rights owners not really seeing this as an issue.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The Bajorans, in one timeline.

* ExpendableAlternateUniverse: Geordi gets killed in two of the parallel timelines, and Picard is long dead in one of them. On another note, this is such famous example of the trope, that Creator/JJAbrams used this episode to explain how the new timeline from [[Film/StarTrek2009 the 2009 reboot]]/Kelvin Timeline works with the Prime timeline.

--> '''Worf:''' That is ''not'' a Klingon song.\\

* ExpendableAlternateUniverse: To such a degree that Creator/JJAbrams used this episode to explain how the new timeline from [[Film/StarTrek2009 the 2009 reboot]] works with the Prime timeline.