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All of Q's Greatest Appearances

The trickster god has caused mayhem across several shows

Q has been causing trouble for Starfleet Captains and crews since the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Now, he’s back in Star Trek: Picard to continue the trial that began in “Encounter at Farpoint.” To celebrate his return, we’ve gathered a list of all the best Q episodes to watch — from his TNG days to an animated cameo — to learn more about the character and his powers before the next episode of Picard . Prepare to see the road not taken...

In addition to streaming on Paramount+ , Star Trek: Picard also streams on Prime Video outside of the U.S. and Canada, and in Canada can be seen on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. Star Trek: Picard is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

John de Lancie Talks Reprising Q on ‘Star Trek: Picard’: ‘You Can Never Go Back’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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When John de Lancie was first cast as Q on the pilot of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” his expectation was that he was only supposed to play the wily omnipotent being — who challenges Capt. Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) with proving humanity’s worthiness — for that single, two-part episode. But three days into shooting, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry took de Lancie aside.

“He said to me, ‘You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into,'” de Lancie says. “And oh my god, was he right.”

De Lancie reprised his performance as Q on seven more episodes of “TNG,” including the series finale, when Q promised he would visit Picard again “from time to time.” Despite appearances as Q on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager” (as well as a brief cameo on the animated series “Star Trek: Lower Decks”), however, Q never did drop in on Picard for another verbal tête-à-tête.

That is, until Monday’s announcement that de Lancie would return as Q in Season 2 of the Paramount Plus series “ Star Trek: Picard ,” which will premiere in 2022.

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A prolific character actor in TV, film and theater, de Lancie’s played everything from “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” as the voice of the villain Discord to “Breaking Bad” as Donald Margolis, the distraught father of the heroin-addicted Jane (Krysten Ritter).

But for many, Q is de Lancie’s signature role. His episodes of “TNG” remain some of the most beloved in the series’ seven-season run from 1987 to 1994, and the news that he would be playing the role again lit up Trekkie Twitter in celebration. In this exclusive conversation with Variety , de Lancie explains his reaction to the news that he was being invited to return to “the dinner party,” as he puts it — and his reservations about reprising a character he hasn’t played since 2001.

When “Star Trek: Picard” was first announced, did that cause you to wonder, “Oh, what if Q could come back?”

Well, it’s interesting. Terry [Matalas], one of the executive producers, when I met with him, he said, “Oh, of course, you knew you were going to be coming back.” And I said, “You know what, Terry, ‘Star Trek’ has done a lot of movies and other shows without me. So I did not assume that that was going to be the case.” I just sort of discipline myself as a professional over the years to go, “look, it’s somebody else’s dinner party. You cannot spend your time worrying about whether you’re getting invited. Just take it off the radar. You get invited or you don’t get invited, that’s all.”

So when were you first invited back to this dinner party?

Well, I want to say, six months ago. This whole COVID year has been disjointed, but it was after their first season.

How did that feel to know that they were interested in bringing Q back?

You know, it was, and is, a little bit of a mixed bag. One of the issues that I have is you don’t want to fall into the trap of re -creating. I was obviously a little concerned — very concerned — about the issues having to do with, well, excuse me, this is 20 years later. I’m supposed to be immortal and I certainly look very mortal. There were issues about all of that. I was flattered. Of course, I said yes. I didn’t have to think about that part. And then I wondered, where are they going to go with this?

Did the producers talk with you at that point about what was planned for Q, or was this more of a mystery to you?

There was generalized talk, which intrigued me. One of the things that’s sort of unusual, having played a character that has had such a long history — I’ve only done, I think, nine episodes [of “Star Trek”], between the three shows. [ Editor’s note: It’s been 12. ] I’ve always thought of it as being kind of a diamond in the rough, and having new facets of that stone that’s going to be cut. So here it is, many years later, we’re still cutting that stone. There will be elements of that stone which have already been cut, and they will simply need to be burnished up. And then there will be elements of this stone that will be newly cut, for which there will be people who go, “Oh I always thought you would go in that direction,” and then others, “Oh, I like him the way he was before!”

It solved one major problem for me, and that is I feel very strongly about the whole thing of, you can never go back. Dare I say, how often have we gone back to meet with old girlfriends or boyfriends or what have you and you go, “Oh, I think it would have been better just keeping this in my imagination!” Here, we are not, in fact, going back. We are taking what we have and we are moving forward. And to me, that’s exciting.

Have you shot anything yet?

How did it feel to act against patrick stewart again.

It was fun. My own issues have always been the same. I have to put in a lot of homework because I’m very dyslexic and I just have to work really hard to get all of that into RAM, as it were. And then once that’s done, I’m there to play . And so it was just fun. That type of preparation has paid off and you’re just ready to rock and roll.

Did you pay any attention to the way that the announcement of your return was received?

I saw the little trailer, which I thought was really well done, where there’s a playing card that disappears and then you just see the Q. I felt that that was very befitting this character. This is thin ice for all of us: There are expectations . In the case of that little announcement, I thought they exceeded expectations on that. It was a really nice little morsel of, “Here he comes!”

“Star Trek” fans are notoriously picky, but I have not seen negative reactions to Q’s return — it’s been quite enthusiastically received. How does it feel to have people be so interested in seeing you continue to play this role?

Well, as you were saying that just now, what I felt was mostly was, Oh shit . [ Laughs ] The pressure is on! That’s how I feel about it. I find that to be a challenge. I hope that I can match it. I hope that we all can match it, and more to the point, exceed it. [ Laughs ] This is one of the reasons I stay away from all this stuff. I kind of just have to stay in the world of what can be done, and what cannot be done, and not to get too pressurized in all this.

One common reaction I’ve seen is people saying, “oh, thank god, I can feel good about the letter Q again.” Obviously, in the last few years, the letter Q has taken on a much different connotation with the rise of the QAnon conspiracy cult. How strange has that been for you, given how identified you’ve been with the role?

[ Sighs ] I’m really grateful for that character that I played — and I have become protective of that, of what Q means and all that. Certainly with this other thing, I’ve chosen not to dumpster dive into it. I don’t want to bring those two elements together in any way whatsoever. There’s a part of Q that I’m playing that is frankly more real and more positive and more life-affirming than the [ pause ] ridiculousness that I hear about this other stuff.

Since we’re talking about reprising one of your most memorable roles, I did want to ask — given that “Better Call Saul” is a prequel series for “Breaking Bad,” have you ever wondered if Donald Margolis would pop up on that show?

I would have loved for that character to have continued. Through my career, I was always hired to play the very aggressive, wordsmith-y sort of character, which ironically is difficult for me because I just tend to work seemingly twice as hard as anybody else. That character allowed me to just relax a little bit, and to just feel , as opposed to trying to dominate or bulldoze. But again, you brought it up and I appreciate it and I take it as a compliment, but I just don’t think about it ever. I just can’t.

Let me just tell you, it’s very interesting what different characters can do for somebody. In this case, just imagine a 22-year-old, shy, kind of strung out kid who comes up to me and says, “Hey, are you Jane’s father?” And I go, “Uh yeah.” And he’s looking at me kind of askance, and he goes, “Yeah, well, now I guess I know what my parents went through.”

I’m sure his parents did everything to try to keep him from, you know — “Please, you can’t keep on doing this, you’re going to ruin your life.” And he couldn’t hear any of it, but he could be affected when he saw it in a story. So I’m really happy to have played that role.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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Who Is Q in 'Star Trek: Picard'?

Your Q-uintessential guide.

Since Star Trek 's premiere in 1966, audiences have seen new iterations with each passing generation. From the original series to the original cast movies, to the Berman era in the 1990s and early 2000s (known for executive producer Rick Berman ) and now, each addition to the decade-spanning franchise has been able to introduce new elements and elaborate on the old. Star Trek: Picard capitalizes on Star Trek nostalgia even more than its predecessor, Star Trek: Discovery , serving as a character study on the fan-favorite Jean-Luc Picard ( Sir Patrick Stewart ) of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Season 2 not only sees the return of Guinan ( Whoopi Goldberg ), but also the mostly omnipotent Q ( John de Lancie ) as he hurdles Picard into the next test he must face amidst reflecting over the decisions he's made throughout his life.

But Picard doesn't quite give the audience a detailed refresher of the history of Q or his relationship with Picard other than a few expository references. So, if you need a refresher on a 30-year-old show, or are a newer Star Trek fan born after 1994 but don't have the time to trek on a 178 episode binge of The Next Generation , this feature is for you.

RELATED: ‘Star Trek: Picard’s Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, and Evan Evagora on Season 2 and Geeking Out with Patrick Stewart

Q is a member of The Q, a race of beings who have the ability to alter matter and energy, and therefore time, at their whims. They can inhabit the dimension/reality that humanity exists in, but also have their own plane of existence called "The Q Continuum." Their society is organized, but highly reactive to change due to their powerful, almost god-like status. Many of the appearances of the Q sees minute questioning and change start a wildfire throughout the Continuum. Just like an overprotective father, they need control.

The Q also have the ability to present themselves in different forms, but Q almost always presents himself as a human male dressed in a Starfleet uniform, though he makes a point to age and matches Picard in his latest appearance -- becoming decades older and in civilian clothing with his signature snap. Q, as an individual, is boastful, emotional, and manipulative. He has an inflated ego, to say the last. Even among the Continuum, he's known for his chaotic and brash behavior and is reprimanded for it at one point.

He appears across 5 series ( The Next Generation , Deep Space 9 , Voyager , Lower Decks , and Picard ), but his first and probably most memorable appearance comes in the premiere of The Next Generation , "Encounter at Farpoint." This first encounter sets the stage for most of Q's appearance, especially much of those with Picard. When Q stops the crew of the Enterprise-D on its maiden voyage, he warns Picard and crew that humanity isn't worthy of space travel, and if they don't return to Earth they will be put on trial for confirmation. The Enterprise is able to pass Q's test, freeing a space creature captured and used for energy on a colony.

Perhaps the most relevant Q appearance comes in The Next Generation 's 3rd season episode, "Q Who," which includes many of the highlight elements returning to Star Trek via Picard. This time, instead of a trial or a game, Q requests to join the Enterprise as a guide, as he has knowledge that could help humanity as they venture to where no man has gone before. Picard unsurprisingly declines, and Q angrily transports the ship to an unknown location in the Delta quadrant where they encounter a Borg cube. The Enterprise is almost destroyed, but Picard asks Q for help in the last moment, serving Picard a harsh message about what enemies awaited them. Not only is this the first appearance of the Borg chronologically in Star Trek , but this episode also introduces a vague hostile history between Q and Guinan, both special guest stars on this season of Picard.

In addition to his fascination with Jean-Luc, Q also made quite a few appearances to Starfleet personnel and other civilizations in the 2360s and 2370s which put him on the Federation's radar. The organizations began briefing officers of his existence as a result. Q followed Vash, a woman whom he provided Q abilities, to Deep Space 9, but found Sisko boring compared to Picard. He also appears to crew members of the Cerritos, putting them through trials similarly to his antics on the Enterprise.

Q doesn't mess with only humans either, although you could say he has an affinity for humanity. When the Q Continuum doesn't allow his chaos to go unnoticed, he tries to seek asylum on Picard's Enterprise when he's punished by being made human. He doesn't say it aloud, but Picard can deduce that he's seeking protection from other civilizations Q made enemies of. This is temporary, of course, when Q shows progress and leaves the Enterprise to protect the people he torments so often. This experience also enlightens him in a profound way as he interacts with Data ( Brent Spiner ), who has a unique relationship with humanity on his own.

Q's arc on Voyager is possibly more consequential than even the introduction of the Borg to the alpha quadrant, even although he only appears in 3 episodes. When Voyager accidentally releases an imprisoned Q (known by Quinn) from a comet, Q becomes involved in a Q civil war over the idea of changing their status quo. Q became one of the leaders supporting change. To end the civil war, he has a child with a female Q -- the first Q offspring in over a millennium.

Despite the galactic scale consequences of the fate of the Q Continuum, Q has always been revered for his relationship with Picard and humanity. The last time he meets Picard in The Next Generation , it's been some time since Q has put humanity on trial. In the series finale, Picard once again passes the mind-bending test, but Q advises, "The trial never ends." That same line teases the continuation of the story between the man and the Q.

• The Inventory

The A to Z of Star Trek 's Q

Star Trek ’s galaxy is filled with mysterious alien races, unexplained phenomena, and incomprehensible technology that our Starfleet heroes would love to explore and understand. And then there’s the Q Continuum, a group of beings that a lot of those Starfleet officers wish would leave them alone instead.

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But you can’t keep a good omnipotent being down, and now that the Q are coming back—well, a Q, our Q , if you will—with John de Lancie’s arrival in the second season of Star Trek: Picard , here are the ins and outs of what you need to know about one of Star Trek ’s most enduringly silly godlike species, and its most iconic self-named member.

