Old memories vs. New memories

edited April 2012 in Back to the Future
This thread is for people who believe that time traveller's will eventually 'regain' their memories of 'newer' timelines (for eg. TP Marty would eventually gain the memories of living with a successful family in the LP timeline)

While I believe they will have their memories of both (or more) timelines, I'm at a bit of a loss to explain which set of memories would be dominant, and which 'version' would the time traveller consider himself.

There have been many mechanisms to explain the memory issue-one is that everytime the 'new version' of the time traveller goes back, his memory is replaced by the earliest version to make the trip...so he is essentially (retroactively) the 'new version' all along, albeit with old memories, and eventually, he will gain back his 'real memories', and he would thus essentially consider himself the 'new version'.

However, there is another theory (which is actually closer to what I believe) that when the 'new' version of the time traveller goes back, he is erased from existence...the old one re-appears from the original timeline, and later returns to the 'revised' timeline, gradually gaining the memories of the 'erased' alternate self....in which case, the original memories may well remain dominant.

So I'm curious to see what opinions would be on this issue, and whether we ultimately end up with LP/Eastwood Marty, or TP Marty with LP/Eastwood memories?

Comments

  • The original memories. In the 'hill valley burned down' timeline, edna seems to remember the previous timeline (including Emmett) even though from her perspective, that timeline has been destroyed for 55 years.
  • edited July 2011
    The original memories. In the 'hill valley burned down' timeline, edna seems to remember the previous timeline (including Emmett) even though from her perspective, that timeline has been destroyed for 55 years.

    Fair enough. I must clarify that this thread is based on the fundamental assumptions that the time traveller's would have BOTH sets of memories...its just a question of which one is dominant.

    So, by extension, as per your viewpoint, Marty would predominantly remember the TP timeline (which does work with what we see in the games)
  • edited July 2011
    I think that, eventually, the time traveller's memories of the new timeline would be more dominant. Actually, the end of Part III sort of supports my theory - when he commented that his family was "back to normal". My theory is that TP Marty and LP Marty fuse into one person.

    Let's consider this scenario:

    Somehow, TP George ends up going back to 1955 with Marty. TP George just stays at Doc's mansion, while Marty does all the work of getting his parents to meet. Other than TP George being at Doc's mansion, the events of that week mostly match those of the first movie.

    I think, upon returning to 1985, TP George would physically transform to LP George - but, momentarily, have strictly TP George's memories and personality. After some time, though, I think George would not only gain his LP memories - but he would also be a lot more like LP George in personality, while never really losing his memories of being TP George.
  • edited July 2011
    I think that at first the old memories would be dominant but after a while the memories of the revised timeline would become dominant, although the old memories would never disappear.
    Also I don't think he could ever consider himself the 'new version' whether the new memories are most dominant or not because he would have grown up with different experiences in his life meaning he could never be the same person as the other person.
  • edited July 2011
    Also I don't think he could ever consider himself the 'new version' whether the new memories are most dominant or not because he would have grown up with different experiences in his life meaning he could never be the same person as the other person.

    I don't really see it that way. You're looking at him as TP Marty with dominant LP Marty memories, but I see him as a complete fusion of the two (with LP Marty's physical appearances and dominant LP Marty's memories). In other words, neither past is "less real" to him.

    I maintain that if TP George went back to 1955 with Marty, the events of the first film remain mostly the same (albeit with TP George in 1955), then he returns to 1985 with Marty - he would eventually become more like LP George (confident and a successful author), but never losing his TP memories.

    I actually did a similar fanfic, where Marty Jr from the 2015 that we see in Part II goes back to 1985. He warns his father about the race with Needles, and convinces his father to overcome his "chicken" problem. After returning to 2015, where Marty's future is brighter, Marty Jr becomes his more confident self (and gains a girlfriend, who he was dating for two years).
  • edited July 2011
    I think that at first the old memories would be dominant but after a while the memories of the revised timeline would become dominant, although the old memories would never disappear.
    Also I don't think he could ever consider himself the 'new version' whether the new memories are most dominant or not because he would have grown up with different experiences in his life meaning he could never be the same person as the other person.

    To an extent, I kinda agree with that.

    One can possibly argue that the 'newer' version of the time traveller's who travel back to the same point in space-time as a previous version of them is erased...and that the ripple effect, rather than making the original version the new version, merely gives the original version the memories of the new version.

    Then again, bttf4's point about it being a 'complete fusion' also kinda makes sense...since it would be logical for the memories of the 'current' timeline to supercede the old one.

    Here is to my mind a list of observations about Marty and his memories and personality, based on the films and the game-

    1. The day after Marty returns from 1955 (morning of October 26th), he appears to clearly be the TP version exclusively and is shocked by the LP timeline. Although, bear in mind that he is dazed and disoriented and even at first considers the whole 1955 adventure to be a nightmare...so he may well have two sets of memories already without knowing it. He does refer to his truck as the 'new truck'-and yet seems very accepting of the LP version of his parents. His look at them before Doc's return does seem to indicate recognition at least on some sub-concious level.

    2. After Marty has arrived in 2015, he seems to be a subtly different individual from what we saw in BTTF1. No longer is he worried about facing rejection and the fact that he's not cut out for music-he is instead brimming with confidence and is sure he'll be a rich rock star in the future. He has also developed a new aspect to his personality (the 'chicken problem'), which we don't exactly see in BTTF1 (although, the two Bobs have stated that had they planned a trilogy, they would have given him the chicken problem right from the beginning, and he was a wee bit headstrong in the first film as well)-but the 'chicken problem' being due to his new upbringing is too potent a theory to disregard. So I'd say by this point, his personality, is not his memory, is affected by the LP version.

