May 14, 2025 • 17 mins
Q stands among the most captivating figures in the Star Trek universe - a being of seemingly limitless power who appears as both antagonist and catalyst throughout pivotal moments in Federation history. But what if everything we thought we knew about Q's motivations was incomplete?
In this special bonus episode of my old show, Memory Gamma, I talk about the enigmatic Q and his place in the Star Trek mythos.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to the Memory Library Subspace Network Input
inquiry.
Now Q is an extra-dimensionalbeing of unknown origin who
possesses the power tomanipulate time and space, life
and death, and reality itself.
The name Q applies to the namesof the individual's entities,
(00:36):
and also applies to the name oftheir race and to the Q
continuum itself.
The true nature of the realm isunknown.
Activating holographicinterface.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
In his Latin epic poem, the Aeneid, virgil tells
the tale of Aeneas, a Trojan whoventured to what would one day
become Italy and became theancestor of what would one day
become Romans.
His path was rocky, beingpulled back and forth by the
machinations of meddling gods.
(01:25):
The gods' interpreter saidAeneas sent by Jove himself.
I swear it by your head andmine has brought commands down
through the racing winds.
I sail for Italy, not of my ownfree will.
Such was the lament of the crewof the USS Enterprise as they
stood in awe before the massivecube.
They had been flung far intouncharted space by a power far
(01:48):
greater than their own, a beingwith an agenda just as baffling
and mysterious as his abilities.
Commander Riker turned to Q,who was mockingly dressed as a
Starfleet captain.
Why?
Why, he replied.
Why, to give you a taste ofyour future, a preview of things
to come.
The hall is rented, theorchestra engaged.
(02:08):
Now it's time to see if you candance.
(02:30):
Earth may be a paradise today,but crime does still exist in
the universe, some mundane, someon a galactic scale.
This is a journal of the mostmemorable, most important crimes
in the Milky Way galaxy and thecomplex beings who commit them.
Cultures across the galaxy arepeppered with myths about
(02:56):
meddling deities and theirinterventions into the events of
everyday lives.
From the concept of themonotheistic divine intervention
to the polytheistic godssteering individuals in a
direction that benefits theirown motives, these stories are
as common as hydrogen.
Nothing embodies this more,however, than the idea of the
trickster god.
Not that all tricksters are thesame, mind you, but they do all
(03:19):
serve a vaguely similarfunction.
The trickster often uses wit,secret knowledge or special
powers to break the rules of thephysical and the societal.
Tricksters violate the statusquo, disrupting normal life and
turning it on its head.
They can do this for good, forevil or simply for chaos.
(03:42):
In Earth's West Africantraditions, the spider god
Anansi often used his cunningand guile to turn the tables on
a powerful oppressor.
As the slave trade funneledpeoples of African descent into
foreign lands where they wereoppressed by cruel authority
figures, anansi's name spread.
He became a powerful symbol ofhope to slaves in the Caribbean
(04:02):
nations and the southern UnitedStates.
A powerful symbol of hope toslaves in the Caribbean nations
and the southern United States.
The Greek god Hermes is seen asa herald of change Whenever he
appears.
The status quo is about to betoppled.
In Norse mythology, lokisometimes embodies the negative
or selfish characteristics ofthe human nature that leads to
the ills of society.
The troublemaking god isconstantly in search of a way to
(04:24):
undermine cultural authorityfigures.
His allegiance shifts betweenthe gods enthroned on Asgard and
their mortal enemies, the FrostGiants of Jotunheim, so
frequently that no one everreally knows which side he
belongs to, but probably his own.
Some tricksters simply usetheir abilities to survive,
(04:45):
topple or humiliate strongerfoes.
In Indonesian and Malayanculture, a tiny mouse, deer,
kansel, outsmarts largepredatory animals.
Usually, kansel is cornered bya tiger or a hunter's trap and
has to use his imagination andhis wit to talk his way out of
certain death.
Sometimes this can be achievedthrough physical means, the
(05:08):
trickster using speed or size tohis advantage, such as the
American folk legend of WoodrowWoodpecker.
All of these varyingincarnations mean that a
trickster god's motivations canbe confusing, hidden or simply
hard to pin down.
