What if the events of Q Who never occurred? If the omnipotent being with an interest in humanity and the Federation never introduced the Enterprise D to the Borg Collective? Starfleet already was investigating rumours of missing colonies, and thanks to the El Auriens and Enterprise NX-01, they may even have had a notion as to what the Borg were already… but what would have happened to the timeline if they were never encountered in 2364 and instead “the best of both worlds” was the first meeting with the cyborg menace? Let’s speculate!
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Q is like a jokester, guarding angel, big brother. …he's got your back, but he doesn't want you to think so.
How would the Enterprise escape their first encounter without the help of Q? Q had to rescue them from their first encounter. Without Q to intervene, the Enterprise simply gets assimilated on that first encounter.
One major thing I think you have left out is the borg found out about Picard because of the encounter caused by Q, so if that never happened the Brog may never have created Locutus drastically changing things.
If you look at history carefully; you’ll find many discoveries/inventions were made multiple times and forgotten before being ‘officially’ discovered. Example: the cause and cure for scurvy was discovered several times in western Europe before it was officially discovered. Maybe Q was frustrated by how many times humanity must be taught a lesson before it sticks.
honestly Enterprise and everything afterwards should be considered a separate timeline
The main place I disagree with this scenario is the assumption that removing ‘Q Who?’ only changes Starfleet's preparations but leaves the Borg's own actions essentially unchanged — that the Borg still reach Jouret in 2366, encounter the Enterprise-D, target Picard and then head for Earth on roughly the same timetable.
That assumption only really works if the Borg were going to be in exactly the same region at exactly the same time regardless of ‘Q Who?’ — in other words, if the J-25 encounter changed Starfleet's behaviour but had absolutely no effect on the Borg's. I suggest that Q's sending of the Enterprise-D to J-25 caused a larger butterfly effect than merely changing the Federation's knowledge of the Borg.
'The Best of Both Worlds' had the Borg specifically seeking out Picard – "Jean-Luc Picard, you lead the strongest ship of the Federation fleet" – A piece of information the Borg could very plausibly have obtained during ‘Q Who?’, when Borg drones directly probed the Enterprise's computer systems, giving the Collective an obvious opportunity to acquire detailed information about Picard, Starfleet and the Federation, and less likely perhaps that the Borg could have gained this information from the missing settlements along the Neutral Zone. It might be a stretch to assume that these settlements would have more detailed knowledge of the Federation fleet. But without ‘Q Who?’, there is at least no established reason why the Borg would have been specifically looking for Picard or the Enterprise-D. And if there is no particular reason for the Borg to target Picard, then Locutus cannot simply be treated as a fixed event either, which in turn changes how much knowledge of Starfleet the Borg possess during any eventual attack on Earth.
This leaves the question of 'When would the Borg have launched a direct assault on Earth without the events of 'Q Who?'. The Enterprise-D appearing thousands of light-years from Federation space and then instantaneously vanishing again may itself have made the Federation considerably more interesting to the Borg, particularly given that Borg drones had just accessed the Enterprise's computer and therefore potentially knew that nothing in its recorded propulsion capabilities could explain either event. However this is entirely speculation.
What we do know is that Guinan herself states at the end of 'Q Who?' that Q had set a series of events into motion which brought contact with the Borg "much sooner than it should have come". More importantly, when she points out that the Borg are now aware of the Federation's existence, Picard immediately realises the implication: they will be coming.
That doesn't necessarily prove that the Borg Cube seen in 'The Best of Both Worlds' attacked Earth specifically because of the encounter at J-25, but it does strongly suggest that Q accelerated something which otherwise would have happened considerably later. Q may therefore have simultaneously given the Federation an early warning about the Borg while also being responsible for bringing the Federation to the Borg's attention in the first place.
Without Q's intervention, and removing all the retcons from Voyager and Enterprise, the Borg were strongly implied to already be operating around the fringes of Federation and Romulan space, as demonstrated by the missing settlements in 'The Neutral Zone'. But there is an enormous difference between the Borg harvesting isolated settlements they happened across and the Collective identifying the Federation itself as something worthy of direct attention. It is therefore entirely possible that Q saved the Federation by warning them about the Borg — while also creating the immediate threat they now needed warning about.