    3. Marty tells Old Biff "George McFly is NO LONGER a loser"-now that statement can be interpreted as meaning he CLEARLY remembers the TP timeline, which is fair enough. A lot of people have erroneously taken it to believe he DOES NOT remember the LP timeline. One thing is clear-Marty, from his POV, believes that George WAS a loser who has now become 'cool'-even though he may technically 'remember' him being cool all along, because he still has his original memories and may even consider them 'more real' than the new ones at this point.

    4. In 1985-A, Marty seems shocked when it appears to him that Lorraine and George have split up...if he remembered only the TP versions, this shouldn't have been TOO surprising for him (that was a really unhappy marriage), which means he very clearly remembers a time when they were happily married (though granted, this is a stretch, but still...)

    5. Upon returning from 1885 in the end, Marty reacts to his LP family as saying "Thank God you're all back to normal" and doesn't in the least seem perturbed or surprised by the LP versions. So clearly, on some subconcious level, he now unquestioningly accepts the LP versions as his 'true family', indicating perhaps that the LP memories are gaining some dominance. He also drives the truck quiet confidantly, as though he knows how to do it and has done it before, so another point in favour of his being LP Marty now.

    6. In Episode 3, Marty clearly refers to the TP versions of George and Lorraine, while explaining the events of the first film to Citizen Brown (indeed the FCB versions do resemble the TP versions, owing to Marty's 1955 trip being erased)...so he definetly remembers them; however he also refers to a photo of LP George as his 'real Dad' or something like that. In Episode 5, Marty seems to lament growing up with a 'milksop' of a father...indicating that on some level, he still considers his TP upbringing to be his 'real' upbringing.

    So based on these points, it seems the argument can go either way
  • edited July 2011
    You make some very good points, sn939.

    Just one thing I want to mention, though. Marty in Episode Five didn't seem too distraught about growing up with a wimpy George. He just pointed out that that also isn't so great, when young Emmett mentions wishing that he had that kind of father. I think Marty will always remember both timelines clearly, but that the new timeline takes dominance. He probably remembers more fondly his childhood in the LP Timeline.
  • Well what do you think edna remembers in the timeline she destroys hill valley?

    She clearly does remember the previous timeline where she was with emmett but is that the only timeline she'd remember? Let's assume she is still born in the destroyed hill valley timeline; do you think she'd remember the timeline concurrently going on where she's growing up in a different town? Keep in mind for her, that would essentially be remembering the future.

    Consider these 2 timelines (I am somewhat filling in the blanks) let's assume edna is born in 1911 making her 20 in 1931 and 75 in 1986
    in the previous timeline she'd be born in 1911, go back in time from 1931 to 1876 and remain in that timeline and thus be 75 in 1931
    let's assume in the hill valley destroyed timeline edna is still born in 1911 but in a different city (let's say hollywood and we'll call her hollywood edna)
    in 1931 would hill valley Edna have all of hollywood ednas memories all the way up to 1986 (the year hollywood edna is 75)?

    I dont think the memories do merge or overlap; in 1885 doc clearly has NO recollection of his second encounter with marty in 1955 (doesnt remember his silly clothes, sending him back, finding his own tombstomb
  • edited July 2011
    I think Edna would not remember the No Hill Valley Timeline until the moment that her younger self went back in time. Perhaps, suddenly gaining a new set of memories added to her insanity.

    Also, apparently, the novelization of the third film does have Doc remembering dressing Marty in the "ridiculous outfit" shortly after Marty shows up in 1885 - and even his rationale for it. So that also helps support my theory. Although, whether or not you accept it as canon is up for grabs.
  • edited July 2011
    Well what do you think edna remembers in the timeline she destroys hill valley?

    She clearly does remember the previous timeline where she was with emmett but is that the only timeline she'd remember? Let's assume she is still born in the destroyed hill valley timeline; do you think she'd remember the timeline concurrently going on where she's growing up in a different town? Keep in mind for her, that would essentially be remembering the future.

    Consider these 2 timelines (I am somewhat filling in the blanks) let's assume edna is born in 1911 making her 20 in 1931 and 75 in 1986
    in the previous timeline she'd be born in 1911, go back in time from 1931 to 1876 and remain in that timeline and thus be 75 in 1931
    let's assume in the hill valley destroyed timeline edna is still born in 1911 but in a different city (let's say hollywood and we'll call her hollywood edna)
    in 1931 would hill valley Edna have all of hollywood ednas memories all the way up to 1986 (the year hollywood edna is 75)?

    I dont think the memories do merge or overlap; in 1885 doc clearly has NO recollection of his second encounter with marty in 1955 (doesnt remember his silly clothes, sending him back, finding his own tombstomb

    No, Edna wouldn't remember the 'destroyed Hill Valley' timeline for two reasons-firstly, the ripple effect would only give time traveller's memories of the new timeline once they return to what is supposed to be their present (or at any rate, some point AFTER their present)...Edna never really returned to her present; while she has made it back to 1931, it is through the natural course of time; she is still a temporally displaced person.