So where does Q fall in thisspectrum?
Is it even fair to call him agod, I mean even a small G1?
(05:29):
Well, on the planet Brax he wasknown as the god of lies, so
someone out there thinks of himthat way.
I'm not really sure.
Just go ask the Bajorans.
Well, through the analysis ofQ's antics, we can try and
extrapolate their motives andperhaps just how honest they are
about themselves.
Now, about his abilities.
(05:51):
What is it that makes witnessessay Q is so very powerful?
Well, unlike con artists likeArdra, who simulated magic-like
abilities with contemporarybasic technology, q seems to
have innate gifts nearlyindistinguishable from magic
Instant teleportation ofseemingly infinite distance,
time travel, conjuring people,places, objects, events out of
(06:14):
thin air, healing the sick orinjured to the extent that he
could actually resurrect thedead, shapeshifting and
basically, a complete masteryover the fundamental laws of
physics, at least the classicperceivable four dimensions that
is.
Q often cites a continuum wherethe rest of the Q reside,
assumingly, in a higherdimensional realm than current
(06:35):
physics can define.
Since he never claims subspaceas home, remember, subspace is
actually hyperspace by virtue ofbeing a series of higher
dimensions and is manipulated bymodern technology, it's
doubtful that the continuumexists anywhere near it.
It has been claimed, though,that, while exclusively in their
own realm, they have noextraordinary abilities, that
(06:56):
they're just like humanoids.
Well, I assume that to meanwithin context.
I mean it's doubtful that theirability to manipulate lower
spatial dimensions would just goaway or that they exist like
fourth-dimensional beings all ofthe sudden.
This more likely means thatthey simply don't have the
ability to manipulate their owndimension or higher ones the way
(07:18):
they can lower dimensions,which is pretty obvious if you
think about it.
I mean, I could easily impressthe pants off of a
two-dimensional being just byputting on pants, but that
doesn't mean I can willinglytime travel or enter subspace
just by saying make it so.
While Q's power seems limitlessand their base of knowledge is
far greater than humanoids, theQ we know best appears to have
(07:39):
very simple attitudes andpersonality traits.
One wouldn't imagine that abeing of such expansive
perception would behave sochildishly.
It's like letting a toddleroperate his own starship, that
is, unless the behaviors Qexhibits are hiding a much
larger agenda.
Since Q's first interactionwith the Enterprise crew in 2364
(08:01):
, he's been viewed as a nuisance, obnoxious, interfering and a
pest.
Even though he warned the crewthat humanity should just
abandon their exploration of thegalaxy or be destroyed, q
accused humanity of being adangerous, savage child race and
put humanity on trial for itsworthiness.
No, literally.
Q recreated a scene from theaftermath of Earth's Third World
(08:24):
War a kangaroo court, a stageby one of the crumbling factions
as they desperately clung tothe dark world they sought to
create by waging war in thefirst place.
Picard reluctantly plays alongwith the melodrama and pleads
not guilty to Q's charges,though he admits to the faults
of Earth's past, to prove thatthey had evolved as a species
(08:44):
since World War III.
Q gives them a test to provetheir cleverness and benevolence
when the crew later liberated acosmozoan held captive on Denim
IV, a creature forced to poseas an advanced space station
called Farpoint.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Farpoint Station was a starbase built in short time
on Dinette IV by the humanoidspecies, the Bandy, who offered
use of the station to Starfleet.
In 2364, the crew of the USSEnterprise D investigated this
station and found out that itwas in fact a space-borne entity
enslaved by the Bandy.
Following its liberation by theEnterprise, captain Jean-Luc
(09:26):
Picard worked with the bandit toschedule the construction of a
new Farpoint station.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Q agrees to defer judgment, though he hints that
it will not be the last timethey'd be tested.
They wouldn't have to wait long, however, as Q popped into
their lives once again a fewshort months later.
This time, his test is a rusein the form of a bizarre game.
He tells them that he's spreadthe word of humanity's progress
to the rest of the continuum andthat they wish to help them
evolve further.
(09:53):
Q believes that humanity hasthe potential to one day evolve
beyond the Q, and he wants tounderstand how Q promises a
great future for humankind ifthey win a brutal game of life
and death, but somethingdisastrous if they lose.