First introduced in The Next Generation ’s debut episode—the two-parter “Encounter at Farpoint”—John de Lancie’s Q was cut from the same cloth as similarly mysterious, powerful (and, on occasion, very camp ) figures like Trelane in the original Star Trek . An essentially godlike being with a puckish taste for putting our heroes in absurdist scenarios to test everything from their morals to their patience, Q stories are a whirlwind of de Lancie chewing as much scenery as he possibly can and wild stretches of danger and comedy, putting Captain Picard and his crew through their paces.

But Q himself also had a hugely important role to play beyond his iconic relationship with Picard—a sort of gentleman’s agreement in so much as a god and an ordinary (and usually very annoyed) human being can have. It’s Q that introduced the Federation to the Borg, in a manner that can either be perceived as him smashing together two powerful civilizations to watch the chaos that ensues or an early warning about one of the galaxy’s most dangerous presences. It’s Q that would eventually go on to help Voyager shave years off their long journey home. It’s Q, metatextually, that would go on to starkly differentiate Benjamin Sisko from the shadow of his predecessor: his sole appearance in Deep Space Nine highlighted by Q staging a boxing match between himself and Sisko, only for it to be cut short by Sisko promptly decking Q (“You hit me! Picard never hit me !”).

Aside from the laughs brought about by a cheeky superbeing with the power to do whatever the hell he wanted with a wave of his hand, Q’s appearances across The Next Generation and Voyager are likewise defined by the morality plays at their core. While Voyager in particular would go on to define the backstory of the wider Q society and the moral and ethical implications of a group of all-powerful beings, in TNG, Q’s games were tests of character. He’s introduced by literally putting humanity on trial for its history of violent, cruel transgressions, forcing the crew of the Enterprise to prove the species’ capacity to grow and change into a better society for all. He pushes Picard constantly, offering temptations and tricks to get the Captain to stand his ground and embrace both his very best aspects and his moments of failure.

But what are the Q themselves? Well, suitably so, we know a lot, and yet also nothing.

Most of our understanding of Q society in Star Trek is framed through Q himself—who has been exiled from it, re-introduced back into the fold as a stabilizing force, and, occasionally, starting civil wars within the Continuum (not just a name for the Q race but their plane of existence). But over the wider franchise, we have met other members of the Q to help further flesh out the Continuum as an entity beyond “our” Q’s impish behavior; from Amanda Rogers (Olivia d’Abo), a Q raised on Earth as if she were a human being to help explore the concept of giving a Q a moral code, to Quinn, an exiled Q in the Delta Quadrant encountered by Voyager , to even Q’s own son.

Not even the Q can agree on where and when the first immortal members of their species manifested, other than the general number of “billions of years ago.” It took centuries of evolution, but members of the Continuum mastered the ability to manipulate reality. Any Q could shift their own form and perception, create or destroy matter and energy, change time, and shift the very nature of existence on a whim, either by moving galaxies and solar systems or even creating alternate timelines. This le d to two things: first, an attitude that the Q believed themselves to be the most elite beings in the entirety of existence, having attained a knowledge and hyperintelligence beyond that of any other known species. Secondly, the Q promptly using their abilities to explore every facet of that existence thoroughly. It didn’t take long for them to understand and explore all of it in totality and then promptly get very, very bored with it.

This also meant that Q society very quickly stagnated which, alongside their amoral leanings, lead to rogue elements like our own Q. He had a history of calamitous galactic upheaval and a few minor bits of warmongering even before he first encountered humanity in the 2360s, poking and prodding at civilizations to provoke conflict on a whim, or reshaping parts of the universe with his powers. But even his own brand of chaos aside, this state of dormancy—where the Q shut themselves off in their own plane, not even communicating with each other because they believed all possible interesting conversation about anything had already happened—also lead to other members of the Continuum similarly rebelling.

One Q we meet in Star Trek: Voyager , a philosopher named Quinn (Gerrit Graham), attempts to commit suicide, but fearing the chaos such an act could cause within his society, the Continuum collectively sentences him to exile and imprisonment within a comet. After being accidentally freed by the Voyager on its journey through the Delta Quadrant, Quinn was granted asylum aboard the ship by Captain Janeway against the Continuum’s wishes, only to indeed, die by suicide. This event sparked a civil war within the plane of the Continuum, where a faction advocating for individual freedoms among the Q compared to the stagnancy of its status quo broke off. They created devastating superweapons that couldn’t just render Q beings mortal, but were capable of irrevocably damaging subspace beyond the Continuum’s plane—not only depowering Q who had left their home but threatening to undo reality itself.

After intervention by Voyager on Q’s behest, the civil war—which played out in front of the Starfleet crew’s eyes as the American Civil War—was brought to an end with a result we may ultimately see the ramifications of in Picard ’s second season. Q and a f emale Q chose to do something no member of the Continuum had considered in their long existence: procreate, giving birth to the first actual child of the Continuum. Nicknamed Junior (Keegan de Lancie), this Q did briefly bring about stability to the Continuum’s moral crisis, but, like his father before him, he was kind of a spoiled brat. After eventually being kicked out of the Continuum and nearly having his powers revoked, a brief stint aboard Voyager convinced the Continuum to re-accept Junior... as long as his father cleaned up his interstellar messes.

Aside from a brief trip over to the first season of Lower Decks , that was the last time we’d seen a Q in decades. But, of course, a few decades is a blink of an eye to a Q.

Now that Star Trek is returning to the Continuum next year, it remains to be seen what more we’ll learn about not just our Q, and maybe even his son, but the status of the Continuum itself. Hopefully something a bit exciting—after all, it’s not really a Q appearance if something a bit zany isn’t going on.

For more, make sure you’re following us on our Instagram @ io9dotcom .

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Star Trek’s 12 most Q episodes, ranked by chaotic energy

A Q for every mood

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Decades before the letter “Q” gained a sinister political connotation (and during a rare fallow period for the James Bond film franchise), the alphabet’s most quizzical consonant became synonymous with Star Trek . Portrayed by actor John de Lancie, the omnipotent trickster god Q debuted in the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 and developed into the show’s signature antagonist, the perfect foil for disciplined, steadfastly moral Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Q has remained one of the most popular guest characters in the Star Trek franchise, appearing across five series including the new season of Star Trek: Picard .

Q owes his longevity as a character to de Lancie’s magnetic performance and to the multiple ways he can be employed in a Star Trek story. Q is an all-powerful authority, casting judgment over humanity and enforcing the cosmic status quo of the Q Continuum, but he’s also a cartoonish agent of chaos who takes delight in befuddling straight-laced Starfleet Captains . Most of the best Q episodes find a balance between Q’s two extremes, depicting him as part bully, part teacher, and part comic relief.

In recognition of the delicate chemistry that goes into creating a good Q episode, Polygon’s scientists have developed the Q Scale, a method of measuring the ratio of Authoritative Q to Chaotic Q in a given story. Like the pH Scale, the Q Scale starts at 0 (Fully Authoritarian) and ends at 14 (Fully Chaotic), with the median 7 representing a healthy neutral between the two extremes.

Excluding his cameo in the Lower Decks episode “Veritas” (which is too slight to include here) and his recurring role in Picard ’s second season (which shouldn’t be judged until it’s completed), we’ve ranked every appearance of Q based on where it sits on the Q Scale, ​​in ascending order of chaos.

12. “Encounter at Farpoint”

The Next Generation season 1, episode 1

In the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Q forces the crew of the Enterprise to stand trial on behalf of all of humanity. He introduces himself as a representative of a godlike ruling body who has determined that our species is too savage and violent to be permitted further expansion across the galaxy. The episode contains the seeds of the flamboyant, hedonistic Q of his later appearances — namely, his love of playing dress-up — but most of what makes Q pop in “Farpoint” comes from John de Lancie’s performance rather than from the script itself. de Lancie was hand-picked by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry for the role based on his ability to elevate the material, and future appearances would be written with his theatrical strengths in mind.

Q Level: 1 (Wholly authoritarian)

Q Fact: The character of Q was a late addition to the script for “Encounter at Farpoint.” Writer Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana had been instructed to write a script for a 90-minute series premiere, and when the episode was expanded to two hours, Roddenberry wrote a 30-minute “envelope” story to pad out the episode, adding the “trial for humanity” subplot. Fontana and fellow Trek writer David Gerrold later theorized that Roddenberry did this in order to deliberately pocket what would have been Fontana’s contractual bonus for writing a double-sized episode.

11. “True Q”

The Next Generation season 6, episode 6

In this Next Generation episode, young Enterprise intern Amanda Rogers (Olivia d’Abo) discovers that she’s actually a Q, born on Earth to two outcasts from the Continuum who chose to live as humans. Now that her powers are emerging, the Continuum sends our Q to retrieve her, but Captain Picard demands that she be allowed to determine her own fate. Once again, we see Q operating as an unquestioning agent of a higher authority, though this is also his sixth appearance on TNG and his familiarity and fondness for Picard has made him more amenable to compromise. Q attempts to sway Amanda by claiming that the point of being Q is to do whatever you want, but this doesn’t hold water given that he also threatens to kill her if she doesn’t cooperate with the Continuum. Notably, this is also Q at his least fun, as he spends most of the episode being a creep to a teenage girl.

Q Level: 2 (Highly authoritarian)

Q Fact: Writer René Echevarria tried to name the young Q “Samantha” after the protagonist of the 1960s sitcom Bewitched , but executive producer Rick Berman caught the reference and nixed the idea.

10. “Death Wish”

Voyager season 2, episode 18

After The Next Generation concluded, Q began guest starring on its subsequent spin-off, Star Trek: Voyager . His first Voyager episode, “Death Wish,” is undoubtedly his best, and the most successful attempt at exploring the internal politics of the Q Continuum. In “Death Wish,” Voyager encounters a second Q (who calls himself “Quinn” to avoid confusion) whose desire to become mortal has made him a political enemy of the Continuum. When Quinn applies for asylum aboard Voyager, the powers that be dispatch our old familiar Q to represent their interests in a hearing to determine Quinn’s fate. “Death Wish” is the best of the more authoritarian Q episodes, not only because it explores a complex moral dilemma in the classic Star Trek tradition, but because it interrogates the duality of Q’s character. Quinn forces Q to look at himself and realize that he’s lost his sense of mischief and sold out to The Man.

Q Level: 3 (Skeptically authoritarian)

Q Fact: John de Lancie and Kate Mulgrew ( Voyager ’s Captain Janeway) have been close friends since long before Star Trek, which no doubt contributed to the pair’s chemistry on screen.

Voyager season 7, episode 18

In Q’s final appearance on Voyager , we get acquainted with his son, Q (or “Junior,” played by John de Lancie’s real-life son Keegan). Since Junior is the first child born in the Continuum, the inexperienced Q ditches his unruly adolescent offspring with Captain “Aunt Kathy” Janeway in the hopes that she can teach him some discipline. The Continuum expects Junior to help maintain order in the universe and threatens him with severe punishment if he fails to shape up, but Q himself plays only a minor role in turning his son’s life around, letting the Voyager crew set the example for responsible behavior. When Q does finally participate, it’s by staging a cruel costume drama that tricks Junior into believing that he’s put his new friend Icheb’s life in danger. Q scares Junior into becoming more responsible by way of his classic hijinx, staging elaborate tests and deliberately annoying a Starfleet crew.

Q Level: 4 (Nominally authoritarian)

Q Fact: This is Keegan de Lancie’s final acting credit. He currently works for the US State Department .

8. “All Good Things…”

The Next Generation season 7, episode 25

The series finale of The Next Generation resumes the trial that began in “Encounter at Farpoint,” returning Picard to the scene of his first conflict with Q as well as showing him a glimpse of a possible future. As it turns out, Q has been directed by the Continuum to put Picard through one more deadly test that will either prove humanity’s potential or destroy all organic life in the galaxy. Q follows his orders, but also obtains permission to appear to Picard and occasionally drop subtle hints as to the nature of the deadly puzzle. After seven years of observing and pestering Picard, Q is now less interested in controlling or passing judgment over humanity and more invested in seeing us grow to our full potential.

Q Level: 5 (Barely authoritarian)

Q Fact: “All Good Things…” is, to date, the fourth and final Star Trek episode to win the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation . Twenty-five movies and episodes have been nominated between 1966 and 2018.

7. “Tapestry”

The Next Generation season 6, episode 15

In “Tapestry,” arguably the best Q episode of all time, Captain Picard dies after suffering damage to his artificial heart. Q greets Picard in the supposed afterlife and offers him the chance to relive a key moment from his reckless youth, the bar fight that resulted in his cardiac replacement. Q acts as Picard’s guardian angel on a time-bending journey painted with shades of A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life , teaching Picard to value the wilder parts of himself, the traits that he just happens to share with Q. Q finds the exercise amusing, sure, but he seems motivated primarily by the desire to help his “pet” human learn a difficult lesson, and to save his life in the process. Picard is permitted to make his own choices throughout the entire experience, and while he does encounter a cruel twist, it’s one of his own making and Q provides a way out of it.