    More importantly of course, is that 'destroyed Hill Valley' Edna, if she even existed, would never have travelled back in time and could thus NEVER become 'our' Edna who's trapped in the past...much like how 'our' Marty and Doc in BTTF2 would never really remember the 1985-A timeline, because their 1985-A counterparts never travelled back in time, and thus couldn't logically be their past selves (but would instead be ALTERNATE selves).

    Likewise, I don't think there is any point in BTTF3, in 1885, where Doc remembers Marty's second visit to him in 1955 (the novelisation has got that dead wrong). AFTER he returns to 1985 (or beyond) when he builds the time train, he would gain his new memories (though whether or not he would remember the tombstone, which doesn't exist anymore, is another question entirely).
  • edited July 2011
    My theory is that Doc wouldn't remember the gravestone. Here is what I think happened in the final timeline (of the movies).

    I think Marty, curious to find out what Doc's life in the past is like (because, remember, he was told to go straight back to 1985), would spend some time at the library. At some point, he would stumble across the picture of "Clint Eastwood" and Doc. He would deduce from that that, somehow, he needs to go back to 1885. I'm not sure if he would show Doc '55 the photo, but he would tell Doc '55 what he found - and that he needs to go to the past.

    So, instead of the gravestone, Marty has that photo with "Clint Eastwood" in it.
  • edited July 2011
    bttf4444 wrote: »
    My theory is that Doc wouldn't remember the gravestone. Here is what I think happened in the final timeline (of the movies).

    I think Marty, curious to find out what Doc's life in the past is like (because, remember, he was told to go straight back to 1985), would spend some time at the library. At some point, he would stumble across the picture of "Clint Eastwood" and Doc. He would deduce from that that, somehow, he needs to go back to 1885. I'm not sure if he would show Doc '55 the photo, but he would tell Doc '55 what he found - and that he needs to go to the past.

    So, instead of the gravestone, Marty has that photo with "Clint Eastwood" in it.

    Yeah, that's pretty much the same theory I recently came up with. Though of course, the 'echo theory' might also apply here, with the tombstone temporarily appearing to ensure its own non-existence.

    I don't know how you arrived at this theory-but I came up with it by reading the commentary for BTTF3 online...Bob Gale mentions how the partially destroyed picture of Doc by the Clock Tower, which Marty had brought with him from 1955, would likely have had Marty in it as well had it been completed. This meant that in the Eastwood timeline, Marty should logically have come across the photograph with him in it.
  • edited July 2011
    I don't think that the timetraveler gets any new memories from the new timeline except when he experience them him self, like TP -Marty is still TP-Marty even though he lives in LP-Martys timeline.
  • bttf4444 wrote: »
    My theory is that Doc wouldn't remember the gravestone. Here is what I think happened in the final timeline (of the movies).

    I think Marty, curious to find out what Doc's life in the past is like (because, remember, he was told to go straight back to 1985), would spend some time at the library. At some point, he would stumble across the picture of "Clint Eastwood" and Doc. He would deduce from that that, somehow, he needs to go back to 1885. I'm not sure if he would show Doc '55 the photo, but he would tell Doc '55 what he found - and that he needs to go to the past.

    So, instead of the gravestone, Marty has that photo with "Clint Eastwood" in it.

    No he wouldnt because thats not the way bttf time travel works. The future of time travel is not written so while marty is in 1955, there would be no evidence of clint eastwood in 1885 because it hasn't happened yet. Doc gets the picture by himself with the clock when he's in 1885 by himself, he and marty get it together when they are there. Although it's never shown, marty should appear next to doc in the pic marty brings back to 1885. This is why the only time that pic is shown after the party (right after the delorean gets detroyed in 1885), half of it is torn off, which is the spot marty was standing. If that side wasnt torn off, it would likley have marty in that pic.
  • edited July 2011
    No he wouldnt because thats not the way bttf time travel works. The future of time travel is not written so while marty is in 1955, there would be no evidence of clint eastwood in 1885 because it hasn't happened yet. Doc gets the picture by himself with the clock when he's in 1885 by himself, he and marty get it together when they are there. Although it's never shown, marty should appear next to doc in the pic marty brings back to 1885. This is why the only time that pic is shown after the party (right after the delorean gets detroyed in 1885), half of it is torn off, which is the spot marty was standing. If that side wasnt torn off, it would likley have marty in that pic.

    Yeah, that's pretty much what bttf4444 and I and saying.

    We are dealing with 2 timelines here-the Shonash timeline and the Eastwood timeline. The Shonash timeline is the one we see early in BTTF3 after Doc is sent back to 1885. In this timeline, in 1955, Marty sees the tombstone and decides to go back and save Doc, creating the Eastwood timeline. The rest of the movie is set in Eastwood 1885...however, whatever changes Marty made in 1885 (including preventing Doc's death and destroying the tombstone) would 'ripple forward' into 1955...so in Eastwood 1955, there would be no tombstone for Marty to find, and the picture in the library would logically have both Marty and Doc in it. We never see the events in 1955 play out in this final timeline, but we can assume something happened to cause Marty to go back to 1885, otherwise we either have a paradox on our hands, or a situation of two Marty's.
  • edited July 2011
    Accidentaly I vote for Memories of the revised timeline
  • edited July 2011
    sn939 wrote: »
    I don't know how you arrived at this theory-but I came up with it by reading the commentary for BTTF3 online...Bob Gale mentions how the partially destroyed picture of Doc by the Clock Tower, which Marty had brought with him from 1955, would likely have had Marty in it as well had it been completed. This meant that in the Eastwood timeline, Marty should logically have come across the photograph with him in it.