You would think death fitcomfortably into that category,
but I guess it's just not asdramatic.
(10:13):
Furthermore, the game would becompletely rigged, brushing off
fairness as a human concept.
Picard tries to plead andbargain, with Q offering to
resign if Q would just leavehumanity alone, but that
obviously wasn't as fun.
Q opted to gift the omnipotentabilities of the Continuum to
Commander Riker.
You know just as he would dowith it at parties.
(10:35):
Will showed restraint andrenounced his new abilities,
citing the corruption ofunlimited power.
This results in Q losing awager with Picard, and Q is
obligated to stay out ofhumanity's path forever.
This would last less than ayear.
I guess this proves thatomnipotence doesn't quite equal
(10:55):
omniscience.
Also, it makes one curious howan extradimensional intelligence
who can travel through timeonly perceives time in the same
linear fashion humanoids do.
Hmm, in much of folklore andmythology, depending on the
target of its chicanery, therole of the trickster can be to
teach a lesson.
The only time a tricksterfigure is ever seen as an
(11:17):
ongoing position of power orauthority is when the trickery
itself is of a teaching nature.
This aspect is separate anddistinct from using stories of
the trickster as a moralityteaching tale.
In Q's most fateful momentswith the Federation, he may have
set in motion a deadly seriesof events, but did he?
In 2364, q surprised CaptainPicard by expressing his desire
(11:43):
to join the Enterprise crewAfter being cast out of the Q
continuum, his exile supposedlysparked by his attempt to evolve
, commander Riker.
When Picard scoffs at this idea, q argues that they need his
interference in their livessince they're not prepared for
what awaits them in a dark,dangerous universe.
Picard claims that they'reready to confront the unknown,
(12:04):
and the ship's bartender, guinan, adds that humans' ability to
adapt is their greatestadvantage and Q seem to have a
very old, very contentiousrelationship.
The resistance infuriates Q andhe flings the Enterprise into
uncharted space to give them apreview of things to come.
This is where the benevolent,curious nature of Starfleet
(12:25):
first seemed not only irrelevantbut deadly.
The Enterprise's attempt atpeaceful first contact served
only to get the attention of thecold, heartless predators that
would wreak havoc on everyspecies it encountered the Borg.
After the death of 18 crewmembers and the Enterprise's
attempts to escape the Borg grip, picard once again begs and
(12:47):
pleads with Q to save them,admitting out loud that there
were things for which the humanrace simply wasn't up to the
task.
Q shows mercy and returns theEnterprise to safety, but is
unapologetic, telling Picardthat if humanity wants to
explore the galaxy, whichpromises a universe of wonders,
they must be willing to confrontthe dangers they never imagined
.
Guinan began.
(13:10):
Since they are aware of yourexistence, they will be coming.
Picard continued Aftercountless deaths and near
extinctions caused by theincursions of single Borg cubes
over succeeding years.
One tends to look back to Q toblame for turning Borg attention
to the Federation.
Q had gone from playfultrickster to villain, hated
(13:32):
throughout the galaxy for whathe had done.
However, I offer an alternative.
Consider this In a speech atPrinceton University in 2064,
zephyrm Cochran, inventor of thematter-antimatter warp drive,
spoke at the event surroundinghis first warp flight.
He talked about a group ofcybernetic creatures from the
(13:53):
future who had intended toenslave the human race.
They had tried to prevent theflight but were stopped by a
group of humans who had followedthem back from the future.
At this time, earth was stillrecovering from the Third World
War and reeling from firstcontact.
So most were distracted andshook off these comments as
trivial ramblings of a renowneddrunk.
Ramblings of a renowned drunk.
(14:19):
But in 2153, a scientificexpedition to the Arctic
discovered two mysteriouscyborgs similar to the ones
described by Cochrane.
These, of course, were Borg.
The dormant drones came to lifeand began to assimilate
everyone in sight, eventuallyprocuring a starship.
In an attempt to reach thecollective, they were thwarted
by one of the pre-FederationEnterprise vessels, the NX-01.