Didn't Q also accelerate the Borg advancement toward Earth by making them aware of the Federation ships in 2363?
But if it wasn't for q the board would not have seen the federation at the time and would not have come chasing them down. So the time frame is way off. I mean for all we know the federation could have long lost to the Dominion before the board ever showed up
Without Q the time travel events of First Contact would never happen. The past borg would never send out a message with earth's coordinates during enterprise. Therefore delaying the confrontation for possibly many decades
I wanted to say that a format of "Did this actually do that?" would be pretty good for this channel. You did a good job proving the Q helped. (in this case).
Without even checking your video ofc Q did actually helped.
He shook the Federation from their comfy chair, showed them there is an enemy who cares not for race, ideals or territory, who cares not for diplomacy or coexistence, but just for ultimate submission (assimiliation). Even Dominion was a faction that essentially did what they had to because of fear of their past experiences not to happen again and their way of acting seemed like the most optimal one for them.
For me Q (most notably John de Lancie) was a guardian of humanity – sure he enjoyed playing with multiple captains, teasing them, testing them, but he never really did anything that would put any lasting harm – every captain he visited changed for the better (physically or mentally).
You're proceeding under the false assumption that first contact with the borg would have been them assimilating Federation colonies in 2366 as they were doing in the lead-up to the Battle of Wolf 359. The Borg wouldn't have known the Federation even existed if Q hadn't forced an introduction. The cube was sent to assimilate Earth as a direct result of the encounter, because it made the Federation interesting enough to the borg to justify sending a ship so far beyond their territory. No Q Who, no Wolf 359. It likely would have taken centuries for first contact to occur naturally.
the big question would be whether the borg would even have come at the same time.. while they'd been picking at the edges of federation and romulan space for a bit, it is possible that Q making the enterprise appear, then disappear caught the borg's curiosity, and they stepped up their timetable for a full contact assimilation mission. and that had Q not intervened, full contact might not have happened till years later, or possibly even decades.
So you're saying Star Trek: Picard would've never been made? 🤔
I think a more interesting question is where the bootstrap paradox starts, that is the Second Battle of Sol. The Queen used the battle, fully intending to go back in time and conquer Earth in the past. The efforts of the Enterprise crew successfully stopped them, resulting in the wreckage being deposited in Antarctica for later discovery, leading to the events of Star Trek: Enterprise. The ultimate result of those events was a homing signal being sent deep into the Delta Quadrant. This signal, sent back to the Collective of the time, drew the interest of the Borg into the Alpha Quadrant, leading to the eventual assimilation of the Raven, and the child that would later grow to be 7 of 9. This set the timetable that ultimately leads to Q throwing the Enterprise at that Cube, a path that ultimately… leads back to the Queen using the Second Battle of Sol to go back in time and attempt to assimilate Earth in the past.
Given that reality absolutely hates paradoxes, it's rather odd that this one is so central to the story of the Borg and the Federation.
I’m starting to think the Kardashian’s are part of the Star Trek universe.
I think of it as an homage to War of the Worlds which was a critique on colonialisation .
What if the Q is the end stage of the Borg?
hmm, no i don't see Starfleet losing here, I see them turning to actual weapons and warships, going back on all their progress towards diplomacy.
❤😮😊Also..the attempt to prevent FIRST CONTRACT..wouldn't have resulted it BORG "MINISPHERE", being blasted over the north pole..getting revived during Captain Archer's time on N-X 01 ENTERPRISE..and sending signals early enough to have the first cube..already heading to Earth..when the ENTERPRE-D was dropped in it's path.
The Story As i understand it:
Here is my Version. Sorry for my Bad Englisch.
The Borg in the Delta Quadrant of the 24th Century has Received a Signal From an Borg ship in the Alpha Quadrant, and followed him.
Q Send the Enterprise to the on his way to Earth been Borg. To Prepare Humanity.
Many Yeas later, The Borg has Arrived at the Alpha Quadrant, but gets Destroyed after a Big Battle of wolf 359 and the Later Confrontatiion with The Enterprise, and only because Cicard was Asimilated to the Bord and could be used to Distroy the Borg.