Q Level: 6 (Benignly authoritarian)

Q Fact: Writer Roland D. Moore considered using “Tapestry” to visit more than one pivotal moment in Picard’s life, including the never-seen death of his best friend Jack Crusher aboard the USS Stargazer.

The Next Generation season 4, episode 20

Feeling he owes Picard a debt after their previous adventure, Q insists on doing Picard a favor in return. Since Picard refuses to offer any suggestions apart from “Go away,” Q decides to interject into Picard’s love life, forcing him to confront his feelings for the rogue archeologist Vash (Jennifer Hetrick). Q traps Picard, Vash, and the rest of the Enterprise senior staff in a recreation of the legend of Robin Hood. Once in motion, the fantasy is beyond even Q’s own control, and Picard and company have mere hours to storm Nottingham Castle and rescue Vash/Maid Marian from her scheduled execution. Q devises all the rules of this deadly game, but he also abides by them, and Picard, Q, and Vash all get something out of the experience.

Q Level: 7 (Equally authoritarian and chaotic)

Q Fact: In the episode’s climactic battle, all of the male Enterprise crew members draw swords while Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi smash vases over the heads of their opponents. Ironically, Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis were the only members of the ensemble with fencing experience (save Patrick Stewart, who has been stage fighting since the 1970s ).

5. “Hide and Q”

The Next Generation season 1, episode 10

In his second appearance, Q endows Commander Riker with powers identical to his own and dares him to use them, while Picard insists that he resist the temptation. While Q is still acting on the authority of the Continuum and in the interests of better understanding humanity, “Hide and Q” doubles down on John de Lancie’s whimsy, casting Q even more like a tempestuous child who plays with the fates of individuals and entire species for his amusement. Q devises a high-stakes contest for the crew that is, by his own admission, “entirely unfair.” When his attempts to woo Riker to godhood fail anyway, the Continuum forces Q to abide by the conditions of his own game and leave the Enterprise alone.

Q Level: 9 (Noticeably chaotic)

Q Fact: An earlier draft of this episode would have established that there were only three members in the entire Q species .

4. “The Q and the Grey”

Voyager season 3, episode 11

Inspired by his experience with Quinn, Q leads a revolutionary movement that launches the Continuum into a civil war. Q seeks to upset the status quo he once upheld by fathering the first new Q in eons, and he wants Captain Janeway to be its mother. (This episode ignores the existence of Amanda Rogers.) Q’s maturity level swings wildly between adulthood and adolescence throughout the episode. His goal is to strike down the old order and establish a new one that is less restrictive to individual freedoms and more receptive to new ideas, but his plan hinges on some pretty wild assumptions, namely that a half-Q, half-human baby will be greeted as a messiah and that reproducing with one of his own, like his longtime “associate” Q (Suzie Plakson), would be impossible. His buffoonish attempts to seduce Janeway are embarrassing to watch.

Q Level: 10 (Actively chaotic)

Q Fact: Prior to playing a Q, Suzie Plakson portrayed Vulcan Dr. Selar the Klingon Ambassador K’Ehleyr on The Next Generation . There are winks to both of these roles in her dialogue in “The Q and the Grey.”

The Next Generation season 2, episode 16

On the outs with the Continuum, Q arrives on the Enterprise and offers to join the crew, even to renounce his powers if necessary. Picard declines, deciding that Q is too dangerous to trust. Q handles this rejection by shoving the Enterprise deep into unexplored space, where they encounter an enemy too powerful to confront without his help — the Borg . Q proves his point all too well, as the Enterprise makes first contact with a species that would threaten billions of lives and change the face of the Federation over the next 15 years. While there’s still plenty of “teacher Q” in this action, it’s also an impulsive, unilateral decision with massive repercussions that he barely seems to consider. So long as he’s properly shaken Picard, he’s satisfied.

Q Level: 11 (Maliciously chaotic)

Q Fact: Writer Maurice Hurley initially intended for the big bad revealed in Season Two to be a race of insects , but that idea proved too expensive. The Borg retained the hive mind of the original concept, but were portrayed as humanoid cyborgs instead.

2. “Deja Q”

The Next Generation season 3, episode 13

Embarrassed by his clownish antics and galaxy-spanning reputation for wanton cruelty, the Continuum casts Q out and drops him on Picard’s doorstep. Trapped in a human body, Q must now depend on the mercy and kindness of the Enterprise crew to survive when one of the civilizations he once tormented catches wind of his newfound mortality and comes looking for revenge. While he can’t get up to much trouble in his human form “Deja Q” is the first episode to depict Q as a liar and cheater who’s spent eternity tormenting weaker beings for sport. Much in the way that “Death Wish” makes Q second-guess his authoritarian bent, “Deja Q” challenges his desire to wreak havoc and force-feeds him some of his own medicine.

Q Level: 13 (Proudly chaotic)

Q Fact: In the teaser for this episode, the de-powered Q arrives on the bridge of the Enterprise totally naked. After director Les Landau struggled to find a way to achieve the desired effect via camera trickery, John de Lancie decided to simply perform the scene in the nude .

1. “Q-Less”

Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 6

Q makes a single appearance on TNG ’s first spin-off, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , in an episode that serves as a sequel to “Qpid.” After two years exploring the galaxy as Q’s companion, archeologist Vash catches a lift back to Federation space via the Bajoran Wormhole and arranges to spend some time aboard the show’s titular space station. Vash attempts to make a clean break from Q, but he refuses to leave her alone and spends most of the next week using his powers to harass her and any member of the DS9 crew who gets in his way. In “Q-Less,” Q has no goal beyond stalking a woman who’s rejected him, and has no involvement or interest in an existential threat to the station that rears its head during his visit. He’s purely there to goof off and make mischief. While the episode does offer one classic moment in which Sisko loses his patience and clocks him in the jaw, Q proved to be an ill fit for the setting and tone of DS9 and never returned.

Q Level: 14 (Bugs Bunny chaotic)

Q Fact: According to the Deep Space Nine Companion , John de Lancie was dissatisfied with the depiction of Q in this episode, feeling that “skirt-chasing” was a motivation unworthy of his character.

Star Trek: Discovery is cracking open a box Next Gen closed on purpose

Star trek: discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants, the 10 horniest episodes of star trek, ranked by cultural impact.

Star Trek: Q's 12 Best Moments From Across The Franchise

Of all the familiar faces to resurface time and time again across the "Star Trek" franchise, one of the most welcome is Q. Played by John de Lancie, the character hails from the omnipotent Q Continuum, who can bend the rules of reality to their whim in an instant. Initially something of a villain for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Q transforms into more of a trickster pestering various "Star Trek" mainstays. De Lancie reprises his role as Q with no trouble at all in "Star Trek: Picard," once again putting Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his friends through the cosmic wringer.

For all the galactic gags, there is a surprising depth and level of nuance to Q as he observes and plays around with humanity. And with de Lancie appearing as Q in no less than five "Star Trek" series, there are plenty of fan-favorite moments to go around. Here are Q's 12 best moments across the entire "Star Trek" franchise.

Q makes his grand entrance (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Q is a character whose franchise roots go as far back as Picard and the rest of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" cast. Appearing as the principal antagonist in the two-part series premiere, "Encounter at Farpoint," Q interrupts the Enterprise crew as they first take their assigned posts on the ship. Whisking away Picard and a handful of officers to a mock trial, Q appears before them as humanity's judge, jury, and potential executioner. Introducing himself, Q announces that he will determine if humanity deserves to exist, with Picard appointed as the species' representative.

Something that gets lost relatively quickly across Q's subsequent appearances is that he started out as an adversary, not an ally. Demonstrating his considerable reality-shaping powers from the outset, Q establishes himself as an omnipotent threat if he's not satisfied with his forced trial. Knowing what Q becomes soon thereafter, seeing him appear so menacing and relishing in being able to lord himself above Picard is something of a shock now. "The Next Generation" Season 1 is arguably the show's weakest, but Q provides the series with a heck of an opening episode.

Q reminds Picard the price of exploration (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

While always considering humanity beneath him, Q offers the species a tacit chance at survival in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 2 episode "Q Who." Whisking away the Enterprise across the cosmos, Q introduces Starfleet to the Borg Collective far sooner than they were projected to meet. Though this exposure helps Starfleet better prepare for the Borg threat, several Enterprise crewmen are lost in the resulting skirmish. Reeling from the loss of life and barely escaping from the Borg, Picard is privately admonished by Q after helping the Enterprise to safety.

Q dresses down Picard and reminds him that exploration always comes with the possibility of extreme risks. After Q leaves, even Picard concedes that the omnipotent annoyance helped humanity with the inevitably uncertain battle ahead. Of all the characters to vehemently defend Starfleet's frontier spirit, Q doesn't seem likely to top that list, and yet, he does in a stirring monologue. "Q Who" changes the tenor of "The Next Generation" and debuts perhaps its most memorable enemy, with Q leaving his indelible mark on the franchise in only his third appearance.

Q is stripped of his powers (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

As all-powerful as Q often presents himself, he still answers to the unseen Q Continuum, a collective of similarly powered beings. For all his shenanigans and interfering with the lives of mortals, the Continuum strips Q of his abilities in the third season episode "Deja Q." Powerless and naked, Q is begrudgingly taken in by the Enterprise as he copes with his newfound mortality. And as Q experiences everyday sensations like hunger and pain for the first time, he develops an (admittedly shallow) appreciation towards humanity.

De Lancie finds fresh ground to explore with Q in "Deja Q," no longer the sneering, extraterrestrial bully with a soft spot for Picard. Seeing Q forced to interact with Data (Brent Spiner) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) as equals fleshes out the character like never before. Q is normally someone fully in control of a given situation and now, he has to confront an overwhelming sense of vulnerability. By the end of "Deja Q," the cosmic demigod regards the Enterprise crew as genuine friends, even after his omnipotence is restored.

Q celebrates his restored powers (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Q impresses the Continuum in "Deja Q" when he lures vengeful aliens hunting him away from the Enterprise in a shuttlecraft. This selfless act leads the Continuum to fully reinstate Q's powers just in time to save the day, also restoring Q's signature smugness. Returning to the Enterprise bridge, Q takes the time to annoy Picard with an impromptu celebration by summoning a mariachi band. For Data, with whom he formed the strongest bond while mortal, Q allows the normally emotionless android to experience joyfully riotous laughter for the first time.

Q's loss of omnipotence may be temporary, but the ordeal leaves him a changed man and closer to the Enterprise crew. The spectacle on the bridge shows two very different sides to Q that endure for the remainder of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." On the one hand, Q will always be something of a nuisance to Picard, with varying levels of ostracization. On the other, Q's parting gift to Data reveals how much he grew during his brief flirtation with mortality and how much he truly cares for the crew.

Q offers Picard an alternate life (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Picard undergoes a "Christmas Carol"-style adventure in the sixth season episode "Tapestry," as Q offers him a glimpse at a road not traveled. In his youth as a Starfleet cadet, a cocky Picard instigates a barroom brawl that nearly kills him, teaching him the nature of consequences. In a near-death experience, Q shows Picard how radically different his life would be if he avoids the prior fight altogether. Revived, Picard gains a deeper understanding of himself and overcomes that past trauma as he recovers.

"Tapestry" is a late-game character study episode for Picard, with Q playing the de facto role of the Ghost of Christmas Past. One of the more amusing aspects of "Tapestry" is that Picard remains unsure whether Q is actually involved or if he's just a near-death hallucination. Still, Q's presence, imaginary or not, plays right into his usual wheelhouse and underscores his unlikely friendship with Picard. Rather than constantly grandstanding, Q coaches Picard through his past, giving him another pep talk and helping Picard connect the dots of his own life.

Q revisits humanity's trial (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" has arguably one of the best series finales of all time, split into two parts as "All Good Things..." The episode not only pays off years of storytelling and character development but comes full circle with its series premiere. Just as "The Next Generation" opens with Q challenging Picard to prove humanity's worth, it closes with Q presenting Picard with the same ultimatum. Picard receives another cosmic puzzle to solve, this time involving an anomaly affecting three different timelines simultaneously.

While less sinister than the series premiere, "All Good Things..." brings Q back to his interstellar authoritarian roots. Picard and Q may share a burgeoning friendship, but the fate of the human race still precariously hangs in the balance. Q is not only genuinely happy that Picard solves the riddle but quietly admits to even helping him figure it out. The dynamic between the two men grew considerably across the series, and "All Good Things..." feels like the perfect culmination of their journey together.

Sisko teaches Q a lesson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine))

Q only makes one appearance in all of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and he does it early, in the first season episode "Q-Less." When Picard's former lover, Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), visits DS9, she is pursued by Q, who is infatuated with her (to her visible chagrin). With power coincidentally failing around the station upon Vash and Q's arrival, the crew naturally suspects Q is responsible. This leads Q and Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) to have their own showdown for the station's fate.

