Star Trek TNG: Introducing the Borg
"Interesting, isn't it? Not a he, not a she, not like anything you've ever seen. An enhanced humanoid." - Q
Are you watching Star Trek: the Next Generation? Are you trying to recall, what is the Borg? Here I'll briefly explore the lore behind the Borg and their origin story in season two of TNG.
The Borg are an electronically-connected collective hive mind. They are the most destructive powerful threat that the Enterprise encounters in the early seasons.
The Borg first appear to us in the episode "Q Who" which is the sixteenth episode of season two. You remember Q, right? He's the god-like troublesome imp character that takes over half of the pilot episode as well as being a recurring presence in the series.
In this episode, Q mischievously kicks the starship Enterprise far out into an unknown area of the galaxy; one that is 3 years away from the closest federation star-base. His excuses for doing this are complex and not the focus of this article, so we'll just look at the result of his actions rather than his meandering and manipulative justifications for constructing this crisis.
Out in the middle of nowhere, the crew is led to remotely examine some interesting feature that is on a nearby planet. The crew reports evidence of the former inhabitants, who were apparently industrialized but also met with widespread destruction. They realize that cities on the planet may be unnaturally absent, only scars left in their place. They seem to have been scooped up off the planet, in whole. The Enterprise bridge crew note that this scene has an identical pattern of characteristics to those that they recently observed on another derelict planet that resides in the neutral zone.
The crew doesn't have time to fully hypothesize about the cause for any planet-wide destruction of industrious structures, here or elsewhere. Right on cue, the cubic mystery of our new villain bleeds onto the scene. On the main viewer, the bridge crew is able to see an enormous cube structure: the Borg ship.
Now sensed to be on an intercept with the Enterprise, the crew describes a strange ship that they don't have any record for. They examine the Borg ship with curiosity at first. The entire bridge crew is able to visually examine the ship that looks like a giant cube of generic space-age machinery: conduits, panels, and small green lights making up the indiscriminate exterior. Data reports some invisible measurements, describing a ship that is "strangely generalized in design". This means that internally it doesn't have sections that are dedicated to specific functions; in contrast, a ship like the Enterprise is a heterogeneous structure that is cobbled together from dedicated areas for engineering, command, living quarters and more. Furthermore, unexpectedly, they can't sense any weapons or shield on the Borg ship.
When attempting to hail the encroaching ship results in no response, Captain Picard turns to an unusual source to learn more information about this unusual cube that is still coming straight at them. Guinan, head of the on-ship restaurant Ten Forward and wearer of amazing flat-top hats, tells Captain Picard what she knows about the Borg.
From Guinan, we learn that her people were victim to this same terrible life-form called the Borg that is responsible for both the homogenous cube ship and the catastrophic consumption of industrious civilizations. Guinan reveals that the Borg is highly dangerous and especially compelled to consume any and all other technology that it encounters, with no respect for existing life. She repeatedly urges the crew to get as far from the Borg as fast as possible, expressing her conviction that reasoning with them or attempting to learn about them any further is dangerous and futile.
With the Borg ship now face to face with the starship Enterprise, Q continues to poke at the crew about their terrible predicament and great unpreparedness. When chief engineer Jordy LaForge reports an intruder, Captain Picard and a small security entourage go to investigate. They find a member of the Borg messing around with the control panels on the engineering deck. The tech-embedded machine-man remains unresponsive to their attempts to communicate, and after a scuffle Warf is able to dispatch the bionic threat from hacking into the ship. Immediately thereafter, another member of the Borg appears to finish his felled fellow's work; Warf is unable to stop this member as the Borg hive has learned from its recent failure. After this secondary intruder's success, he scavenges the slain body of his comrade for parts, then they both (presumably) disappear back to the Borg ship with a glittery Borg-style teleport.
The Enterprise crew soon learns, from a choral Borg communique, that the Borg has assessed the Enterprise's technology and that it has decided to consume them and assimilate (or eliminate) their crew. Despite the Borg's assessment that resistance will be futile, Picard commands a commendable defense as the Borg persists with its mechanical persistence. The Enterprise mounts a valiant resistance and somehow, some way, manages to damage the Borg into a state of apparent dormancy. The Enterprise takes major damage in trade, and can only briefly mourn the loss of a small group of their saucer crew as they determine how to make the most of this unexpected period of respite.