Years later A Second Borg Ship Arrived, but Traveled back in to the past of the Earth, to Assimilate the Humanity in the Past, the Enterprise Followed them, end prevented it.
The Bog Ship was destroyed too, but Survived borg uses the Enterprise to send an Signal in to the Delta Quadrand.. and they failed.
The Enterprise Helped the Past Humans with the First Contact with the Vulcans, and Traveld back in to the 24th Century
Meanwhile on Earth, but many years later.
Researchers found debris from the destroyed Borg ship.
The borg Awakes again. They took over a Federation ship and were on their way to the Delta Quadrant.
The Enterprise NX 01 followed them, and Destroyed it.
But before the Destruction of the Ship. The borg could manage it to send a Signal in to the Delta Quadrant. It took so long to the Delta Quadrant, then it arrived in the 24th Century.
and it god picked up from the Borg Ship, that Q Confronts the Enterprise with.
So it is a Circualry Event.
Starfleet knew about the presence of the Borg a full year prior to the events of Q-Who. In Season 1, Episode 26, "The Neutral Zone", outpost Delta 05 was "scooped off the surface". A Romulan post or posts were equally destroyed. This was the first interaction with the Borg. They just did not know the face of their enemy. The Borg however, knew them.
We had a previous encounter with the Borg indirectly on the episode 26 of season 1 called "The Neutral Zone". Entire outpost was scooped off the planet for both the Federation and the Romulans. Outpost Delta 05 is described as "scooped it off the face of the planet". That was the first encounter with the Borg. So, Star Fleet and the Romulans way before Q-Who. The Stardate of "The Neutral Zone" was 41986.0. The Stardate of "Q-Who" was 42761.3. Star Fleet knew about thr borg 1 year prior to Q-Who. They just not know who they were.
Q said that had he not done this, the borg would have arrived eventually and it would have been a disaster.
Q: Jean Luc, the Q introduced the Borg and did not introduce the Borg depending on which timeline you mortals are observing.
Picard: Ah, that explains it. Schrodinger's Q.
One thing of note though is that Picard was chosen for assimilation and specifically taken because of a previous engagement. So it's not entirely clear that he would be abducted. I like to imagine that through some of data's work they would have been able to explore the same collective weakness from afar
Very intriguing alternate timeline! Q knew, lol.
I do think there is a chance the turtling Federation doesn't piss off the dominion quite as fast, and the borg lose to species 8472.
Given the fmv game, it should be noted that Q intervened on multiple ships changing the outcome of multiple fates borg encounters each of which likely would have been catastrophic to the federation. I think the better look would be that Q used the federation as pawns to defeat the borg without risking continuum lives as if the both managed even a few pyrrhic defeats they would quickly adapt to even their seemingly omniscient enemy.
I'll give you an even darker scenario what if the events of Star Trek: Voyager did happen? Voyager gets thrown into the Delta Quadrant without any forewarning, the situation would likely be catastrophic. The crew would lack the "battle stations" mindset required to survive, and they could easily end up being assimilated early on. Given how advanced an Intrepid-class ship is, the Borg would gain crucial technology that would make them unstoppable—especially against a Federation already weakened and distracted by the Dominion. It really emphasizes how much the Alpha Quadrant relied on that "early warning" and the unique resilience of the Voyager crew to eventually develop the pathogens needed to fight back. The Delta Quadrant would have effectively become a death trap.
By the time Q Who happened the Hanson family had already been assimilated. Maybe the Borg learned about Earth and the Alpha Quadrant from the Hansons. And maybe the Hansons were related to Admiral Hanson which is why the admiral knew about them to begin with. Obviously he couldn’t have known about the assimilation but perhaps he knew what the Hansons were looking to confirm. Their mission was not an official Starfleet mission, maybe because nobody believed the Borg to be real at that time, but if they were related the admiral could’ve definitely known about them.
The defiant as an anti borg ship never made sense to me, so it's got more powerful phasers, phasers that the borg will adapt to like any other phaser
Yes. Yes he helped.
Of that I'm very much not unsure.
What if Voyager never introduced 7 of 9?
8472 was not going to stop at the borg, their plan was to purge the whole galaxy. if not for the nano-probes they would have steamrolled us even harder than the borg.