    While I agree with Mike Mahoney's theory of your future selves (and any children that your future self has) disappearing, if you stay in the future for over 24 hours - I never cared for his theory of Doc creating a fake tombstone for Marty to find in 1955 of the final timeline. It just seemed too contrived, for me.

    So I kind of had to figure out my own solution on the events of what would lead to Marty's decision in 1955 of the Eastwood timeline to go back to 1885. The other possibility would've been for him to just disregard Doc's wishes to go back to 1985, because he would miss his friend too much.

    However, I then thought of how Marty brought back two photos to 1885 - the one of Doc's gravestone and the one of Doc standing in front of the clock tower. I always knew that the clock tower photo that Marty took with Doc in 1885 was the equivalent of the one where Doc was originally the only one who stood in front of the clock tower.

    Even though there would be no gravestone for Marty to find, the picture of him and Doc standing in front of the clock tower would still be there. Since Marty assumed that he would never see his friend, again - I figured that it would only be natural for him to want to find out how his friend spent the rest of his life. It's at that point that he would find the clock tower photo, and be shocked to see himself in it. He might, at first, assume that it was an ancestor of his - until he sees the name "Clint Eastwood". He would then draw the conclusion that "Clint Eastwood" was, in actuality, himself.

    So that's that.
  • bttf4444 wrote: »

    However, I then thought of how Marty brought back two photos to 1885 - the one of Doc's gravestone and the one of Doc standing in front of the clock tower. I always knew that the clock tower photo that Marty took with Doc in 1885 was the equivalent of the one where Doc was originally the only one who stood in front of the clock tower.

    Even though there would be no gravestone for Marty to find, the picture of him and Doc standing in front of the clock tower would still be there. Since Marty assumed that he would never see his friend, again - I figured that it would only be natural for him to want to find out how his friend spent the rest of his life. It's at that point that he would find the clock tower photo, and be shocked to see himself in it. He might, at first, assume that it was an ancestor of his - until he sees the name "Clint Eastwood". He would then draw the conclusion that "Clint Eastwood" was, in actuality, himself.

    So that's that.

    By this logic then, how does Marty know he broke his parents up in 1955? By this rationale the picture of his parents wouldn't fade out and he'd have no clue anythings wrong and hide in docs place for the week.
  • edited July 2011
    It's not the same thing. Even though my theory is that the memories do update, I believe that Marty is always TP Marty during his initial week in 1955. Because 1955 comes before 1985, the photo will still fade out.

    However, in the Eastwood timeline, 1955 comes after 1885 - so it only make sense that the photo of Doc and Marty in front of the clock tower would remain intact.
  • edited July 2011
    By this logic then, how does Marty know he broke his parents up in 1955? By this rationale the picture of his parents wouldn't fade out and he'd have no clue anythings wrong and hide in docs place for the week.
    bttf4444 wrote: »
    It's not the same thing. Even though my theory is that the memories do update, I believe that Marty is always TP Marty during his initial week in 1955. Because 1955 comes before 1985, the photo will still fade out.

    However, in the Eastwood timeline, 1955 comes after 1885 - so it only make sense that the photo of Doc and Marty in front of the clock tower would remain intact.

    Yeah, bttf4444 is right.

    When Marty arrives in 1955, he is always TP Marty, whose natural timeline involves his parents falling in love because George was hit by Lorraine's father's car. Therefore, when he prevents that event, the probability of his and his siblings being born gradually reduces, until November 12th 1955. By making his parents fall in love, albeit under different (better, in fact) circumstances, Marty has restored the probability of his existence (and his sibling's) to 100%, and therefore stops fading. In a sense, at least in terms of strict causality, he becomes LP Marty in that moment, though he still remembers the original timeline. It is only later, after returning to 1985 and spending about 9 hours there, that memories of his 'new life' unconciously start to 'ripple' into his mind.

    In fact, the idea that TP Marty has BECOME LP Marty (at least in terms of causality, if not memory, though I believe both happened) might explain away a minor doubt a few people have about the 1955 segment of BTTF2. Some people wondered if BTTF2 Marty should have started to fade out, just like his BTTF1 counterpart had, at the time when it seemed probable that George and Lorraine weren't going to kiss...the answer is no. Let's look at it this way-BTTF1 Marty is TP Marty-so from the POV of his personal timeline, his parents fell in love when George was hit by the car, and since he prevented that event, his existence was in jeopardy, until he got his parents to meet in another way, whereupon he becomes LP Marty in terms of causality (though not yet memory). Whereas, BTTF2 Marty is ALREADY LP Marty (in terms of causality, and very likely memory to, to some extent)...his parents falling in love because George punched out Biff and their nearly not kissing is part of HIS personal timeline, hence everything is 'all right' for him and he doesn't fade.

    So during the events of BTTF1, Marty's existence would continue to be in jeopardy because he is TP Marty. When he returns to 1955 in BTTF2, he is LP Marty and so his existence is no longer in jeopardy.
  • edited July 2011
    sn939 wrote: »
    In fact, the idea that TP Marty has BECOME LP Marty (at least in terms of causality, if not memory, though I believe both happened) might explain away a minor doubt a few people have about the 1955 segment of BTTF2. Some people wondered if BTTF2 Marty should have started to fade out, just like his BTTF1 counterpart had, at the time when it seemed probable that George and Lorraine weren't going to kiss...the answer is no. Let's look at it this way-BTTF1 Marty is TP Marty-so from the POV of his personal timeline, his parents fell in love when George was hit by the car, and since he prevented that event, his existence was in jeopardy, until he got his parents to meet in another way, whereupon he becomes LP Marty in terms of causality (though not yet memory). Whereas, BTTF2 Marty is ALREADY LP Marty (in terms of causality, and very likely memory to, to some extent)...his parents falling in love because George punched out Biff and their nearly not kissing is part of HIS personal timeline, hence everything is 'all right' for him and he doesn't fade.

