Timelines
I'm trying to figure out the various timelines that occurred in the game. For the sake of simplicity, I won't bother with the possible timelines that occurred between the end of the movies and the beginning of the game.
Timeline One: Doc (as "Carl Sagan") is killed by Kid Tannen in 1931. The automatic system brings the DeLorean and Einstein to 1986, which doesn't create a new timeline.
Timeline Two: Marty goes back to June of 1931 to rescue Doc, only to inadvertently get Artie McFly killed by Kid.
Timeline Three: Marty goes back by one day to rescue Artie. He has Artie go into hiding, the result of which caused a chain reaction that led to Kid never being jailed and Biff having two brothers (upon Doc and Marty returning to 1986).
Timeline Four: Marty and Doc go back to 1931 to reunite Artie with Trixie. Along the way, they cause young Emmett and Edna to fall for each other - which leads to the Citizen Brown Timeline (as Doc and Einstein disappear upon returning to 1986, leaving only Marty). The fact that this timeline retroactively erases the events of 1885 still confuses me.
Timeline Five: Marty and CB-Doc go back to 1931. Now this is where things get complex. Even though Edna went back to 1876 first, Doc (arriving from 1986) somehow grew up in a timeline where Hill Valley still exists. Apparently, Marty also grows older from 1931 (making him about 72 or 73 by 1986).
Timeline Six: Doc from 1986 goes back in time to 1931 to get Marty.
Timeline Seven: After Edna went back in time to 1876, Hill Valley is no more.
Timeline Eight: Doc and Marty go back to 1876 to stop Edna from burning down Hill Valley. They bring Edna back to 1931, and then return to their own time of 1986.
Timeline One: Doc (as "Carl Sagan") is killed by Kid Tannen in 1931. The automatic system brings the DeLorean and Einstein to 1986, which doesn't create a new timeline.
Timeline Two: Marty goes back to June of 1931 to rescue Doc, only to inadvertently get Artie McFly killed by Kid.
Timeline Three: Marty goes back by one day to rescue Artie. He has Artie go into hiding, the result of which caused a chain reaction that led to Kid never being jailed and Biff having two brothers (upon Doc and Marty returning to 1986).
Timeline Four: Marty and Doc go back to 1931 to reunite Artie with Trixie. Along the way, they cause young Emmett and Edna to fall for each other - which leads to the Citizen Brown Timeline (as Doc and Einstein disappear upon returning to 1986, leaving only Marty). The fact that this timeline retroactively erases the events of 1885 still confuses me.
Timeline Five: Marty and CB-Doc go back to 1931. Now this is where things get complex. Even though Edna went back to 1876 first, Doc (arriving from 1986) somehow grew up in a timeline where Hill Valley still exists. Apparently, Marty also grows older from 1931 (making him about 72 or 73 by 1986).
Timeline Six: Doc from 1986 goes back in time to 1931 to get Marty.
Timeline Seven: After Edna went back in time to 1876, Hill Valley is no more.
Timeline Eight: Doc and Marty go back to 1876 to stop Edna from burning down Hill Valley. They bring Edna back to 1931, and then return to their own time of 1986.
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timeline four; this timeline seems to erase the trilogy time travels (doc doesnt invent time travel) hence why it is back to clayton ravine. Now the 1931 time travels do still happen as there's plenty of evidence including FCB having a photo of old doc and marty
timeline five; i'd assume since old doc is time travelling during the ripple, he may be exempted from it similar to what happens when doc and marty leave 2015 in part II. There's actually quite a bit of rippling going on at this moment because emmets future is drastically changing (not ending up with edna and ending up on better terms with his dad) and edna is simutaneously going back to 1876
timeline six; i guess, did doc say that was where he came from?
timeline eight; you are right, this is creating a new timeline for edna and kid.
Who wrote this crap? Stevan Moffat?
Although timeline 5 is slightly confusing i guess it makes sense if Marty never went back to the future.
Basically, the way I see it; If history is changed in 1985, Marty would be safe as long as he is 'present' in the moments before history is changed. If Marty was at home when a change in 1931 caused 1985 to change, he would have been rewritten. If Marty was also in 1931 when the timeline skewed, he would be safe, since it effectively rewrites the future while he is back in time. Changes to moments in the past should, in theory, only affect the present onward, not the past.
Of course, somehow a change in 1931 caused a change in 1885, which throws the whole "Marty is just creating alternate timelines" thing out the window. The only thing I can think of that would protect Marty, being in a present where the future AND past were both rewritten due to changes in the timeline, is that the time machine he was using at that moment existed outside of time- it wasn't supposed to exist.
Of course, the other way of looking at it, is that BTTF is best enjoyed as a movie/game, not as a scientifically accurate story
Here's where the fridge brilliance comes in. It was bugging me, trying to figure out why Edna still existed, since the town was burned down before she was ever born. But Mary Pickford was nearly 50 years older than when we last met Edna. Basically, she would have the same delayed ripple effect as Doc and Marty, at least from their perspective. It may be that, in 1885, a confused Edna would have seen herself vanishing as the fires burned around her. That timeline is now lost forever. But the timeline that Doc and Marty inhabit is based around their time stream, and so Edna gets another 50 years of existence before being snuffed out.
Man, that's convoluted.