Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark Changing the Past Leads to Memory Loss

I wasn't sure whether to put my thoughts here or tie them in to the Soul Mates Episode Discussion Thread , or even if this should go over in FanFic Related, so I apologize in advance for any misplacement of this discussion.

In "Soul Mates", after Lois and Clark decide to let Baron Tempos win in order for The Fox be banished instead of killed (although, I've always thought Baron Tempos plans to hunt Lord Charles down and kill him off as Prince Humperdink does in Princess Bride), they return to the present only to find that history has changed so completely that Tempus is now King (I have some ideas on how this could have happened if anyone is interested), but another aspect of this new time-line is that Lois and Clark HAVE NO MEMORY OF THIS, no memory of their current lives, or their current situation. If this is NOW their current life, doesn't that mean they should have the memories, which go along with it?

We already know from "Tempus Fugitive" that HG Wells can somehow block their memories via some time-travel trick, so why don't Lois and Clark have any memory of their "new" lives after they return from their time-travel / soul travel adventure?

I know that MLT brushes on this topic on her excellent alt-world fic The Time-Traveler\'s Wife , where the new memories take time to appear once the past has been altered.

What are your thoughts?

It's been a while since I've seen the episode, since it's really not my favorite, but I figure they've got the same thing going on here as Marty McFly. He remembers his own original personal timeline regardless of the ramifications of his actions in the past. I always assumed this was because he was displaced temporally when the changes happened, so they didn't actually happen to him.

For example, in the alternate Hill Valley in the second movie where Biff is uber-rich, Marty grew up as a ne'r-do-well and was sent to boarding school in Europe. When October 26, 1985 rolls around, the Marty that should be then is some-when else, so he keeps his personal history intact. As far as I can tell, the Marty that should be at boarding school no longer exists. The same thing happens at the end of the first movie when he goes home to find that his father is a published sci-fi writer - he still remembers his father as a wimp. I always wondered what problems might arise from that because Marty has a drastically different childhood from what his family now remembers.

The idea that changes take time to propagate through such that time travelers would have their memories slowly replaced with the new set has never sat well with me. I figure that everything would change instantly.

But since we're debating science fiction, we can really make up our own rules for time travel as we see fit. I generally go with whatever method the writer has set up, as long as it is self-consistent and reasonably logical.

Back to the Future of course, did it first. It's been so long since I've watched any of the films (although, I've seen 1 & 3 enough to remember the plots, 2 - my least favorite - I can only remember the opening scene where he wanders around downtown Hill Valley confused and disoriented.)

I would think so to. One of three things should happen: 1) only have the new memories (none of the old), 2) only have the old memories (none of the new), or 3) have both at the same time. I did this in "Another Lois", when she went into the future from 1966, her memories of her previous life were buried deep into her subconscious, because her past had changed. It took the impetus of a voice inside her head to pull them to the surface.

Yes, keeping it logical is the hard part.

I think the easiest way to explain that Lois and Clark do not know what is going on is that they were not around when the change occurred, they essentially left as their pre-change selves, so they do not directly remember the change. The world altered with them not there.

However, in lots of ways this problem is a lot less disturbing than the other problem "Soul Mates" presents. In the first episode with Wells we learn about Superman's descendants, that Superman married, that Lois becomes a good mother. None of this works with the curse. The only possible explanation is the curse is somehow created in the interim. Which makes no sense.