Q learns the hard way that Sisko and the DS9 crew are a far different lot than his usual playmates on the Enterprise. Provoking Sisko into a mock boxing match, Q is surprised when Sisko lays him out with a single punch, not expecting his usual tomfoolery to be met with violence. "Deep Space Nine" delves into tonally darker areas following its inaugural season, and Q's frivolities have no place in the resulting story. That said, Q's lone visit to the station signals how different "Deep Space Nine" and its characters would be from the rest of the franchise.

Q tries to extradite Quinn (Star Trek: Voyager)

After harassing Sisko, Q proves to be much more prolific on "Star Trek: Voyager," appearing in three different episodes across the series. His "Voyager" debut is in the second season episode "Death Wish," providing de Lancie with much more mature material to work with. When a fellow Q taking on the name Quinn (Gerrit Graham) grows weary of immortality, he seeks asylum on Voyager. Dispatched by the Continuum to bring Quinn back in line, Q is shocked that Quinn argues for the right to commit suicide.

"Death Wish" plays out like a courtroom drama, with Q presenting evidence to Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), arguing Quinn should be remanded into his custody. Bringing in everything from character witnesses to delivering well-articulated monologues, de Lancie really shines as Q here. While Q still relies on some mischief to make his case — including a cheeky cameo from Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker — the right to death undercuts the comedy. After numerous depictions as a prankster, it is refreshing to see de Lancie dig into a more serious side to Q.

Q murders Quinn (Star Trek: Voyager)

The most cold-blooded moment in de Lancie's performances as Q comes at the end of "Death Wish," with Q fulfilling Quinn's desire to die. With Quinn granted mortality after successfully pleading his case, Q goes one step further by fatally poisoning him. After confessing to the murder, Q admits that the entire ordeal with Quinn gave him a wider perspective on his own existence. More intriguingly, Quinn's death inspires a sense of rebellion in Q against the Continuum's authority.

It's a shame that the divided Continuum subplot is resolved as quickly as it ultimately is, with Q ending the conflict in his next appearance on "Voyager." For all his bluster about wiping out humanity, Q killing one of his fellow beings from the Continuum is as lethal as he gets. In a way, this is an inevitability; Quinn was always going to be a memorable "Voyager" one-off character . However, moving forward, until "Picard," Q is right back as the merry prankster, which feels like a step back in his development. As beloved as the mischievous Q is, there is something interesting about him diving into moral ambiguity, and de Lancie balances that perfectly in "Death Wish."

Q raises his son (Star Trek: Voyager)

De Lancie makes one last appearance in the final season of "Voyager," joined by his son Keegan de Lancie, appropriately playing Q's son, Q Junior. Introducing Junior to the Voyager crew, Q strips his son's powers and leaves him on the starship until he can learn to behave properly. With Q vanishing off, it falls on Janeway to teach the rambunctious teenager how to play nice with others. Satisfied with Junior's progress, Q advances Voyager's journey several years with a snap of his fingers as a belated thank you.

Paired with his son, Q is out of his element as a parent; all of reality is at risk if Junior isn't careful with his omnipotence. Q is frustrated and challenged like never before, and it's clear that he doesn't like that at all. Q never forms as close a bond with Janeway as he does Picard, but Janeway also helps Q in a way Jean-Luc never could, which Q certainly notices and repays. This final visit to Voyager solidifies Q and Janeway's dynamic while providing a new dimension to Q through parenting.

Picard and Q bid each other goodbye (Star Trek: Picard)

Q comes roaring into "Star Trek: Picard" Season 2 angry at Jean-Luc and ready to teach him one last lesson. Q threatens to alter the timeline by tampering with a critical spaceflight in the 21st century, prompting Picard and friends to reunite and stop him. In reality, Q is dying and uses the last remnants of his power to help Picard overcome unresolved childhood trauma involving his mother. When this becomes evident, the two men share a tearful goodbye in the "Picard" Season 2 finale , aptly titled "Farewell."

While Q regards Picard with vocal — if somewhat mocking — affection throughout "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Farewell" showcases how much he cares for him. And though long annoyed by Q's antics, Picard finally acknowledges him as a friend in the season finale, with the two men sharing a poignant embrace. Despite knowing each other for decades, it's only at the end that Picard and Q bring their companionship to the forefront in a bittersweet moment for both.

Q meets Jack Crusher (Star Trek: Picard)

Though Q presumably dies at the end of "Star Trek: Picard" Season 2, he makes a cheeky return in the final scene of the third season. After Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) follows in his parents' footsteps and enlists in Starfleet, Q approaches Jack privately in his new quarters. Pointing out that he doesn't exist linearly, Q offers Jack the same challenge he gave Picard decades ago to prove humanity's worth.

Q's death in the preceding season finale feels definitive for the immortal character, so seeing Q back and ready to play is a fun coda. After the more antagonistic turn, Q resurfacing feels more like he's back to his old tricks, in a nice return to form. The final season of "Picard" turns "Star Trek" more explicitly generational than ever, and Q's fledgling dynamic with Jack hints at interesting directions for the story to take. Hopefully,  plans for a "Picard" follow-up will come to pass because de Lancie keeps his fan-favorite cred every time Q shows up.

The Untold Truth Of Q From Star Trek

He's an enigmatic, seemingly omnipotent being who manipulates people like they're chess pieces. He's a mischievous trickster who can go anywhere and be anything in our three-dimensional space. He's Q — no other name necessary — and he's proven himself to be both a  great ally and antagonist within the Star Trek franchise .

Played by classically trained actor John de Lancie, Q is easily one of Star Trek 's most iconic creations — even though he's only appeared in 13 episodes to date in multiple Star Trek television series. Nevertheless, it sometimes seems Q is everywhere, thanks to all the Star Trek novels, comics, audio books, and video games he's popped up in.

With John de Lancie set to reappear as Q in  season 2 of Star Trek: Picard , now's a perfect time to get up close and personal with this omnipotent trickster and find out what makes him tick. Be warned though: de Lancie himself has claimed that Q, much like the infamous English poet Lord Byron, is "mad, bad, and dangerous to know." With that in mind, let's delve into the many secrets of Star Trek' s Q.

Q is named after a Star Trek fan

At first glance, Q's name seems ridiculously simple. It's just one letter — how hard could it have been to come up with? But according to the 4th edition of the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the story behind Q's designation has a curious link with the Star Trek fandom.

Q was named by none other than Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who chose the unusual alias in honor of his friend Janet Quarton. A  long-time Star Trek fan , Quarton was the president of the Star Trek Action Group (STAG), an early Star Trek fan club. She also helped publish  Star Trek fanzines and organize Star Trek conventions in Britain. Her involvement in the Star Trek fan community caught the attention of Gene Roddenberry who corresponded closely with Quarton over the years.

Later, when Roddenberry helmed Star Trek: The Next Generation, he decided to name the new series' first antagonist after the last initial of his friend — and John de Lancie was dubbed "Q" for the series' pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint." Given how much future Star Trek fandom would embrace the superbeing, it seems only appropriate that a fan helped name him.

He's not the only Q

John de Lancie may be the face of Q for Star Trek fans, but the truth is he's not the only member of his species — nor do all members of the Q act like him. Over the years, fans have seen many different "Q" entities who all belong to the "Q Continuum," an extra-dimensional plane of existence.

Where de Lancie's Q comes across as a trickster figure, other Qs are more benevolent. In the  Star Trek: Voyager season 2 episode "Death Wish," the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager encounters a Q who's been subtly influencing human society for the better — making sure an apple fell on Sir Isaac Newton's head to inspire his theory of gravity and saving Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes)'s ancestor during the Civil War. Other Q members prefer to live quietly, including a couple who disguised themselves as humans and had a daughter,  Amanda Rogers (Olivia d'Abo) , in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6 episode "True Q."

In fact, in "Death Wish," it's revealed that most of Q society is bored with their immortality and power, which helps explain why de Lancie's Q likes hanging out with human beings so much — they're much more fun than his own people.

Q is very similar to a classic Star Trek antagonist

When Gene Roddenberry first came up with the idea to put Q in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, other members of the writing team hated the character and advised him not to use him in the pilot.

Why? According to the Star Trek reference book, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years — From the Next Generation to J.J. Abrams, the team saw Q as a copy of Trelane, a character who appears in the original Star Trek season 1 episode "The Squire of Gothos." In the story,  Captain Kirk and his crew encounter a powerful alien named Trelane (William Campbell) who makes the Enterprise crew his playthings. Although Trelane appears all-powerful, we learn he's the child of two other omnipotent beings who make him stop bothering the U.S.S. Enterprise.

While similar to Trelane, both Roddenberry and de Lancie worked to make Q a unique entity. Nevertheless, fans continue to see the parallels and non-canon Star Trek media makes links between the two. In his novel Q-Squared, writer Peter David reveals Trelane is, in fact, another member of the Q Continuum. Then in the Star Trek comic book storyline "The Q Conflict," Q assembles a team of omnipotent beings including Trelane to make multiple Star Trek crews battle in a cosmic-level game.

Q can make other people omnipotent

Q's powers are immense, which he's repeatedly demonstrated throughout his appearances throughout the Star Trek franchise. With a snap of his fingers, Q can teleport himself and anyone else to any place or time. He can rewrite the very fabric of our universe — moving asteroids or even creating pocket realities. And he's nearly omniscient, claiming in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3 episode "Deja Q" that he has "an IQ of 2005."

And thanks to his powers, Q can give anyone the abilities of a god — which he does to  Commander William Riker in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 episode "Hide and Q." Riker gains the ability to transport his crew mates anywhere he wants without relying on their usual transporter technology. He resurrects Worf (Michael Dorn) from the dead, ages teenager Wesley Crusher (Will Wheaton) to an adult, and even gives blind Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) natural vision.

However, every member of the Enterprise rejects Riker's "gifts" (although Worf does get to stay alive), causing Riker to reject his new powers. And it's a good thing too. Q only gave Riker god-like abilities as part of a bet he had with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). By choosing not to be a Q-level entity, Q is forced to leave the Enterprise alone — although he does find enough loopholes to make multiple return visits.

Q isn't all-powerful

While Q might appear to be an all-knowing and all-powerful god to some, the truth is he doesn't have limitless powers. Other members of the Q Continuum can overpower Q or even strip him of his powers, as they did in the episode "Deja Q" by turning him into an ordinary human being with back problems.

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4 episode "Qpid," Q transports the Enterprise crew to a pocket reality where Picard becomes Robin Hood, his crew becomes his Merry Men, and Q himself adopts the guise of the Sheriff of Nottingham. As he explains the rules of his new game, Q reveals that he's given this reality a life of its own and not even he can predict what will happen. This shows that Q is not omnipotent or omniscient, as a truly all-powerful being could not create something capable of overpowering or outsmarting him.

Indeed, this quasi-omnipotence may be the one saving grace for the Q, as involving themselves in games of chance gives them the thrill of not knowing what will happen next.

Star Trek's Q once became super-omnipotent

Q may have been at the mercy of the Q Continuum in many of his early appearances, but a non-canonical comic book storyline shows that he once became super-omnipotent — thanks to  J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot .

In the IDW Star Trek story "The Q Gambit," Q journeys to the Kelvin timeline of the Abrams' films where the younger alternate versions of Captain Kirk and Spock are having their own adventures. Q transports the crew forward into the future where they meet alternate versions of Benjamin Sisko and the crew from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

Although this seems to be another one of Q's games, the trickster later reveals the Q-Continuum is in a war against another extra-dimensional race, the malevolent Deep Space Nine  villains, the Pah-Wraiths, whose power allows them to fight the Q. To stop them, Spock engineers a situation where Q merges with a member of the Pah-Wraiths' ancient enemy The Prophets. Q evolves into a supremely powerful being who eliminates the Pah-Wraiths with a wave of his hand, and then pops back into the Prime Star Trek universe to show off his super-godly powers to Jean-Luc Picard.

Let's be real: Q is in love with Jean-Luc Picard

Jean-Luc Picard may treat Q with annoyance, but Q has a unique affection for Picard. In "Deja Q," Q admits, "in all the universe, you're the closest thing I have to a friend, Jean-Luc." Data (Brent Spiner) also observes in the  Star Trek: The Next Generation series finale "All Good Things..." that, "Q's interest in you has always been very similar to that of a master and his beloved pet" before hastily adding, "That was only an analogy, Captain."

However, in the season 6 episode "Tapestry," Q indicates his interest in Picard goes beyond mere fondness when he  shows up in Picard's bed and wakes him with the words, "Morning, darling." The same episode has Q transport a dying Picard back to his Starfleet Academy days so the captain can gain a better appreciation for the mistakes of his past. This indicates Q views himself as Picard's guardian angel, albeit an impish one, who has a special love for the one he calls "Mon Capitane."

Screenwriter Ron Moore agrees, noting in Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection #90 that, "Q was in love with Picard, for some reason. That was the underpinning of the relationship... The weird love affair that he had going with Jean-Luc made that whole thing work."