    So during the events of BTTF1, Marty's existence would continue to be in jeopardy because he is TP Marty. When he returns to 1955 in BTTF2, he is LP Marty and so his existence is no longer in jeopardy.

    Yes, agree with you 100%. :) I also want to add to that that I think, if Marty 2 (who we follow in the second movie) had brought the photo of his family back to 1955 (he may have), he and his siblings would not fade out in that photo.

    Also, here's another thing to consider - as far as memories go. A user called Weather Experiment had written a miniature fanfic detailing Marty's thoughts during the scene towards the end of the first movie - when Marty goes into the kitchen, and sees that his family has changed.

    I don't know where the fic is, now (if it's even still online) - but I remember the part where Lorraine comments on Marty going to the lake with Jennifer. Marty then responds with reminding his mother that they talked about it - and that Marty is not going to the lake, because the car is wrecked. Now, if you remember the beginning of the movie, Marty never talked with his mother about it - because he figured that his mother would disapprove. It was his father who he talked about the wrecked car with. From that, Weather Experiment had deducted that Marty's LP memories were already beginning to catch up with him - so, it's in that confusion that Marty suddenly thinks he talked with his mother about the car wreck. I hadn't really thought about that part, until I read the fic - but I think what Weather Experiment said makes perfect sense.

    So there's also that to consider. :)
  • edited July 2011
    bttf4444 wrote: »
    Yes, agree with you 100%. :) I also want to add to that that I think, if Marty 2 (who we follow in the second movie) had brought the photo of his family back to 1955 (he may have), he and his siblings would not fade out in that photo.

    Also, here's another thing to consider - as far as memories go. A user called Weather Experiment had written a miniature fanfic detailing Marty's thoughts during the scene towards the end of the first movie - when Marty goes into the kitchen, and sees that his family has changed.

    I don't know where the fic is, now (if it's even still online) - but I remember the part where Lorraine comments on Marty going to the lake with Jennifer. Marty then responds with reminding his mother that they talked about it - and that Marty is not going to the lake, because the car is wrecked. Now, if you remember the beginning of the movie, Marty never talked with his mother about it - because he figured that his mother would disapprove. It was his father who he talked about the wrecked car with. From that, Weather Experiment had deducted that Marty's LP memories were already beginning to catch up with him - so, it's in that confusion that Marty suddenly thinks he talked with his mother about the car wreck. I hadn't really thought about that part, until I read the fic - but I think what Weather Experiment said makes perfect sense.

    So there's also that to consider. :)

    Is it a fic called Matchbooks? Cuz if so, I may have read it once.

    I remember, that fic is set in the Eastwood timeline...so in the end, when Biff sees the Delorean flying and disappearing, he suddenly remembers 'Calvin Klien' stealing the Almanac from him and escaping in the Delorean thirty years ago, as well as the second manure truck crash...

    Regarding the whole memory issue, I think an interesting question would be Jennifer's memories...Jennifer is knocked unconcious in one timeline, and sleeps through both an alternate timeline and multiple timeline shifts. From the time Jennifer is left behind on the porch in 1985-A, there are no less than three time jumps to the past, meaning she was unconciously shifted through three timelines (the repaired Lone Pine timeline, the Shonash timeline and the Eastwood timeline). So I'm curious to know, when she wakes up, what timeline would she remember? What would she think is the ravine's name? Would she remember it as Clayton Ravine? Or would she remember it being called Eastwood Ravine? Or would she remember it being called Clayton Ravine originally and now have new memories of it being called Eastwood Ravine? And would she even remember it ever being called Shonash Ravine?
  • edited July 2011
    I must clarify that this thread is based on the fundamental assumptions that the time traveller's would have BOTH sets of memories...its just a question of which one is dominant.
    Read half of the first page of this topic but I really don't understand what caused you to make that assumption.

    As far as I know, time-travelers will never get new timeline's memories. They just "get used to it". For example Marty calls LP parents as his family not because he starts to remember LP timeline, but rather he gets used to their new version as days pass. Also Marty's personality seems to be changing not because of gaining new memories but rather, the events in the past affects him also. When he is trying to get Loraine and George back together he gains some self-confidence. So timetraveler's personality changes are derived from his actions through time travels, not because he is remembering new memories. It's like this; TP Marty doesn't remember his LP past but he is as self confident as LP would be thanks to his adventure back in 1955.
  • edited July 2011
    WareKurt wrote: »
    Read half of the first page of this topic but I really don't understand what caused you to make that assumption.

    As far as I know, time-travelers will never get new timeline's memories. They just "get used to it". For example Marty calls LP parents as his family not because he starts to remember LP timeline, but rather he gets used to their new version as days pass. Also Marty's personality seems to be changing not because of gaining new memories but rather, the events in the past affects him also. When he is trying to get Loraine and George back together he gains some self-confidence. So timetraveler's personality changes are derived from his actions through time travels, not because he is remembering new memories. It's like this; TP Marty doesn't remember his LP past but he is as self confident as LP would be thanks to his adventure back in 1955.