A delightful irony, consideringthe only reason the Borg lay
(14:41):
frozen in the ice for so longwas a defeat by Captain Picard's
Enterprise E Confused.
Well, when it comes to any shipnamed Enterprise, get used to
it.
See.
In 2373, a lone Borg cube madethe long journey to Earth.
On a bold mission to end theFederation before it began, they
sent a small scout vessel intothe Earth's atmosphere, creating
(15:02):
a temporal vortex, somehow totravel to the year 2063.
Their aim To prevent firstcontact, thus leaving the planet
Prime for Borg of that era toconquer.
Picard's crew managed to stopthe Borg from alerting the 21st
century Borg, but the dronesthat survived the flight and
crashed in the Arctic succeededin their mission before being
(15:23):
destroyed by Captain Archer'sEnterprise.
Q would have likely known this,which means that his
introduction of the Federationto the Borg wasn't necessarily
out of spite.
So what was the purpose?
Well, the Borg would have takenseveral decades to get from the
Delta Quadrant to Earth, andStarfleet had known about what
turned out to be Borg incursionson the far end of the Neutral
(15:46):
Zone before this event.
We know the Borg hadassimilated humans in years
before Q's actions.
They were already on their way,they already knew we existed,
but because the Enterprise hadencountered them and fought them
due to Q, now we knew who theywere and what they were capable
of.
All that, despite what Q thetrickster claimed.
(16:08):
It's possible that Q hadn'tdamned humanity, but instead
gave them an opportunity toprepare themselves from being
blindsided by a threat they werein no way prepared for.
Perhaps Q's actions andannoyances actually hid a larger
plan.
Perhaps Q served as a guidinghand instead of a meddling
(16:28):
trickster.
In part two we'll cover Q'sactions beyond the Enterprise.
We'll try and piece togetherhis true motivations and, yes,
trillane.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Star Trek and all related marks, logos and
characters are solely owned byCBS Studios Inc.
Are solely owned by CBS StudiosInc.
This fan production is notendorsed by, sponsored by nor
affiliated with CBS, paramountPictures or any other Star Trek
franchise and is anon-commercial fan-made film
intended for recreational use.
No commercial exhibition ordistribution is permitted.
(17:10):
No alleged independent rightswill be asserted against CBS or
Paramount Pictures.
Live long and prosper.
Welcome to the Memory Library Subspace Network Input
inquiry.
Now Q is an extra-dimensionalbeing of unknown origin who
possesses the power tomanipulate time and space, life
and death, and reality itself.
The name Q applies to the namesof the individual's entities,
(00:36):
and also applies to the name oftheir race and to the Q
continuum itself.
The true nature of the realm isunknown.
Activating holographicinterface.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
In his Latin epic poem, the Aeneid, virgil tells
the tale of Aeneas, a Trojan whoventured to what would one day
become Italy and became theancestor of what would one day
become Romans.
His path was rocky, beingpulled back and forth by the
machinations of meddling gods.
(01:25):
The gods' interpreter saidAeneas sent by Jove himself.
I swear it by your head andmine has brought commands down
through the racing winds.
I sail for Italy, not of my ownfree will.
Such was the lament of the crewof the USS Enterprise as they
stood in awe before the massivecube.
They had been flung far intouncharted space by a power far
(01:48):
greater than their own, a beingwith an agenda just as baffling
and mysterious as his abilities.
Commander Riker turned to Q,who was mockingly dressed as a
Starfleet captain.
Why?
Why, he replied.
Why, to give you a taste ofyour future, a preview of things
to come.
The hall is rented, theorchestra engaged.
(02:08):
Now it's time to see if you candance.
(02:30):
Earth may be a paradise today,but crime does still exist in
the universe, some mundane, someon a galactic scale.
This is a journal of the mostmemorable, most important crimes
in the Milky Way galaxy and thecomplex beings who commit them.
Cultures across the galaxy arepeppered with myths about
(02:56):
meddling deities and theirinterventions into the events of
everyday lives.
From the concept of themonotheistic divine intervention
to the polytheistic godssteering individuals in a
direction that benefits theirown motives, these stories are
as common as hydrogen.
Nothing embodies this more,however, than the idea of the
trickster god.
