Skip to main content

star trek - What were Q's reasons for exposing the Enterprise to the Borg?


In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, Q-Who, Q decides to expose the Enterprise to one of the unknown threats that lies out there in the galaxy. He hurls the Enterprise to the distant System J-25, where they encounter the Borg, who promptly show their technological superiority. What were Q's motives for exposing the Enterprise to this threat?



Answer



An excerpt from the Memory Alpha summary for the episode "Q Who" states the following:



(As the Enterprise is losing to the Borg ship...) Q demands whether they still believe to be prepared, to which Picard admits that they are frightened and that Q has shown them to be inadequate. Picard asks Q's help, saying that they need him, to which, with a snap of his fingers, Q flings the Enterprise back into Federation space. He congratulates Picard for admitting his need for help, claiming that "another man would have been humiliated to say those words." Picard is still upset about the loss of eighteen of his crew, but Q is unapologetic, telling him that the universe is not a safe place before disappearing. The Enterprise sets course for the nearest starbase.


Reflecting upon events in Ten Forward with Picard, Guinan says that the encounter with the Borg happened before it should have, and for the moment, the Borg are only capable of seeing the Federation as "raw material to them". And because they are now, Guinan begins, "aware of our existence," "they will be coming," Picard continues. Guinan ominously says, "You can bet on it." Picard comments that perhaps Q did the right thing for the wrong reasons, to shake humanity out of its complacency for whatever lies ahead.




So, it would seem that Q's motive is to prove the point that the Federation is unprepared for and unsuspecting of what dangers lie ahead of them as they explore further into the universe. While Q may have done this for his own personal amusement or to stroke his own ego, it did still end up helping the Federation by cluing them in to the existence of the Borg, as noted under the Trivia section:



It's later revealed that due to the events shown in Star Trek: First Contact and "Regeneration" the Borg already knew of Earth's existence and were on their way. This means Q's actions were an early warning for the Federation.



However, whether or not Q specifically intended to help them in this way isn't altogether certain.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Was Galadriel's temptation of Boromir instrumental to his fall?

We know Galadriel tempted the members of the Fellowship, did she tempt Boromir with visions of taking the Ring and saving Gondor? In the books, Boromir willingly accepts the judgement of the council that the Ring should be destroyed, but after the meeting with Celeborn and Galadriel his personality seems to change. Was the temptation offered by Galadriel in some way responsible for Boromir's fall? Answer It's likely, but not certain I believe it is likely Galadriel tempted him with the ring, and in doing so re-ignited a pre-existing idea to take the ring, but to be clear lets break this down into three parts. Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir after setting off Boromir after being tempted Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir pleas for the ring to go to Minas Tirith, to help Gondor in its defense against Mordor. “ Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more