    But Marty hasn't had TIME to 'get used to' his LP parents. He just meets them for all of 5 minutes at the end of BTTF1, before he sets off on his next set of temporal adventures, that span BTTF2 and 3. By the time he returns at the end of BTTF3, he has spent something like a little over a week away from 1985 (not counting the brief trip to 1985-A), yet he reacts to his LP family as being perfectly 'normal' despite his having met them in their current avatars for all of 5 minutes more than a week ago.

    Besides, its not just an assumption I'm making...but one which has been made by numerous fans and analysts of the series, as well as fanfic writers. And its something which to an extent is supported by the game...with Doc remembering the altered timeline where he met Marty as a teenager in 1931 in Ep 5.
  • edited July 2011
    But Marty hasn't had TIME to 'get used to' his LP parents...
    When I said "days passes" I didn't mean literaly. Think about this; you have a very close childhood friend but unfortunately he grows up to be a loser. So you help him getting some self-confidence. You are succesful and he is no more a loser. Won't you accept him as a friend anymore? Is he a total stranger now? You might be surprised how much he had changed but changes won't prevent you from regarding him as your friend. Everything changes over time.

    In Marty's case yeah, it's weird so he is shocked. But then again, they are the same physical beings whom he regarded as parents. It's just like they gained self confidence when he wasn't looking. Back to loser friend example, imagine you had a loser friend but they moved to another city for a few months. When he got back he was way too confident. Won't you then think of him as a friend? Will you wait a few days to call him "friend" again? I don't think so. Also don't forget the fact that Marty actually knows how they turned out to be like that. He knows that he altered their past so it shouldn't be that hard to accept their change. If you wake up one morning and see everything is different, you might wonder what is going on for months perhaps. But Marty knows he did someting about it.

    So him getting used to it so fast doesn't necessarily mean there is some kind of memory merge.
    ...And its something which to an extent is supported by the game...with Doc remembering the altered timeline where he met Marty as a teenager in 1931 in Ep 5.
    This is a different case I think. Marty travelled alone (given the fact that FCB got erased) and changed stuff so that new version of Doc is now a "new version" who remembers Marty. He is not the Doc from, let's say Ep1, who suddenly got some kind of memory merge. He remembers only one timeline.
  • edited April 2012
    The original memories. In the 'hill valley burned down' timeline, edna seems to remember the previous timeline (including Emmett) even though from her perspective, that timeline has been destroyed for 55 years.

    of course she remembers the previous timeline, she lived through it, then she went back, burnt down the town then lived over the same years just in a different timeline where there was no hill valley anymore. the thing is time travellers don't gain the memories from their counterparts from alternate timelines, back to the future doesn't work that way, they can be erased by undoing their birth or by changing the past that they never time travelled in the first place, destroying the original doc, since he never increased his life. Anyways they don't get memories from what their counterparts did because the originals never did it, and it was a timeline they weren't from anymore
  • edited April 2012
    sn939 wrote: »
    Is it a fic called Matchbooks? Cuz if so, I may have read it once.

    I remember, that fic is set in the Eastwood timeline...so in the end, when Biff sees the Delorean flying and disappearing, he suddenly remembers 'Calvin Klien' stealing the Almanac from him and escaping in the Delorean thirty years ago, as well as the second manure truck crash...

    Regarding the whole memory issue, I think an interesting question would be Jennifer's memories...Jennifer is knocked unconcious in one timeline, and sleeps through both an alternate timeline and multiple timeline shifts. From the time Jennifer is left behind on the porch in 1985-A, there are no less than three time jumps to the past, meaning she was unconciously shifted through three timelines (the repaired Lone Pine timeline, the Shonash timeline and the Eastwood timeline). So I'm curious to know, when she wakes up, what timeline would she remember? What would she think is the ravine's name? Would she remember it as Clayton Ravine? Or would she remember it being called Eastwood Ravine? Or would she remember it being called Clayton Ravine originally and now have new memories of it being called Eastwood Ravine? And would she even remember it ever being called Shonash Ravine?

    jennifer's memories of the ravine would be the same as marty's as she is from almost the same timeline as him, the only difference is 1955 happened differently before they were born. Marty mentions the ravine being called clayton ravine so jennifer does also. Marty will never remember the ravine being called shonash or eastwood because he's not from that timeline. With jennifer the original timeline changed around her when she was unconscious, so she will remember the first one, the clayton ravine one
  • jennifer's memories of the ravine would be the same as marty's as she is from almost the same timeline as him, the only difference is 1955 happened differently before they were born. Marty mentions the ravine being called clayton ravine so jennifer does also. Marty will never remember the ravine being called shonash or eastwood because he's not from that timeline. With jennifer the original timeline changed around her when she was unconscious, so she will remember the first one, the clayton ravine one