Not that all tricksters are thesame, mind you, but they do all
(03:19):
serve a vaguely similarfunction.
The trickster often uses wit,secret knowledge or special
powers to break the rules of thephysical and the societal.
Tricksters violate the statusquo, disrupting normal life and
turning it on its head.
They can do this for good, forevil or simply for chaos.
(03:42):
In Earth's West Africantraditions, the spider god
Anansi often used his cunningand guile to turn the tables on
a powerful oppressor.
As the slave trade funneledpeoples of African descent into
foreign lands where they wereoppressed by cruel authority
figures, anansi's name spread.
He became a powerful symbol ofhope to slaves in the Caribbean
(04:02):
nations and the southern UnitedStates.
A powerful symbol of hope toslaves in the Caribbean nations
and the southern United States.
The Greek god Hermes is seen asa herald of change Whenever he
appears.
The status quo is about to betoppled.
In Norse mythology, lokisometimes embodies the negative
or selfish characteristics ofthe human nature that leads to
the ills of society.
The troublemaking god isconstantly in search of a way to
(04:24):
undermine cultural authorityfigures.
His allegiance shifts betweenthe gods enthroned on Asgard and
their mortal enemies, the FrostGiants of Jotunheim, so
frequently that no one everreally knows which side he
belongs to, but probably his own.
Some tricksters simply usetheir abilities to survive,
(04:45):
topple or humiliate strongerfoes.
In Indonesian and Malayanculture, a tiny mouse, deer,
kansel, outsmarts largepredatory animals.
Usually, kansel is cornered bya tiger or a hunter's trap and
has to use his imagination andhis wit to talk his way out of
certain death.
Sometimes this can be achievedthrough physical means, the
(05:08):
trickster using speed or size tohis advantage, such as the
American folk legend of WoodrowWoodpecker.
All of these varyingincarnations mean that a
trickster god's motivations canbe confusing, hidden or simply
hard to pin down.
So where does Q fall in thisspectrum?
Is it even fair to call him agod, I mean even a small G1?
(05:29):
Well, on the planet Brax he wasknown as the god of lies, so
someone out there thinks of himthat way.
I'm not really sure.
Just go ask the Bajorans.
Well, through the analysis ofQ's antics, we can try and
extrapolate their motives andperhaps just how honest they are
about themselves.
Now, about his abilities.
(05:51):
What is it that makes witnessessay Q is so very powerful?
Well, unlike con artists likeArdra, who simulated magic-like
abilities with contemporarybasic technology, q seems to
have innate gifts nearlyindistinguishable from magic
Instant teleportation ofseemingly infinite distance,
time travel, conjuring people,places, objects, events out of
(06:14):
thin air, healing the sick orinjured to the extent that he
could actually resurrect thedead, shapeshifting and
basically, a complete masteryover the fundamental laws of
physics, at least the classicperceivable four dimensions that
is.
Q often cites a continuum wherethe rest of the Q reside,
assumingly, in a higherdimensional realm than current
(06:35):
physics can define.
Since he never claims subspaceas home, remember, subspace is
actually hyperspace by virtue ofbeing a series of higher
dimensions and is manipulated bymodern technology, it's
doubtful that the continuumexists anywhere near it.
It has been claimed, though,that, while exclusively in their
own realm, they have noextraordinary abilities, that
(06:56):
they're just like humanoids.
Well, I assume that to meanwithin context.
I mean it's doubtful that theirability to manipulate lower
spatial dimensions would just goaway or that they exist like
fourth-dimensional beings all ofthe sudden.
This more likely means thatthey simply don't have the
ability to manipulate their owndimension or higher ones the way
(07:18):
they can lower dimensions,which is pretty obvious if you
think about it.
I mean, I could easily impressthe pants off of a
two-dimensional being just byputting on pants, but that
doesn't mean I can willinglytime travel or enter subspace
just by saying make it so.
While Q's power seems limitlessand their base of knowledge is
far greater than humanoids, theQ we know best appears to have
(07:39):
very simple attitudes andpersonality traits.
One wouldn't imagine that abeing of such expansive
perception would behave sochildishly.
