Answer (1 of 14): The term “continuity error” gets thrown around a lot in reference to Trek, oftentimes erroneously.
Some of the most famous “continuity errors” can be explained with a little imagination and common sense.
WHY DOES KHAN KNOW CHEKHOV IF CHEKHOV WASN’T INTRODUCED TO STAR TREK UNTI...
It’s not a continuity error as such, but I’m a big fan of all the technologies that by rights should have completely upended galactic civilization but then just get forgotten.
The Genesis device should be an appalling superweapon that would change the face of war.
And then those missiles from Generations that can kill an entire solar system should, too.
And the time on TNG that they stumbled on a weird transporter trick that could make it so no one would ever need to die of old age ever again.
And the Tribble blood that cures death.
And so forth.
Presumably every warp capable species would have the ability to construct a few thousand hydrogen bombs (or weapons even more powerful) so would have the capability of wiping out life on a planet if they wanted to. So the Genesis device wouldn’t be a thing that would change the face of war, the problem was that a crazy person had such a weapon.
Though Star Trek is kinda hand wavy around nuclear weapons in general… maybe photon torpedoes are more powerful than an H-Bomb? But it doesn’t feel that way. At any rate, Starfleet, the Klingons, Romulans, etc. all have technology to wipe out a planet because we have that technology in the present day. They just don’t do that I guess? To me that’s the real continuity error.
Another time a transporter accident led to a copy of Riker (with all of his memories) both on the ship and on the planet. You could recreate those conditions and create endless copies of people. The Federation wouldn’t do that because of morals and stuff, but the Dominion wouldn’t give a shit. They could have their best squad of Jem Hader stand on a transporter pad and beam down endless copies of them down onto a planet. They’re cloning people anyway, so why not take it to the next level?
The transporter is just endless continuity problems. Shields are down, oh no they’re beaming over boarding parties! Why are they doing that instead of using the transporting the crew of the enemy ship into their brig (if they’re good guys) or into space (if they’re bad guys)?
I can suggest an explanation - conservation of mass/ energy.
let’s assume that Lt Riker’s ship had to use up at least 40kg of antimatter (and 40kg of matter, but that’s cheap) to generate the energy for that transporter operation that produced a whole extra 80kg Riker.
that’s a bare minimum with perfectly efficient engines and transporters, so it was probably well over 70kg of antimatter.
the Dominion decides that a few years of growing and training new troops is far less expensive than spending so much antimatter.
you ever read bad space. he has a great one where they have something like a transporter so they start remaking everything but the brain to a younger pattern.
Don’t forget Doctor Giger’s Cellular Regeneration and Entertainment Chamber!