TRW Goes Under the Microscope @ 'TV Tropes'!

TRW as seen on the 'TV Tropes' pop-culture wiki

When I learned that The Romulan War was an entry in the TV Tropes wiki back in early 2022, my first reaction was of shock. I was aware of the site and its effect on movie/tv culture, but I had no idea that something like a fan film would get an entry there. Certainly not mine.

But the bigger shock was how accurate and observant the Tropers who researched and reviewed the film were. Many of the tidbits and factoids the site uncovered weren't really obvious upon one viewing. In fact, much of the trivia TVT lists isn't technically in Part 1 of The Romulan War; the information is revealed in one of the supplemental webisodes, audio dramas, or on the TRW website. Clearly whoever reviewed the film went all-in and explored the entire TRW universe as it existed inside and outside just the film.

Here's a sampling of some of the story and plot elements of TRW that I was convinced most viewers didn't even notice but which the geniuses at TVT picked up on immediately.

• "The Romulans use Reman infantry in ground engagements against Earth forces" (Holocaust comic & motion comic).

• "Earth truly takes the cake by refitting 70 year old Pioneer-class colony ships to serve as transports" (Ships of the Line webisode).

• "Kovallus explains how scientific discovery and good faith diplomacy were completely alien concepts to the Romulans at the time" (Preamble to War webisode).

  
  

Much of the information TV Tropes highlights about the various starships used by both sides and the previous conflicts both sides had been in before the Earth-Romulan War is buried in the minutiae of the TRW website or on short explainer videos and is not actually in the film, the audio dramas, or the webisodes.

So I give a Picard maneuver, a Klingon headbutt and a Vulcan salute to the Tropers at TV Tropes for taking all the trivia that existed in the shadows of the film and bringing it out into the open for all to see. It is truly delightful to see the attention some have paid to the world of TRW.