It's like letting a toddleroperate his own starship, that
is, unless the behaviors Qexhibits are hiding a much
larger agenda.
Since Q's first interactionwith the Enterprise crew in 2364
(08:01):
, he's been viewed as a nuisance, obnoxious, interfering and a
pest.
Even though he warned the crewthat humanity should just
abandon their exploration of thegalaxy or be destroyed, q
accused humanity of being adangerous, savage child race and
put humanity on trial for itsworthiness.
No, literally.
Q recreated a scene from theaftermath of Earth's Third World
(08:24):
War a kangaroo court, a stageby one of the crumbling factions
as they desperately clung tothe dark world they sought to
create by waging war in thefirst place.
Picard reluctantly plays alongwith the melodrama and pleads
not guilty to Q's charges,though he admits to the faults
of Earth's past, to prove thatthey had evolved as a species
(08:44):
since World War III.
Q gives them a test to provetheir cleverness and benevolence
when the crew later liberated acosmozoan held captive on Denim
IV, a creature forced to poseas an advanced space station
called Farpoint.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Farpoint Station was a starbase built in short time
on Dinette IV by the humanoidspecies, the Bandy, who offered
use of the station to Starfleet.
In 2364, the crew of the USSEnterprise D investigated this
station and found out that itwas in fact a space-borne entity
enslaved by the Bandy.
Following its liberation by theEnterprise, captain Jean-Luc
(09:26):
Picard worked with the bandit toschedule the construction of a
new Farpoint station.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Q agrees to defer judgment, though he hints that
it will not be the last timethey'd be tested.
They wouldn't have to wait long, however, as Q popped into
their lives once again a fewshort months later.
This time, his test is a rusein the form of a bizarre game.
He tells them that he's spreadthe word of humanity's progress
to the rest of the continuum andthat they wish to help them
evolve further.
(09:53):
Q believes that humanity hasthe potential to one day evolve
beyond the Q, and he wants tounderstand how Q promises a
great future for humankind ifthey win a brutal game of life
and death, but somethingdisastrous if they lose.
You would think death fitcomfortably into that category,
but I guess it's just not asdramatic.
(10:13):
Furthermore, the game would becompletely rigged, brushing off
fairness as a human concept.
Picard tries to plead andbargain, with Q offering to
resign if Q would just leavehumanity alone, but that
obviously wasn't as fun.
Q opted to gift the omnipotentabilities of the Continuum to
Commander Riker.
You know just as he would dowith it at parties.
(10:35):
Will showed restraint andrenounced his new abilities,
citing the corruption ofunlimited power.
This results in Q losing awager with Picard, and Q is
obligated to stay out ofhumanity's path forever.
This would last less than ayear.
I guess this proves thatomnipotence doesn't quite equal
(10:55):
omniscience.
Also, it makes one curious howan extradimensional intelligence
who can travel through timeonly perceives time in the same
linear fashion humanoids do.
Hmm, in much of folklore andmythology, depending on the
target of its chicanery, therole of the trickster can be to
teach a lesson.
The only time a tricksterfigure is ever seen as an
(11:17):
ongoing position of power orauthority is when the trickery
itself is of a teaching nature.
This aspect is separate anddistinct from using stories of
the trickster as a moralityteaching tale.
In Q's most fateful momentswith the Federation, he may have
set in motion a deadly seriesof events, but did he?
In 2364, q surprised CaptainPicard by expressing his desire
(11:43):
to join the Enterprise crewAfter being cast out of the Q
continuum, his exile supposedlysparked by his attempt to evolve
, commander Riker.
When Picard scoffs at this idea, q argues that they need his
interference in their livessince they're not prepared for
what awaits them in a dark,dangerous universe.
Picard claims that they'reready to confront the unknown,
(12:04):
and the ship's bartender, guinan, adds that humans' ability to
adapt is their greatestadvantage and Q seem to have a
very old, very contentiousrelationship.
The resistance infuriates Q andhe flings the Enterprise into
uncharted space to give them apreview of things to come.
This is where the benevolent,curious nature of Starfleet
(12:25):
first seemed not only irrelevantbut deadly.
The Enterprise's attempt atpeaceful first contact served
only to get the attention of thecold, heartless predators that
would wreak havoc on everyspecies it encountered the Borg.