Going against Guinan's understated advice to flee immediately, command makes the insane decision to board the now-seemingly-dormant Borg ship.
Once onboard the giant green square ship, the fearless away team is able to observe and help us learn a lot about this strange hive mind. The interior of the Borg ship is almost as generalized as the starship's sensors suggest. The interior is a giant cubicle comprised mostly of catwalks and massive pipes. All of the walls are lined with cubbies for individual Borg workers, most of whom are plugged-in and recharging as a network. A few of them are meandering about doing things, all while ignoring and brushing right past their uninvited Federation guests. Even though the away team are clearly crowding the clanging metal catwalks, the Borg are too busy doing other things to care. Each of the biomechanical Borg members resemble each other closely: all androgenous and shockingly pallor-ous humanoids with deeply-embedded black electromechanical implants.
As the away team continue to nonchalantly peruse the Borg ship, they come upon a strange scene. There is a section with compartments lining the walls, each filled with a half-adorable Borg infant. The non-adorable half is of course their implanted machine parts. From this we all learn that these Borg go through stages of development like humans, except that some are biomechanically enhanced from birth. We also hear at some point, from someone thinking about things, that some human parts are replaced with machine parts as the Borg individual ages and gets damaged or worn out. In a later episode, we also learn exactly how the Borg can "assimilate" those who were previously non-mechanical and independently-minded. I suppose all of these origins of mechanical enhancement and incorporation into the hive aren't mutually exclusive; the Borg are a ragtag band of characters from diverse origins who all came together and now act as one big happy mind.
What's that meandering away team up to now? How long will they be calmly strolling the catwalks of their overpowered enemies? How long will they put the now-terrorized families of the Enterprise at risk to satisfy their morbid curiosity? It doesn't take long for command to realize that the Borg ship is not out of commission, but is recharging in preparation for the next attack. Finally seeing this immanent danger and that they may be squandering their window of escape, Picard regains his rationale. The bumbling explorers/vital bridge crew are ordered back to the Enterprise so they can all get outta there post-haste.
With Picard's command to "engage" the engines, the Enterprise starts its high-warp retreat to distance itself from this deceptively non-docile sleeping Borg ship. Of course, the Borg don't stay sleeping. The Borg ship begins its pursuit, not far behind the Enterprise in no time. The damaged Borg ship is soon gaining on the Enterprise, reducing their distance. On the view screen, we can watch in horror with the crew as we witness the Borg ship repairing itself as it advances; coming at them faster and faster as it fixes its damage more and more.
There is no hope. The Borg are set to overtake them. The Enterprise is way out of its league when facing this enemy. They can't defend themselves with damaged shields. They can't use the same attack twice; their phasers and laser torpedos are now useless. The enterprise can't move fast enough to get away. Their doom is imminent. Seeing no other choice, Picard is surely about to start their ship's self-destruct sequence.
But wait. We must again dissuade Picard's eternal desire to self-destroy his fleet's flagship. There's a better and non-final solution here. Remember who is on board this episode? Of course you do, it's Q! Q can get them out of this mess, as he did indeed create the mess, for entertainment purposes. Q claims to have put Picard and friends in this path as a learning exercise. Nevermind how sadistic the lessons were. Picard takes this opportune que to express that he has learned his lesson, that he needs Q. Picard revokes his former certainty that their current technology is capable of surmounting any trial offered by their space exploration and that neither he nor humanity is ready to see everything there is to see out in space. On top of it all, Picard says to Q, "I need you".
With those magic words, Q ends his strange game and decides to fling the starship Enterprise far far away from wherever it is that they are. Q sends the ship somewhere safe, as it was before his heavy-handed location tampering. Before he disappears, he reminds Picard that although space is full of treasures, "it's not for the timid".
Later, still en-route to the nearest star-base, we are gifted with some late-night final thoughts from Guinan and Picard. Although it was hard-earned knowledge dolled out by the fallout from Q's dangerous games, they learned some valuable information during this skirmish. The federation may now be able to prepare for future encounters with the Borg. Perhaps Q did the right thing for the wrong reasons, as Picard points out.
So that covers the episode-based birth of the Borg. Now we know some about what they are and what they do. There are more great episodes with the Borg! They appear in several TNG episodes, and one of the four TNG movies. Please do look up the Borg on Wikipedia. There's also an article on los Borg en español. Do it now. Right now. Borg on Wikipedia. Wikipedia for Borg. Resistance is futile.
<3 Grant