Species 8472: What were their motives?

[teacake]

It doesn't matter if the Borg failed to do any damage. Their intent was clear. Their advanced levels of technology were clear. The expectation that they would return would have been clear. 8472 wasn't going to sit around waiting for them to assimilate something that made the Borg a real threat.

[Guy Gardener]

Would the Borg have gone back if they still couldn't figure out how to assimilate 8472?

[teacake]

You mean gone back over and over like wasps at a wasp trap?

[Guy Gardener]

Watching that drone failing to assimilate that dead 8472 was hilarious like a roomba trapped in a shoe box.

The Borg might not accept defeat well, but every time they attacked the federation they had a new plan generated form assimilating thousands if not millions of humans to advise the battle.

The Borg can't change their attack plan on 8472 because they have no new information to evolve their battle strategy because 8472 resists assimilation, which means that at some point that the Borg must realize that they shouldn't proceed without a new better attack strategy.

It's like asking why would America send it's army to a country with no oil?

[teacake]

I think they already had their over and over attack and would now be seeking new information. They would be looking for races in their collective database that have some similarity to Species 8472, even races they rejected as not worth assimilating but who have some biological likeness that could be useful. I could see them going back to some waste planet with inter-dimensional nudibranchs and working out how to assimilate them as it might be applicable to Species 8472.

It's going to be a serious dint on their perfection until they figure it out.

[Guy Gardener]

There is nothing analogous to 8472.

Although the Hirogen could hunt them with ease.

Maybe the Borg's problem was that they didn't want to exterminate 8472.

They're rapists not murderers.

[teacake]

We don't know there is nothing analogous. Species 8472 might like to see themselves that way but all it takes is one lower life form offering the same biological challenges that doesn't fight back and the Borg can practice until they get it right.

[TiberiusMaximus]

According to script, the Borg failed to assimilate any 8472. Therefore, they did no harm to 8472.

Non sequitur. Like Guy said, it's possible (and quite likely) that the Borg killed lots of 8472 babies. And mommies and daddies.

Except they have five genders. So would that be mommies and mommies and daddies and daddies and mommies?

I don't want to think about it.

[teacake]

Everyone secretes hormonally charged chromosomal matter into a fluidic space shoal and it forms into a cluster of eggs. It's very romantic.

[Guy Gardener]

The Borg like finesse.

But just because they want a magic bullet, it doesn't mean they won't blow up a planet if they have to... Actually did we see the Borg blow up a planet and tractor Voyager off to safety while hundreds of bioships got frakked by the planets bloom?

(If I wanted to reference this, my dvds are on loan, but I still have some of my taped off TV/pirated vhs collection, even though I gave away my store bought vhs collection, but my video player isn't plugged into my tv anymore.)

[teacake]

A fast read through of memoryalpha and chakoteya is quicker..

Maybe I'll watch the 8472 eps, I know I haven't seen In the Flesh for a long time.

[Guy Gardener]

And it's cheating.

I don't even read it anymore.

I have chokoteya crossed with google word search.

NEELIX: Already? Oh. I was dreaming we found the dilithium and were back aboard Voyager.
SEVEN; Dreaming is an accurate description.
NEELIX: Didn't we already scan this nebula?
SEVEN: Four times.
KIM: I thought the Borg were known for being thorough.
SEVEN: The Borg value efficiency, not redundancy.

I was looking for this earlier but failed because my word search was for redundant and not redundancy, but that was going to be part of my argument for why the Borg wouldn't keep attacking fluidic space.

[Lord Manitou]

The Borg are rather choosy about what race they want for an assimilation model. Not too big as they might jostle people in the hall. A head, arms and legs that are efficient to work with. Species 8472 are big ugly insects and they might be incapatable with their nanoprobes since they have twice as much dna structure (which accounts for their superior adaptability)as well as being poly-fluid based. They could be based on hydro-carbons or gas.

[Guy Gardener]

Twice wouldn't be a problem. They have a hundred times the DNA as human beings.

[Anwar]

Failure to Assimilate doesn't mean "No casualties". They could've killed them in combat or suicide attacks, etc.