Discussion Main / SanDimasTime

I looked at the entry for Sluggy Freelance that I'd written (or at leats heavily edited) earlier, and noticed that Golden Seals had edited them in 2018, going to from my version below to the one after that:

FROM:

• Almost justified when, at the end of The Storm Breaker Saga, it's revealed the time travelling in this and previous stories has worked as follows: First, the demon K'Z'K is blast into the past accidentally, taking with him Gwynn's soul, leaving Gwynn's body in a coma in the present. He "cuts a noticeable trail" through time and space. Next, Riff's malfunctioning time machine sends Zoe and Torg into the past along that same trail (though it seems they actually arrive somewhat after K'Z'K, which would probably be a blatant example of this trope). They fight and temporarily destroy K'Z'K in that time, whereupon Gwynn's soul returns through time to her body to the present. In the present, Riff and Dr. Schlock have been trying to figure out a way to go after Torg and Zoe for some time, not knowing what time they went to. When Gwynn regains consciousness, she is able to report seeing them, and Riff travels along the trail her soul left, thus explaining why he only arrives in the time after Torg and Zoe have defeated K'Z'K. The question that remains unanswered, besides of why Torg and Zoe don't appear in exactly the same time as K'Z'K, is: why didn't Gwynn's soul return to the time when it left her? One theory is that Gwynn's soul had to maintain a chronological parallel with the physical component.
• A similar but simpler and entirely justified case is in "Mohkadun" when Gwynn's soul is swapped with that of Siphaniana of the ancient kingdom of Mohkadun. Both spend an extended period of time swapped in their own times, but the times they switch back are determined from both ends by magic rituals and such that are meant to do just that.

TO:

• At the end of The Storm Breaker Saga, it's revealed the time travelling in this and previous stories uses some form of San Dimas Time. When the demon K'Z'K was accidentally blasted into the past (taking Gwynn's soul with him), he "cut a noticeable trail" through time and space. Zoe and Torg follow him along the same trail, arriving some time after K'Z'K. They defeat K'Z'K and free Gwynn's soul, which travels back to the present and revives Gwynn's comatose body. All this implies that San Dimas Time is in effect. But when Gwynn tells Riff and Dr. Schlock where Torg and Zoe are, they follow the trail her soul took and arrive moments after K'Z'K is defeated, which is not exactly San Dimas Time, but possibly justified with the idea that Gwynn's soul operates differently, perhaps because it has to maintain sync with her physical body.
• In "Mohkadun", Gwynn and Siphaniana swap souls, which spend an extended period of time in each other's timeline, syncing up according to San Dimas Time. The mechanism that switches them back and forth is determined from both ends by a magic ritual designed for that purpose.

I don't know what the reason is, maybe they were going for clarity and less verbosity. The same edit contained a LOT of changes to other entries. Unfortunately, the result is inaccurate and unclear. Eg. "All this implies San Dimas Time is in effect" is not an accurate statement in the edited version, and "syncing up according to San Dimas Time" is not really telling what it means. Also, "possibly justified because speculation" is against the logic of Justified Trope.

So I'm going to revert this part of this edit, although I'll see if my earlier writeup needs revising.

• In Back to the Future Part II, Doc rushes to get Marty in position to pretend to be his son in 2015, and his watch is synced up to 2015 time to make sure he's got his timing right. But if he's wrong, he's got a time machine and can start again — except he doesn't seem to realize this as an option.

Isn't the main problem here that if Marty steps out at the wrong time, and they go back and try again, the first Marty still steps out at the wrong time unless they stop him? Quite apart from this spoiling the plan, Doc's pretty clear that Never the Selves Shall Meet.

Somebody please explain the name of this trope, it shouldn't have taken me a year and a half to find it.