    No she wont. The clayton timeline was erased around Jennifer, she was not a part of that. She's asleep but here's how her timeline would go (at the end of the trilogy);

    she comes from the TP timeline but like everyone other than Marty, it transforms into the LP timeline around her.
    -she goes to a 2015 which eventually everyone other than herself, Marty, doc and Marty would not know of since it eventually becomes avoided
    -she goes back to 1985 biffhoric timeline which would transform around her 3 times actually; first back to the Clayton/LP timeline (or LP part II if you prefer), then to the shonash timeline (assuming it's still called that in 1985 when clara doesn't die), then to the eastwood timeline. So while she's never asked this (it's never verbally discussed once marty returns to the future, we only see the sign) it's assumed she'd remember whatever she was taught in school which is likely that a mysterious outlaw named Clint Eastwood stood up to Buford tannen and promptly hijacked a train which was ran off into a ravine. Marty and Doc are the only 2 people who would have remembered that it was once called Clayton ravine


    it is an interesting discussion what eventually happens in the aftermath of september 7th 1885; Buford goes to jail for 15 days and his gang abandons him similar to what seems to happen to Biff (minus jail) once he's humiliated in 1955. The train conductor would likely have reported the hijacking. If Emmet were questioned, he and clara could have blamed Eastwood. Laws were easily bent at this time and it's clear that Clint Eastwood is considered a town hero as everyone hates Buford.
  • edited April 2012
    No she wont. The clayton timeline was erased around Jennifer, she was not a part of that. She's asleep but here's how her timeline would go (at the end of the trilogy);

    she comes from the TP timeline but like everyone other than Marty, it transforms into the LP timeline around her.
    -she goes to a 2015 which eventually everyone other than herself, Marty, doc and Marty would not know of since it eventually becomes avoided
    -she goes back to 1985 biffhoric timeline which would transform around her 3 times actually; first back to the Clayton/LP timeline (or LP part II if you prefer), then to the shonash timeline (assuming it's still called that in 1985 when clara doesn't die), then to the eastwood timeline. So while she's never asked this (it's never verbally discussed once marty returns to the future, we only see the sign) it's assumed she'd remember whatever she was taught in school which is likely that a mysterious outlaw named Clint Eastwood stood up to Buford tannen and promptly hijacked a train which was ran off into a ravine. Marty and Doc are the only 2 people who would have remembered that it was once called Clayton ravine

    Well, it is quiet reasonable to suppose that since Jennifer is in 1985 when it transforms and she belongs to 1985, she gets transformed ALONG with it.

    However, Doc claims the timeline will transform AROUND her. Which raises questions...

    Suppose Jennifer was awake the moment Marty and Doc jumped back to 1955. If we go by the 'timeline transforming around her' theory, then she would visibly see reality transforming around her. The streets would get cleaner, the bars would disappear from her window, Biff's Pleasure Paradise would be replaced by the Clock Tower, George McFly's tombstone would disappear etc.

    But, while the timeline is transforming around her, if she happened to be by the ravine and saw the ravine sign, she would logically see 'Clayton Ravine' becoming 'Eastwood Ravine' as well. So wouldn't witnessing that alone allow her to remember that the ravine was originally called Clayton Ravine. She might gain new memories of it being called Eastwood Ravine as well, but wouldn't she also remember it as Clayton Ravine...
  • sn939 wrote: »
    Well, it is quiet reasonable to suppose that since Jennifer is in 1985 when it transforms and she belongs to 1985, she gets transformed ALONG with it.

    However, Doc claims the timeline will transform AROUND her. Which raises questions...

    Suppose Jennifer was awake the moment Marty and Doc jumped back to 1955. If we go by the 'timeline transforming around her' theory, then she would visibly see reality transforming around her. The streets would get cleaner, the bars would disappear from her window, Biff's Pleasure Paradise would be replaced by the Clock Tower, George McFly's tombstone would disappear etc.

    But, while the timeline is transforming around her, if she happened to be by the ravine and saw the ravine sign, she would logically see 'Clayton Ravine' becoming 'Eastwood Ravine' as well. So wouldn't witnessing that alone allow her to remember that the ravine was originally called Clayton Ravine. She might gain new memories of it being called Eastwood Ravine as well, but wouldn't she also remember it as Clayton Ravine...

    i guess doc means it metaphorically although we eventually see the timeline transform around doc and marty in the game. You could argue either way that they are time travelers and thus immune but so is she technically; he spent only 3 hours in 2015 and skipped 10 hours that day so she's still in the future in a sense.
  • edited April 2012
    I am pretty much of the theory that Einstein and Jennifer simply materialized into the new timeline. I think would still remember the ravine being called "Clayton Ravine" - but I think she would remember it as "Eastwood Ravine" before Marty would.
  • edited April 2012
    i guess doc means it metaphorically although we eventually see the timeline transform around doc and marty in the game. You could argue either way that they are time travelers and thus immune but so is she technically; he spent only 3 hours in 2015 and skipped 10 hours that day so she's still in the future in a sense.

    I suppose there's a kind of 'margin of error' the continuum allows for with regards to the 'timeline transforming' thing and who's immune to the ripple effect and for how long.

    Marty and Doc, in the game, are in a time period FIFTY FIVE years before their point of origin (actually, it should be closer to seventy for Doc in terms of his personally chronology). So they are immune to the ripple effect. Whereas, Jennifer is in a sense permanently '7 hours into the future' along her personal timeline, but 7 hours is a pretty negligible difference, and so she isn't permanently a 'time traveler' in that sense...which is why the timeline doesn't transform around her when it becomes the FCB timeline (and why we see FCB Jennifer and not the normal Jennifer in episode 3).