After the death of 18 crewmembers and the Enterprise's
attempts to escape the Borg grip, picard once again begs and
(12:47):
pleads with Q to save them,admitting out loud that there
were things for which the humanrace simply wasn't up to the
task.
Q shows mercy and returns theEnterprise to safety, but is
unapologetic, telling Picardthat if humanity wants to
explore the galaxy, whichpromises a universe of wonders,
they must be willing to confrontthe dangers they never imagined
.
Guinan began.
(13:10):
Since they are aware of yourexistence, they will be coming.
Picard continued Aftercountless deaths and near
extinctions caused by theincursions of single Borg cubes
over succeeding years.
One tends to look back to Q toblame for turning Borg attention
to the Federation.
Q had gone from playfultrickster to villain, hated
(13:32):
throughout the galaxy for whathe had done.
However, I offer an alternative.
Consider this In a speech atPrinceton University in 2064,
zephyrm Cochran, inventor of thematter-antimatter warp drive,
spoke at the event surroundinghis first warp flight.
He talked about a group ofcybernetic creatures from the
(13:53):
future who had intended toenslave the human race.
They had tried to prevent theflight but were stopped by a
group of humans who had followedthem back from the future.
At this time, earth was stillrecovering from the Third World
War and reeling from firstcontact.
So most were distracted andshook off these comments as
trivial ramblings of a renowneddrunk.
Ramblings of a renowned drunk.
(14:19):
But in 2153, a scientificexpedition to the Arctic
discovered two mysteriouscyborgs similar to the ones
described by Cochrane.
These, of course, were Borg.
The dormant drones came to lifeand began to assimilate
everyone in sight, eventuallyprocuring a starship.
In an attempt to reach thecollective, they were thwarted
by one of the pre-FederationEnterprise vessels, the NX-01.
A delightful irony, consideringthe only reason the Borg lay
(14:41):
frozen in the ice for so longwas a defeat by Captain Picard's
Enterprise E Confused.
Well, when it comes to any shipnamed Enterprise, get used to
it.
See.
In 2373, a lone Borg cube madethe long journey to Earth.
On a bold mission to end theFederation before it began, they
sent a small scout vessel intothe Earth's atmosphere, creating
(15:02):
a temporal vortex, somehow totravel to the year 2063.
Their aim To prevent firstcontact, thus leaving the planet
Prime for Borg of that era toconquer.
Picard's crew managed to stopthe Borg from alerting the 21st
century Borg, but the dronesthat survived the flight and
crashed in the Arctic succeededin their mission before being
(15:23):
destroyed by Captain Archer'sEnterprise.
Q would have likely known this,which means that his
introduction of the Federationto the Borg wasn't necessarily
out of spite.
So what was the purpose?
Well, the Borg would have takenseveral decades to get from the
Delta Quadrant to Earth, andStarfleet had known about what
turned out to be Borg incursionson the far end of the Neutral
(15:46):
Zone before this event.
We know the Borg hadassimilated humans in years
before Q's actions.
They were already on their way,they already knew we existed,
but because the Enterprise hadencountered them and fought them
due to Q, now we knew who theywere and what they were capable
of.
All that, despite what Q thetrickster claimed.
(16:08):
It's possible that Q hadn'tdamned humanity, but instead
gave them an opportunity toprepare themselves from being
blindsided by a threat they werein no way prepared for.
Perhaps Q's actions andannoyances actually hid a larger
plan.
Perhaps Q served as a guidinghand instead of a meddling
(16:28):
trickster.
In part two we'll cover Q'sactions beyond the Enterprise.
We'll try and piece togetherhis true motivations and, yes,
trillane.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Star Trek and all related marks, logos and
characters are solely owned byCBS Studios Inc.
Are solely owned by CBS StudiosInc.
This fan production is notendorsed by, sponsored by nor
affiliated with CBS, paramountPictures or any other Star Trek
franchise and is anon-commercial fan-made film
intended for recreational use.
No commercial exhibition ordistribution is permitted.
(17:10):
No alleged independent rightswill be asserted against CBS or
Paramount Pictures.
Live long and prosper.
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