Q is a lousy boyfriend and father

Sadly, when it comes to showing affection, Q's ego inevitably gets in the way of his relationships. In the Star Trek: Voyager season 3 episode "The Q and the Grey," Q's girlfriend "Lady Q" (Suzie Plankson) shows up when Q flirts with Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). The two have been a couple for four billion years, but Q emphasizes, " I never said it was exclusive " while bragging that he uses his omnipotence to seduce females across the galaxy.

In the episode, Q and his girlfriend are on opposite sides of a Q civil war, causing their relationship problems to threaten the universe with multiple supernova explosions. Q's idea to end the war is to impregnate Janeway and adding human DNA to the Continuum — an idea the Voyager captain roundly rejects. However, Janeway convinces Q to have a child with Lady Q instead, leading to a truce between the two factions.

Unfortunately, Q turns out to be a lousy father and in the Star Trek: Voyager season 7 episode "Q2," his son "Q Junior" (played by de Lancie's real-life son Keegan de Lancie) becomes a juvenile delinquent who starts wars, tampers with gene pools, and punches holes in space time. To get him to reform, Q strips Junior of his powers and dumps him on Voyager, where Junior makes friends and learns to value life. While this is good for the universe, it shows Q still tries to get other people to solve his problems instead of dealing with them himself.

Q really hates the Enterprise's bartender (and she hates him back)

Q's antics have earned him plenty of enemies across the universe, but oddly enough, one of the people who hates him the most is the  Enterprise's beloved bartender Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) . One of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's most serene and level-headed characters, Guinan reveals in "Q Who" that she has had "some dealings" with Q during the 22nd century that left them enemies. Q himself dislikes Guinan, calling her an "imp" and warning that wherever Guinan went, trouble follows.

Guinan gets a chance to strike back at Q in the season 3 episode "Deja Q" when the Q Continuum strips Q of his powers and renders him a mere human. Taking the opportunity to taunt the powerless Q, Guinan takes a fork and stabs him in the hand. Shortly after, one of Q's other enemies, the Calamarain, attacks him. As he screams in pain, Guinan only smirks and comments, "How the mighty have fallen."

Q gave Starfleet a head start against the Borg

Q once put the  U.S.S. Enterprise through a hellish experience that, strangely enough, turned out to be a favor in disguise. After Picard arrogantly tells him that his crew is prepared to deal with any dangers the universe might hold for them, Q transports the Enterprise into an uncharted sector of space where they encounter  the Borg, a powerful cybernetic race intent on assimilating all useful life and technology into its collective consciousness.

Unable to adequately counter this advanced form of life, Picard loses eighteen members of his crew to the Borg and admits his crew's shortcomings to Q, who transports the Enterprise back to the Alpha Quadrant. While Q's actions appear cruel and vindictive, Picard later realizes that the trickster gave Starfleet a "preview" of one of the biggest threats they would soon face — granting the Federation time to prepare an adequate defense. it seems appropriate that the Federation is one of the few galactic societies to have successfully fought back the Borg time and time again — probably due in part to Q giving humanity a glimpse at the threat the Borg would eventually pose.

Q has been out-debated by Spock

If there's one Star Trek character who's the antithesis of Q, it's  Spock — the cool, logical Vulcan immortalized by actor Leonard Nimoy . While Spock and Q were introduced in two separate series, they get to spend some time together when Nimoy and John de Lancie teamed up to produce the audiobook Spock vs. Q . Recorded in front of a live audience, the performance sees Ambassador Spock attempt to warn humanity of an approaching asteroid, only to be stopped by Q who believes humanity is not worth saving.

The two get into a lively debate over humanity's strengths and flaws, with Spock's clever logic ultimately triumphing over Q's chaotic ego. In the end, the Vulcan manages to convince the trickster to push the asteroid away so it'll hit Earth a several years later, buying humanity enough time to work together and stop it when it finally does arrive.

The audio drama proved popular and was followed by a sequel, Spock vs. Q: The Sequel . Weirdly, in this new story, Spock and Q switch personalities, causing Spock to become goofy and silly while Q gains a more logical perspective. More of a comedy routine than a debate, this audio performance ends with the two realizing there are higher powers in the universe than the Q.

Q appears in five different Star Trek shows

While Star Trek fans may love Q, the producers and writers tend to use him sparingly, arguing that the super being is more effective when he only appears every now and then. Nevertheless, Q has managed to appear in four separate Star Trek television shows — and will appear in a fifth when season 2 of Star Trek: Picard comes out.

Unsurprisingly, most of Q's appearances are in Star Trek: The Next Generation where he manages to annoy or threaten Picard and the Enterprise crew on eight separate occasions, including in the series pilot and the series finale. Q also appears in the  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1 episode "Q-Less" where he meets (and boxes with) Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks).

Q is reimagined in the three Star Trek: Voyager episodes he appears in, which portray him as a reluctant family man as well as a representative of the Q Continuum rather than a wandering rogue. His most recent appearance is an extremely brief cameo in the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1 episode "Veritas," where he shows up just to poke fun at (who else?) Jean-Luc Picard.

Given all the different ways Q has been portrayed over the years, it's anyone's guess how de Lancie will play the trickster in Star Trek: Picard. Considering that Q's main appeal has always been his unpredictability, here's hoping his next appearance will show us some new truths of the enigmatic Q.

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Star Trek's 6 essential Q episodes you have to watch

"Come come, mon capitaine..." the trial never ends. 

Q is not just a letter in the alphabet. When Star Trek: The Next Generation launched, an unforgettable character was created alongside the new crew of the Enterprise D. John de Lancie appeared as the omnipotent hassle known only as “Q” in the pilot episode. He put all of humanity on trial, and he continued to be a presence on the series up through the finale.

Not resigned to bother only one crew with trials and tests, de Lancie appeared as the character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager . It doesn’t matter how many other humans he spends his time with; Q’s heart, if he has one, will always lie with Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). He has recently returned to Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard to make good on a promise that he made in the TNG finale: the trial never ends. 

If Q appears in an episode, then it’s going to be memorable. John de Lancie’s performances are never anything other than stellar. We do have our favorites, and what better time to run through the Q-pisodes that we love the most? Are we putting Q himself (and the episodes that he appears in) on trial? We wouldn’t dare. 

Here are our picks for the 6 best episodes in the Star Trek universe that feature Q. Red alert, mon capitaine. 

Honorable Mention: “Veritas” from  Star Trek: Lower Decks

This isn’t a true Q episode, but we have to mention it. The animated antics of this trial-based episode brought Q in for a cameo, and the show celebrated him with perfect mockery. It showed him turning the main crew into chess pieces, before featuring Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) blowing right past him on her way to do anything else. She didn’t have time for any of his Q nonsense, and she told him so. That anyone would dare to do this to an omnipotent trickster is hilarious. 

Flowing with french phrases, he’s portrayed as a ridiculous amalgam of everything that is Q. It’s silly, but that’s the point. We hope that de Lancie returns to the Cerritos again at some point in the future... we’d pay real money for an entire episode of Newsome and de Lancie sniping at each other. 

6. “Q-Less” from  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

This episode is here because of one specific moment. Q only made one visit to DS9, and it was early on in Season 1. The moment that we love so much may be the reason why he never went back. 

Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) is not Jean-Luc Picard. When Q tried his trickster act on him, briefly transforming both himself and Sisko into boxers, Sisko did what many viewers likely wanted to do themselves from time to time. Sisko punched Q directly in the face. 

“You hit me! Picard never hit me!” Q said, sprawled on the deck. Sisko told him what we’ve already said; he’s not Picard. No playing along, certainly not in Season 1 of this series. Q got punched in the face and that moment alone earns the entire episode a place here. 

5. “Death Wish” from  Star Trek: Voyager

“How would you like to spend eternity as a Gorakian midwife toad?” Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) only had to hear the name “Q” before she immediately called red alert in this underrated Season 2 entry. The Q that appeared on Voyager was not the Q we knew; it was another member of the Continuum who wanted to die. The Q we were familiar with appeared to deal with him a few moments later. 

The first Q (Quinn) is eventually granted asylum by Janeway, and after a lot of discussion about the Q Continuum, he is made mortal. Very much against the wishes of the Continuum, Q provides Quinn with a rare poison and makes death possible for him.

The way that de Lancie portrays Q’s change of position throughout the episode is great, and we love it when Janeway tells him that the Continuum won’t be happy with him. “I certainly hope not,” he says. Despite whatever orders and rules he gets from on high, Q has grown a conscience. Underneath all of the judge robes and bluster, he cares. 

This episode also features a blink and you’ll miss it cameo from Riker (Jonathan Frakes), as well as Q somewhat falling for Janeway. This would be followed up on the next time that Q visited the stranded Voyager crew.  

4. “Deja Q” From  Star Trek: The Next Generation

Upsetting the Q Continuum has consequences, and we saw what they were in Q's Season 3 TNG showcase. He fell out of nowhere, naked, to the deck of the bridge. He smiled at Picard and said, “Red alert.” 

He’d been striped of his powers and was human, so naturally he wanted to join the Enterprise crew. He demonstrates enough selflessness by the end of the episode to get his powers back, but there are so many riches to be found before that happens. 

The famous Picard hand-palm moment? That’s from this episode, and it comes after Q tells Picard that he’s the closest thing he has to a friend. In order to prove that he’s human, Worf suggests that Q dies. The absolutely fascinating dynamic between Q and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) continues here, and it includes Guinan stabbing Q’s hand with a fork. 

When he gets his powers back? Q brings in a Mariachi band. He also makes it clear that there is likely some humanity left in him, as this episode's disaster-of-the-week conveniently fixes itself. The moment that stands out the most is Q’s farewell to Data (Brent Spiner). He doesn’t inflict Data with the “curse” of humanity, but he does give him a gift. 

Data is allowed to have a miraculous and genuine laugh, and he remarks that it was a wonderful feeling. This episode is fun as hell, but it also marks a turning point. Q is markedly different after all of this, definitely more human than wants to be.  

3. “Q Who?” from  Star Trek: The Next Generation

Q feels the need to show the Enterprise crew how unprepared they are for what’s waiting for them out in the vastness of space. He greatly overcompensates and sends them right into their first encounter with the Borg, a foe that is laughably beyond them.

The Borg making their first appearance here is enough on it’s own, but Q’s involvement in the episode makes it an all-time great. The Guinan rivalry begins here, and as we've said, it fascinates us. Guinan seems to have some kind of defense against Q’s omnipotent powers. We still don’t know what that’s about, but we love thinking about it. 

What does Q really want? He wants Jean-Luc to tell him that they are scared, unprepared, and that they need him. He wants Picard to humble himself, and that’s exactly what happens in the end. Picard begs Q for help, and with a snap of his fingers, it’s over. 

Not really, though. Thanks to Q, the Borg are now aware of them. They’ll be coming, and we know how that proceeded to go down. Q almost got all of humanity assimilated because he wanted one man to swallow his pride. Classic. 

2. “Tapestry” from  Star Trek: The Next Generation

The current course of Star Trek: Picard (featuring Q showing Jean-Luc the road not taken) reminds us very much of this episode. Picard “dies” and Q greets him in the afterlife; he shows him what would happen if Jean-Luc didn’t get into a bar fight when he was a callous youth. 

He wouldn’t have required a synthetic heart, but he would also have gone on to live a life without taking any risks. The bar fight was a pivotal thread on which the tapestry of Picard’s life was based. Picard has no interest in living the timid life that he experiences here, and he tells Q that he would rather die in the present than live as that person. Q obliges him. Though Picard survives and is still his same old self, he remains unsure whether or not it was another test from Q. He can’t quite believe that it was compassion, because what would Q have to gain from that? 

Nothing, if you ask us. We’d like to think that Q’s selflessness continues here, and that he really does want to help Picard. This is Season 6, and we’re not far away from Q giving Picard a “helping hand.” It’s a terrific representation of how small choices can change a bold captain into a man who is bereft of passion and imagination. “Welcome to the afterlife, Jean-Luc. You’re dead.” 

1. “All Good Things…” from  Star Trek: TNG

“You’re doing it right now. You’ve done it before and you’ll do it again.” The finale of TNG is one of its greatest episodes, and it rightfully bookends the series with Q. He’s the reason that Picard is moving back and forward through time, but he’s not the one who causes existence to be wiped out. Picard is to blame for that. 

All of our favorite Q/Picard scenes are from this episode. The “yes or no” game is up there, as is Q whisking Picard to the moment where the first protein fails to form. Nothing tops their final scene, though, as Q admits that he was the one to blame for getting Picard into this in the first place. It was another directive from the Continuum, but the “helping hand” part? That was Q’s idea. Seven seasons changed an omnipotent ponce. 

The trial never ends, and Q almost tells Picard a truth about his own future. He leans in, comes close to whispering, and then backs away with a smile and a “you’ll find out.” It is perfectly staged and perfectly played by de Lancie, and ever since this scene, we’ve been wondering what the hell Q was talking about. 

