dallas ࿔

within the last 20 minutes of the first back to the future film, we watch twin pines Marty travel to the new 1985, in which this version of Doc is shot and “killed”, while the other Marty escapes in the delorean. captivated by the way the movie presents this event to us (assuming Doc has died in this timeline too,) lone pine Marty is the least of the viewer’s concern. as the movies never mention lone pine Marty again nor show the impacts of this, it usually leaves the viewer to forget about him entirely, or consciously/subconsciously assume that now a timeloop has been created— in which lone pine Marty will go to 1955, repeat the whole thing over again, and it will keep happening. as the concept of utilizing multiple Marty’s is something the movies never choose to put into play, this decision to make the viewer forget about lone pine Marty is very strategical on the writers part.

however. lone pine Marty’s trip would most definitely NOT be a timeloop, just thinking about it critically. most simply put: there is no 1955 that lone pine Marty could travel to in which twin pines Marty wouldn’t be there, as this new version of Marty was created BECAUSE twin pines Marty went back in time. without twin pines Marty in 1955, there would be no lone pine Marty. and if lone pine Marty is traveling to 1955 at the exact same time, on the exact same date, in the exact same place… well, wouldn’t the deloreans crash into each other in 1955, or something like that? if both Marty’s see the other, doesn’t this risk a paradox by Doc’s standards thus far into the trilogy? (before the second movie when jenn meets her future self, he genuinely believes two versions of people meeting might create a paradox, this line of thinking tracks at this point in the narrative.) wouldn’t Doc be smarter than that, after putting the letter back together and reading Marty’s forewarning?

i mean, probably. imagine if all that you knew regarding your time travel invention was that it messed up so bad, it sent some kid to your house thirty years ago. then, when you finally read his warning he had been desperately trying to tell you, it says you will die via terrorist shooting if you do not take precautions. its not far off to assume he would be pretty worried about the whole thing. within this screenshot from the game, Marty is looking at lone pine Doc’s notes on october 25th, before the second time travel occured.

Doc was well aware his own life was at stake, but theoretically, there were various other things Doc could’ve done to prevent his death rather than the bullet proof vest he jots down as an essential note. he could’ve chosen another location, somewhere harder for the terrorists to locate. there is no excuse that “things had to be done in the exact same way they did in twin pines,” because Marty did not have to go back in time in this timeline. as stated before, it’s not a timeloop, lone pine Marty going to 1955 would only create more problems, with 2 Marty’s in 1955.

but Doc chose the vest. we see lone pine Marty go back in time. how?

during the scene near the beginning of the movie where twin pines Doc is explaining how the time circuits works to Marty, he mentions three dates: the signing of the declaration of independence, the birth of jesus christ, and the day he invented the flux capacitor— which is the last example he provides, thus the time Marty is sent back to when escaping the terrorists. we can come to the conclusion that although viewers do not see the version of this conversation between lone pine Doc and Marty, it is probably similar. but what if Doc’s last example was different? what if he decided to utilize the most sure and easy way to guarantee lone pine Marty could not create a paradox… by not sending him to 1955 at all?

i think it could be possible that lone pine Doc sent lone pine Marty to a point in time so far back in history that there was nothing, and i mean nothing Marty could do that was significant enough to impact the timeline in any meaningful way. the future would be too risky, the past much safer. hell, Doc could’ve sent him to prehistoric times. or the jurassic age. on his last example, instead of discussing the flux capacitor, Doc goes: “wouldn’t it be cool to see the DINOSAURS, Marty?!🤗” and sets the time circuits to. like. over a hundred million years ago.

these are just ideas (some more stupid than others), but really it would just have to be any time in which California was majorly unoccupied, where Marty would not be able to meet anyone/interfere with the flow of events. if Marty is sent to a point in time in which Doc doesn't exist, there is no way he could get the delorean to work. Marty wouldn’t be able to ask anyone for help, and would, if everything went right… die alone. this is heavy or whatever.

but is this out of character for Doc? would he really do this? he does claim in the comics that he would never hurt Marty, no matter what timeline he’s from. however i can see Doc going through with this, only if he believes there is truly no other choice. that there would be no other chance to ensure there is only 1 Marty in this timeline. besides, that would make justifying it easier— he’s not really leaving Marty to die, because now twin pines Marty is here in front of him, same clothes, same personality. i think Doc could get away with rationalizing this choice if he is under the assumption it will save the world from a paradox, especially if he adopts the “he’s the same person” mentality in regard to twin pines Marty (loud incorrect buzzer. but i digress)