    But the really interesting case would be that of Doc's and his family. Suppose someone steals the Delorean and goes back and drastically alters the timeline while all the main characters are in 1986. The way I see it, Marty, Jennifer, Biff, George, Lorraine et all would simply be erased and replaced with their counterparts in the alternate timeline...but what about Doc, Clara, Jules and Verne. Doc has been displaced from his natural timeline by about 10-15 years (in a sense, he's 10-15 years in the PAST as per his personal chronology)...Clara is from the 19th century, displaced by nearly a century from her point of origin...the same for Jules and Verne, except in their case its further complicated by the fact that their parents are from different time periods! So would the timeline transform around them? Or if time is so seriously f#cked up (as it was in the game) would they be erased?
  • edited April 2012
    No she wont. The clayton timeline was erased around Jennifer, she was not a part of that. She's asleep but here's how her timeline would go (at the end of the trilogy);

    she comes from the TP timeline but like everyone other than Marty, it transforms into the LP timeline around her.
    -she goes to a 2015 which eventually everyone other than herself, Marty, doc and Marty would not know of since it eventually becomes avoided
    -she goes back to 1985 biffhoric timeline which would transform around her 3 times actually; first back to the Clayton/LP timeline (or LP part II if you prefer), then to the shonash timeline (assuming it's still called that in 1985 when clara doesn't die), then to the eastwood timeline. So while she's never asked this (it's never verbally discussed once marty returns to the future, we only see the sign) it's assumed she'd remember whatever she was taught in school which is likely that a mysterious outlaw named Clint Eastwood stood up to Buford tannen and promptly hijacked a train which was ran off into a ravine. Marty and Doc are the only 2 people who would have remembered that it was once called Clayton ravine


    it is an interesting discussion what eventually happens in the aftermath of september 7th 1885; Buford goes to jail for 15 days and his gang abandons him similar to what seems to happen to Biff (minus jail) once he's humiliated in 1955. The train conductor would likely have reported the hijacking. If Emmet were questioned, he and clara could have blamed Eastwood. Laws were easily bent at this time and it's clear that Clint Eastwood is considered a town hero as everyone hates Buford.

    what are you talking about? she's from the timeline where clara died cause she was from a timeline BEFORE doc went back to 1885. she from the timeline where the ravine was called Clayton Ravine, then when doc went back it changed to Shonash Ravine, then when Marty went back it changed to Eastwood Ravine, but the timeline she grew up in was it was Clayton Ravine, she shouldn't change because she time travelled for a little while, even doc said the timeline would change around her, not that she should shift into her counterparts from those timelines, also the memories don't change if they time travelled, thats not how bttf works
  • what are you talking about? she's from the timeline where clara died cause she was from a timeline BEFORE doc went back to 1885. she from the timeline where the ravine was called Clayton Ravine, then when doc went back it changed to Shonash Ravine, then when Marty went back it changed to Eastwood Ravine, but the timeline she grew up in was it was Clayton Ravine, she shouldn't change because she time travelled for a little while, even doc said the timeline would change around her, not that she should shift into her counterparts from those timelines, also the memories don't change if they time travelled, thats not how bttf works

    Jennifer is not the time traveler when the ravine changes, Just like how doc says she should have no memory of the biffhoric timeline, she should also have no memory of 'clayton ravine'. That was changed in 1885 while she was in 1985 so she would have been part of the ripple.


    As for Jules and verne, here's how their timeline would go during the game;
    beginning- end of episode 2; time displaced wherever Doc left them (a year other than 1986).
    Episode 3-disappearance of FCB in episode 5; erased from existance
    brief period of 'new doc' returning to 1931 prior to edna stealing the delorean & end of episode 5; 1986 with clara
    burnt hill valley timeline; likely erased from existance but this timeline is somewhat of a mystery. Edna, Doc, Marty, George, and Artie all remain intact in this timeline despite no hill valley. It is possible Hill valley becomes a town again by 1955-1986 and thus the first 2 films remain intact (part III would not have been though as hill valley did not exist in 1885 although doc could have met Clara in a different town).
  • edited April 2012
    Jennifer is not the time traveler when the ravine changes, Just like how doc says she should have no memory of the biffhoric timeline, she should also have no memory of 'clayton ravine'. That was changed in 1885 while she was in 1985 so she would have been part of the ripple.

    The whole 'they will have no memory of this horrible place' seemed to me more a reassurance to Marty than anything else. Also, Jennifer was asleep and Einstien is a dog, so its true they would have no memory.

    But if the timeline transforms AROUND them, which is what happened to Marty and Doc in Ep 5, then she WOULD remember Hell Valley (if she was awake!)

    I think that's the question here...what if Jennifer was awake?!! Suppose she'd woken up sometime around 2 in the morning, while Marty and Doc were busy planning to question Biff. She would have wandered around town, shocked and bewildered, thinking this was a nightmare. Let us suppose she was at the Town Square and saw Biff's Pleasure Paradise and all the biker gangs, at 2: 41 AM.

    Then, at 2: 42 PM, Marty and Doc go back to 1955.

    At that point, what do you suppose would happen to Jennifer? Would she see reality transform around her literally, such as Biff's Pleasure Paradise morphing into the Clock Tower, the bikers disappearing, the streets getting cleaner etc.? Or would SHE be transformed like everyone else such that she finds herself in the middle of the 'normal' Town Square but doesn't remember seeing any of the nightmarish stuff she'd just seen for the past forty or so minutes? Hell, would she even BE in the Town Square in the normal timeline? Wouldn't she still be on the porch, or maybe at home in her bed?

    The Game seems to imply she would see reality transform around her. But in the Game, Marty and Doc were in the past...whereas Jennifer is in her own time (more or less). So which case applies?
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