At long last, we may be finding out. Q never appeared in the movies that featured the TNG cast, but he’s back in action on Star Trek: Picard . He’s already referenced some of what he said in this episode, and we are very lucky that he has made good on his promise: to drop by and say hello from time to time. 

When Jean-Luc Picard meets his ultimate fate, we are confident that Q will be there. Q has had an immense effect on Picard’s life, but that goes both ways. Q would hate to admit it, but Picard has changed him as well. Maybe that’s why he can’t stay away from him; Picard makes him a better being. As many of the episodes listed above prove, Q longs to be better. He needs Picard to show him the way. 

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard air Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Q Who (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Production history
• 4.2 Story and script
• 4.3 The Borg
• 4.4 Cast and characters
• 4.5 Special and visual effects
• 4.7 Continuity
• 4.8 Reception
• 4.9 Apocrypha
• 4.10 Awards
• 4.11 Video and DVD releases
• 5.1 Starring
• 5.2 Also starring
• 5.3 Guest stars
• 5.4 And special guest star
• 5.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 5.6 Stand-ins
• 5.7 References
• 5.8 Unused production references
• 5.9 Sources
• 5.10 External links

Summary [ ]

" Yes, Ensign. It's all over me. "

New ensign Sonya Gomez orders a hot chocolate from a replicator in engineering . While doing so, La Forge passes, and the two converse, La Forge noting Gomez' polite manners toward the replicator, saying "please" and "thank you". Gomez wonders why not, and explains she does this as the replicator is listed under "intelligent circuitry". After all, she notes that working with so much artificial intelligence can be dehumanizing and she combats this with using simple courtesy. As the two walk to main engineering, La Forge urges the talkative and enthusiastic Gomez to relax. After arriving, he notes to her that she is carrying food or drink in the premises of engineering, which is forbidden. As she turns around to go finish it elsewhere, she spills some all over Picard 's uniform . La Forge tells Picard that Gomez just transferred to the Enterprise from Starbase 173 and accepts responsibility for what just happened. Picard, though not entirely unvexed, welcomes Gomez to the ship.

Picard excuses himself to change his uniform. He walks to the nearest turbolift to get to his quarters. However, when the doors open again, he finds that the turbolift did not make it to his quarters, but is inside a shuttlecraft far away from the USS Enterprise -D . He quickly realizes that he has been kidnapped by Q . Picard reminds Q about their agreement from a year earlier , when Q agreed never to trouble Picard's ship again; Q points out that they are nowhere near the Enterprise . Q is, however, kind enough to clean Picard's uniform with his abilities.

Act One [ ]

" Is there anything unusual happening? "

In Ten Forward , La Forge and Gomez arrive and talk some more at a table. Meanwhile, Guinan is tending to her regular duties. While talking to Martinez , she pauses and wanders around the room for a moment, before making contact with the bridge . Commander Riker answers and wonders what she wants. Guinan wonders if everything is fine with the bridge, since she felt something she only encountered long ago, but merely brushes it off and tells Riker to forget she called. Later, La Forge notices something is up with Guinan, and wonders if she's OK. She merely responds, " I don't know. " La Forge decides to leave and check on engineering. Gomez gets up from her seat and joins him.

Meanwhile, in the shuttlecraft, Picard tries to make contact with Enterprise . However, Q tells him there is no point, since at the current distance, no one on the Enterprise would think to look where they are. Picard attempts to communicate anyway. Q explains that they have business to discuss, but Picard will not discuss anything with him, stating that keeping him prisoner will not convince him to listen to what Q has to say. Q merely says that he will, eventually.

" Do we stay out here years? Decades? "

Counselor Troi walks onto the bridge and wonders where Captain Picard is. When she hears he is in his quarters, she decides to contact him, but there is no response. Riker asks the ship's computer, but according to it, Picard is nowhere to be found. Furthermore, Lieutenant Worf reports that a shuttlecraft is missing from the shuttlebay . With the captain missing, Riker orders Wesley to bring the ship to a full stop. They hail the shuttle on all frequencies, but there is no response. In fact, there is no trace of a shuttle anywhere in the sector.

While the Enterprise continues to search for Picard and the missing shuttlecraft, Picard demands Q to return him to the ship. Eventually, he agrees to give Q's request a full hearing and, a second later, they're back on the Enterprise in Ten Forward, and the shuttle is back in place. Worf reports that the shuttlecraft has returned, and the computer tells the crew that Picard is in Ten Forward, allowing Riker to conclude that Q has returned.

Act Two [ ]

" I knew it was you! "

Guinan immediately confronts Q, revealing to Picard that she and Q know each other, and not at all in a friendly way. Q calms down and expresses his desire to join the Enterprise crew, after being cast out from the Q Continuum . Skeptical, Picard refuses his request, especially after he put the crew on trial for the crimes of Humanity and asked Riker to join the Continuum . Q argues that they need him since they are not prepared for what awaits them. Picard claims that they are ready to confront the unknown, and Guinan adds that the Humans' ability to adapt is their great advantage.

" What can you tell us? " " Only that if I were you, I'd start back now. "

Q, in rebuttal, seeks to test how prepared they are, and casually tosses the Enterprise seven thousand light years into uncharted space, to give them "a preview of things to come" upon which he disappears. Guinan advises Picard to return to Federation space immediately, but he decides to explore the nearby System J-25 first.

" Protect yourself, captain, or they'll destroy you. "

A survey of the only class M planet in the system reveals that while there was once an industrialized civilization there, it has been ripped away from the planet , "identical to what happened to the outposts along the Neutral Zone ." A cube-shaped ship then approaches the Enterprise , and scans of the ship show nothing. Picard asks Guinan for her advice, and she reveals that the ship belongs to the Borg – a cybernetic race who were responsible for the near-extinction of her people a hundred years ago . " Protect yourself, Captain, " she advises, " or they'll destroy you. "

The Borg proceed to transport one of their own into engineering , as if the Enterprise 's shields were useless. La Forge spots the intruder standing next to the warp core and requests security to report there immediately.

Act Three [ ]

The first Borg ever seen, attempting to access the ship's computer

Picard and Worf arrive with a security team and see the Borg apparently making a survey of the ship. Q appears for a brief moment and warns Picard that it's not interested in Human lifeforms, only the ship's technology. Before leaving, he advises the captain not to allow it to interfere with the operations of the Enterprise . When the Borg attempts to do so, Picard orders Worf to stop it. A security officer tries to drag it away, only to be hurled clear across the room.

Worf then tries to stun it with his phaser , to no avail, and is forced to increase the phaser to full power. They successfully destroy the Borg, but almost instantly another is beamed aboard in its place. Worf again attempts to destroy it, but shields form around it, protecting the Borg. It tampers with the same engineering console, then turns and removes some components from the dead Borg before it is beamed back to the cube and the corpse disappears.

Picard holds a conference, in which Guinan further details what the Borg are, and how they destroyed her people. She advises them that the Borg do not negotiate with people, at which point they hail the Enterprise . Picard tries to reason with them, but the Borg voice completely ignores him and simply informs the crew that they will not be able to defend themselves against the Borg ship, threatening to "punish" them if they attempt to do so. Troi tells Picard that every Borg is part of the same mind, and that they have no distinct leader.

" They still have us! "

The Borg lock onto the Enterprise with a tractor beam that also drains their shields while preventing the ship from moving. The Borg then use a cutting beam to slice a section out of the Enterprise hull on the saucer section , and all eighteen crewmembers in that section are "vaporized" {assisimilated into the Borg}. Picard orders Worf to use whatever force is necessary to sever the Borg's beam, and they are ultimately successful after three phaser attacks, which blast several craters into the surface of the Borg ship.

Q shows up at another crew meeting in the observation lounge , telling them that the Borg are not concerned with the crew nor the Federation, only the Enterprise and how they can use her technology and identified it as something they can consume. Picard asks him to reveal that this is just another illusion, only for Q to respond that the situation is perfectly real, as everything else, before vanishing. With the ship temporarily immobilized by the damage, Picard decides to send over an away team consisting of Riker, Worf, and Data in an attempt to learn more about the Borg, over Guinan's strong objections.

Act Four [ ]

" Our readings were incorrect. The Borg crew survived. "

The away team discover the ship to be full of Borg, most of whom are in stasis in regeneration alcoves . The few active Borg take no notice of the team, or are ignoring them. The away team then finds what they believe to be a Borg nursery , where the Borg are born as biological lifeforms , and, immediately after birth, they begin growing artificial, cybernetic implants . What Riker finds astounding is that the Borg have developed the technology to link artificial intelligence directly into the humanoid brain.

Data notices that the Borg seem to be using their collective mental focus to repair the ship, which is why the team has not been noticed or attacked. Alarmed, Picard has them beamed back to the bridge, and says " Let's get the hell out of here ". They start leaving at warp 8, but the Borg follow with ease. Q appears on the bridge, warning the crew that the Borg will not stop until they have them in their grasp. He even says to Picard, " You should have stayed where you belonged. "

Act Five [ ]

" You can't outrun them. You can't destroy them. They are relentless. "

They increase to maximum warp, but the Borg are still gaining. Riker orders them to arm photon torpedoes and Picard gives the order to fire, but the torpedoes have no effect. The Borg ship, after getting within firing range, fires a shield-draining missile twice and the Enterprise , now with very low shields, fires torpedoes again, with the same result.

Q then makes the Borg threat perfectly clear to Picard: " You can't outrun them; you can't destroy them. If you damage them, the essence of what they are remains; they regenerate and keep coming. Eventually you will weaken, your reserves will be gone… They are relentless. "

The Borg fire twice more and the Enterprise loses both shields and warp drive . The cube re-engages their tractor beam and holds the Enterprise . Riker orders Worf to prepare to launch another spread of photon torpedoes, but Data warns that at close range, without the protection of their shields, it is highly likely that a photon detonation will destroy the Enterprise . Picard nods in approval as Riker orders Worf to prepare to fire.

Q prepares to leave the crew to their fate, as Picard implores him to end the confrontation. Q asks the captain why he should now terminate this encounter between the Enterprise and the Borg. Picard responds by pointing out that if they are destroyed, Q will not be able to gloat. He admits that they are frightened, and that Q has, for the moment, shown them to be inadequate. " You want me to say, 'I need you'? I NEED YOU! " Picard exclaims. With a snap of his fingers, Q flings the Enterprise away from the Borg ship and back into the same spot in Federation space they originally were.

Q appears besides Picard in Riker's chair, but instead of gloating, he looks thoughtful and even somewhat impressed. " Another man, " he muses, " would have been humiliated to say those words "', even to the point of sacrificing himself and his entire ship rather than admit he needed help. Picard tells Q he understands the point out of what they have been through, but feels the lesson could have been learned without the loss of eighteen members of his crew. Q is unapologetic, telling him that if Humanity wants to explore the galaxy, then it promises a universe of wonders, but they must also be willing to confront dangers they have never imagined. He then disappears, to be replaced by a startled Riker. The Enterprise sets course for the nearest starbase , which is Starbase 83 .

" They will be coming. "

Reflecting upon events in Ten Forward while playing three-dimensional chess with Picard, Guinan says that the encounter with the Borg happened before it should have. She believes that at some point, perhaps, it might be possible for the Federation to establish some kind of communication between them and the Borg, but for the time being, they are just raw material to be consumed. Guinan begins, " Since they are aware of your existence… " … " they will be coming ," Picard continues. Guinan ominously warns, " 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.

Log entries [ ]

• First officer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2365

Memorable quotes [ ]

"Are we going to stay out here for years? Decades? I'm ageless, Picard; you're not."

"Guinan? Is that your name now?"

"Ah, the redoubtable Commander Riker! And Microbrain ! Growl for me; let me know you still care!"

"Picard, you are about to move into areas of the galaxy filled with wonders you cannot possibly imagine. And terrors to freeze your soul!"

" To learn about you is, frankly, provocative. But you're next of kin to chaos. "

"You judge yourselves against the pitiful adversaries you've encountered so far: the Romulans, the Klingons. They're nothing compared to what's waiting."

"Oh, the arrogance. They don't have a clue as to what's out here." "But they will learn, adapt. That is their greatest advantage."

"Why?" "Why? Why, to give you a taste of your future, a preview of things to come. Con permiso, Capitán? The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. It's now time to see if you can dance."

