/ret'kon/ retroactive continuity.
The common situation in fiction where a new story "reveals"
things about events in previous stories, usually leaving the
"facts" the same (thus preserving continuity) while completely
changing their interpretation. For example, revealing that a
whole season of "Dallas" was a dream was a retcon.
This term was once thought to have originated on the
Usenetbeen used earlier in comic fandom.
(1994-12-08)