The way that time travel works in the show is inconsistent. In most examples the series shows, it implies that going back in time does not make any changes to the time line, as everything they do when they go back in time has already happened, such as how when Clarence went back in time, he gave his past self the alien skin suit that made an appearance earlier in the series. At one point however, Nightfall states that she's gone back in time hundreds of times to try to redo the battle with the lord commander, which implies that in that case, going back in time would result in making actual changes to the time line.