" Interesting, isn't it? Not a he , not a she , not like anything you've ever seen before. An enhanced humanoid. "

"We mean you no harm. Do you understand me? " " 'Understand' you? You're nothing to him. "

" He might try to take over the ship. I wouldn't let him! "

" The Borg are the ultimate user. They're unlike any threat your Federation has ever faced. They're not interested in political conquest, wealth, or power as you know it. They're simply interested in your ship, its technology. They've identified it as something they can consume. "

" Eighteen of our people have died. Please, tell us this is one of your illusions. " " Oh, no. This is as real as your so-called life gets. "

" We have analyzed your defensive capabilities as being unable to withstand us. If you defend yourselves, you will be punished. "

" Admit it, Picard. You're out of your league. You should have stayed where you belong ! "

" Q… end this. " " Moi? What makes you think I'm either inclined or capable to terminate this encounter? " " If we all die here, now, you will not be able to gloat. You wanted to frighten us? We're frightened. You wanted to show us we were inadequate? For the moment, I grant that. You wanted me to say, 'I need you'? I NEED YOU! "

" That was a difficult admission. Another man would have been humiliated to say those words. Another man would have rather died than ask for help. " " I understand what you've done here, Q, but I think the lesson could have been learned without the loss of eighteen members of my crew. " " If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

• Revised final draft script: 24 February 1989 [1]
• Filming begins: 27 February 1989 ("Lost and Found", Star Trek Magazine  issue 147 )
• First day of filming the Borg: 2 March 1989 ("Lost and Found", Star Trek Magazine  issue 147 )
• Storyboards, by Dan Curry , for visual effects shots of the Enterprise battling a Borg cube: 16 March 1989
• Premiere airdate: 8 May 1989
• First UK airdate: 7 August 1991

Story and script [ ]

Director Rob Bowman instructing Patrick Stewart

• Initially conceived by writer Maurice Hurley as a race of insectoids , Hurley had originally planned the Season 1 episode " The Neutral Zone " to be the first part in a trilogy that would introduce an entirely new threat to the Federation, introducing a plot point that Federation and Romulan starbases along the Romulan Neutral Zone had been mysteriously wiped out. This was intended to lead into a series of episodes that would have introduced the Borg as a main villain in the wake of the Ferengi 's failure to meet with audience expectations of a major Starfleet antagonist. Unfortunately, the Writer's Guild strike of 1988 prevented this from coming to fruition. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., pp. 60 & 86); Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 169) Hurley finally got to proceed with his planned sequel with "Q Who", although only one passing reference was made of the strange destruction of outposts referred to in "The Neutral Zone", by Data stating, " It is identical to what happened to the outposts along the Neutral Zone. "

Reviewing the final Borg makeup and costume design

• This is the only Q episode that Maurice Hurley wrote. Melinda M. Snodgrass commented, " Maurice Hurley always thought Q was here to teach us a lesson, to guide and instruct us. " ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 107)
• In the revised final draft of the script, in the scene in the observation lounge where Riker confronts Q about how he exposed the Enterprise to the Borg, which led to the deaths of eighteen crewmembers, his temper flares and he moves to assault Q, who warns Riker to stop, or he would kill him. In the final aired version, Q merely dismisses Riker's comments with an "Oh, please." [2]

The Borg [ ]

Preliminary Borg concept by David Fisher and Rick Sternbach

Detail sketch by Rick Sternbach

A Borg stuntman's ( Tim Trella ) costume being adjusted between takes

• Budget constraints kept the Borg from being depicted as insectoids as Maurice Hurley had originally intended, though the hive concept survived to become the overwhelming group mind known as the Collective. In addition, the Borg's unique, cube-shaped ship, and their eerie appearance – reminiscent of both the biomechanism designs of H.R. Giger and the cybernetic, laser-eyed Lord Dread from the 1987 syndicated series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future – all contributed to the Borg ascending to the height of Star Trek villainy, exactly as intended. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 90)
• Costume designer Durinda Rice Wood recalled, " I was tired by the streamlined, stainless-steel concept of 'scary'… With the Borg, the idea was that the drones lived for centuries, and that their body parts would wear out and be replaced with mechanical body parts. I wanted to show that they didn't wear out uniformly, so some of them had eye patches, and some had fake legs or arms. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 104)
• Makeup designer Michael Westmore remarked that the Borg were given a zombie -like pallor " so that viewers would know they were seeing a creature that couldn't be reasoned or negotiated with… the life has been leached out of them. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 105)
• The Borg's name was derived from " cyborg ", meaning cybernetic organism. The Borg were intended to provide the series with what the Ferengi had failed to deliver – a deadly, remorseless enemy that could not be reasoned with or defeated. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 90)
• Precisely because of their powerful nature, the Borg would appear in only five further episodes through the run of The Next Generation . Their infrequent appearance was due to the writers' difficulties in finding ways to defeat the Borg, as well as due to cost. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 202)) However, just as Khan returned to battle Kirk in the second Star Trek film , the Borg would also make the transition to the big screen in the second The Next Generation feature .
• The graphics displayed on monitors in the Borg " slots " were referred to as "Borg Spaghetti" by the production staff . ( citation needed • edit )
• The Borg Collective voice heard in the episode was synthesized from the voices of Maurice Hurley, director Rob Bowman and Bowman's assistant. Sound design and processing was done by Francois Blaignan using Symbolic Sound's Kyma system. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 147 , p. 32)
• While it is not explicitly stated in this episode, the overall ambition of the Borg seems to be the acquisition of technology, not the assimilation of other species as in later episodes. While " The Best of Both Worlds ", the next episode to feature the Borg, dealt with this changed premise by stating in dialogue that their objectives had changed, subsequent Borg episodes would ignore it entirely.
• The later episodes ENT : " Regeneration ", VOY : " The Raven " and VOY : " Dark Frontier " suggest that not only was Earth Starfleet previously aware of the existence of the Borg, Federation scientists actually pursued them – even if they were considered mere rumor. (This ultimately led to the assimilation of Seven of Nine years before the events of Season 1 of TNG in the fictional history of the series.)

Cast and characters [ ]

• This episode featured the first of two appearances of Sonya Gomez , who was initially intended to be a recurring character, but dropped after " Samaritan Snare ". ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 86)) She later became the lead character in the non-canon Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers series of novels. Gomez would eventually return 32 years later in the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2 finale " First First Contact " where she is now captain of the USS Archimedes .
• Diana Muldaur ( Katherine Pulaski ) does not appear in this episode.

Special and visual effects [ ]

Storyboards for the Enterprise -D's confrontation with the Borg cube

Visual effects shot from the episode

• The complexity and cost of The Next Generation 's visual effects sequences demanded detailed planning before a single frame was shot. As the visual effects supervisor for the first episode to feature the Borg, Dan Curry created these storyboards as a blueprint of the Enterprise -D's first engagement with a Borg cube . The frames from the completed episode show how closely the visual effects team followed the storyboards. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 90)
• Two sound effects are introduced in this episode and used for the rest of the series: 1) the "click/snap" effect when the main view screen is magnified; and 2) the "trigger" effect when the ship's weapons are fired.
• Ron Jones happened to compose the score for this first episode to feature the Borg before doing the music to " The Best of Both Worlds " and " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II " and after scoring " The Neutral Zone ", which hinted at their existence from the start.

Continuity [ ]

• This episode marks the only time Guinan's office is seen.
• This episode refers to events of previous episodes, Q's trial (" Encounter at Farpoint "), his return when Riker temporarily became a Q (" Hide And Q "), and the mysterious destruction of Romulan Neutral Zone outposts (" The Neutral Zone ").
• The conflict between Q and Guinan , revealed in this episode but never fully explained, is revisited (with the tables turned) a year later in " Deja Q ".
• It is later portrayed that, due to the events shown in Star Trek: First Contact , ENT : " Regeneration ", and VOY : " The Raven ", and VOY : " Infinite Regress " the Borg already knew of Earth 's existence and were on their way. In VOY : " Death Wish ", Q would say that without his own actions in "Q Who", the Federation would have been assimilated. In "First Contact", when the remains of the Borg sphere crash landed on Earth, it became frozen in the Arctic Circle in 2063 . During the events of "Regeneration", which are set in 2153 , scientists discover the wreckage and are assimilated. Despite the Enterprise NX-01 destroying the rest of the Borg, they are able to send a signal out into the Delta Quadrant , where it takes 213 years to reach the Borg, leading them to send a Borg cube towards Earth in 2366. Then, the events of "Q Who" take place in the fictional history of the series, delaying the invasion of Earth. In " Dark Frontier ", it is portrayed that the Federation was aware of an entity known as "The Borg" 12 years prior to this episode but dismissed such as a thing as mere "rumors or sensor ghosts". Furthermore, the Borg assimilated the Hansens, citizens of the Federation, in 2350 .
• Q states the Enterprise crew was exonerated of the crimes of humanity, but years later tells Picard "the jury is still out on that" (" All Good Things... ").
• Since Q propelled the Enterprise out of the tractor beam it was held in from the Borg ship, it is unclear if the Borg immediately set a pursuit of the Enterprise which led to their invasion of Federation space a year later in "The Best of Both Worlds." In that episode, Riker postulates whether or not it is the same Borg ship they faced at System J-25, to which Data can neither confirm nor deny.
• LD : " First First Contact " portrays Sonya Gomez having achieved the captaincy of her own command, the USS Archimedes , by 2381 . When an ensign on her crew experiences a somewhat embarrassing incident in front of her, Gomez assures her that she's done " way worse in front of much more intimidating captains ", referring to the hot chocolate incident with Picard.

Reception [ ]

• The book Star Trek 101 (p. 72), by Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block , lists this episode as one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: The Next Generation .
• Director Rob Bowman later recalled, " That was a very abstract, almost avant-garde episode with Q and what he was trying to prove with the Enterprise , telling Picard to be aware because there are some bad-asses out there that you're not prepared for no matter what you think. This is just a lesson to you to keep your eyes and ears open because there are things out there that you don't understand, and here's an example. For television, it's big stuff, but in order to make big stuff, there's a lot of investment by everybody involved, and it all came together wonderfully. " ("Rob Bowman – Director of a Dozen", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 10 , p. 19)
• A mission report for this episode by Will Murray was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 9 , pp. 15-18.

Apocrypha [ ]

• It is revealed in the novel Greater than the Sum that the eighteen crewmembers who disappeared during the Borg's slicing of the Enterprise -D's hull were actually assimilated.
• This episode won two Emmy Awards . Only four other episodes of Trek have won this many. It won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series. It was also nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 21 , catalog number VHR 2504, 2 September 1991
• As part of the UK VHS collections Star Trek: The Next Generation - Q Continuum and Star Trek: The Next Generation - Borg Box : 5 December 1994
• As part of the US VHS collection Star Trek: The Next Generation - Q Continuum : 8 September 1998
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 2.6, catalog number VHR 4742, 21 June 1999
• As part of the TNG Season 2 DVD collection
• As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Borg and Star Trek: Fan Collective - Q collections
• As part of the TNG Season 2 Blu-ray collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William Riker

Also starring [ ]

• LeVar Burton as Lt. Geordi La Forge
• Michael Dorn as Lt. Worf
• Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
• Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

Guest stars [ ]

• John de Lancie as Q
• Lycia Naff as Ensign Sonya Gomez
• Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien

And special guest star [ ]

• Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• Majel Barrett as the USS Enterprise -D computer voice
• Rob Bowman as the Voice of the Borg
• Michael Braveheart as Martinez
• Jeffrey Deacon as command division officer
• Mary Donatelli as Borg drone
• David Fisher as Borg drone
• Maurice Hurley as the Voice of the Borg
• Sam Klatman as Borg infant
• Lincoln Simonds as security officer
• Tim Trella as Borg drone
• Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace
• Rob Bowman's assistant as the Voice of the Borg
• Security officer
• Six Borg drones

Stand-ins [ ]

• James G. Becker – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
• Darrell Burris – stand-in for LeVar Burton
• Dexter Clay – stand-in for Michael Dorn
• Jeffrey Deacon – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
• Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Tim McCormack – stand-in for Brent Spiner
• Guy Vardaman – stand-in for Wil Wheaton and John de Lancie

References [ ]

2165 ; 2265 ; ability ; advice ; adversary ; agreement ; alert status ; antimatter ; area ; argument ; arrogance ; artificial implant ; artificial intelligence ; artificial life ; assignment ; assumption ; attitude ; away team ; bay two ; beard ; bed ; biological lifeform ; birth ; bloody nose ; blue alert ; Borg ; Borg cube ( unnamed ); Borg drone ; Borg history ; Borg missile ; Borg nursery ; brain ; bridge ; calculation ; casualty ; casualty list ; century ; choice ; circuit ; civilization ; class M ; collective mind ; command center ; compartment ; computer ; " con permiso "; conference ; contact ; control station ; coordinates ; cortical array ; courtesy ; creature ; crewman ; crime ; cutting beam ; damage ; damage report ; dance ; day ; decade ; deck ; definition ; departure ; desire ; detonation ; discussion ; disruption ; El-Aurian ; El-Aurian cities ; El-Aurian system ; effect ; engine core ; engineering section ; Enterprise -D shuttlecraft 06 ; entity ; event ; existence ; exonerate ; Farpoint Mission ; Federation ; feeling ; first impression ; foolishness ; force field ; French language ; frequency ; food dispenser ; fuel ; Galaxy -class decks ; graduate ; guide ; hailing frequency ; hall ; harm ; heading ; heart ; home ; homeless ; hot chocolate ; hour ; hull integrity ; Human ; Humanity ; humanoid ; illusion ; imagination ; imp ; indigent ; information ; input ; intelligent circuitry ; intercept course ; intruder ; J-25 system ; J-25 system sector ; juggernaut ; kidnapping ; Klingons ; laser beam ; leader ; lesson ; light year ; life sign ; life support ; lifeform ; living quarters ; location ; locator beam ; machine ; main computer ; maturation chamber ; maximum warp ; meeting ; methodical ; microbrain ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mind ; mission ; mistake ; mister ; month ; " motor mouth "; name ; nosebleed ; number one ; " offer ; officers' quarters ; opinion ; orchestra ; organic life ; " out of your league "; percent ; phaser ; photon torpedo ; power ; prisoner ; probability ; " put it out of your head "; Q Continuum ; range ; Ranuos VI ; relationship ; renting ; roast ; Romulans ; Romulan Neutral Zone ; saucer section ; scout ; search ; search pattern ; second ; section ; section 27 ; section 28 ; section 29 ; Sector 30 ; Sector 31 ; sensor ; series ; shield ; shipmate ; sixth planet of System J-25 ; sixth planet of System J-25 cities ; slot ; soul ; Spanish language ; specialty ; speed ; spherical pattern ; " stand by "; star ; Starbase 83 ; Starbase 173 ; Starbase 185 ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Charter ; Starfleet uniform ; stasis ; status ; status board ; stubborn ; success ; surface ; system of roads ; " take it to heart "; target ; technology ; " thesis ; thing ; third power ; thousand ; threat ; three-dimensional chess ; time ; tractor beam ; transporter ; transporter chief ; transporter room 3 ; treasure ; tricorder ; Type 7 shuttlecraft ; unnamed sector ; viewscreen ; visit ; wall ; warp engine ; weapon ; word ; work ; year ; yellow alert

Unused production references [ ]

Grand Unification theory ; supersymmetry

Sources [ ]

• Reeves-Stevens, Judith and Garfield , Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission (1997)
• Van Hise, James , Trek: The Unauthorized Behind-The-Scenes Story of The Next Generation (1992)

External links [ ]

• "Q Who" at StarTrek.com
• " Q Who? " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Q Who " at Wikipedia
• " "Q Who" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• "Q Who?" script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired May 6, 1989

Q tries to prove that Picard needs him as part of their crew by hurling the Enterprise 7,000 light years away where they encounter the Borg for the first time. Q tries to prove that Picard needs him as part of their crew by hurling the Enterprise 7,000 light years away where they encounter the Borg for the first time. Q tries to prove that Picard needs him as part of their crew by hurling the Enterprise 7,000 light years away where they encounter the Borg for the first time.

• Gene Roddenberry
• Maurice Hurley
• Melinda M. Snodgrass
• Patrick Stewart
• Jonathan Frakes
• LeVar Burton
• 22 User reviews
• 11 Critic reviews

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard

• Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

• Lieutenant Geordi La Forge

• Lieutenant Worf

• Counselor Deanna Troi

• Lieutenant Commander Data

• Wesley Crusher

• (as John deLancie)

• Ensign Sonya Gomez

• Chief Miles O'Brien

• Enterprise Computer
• (uncredited)

• Crewman Martinez
• Command Division Officer

• Maurice Hurley (showrunner)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia The Borg were originally conceived as being a race of insects (as featured in the previous season's Conspiracy (1988) ). Budget restrictions meant that the decision was made to go with cyborgs instead. Nevertheless, Q Who still went $50,000 over budget. Insectoid races would appear as enemies in the subsequent series Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) .
• Goofs As Guinan warns Picard to protect the Enterprise from the Borg, Picard orders the shields raised. Moments later, even though the shields are active, the Borg beam over. Considering that they are technologically much more advanced, it is conceivable that they may have found a way to transport through shields.

Capt. Picard : I understand what you've done here, Q. But I think the lesson could have been learned without the loss of 18 members of my crew.

Q : If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid.

• Crazy credits The episode's credits begin a full minute after the theme music.
• Alternate versions To fit more commercial time, BBC America cuts bits and scenes from episodes. In their edit for this episode, the final conversation between Guinan and Picard while played chess is completely excised.
• Connections Featured in The Borg (2004)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 22

• May 4, 2018
• May 6, 1989 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Star Trek: Discover's quiet crossover was a fitting one for its final season.

S tar Trek: Discovery's final season has hit the halfway point with the fifth episode "Mirrors", which featured several major revelations, notably about who one of the key villains and what species of aliens he belongs to. That wasn't the only major thing we saw in this latest episode, however.

While chasing after villains Moll and L'ak, Michael Burnham a nd Cleveland Brooker find themselves in a wormhole where they find the ISS Enterprise, the Mirror Universe version of the U.S.S. Enterprise, captained of course by Christopher Pike. The Mirror Universe's ISS Enterprise, on the other hand isn't captained by Pike, but by James Kirk. At least it was the last time we as an audience saw it.

While the ISS Enterprise technically became part of canon after the events of Star Trek: Discovery's first two seasons, with the time jump, the ISS Enterprise has been lost to time, at least until Burnham and Cleveland found it. First appearing in the season two episode, "Mirror, Mirror", the ISS Enterprise was home to the Mirror Universe versions of the USS Enterprise, with the close of the episode closing the story on the Enterprise until the 32nd century.

So what happened to the ship? A group of refugees apparently used the ship at some point after the events of "Mirror, Mirror" but had to abandon the vessel in the same interdimensional space wormhole that Cleveland and Burnham found it in.

It's a cool Easter egg but what's even cooler is that the set used for the ISS Enterprise is in fact the same set used on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds set. Since Discovery served as the starting point for the Anson Mount-centered spinoff, it was a nice treat to see Discovery call back to the ship (and subsequently the show) that they helped launch.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Star Trek: Discover's quiet crossover was a fitting one for its final season. .

‘Star Trek: Discovery’: David Ajala Talks Book & Michael’s Relationship, Plus More Grudge

Where No One Has Gone Before

For exclusive news and updates, subscribe to our star trek: discovery newsletter :.

Book ( David Ajala ) may not be able to get through to Moll ( Eve Harlow ), one of the crew’s foes this season in pursuit of a great power—and also someone he considers all he has left of family, given she’s his mentor’s daughter—but maybe the rest of the final season of Star Trek: Discovery will be a bit easier for him? Not likely.

Not only is there his and Captain Michael Burnham’s ( Sonequa Martin-Green ) complicated relationship, but the crew’s mission is to find technology from a race of ancient beings called the Progenitors who created life as we know it. Below, Ajala teases what’s ahead for both and more Grudge, plus talks about saying goodbye (or not) to Book and the show.

Book and Michael’s relationship remains so complicated. How does he feel about her at this point?

David Ajala: They will always be in each other’s lives. In what capacity, that will unfold as the series progresses, but these are two individuals who understand each other, who have seen the best and the worst of each other. I hope their relationship will progress and become stronger.

What can you say about what’s next for them? Their professional relationship has been complicated as well. 

Absolutely. And behind every great woman is herself. I think Cleveland Booker has no issues whatsoever standing by the side of Captain Michael Burnham and letting her lead. However, I just feel that there’s some wounds which need a bit of TLC to really, really heal, but I think Cleveland Booker will always have deep, unconditional love for Michael Burnham.

What’s coming up in Discovery ‘s mission ? Because it is quite the mission to put them on for the final season.

It is, and I’m happy that we’ve gone big with this season. One thing I will say is that the moment that Starfleet seem to have a handle and an understanding on the way things are panning out and to be able to kind of intercede at the right moment, another spanner’s thrown into the works, but you guys love the drama.

What can preview about the finale?

I can say that the finale was an absolute joy to film. I can say that we have stumbled upon some legacy stuff. I can also say that there will be tears, but there will also be so much joy.

Michael Gibson / Paramount+

How will you remember Book and the show?

I will always remember Book as that cheeky chappy who snuck in through the back door to a party he wasn’t invited in, jumped onto the dance floor, started to dance, and became part of the furniture. I was embraced by the other dancers on the dance floor. Cleveland Booker will always be Grudge’s companion.

Grudge is amazing.

She really is. She truly is. And we’ll be seeing a lot more Grudge in this season as well.

How has it been saying goodbye to Book and to the show?

In all honesty, I think you’re probably the first person I’ve said this to: I haven’t said goodbye to Cleveland Booker, and I don’t think I will. If there’s anything I’ve learned from playing this character is the power of selfless love, the power of being intentional behind pursuing something that is greater than yourself, that hopefully should contribute to what is making the world a better place. Cleveland Booker’s  definitely made me a better person because he’s given me a perspective to offer people more grace, patience, and kindness.

Could we see you on another Star Trek show going forward?

Stranger things have happened. You never know.

'Star Trek: Discovery' Reveals Moll & L'ak's Backstory

What are you enjoying most about who Book is this season?

I’m enjoying how—not that he needed to at the beginning, but he is a version of himself that’s so stripped down because of life experiences that doesn’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone. I feel that he has a real understated internal peace, which I think is a bit of a life hack. I’m enjoying playing that peace within Cleveland Booker.

I really like the Book and Culber ( Wilson Cruz ) scenes, too.

Oh, bless. Thank you. That’s some of my favorite stuff, getting to work with Wilson Cruz and just that moment of two friends talking, giving space to each other, nonjudgmental—curious but not judgmental—and just being there for one another. It is a really wonderful friendship, which has blossomed in the most organic way, and I’m really, really happy for it.

And it’s like moments like that I think that make Star Trek stand out because we get so much heart amidst all the sci-fi.

Yeah, I think so, absolutely. It’s such a wonderful balance to be able to have so much heart within a genre which just happens to be science fiction.

Do you have any idea in mind what you want to do next?

I’m in the jungle next. I kid you not. I’m prepping to be in a jungle and I’m very excited to be part of this new special TV series, which is far removed from the world of Star Trek , but I’m equally as excited to work on it.

Star Trek: Discovery , Thursdays, Paramount+

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Screen Rant

Sisko transforms his relationship with the prophets by turning his greatest strength against them.

Captain Benjamin Sisko has permanently altered his relationship with the Bajoran Prophets, by playing to his single greatest strength.

• Captain Sisko turns his greatest strength against the Bajoran Prophets in Star Trek #19, by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Megan Levens.
• The Prophets have forbidden Captain Sisko from traveling to the Pleroma, but he ignores their commands and goes anway.
• By bucking the Prophets, Sisko may have ensured the galaxy's safety.

Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek #19!

Star Trek ’s Captain Sisko has had a testy relationship with the Bajoran Prophets, and now this relationship changes forever as Ben turns his greatest strength against them. In Star Trek #19, the Prophets forbid Sisko from traveling to the Pleroma, the recently discovered “realm of the gods.” With the fate of existence hanging in the balance, Sisko takes his greatest strength, and uses it against the Prophets.

Star Trek #19 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens. After hearing T’Lir’s plea for help, Sisko communes with the Prophets. T’Lir wishes the crew of the Theseus to travel to the Pleroma, but the Prophets tell Sisko he is not allowed. However, Sisko decides to go anyway.

As he takes the Theseus to be refitted at Utopia Planitia, he reflects on a conversation he once had with General Martok on Deep Space Nine, in which the Klingon praised Sisko’s greatest strength, which is not being good at doing what he is told.

Sisko Is Going Back To Where It All Started For Him: Utopia Planitia

The god war has forced him to reevaluate his relationship with the prophets.

The issue ends with Sisko arriving at his pre- Deep Space Nine posting: Utopia Planitia, bringing his arc full circle. After his career nearly died at Planitia, Sisko was sent to Deep Space Nine. At the time, it was just another posting, but with the discovery of the Bajoran Wormhole, and the non-linear beings called the Prophets that resided in it, Sisko’s life changed drastically. The Prophets declare Sisko “the Emissary,” an important role in the spiritual life of Bajor. This position often put Captain Sisko at odds with his duties as a Starfleet officer.

In the Deep Space Nine series finale, “What We Leave Behind,” Sisko was taken by the Prophets to the wormhole, where he would learn more about a non-linear, non-corporeal existence. Sisko was gone for three years, and it put a massive strain on his personal relationships, particularly with his son Jake. The Prophets pulled Sisko to their realm with no regard for these relationships. When the threat of Kahless and the god-killer reared its head, the Prophets sent Sisko back to stop him, with the understanding that he would return when the task was finished.

Star Trek: Q Explains Why Benjamin Sisko Is Humanity's Ideal Messiah

Captain sisko's greatest strength might save the galaxy, sisko does not like being told what to do...by anyone.

Yet in Star Trek #19, Sisko uses his greatest strength, his stubbornness and dislike of authority, against them. The Prophets did not give him a reason why to avoid the Pleroma, only speaking in cryptic phrases. Sisko’s patience for the Prophets is wearing thin. If Sisko and the Theseus do not go there to fix the damage Kahless has wrought, then the entire multiverse may be at stake. Sisko has no use for the Prophets or their riddles. With a racing clock hanging over his head, Sisko has (for now) forsaken the Prophets.

Star Trek #19 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!