Why keep the Borg Secret?

[ConRefit79]

Why would Starfleet keep the Borg secret from starship commanders? They knew they existed as far back as Enterprise B. Even if they thought they had time, the attacks on the Roman and Federation bases in the Neutral Zone should have warranted alerting Starship commanders.

I'm assuming it's only because the producers had no idea who this new menace would be when they filmed the Neutral Zone. And certainly not before Q Who was filmed.

 

[JoeZhang]

Why would Starfleet keep the Borg secret from starship commanders? They knew they existed as far back as Enterprise B. Even if they thought they had time, the attacks on the Roman and Federation bases in the Neutral Zone should have warranted alerting Starship commanders.

I'm assuming it's only because the producers had no idea who this new menace would be when they filmed the Neutral Zone. And certainly not before Q Who was filmed.

Maybe I've missed something????????

 

[ConRefit79]

Maybe I've missed something????????

In Q Who, Picard and his crew had apparently never heard of the Borg. Guianan was a rescued with other El-Aurian refugees. It stands to reason Starfleet would have interviewed them to learn why they were running. In addition in Voyager's Raven episode, we learn the Federation was aware of the Borg.

So after the attacks in the Neutral Zone, you would think Starfleet would have provided Starship commanders intel on the Borg. The type of the attack was beyond the Federation and Romulan capabilities. So that meant someone new and more powerful had entered their neighborhood. So the question is why they didn't share that information.

 

[Marsden]

Enterprise B? I thought Q introduced them.

 

[ConRefit79]

Enterprise B? I thought Q introduced them.

During the series, yes. But in Generations, the Enterprise B rescues El-Aurian refugees. You would think Starfleet or the Federation would want to know what they were running from. And you would think the El-Aurians would warn them.

 

[Hando]

It is an old debate.

As is general in Trek history events older than a century get either forgotten or are remembered differently.

But nevertheless, when should they - in this I think you mean Picard - have remembered a race that conquered a different race's homeworld a century ago in the Delta Quadrant. The Federation encounters hundred/thousand races every year.

And they did not keep it a secret, remember the Hansons, they were civilians so the Borg's existence could not had been a great secret.

 

[jimbotron]

They knew they existed as far back as Enterprise B.

Generations didn't exist at the time Q Who was made. Just say NO to retcons.

 

[ConRefit79]

They knew they existed as far back as Enterprise B.

Generations didn't exist at the time Q Who was made. Just say NO to retcons.

Yes, they made it up as they went along.

 

[jimbotron]

The more annoying Borg retcon is in First Contact when they claim the queen was on the cube during BOBW. That doesn't make sense. I find it hard to believe the queen would fall for the same sleep command that defeated the rest of the Borg.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Enterprise B? I thought Q introduced them.

During the series, yes. But in Generations, the Enterprise B rescues El-Aurian refugees. You would think Starfleet or the Federation would want to know what they were running from. And you would think the El-Aurians would warn them.

Correct.

And the Hansens knew of the Borg before "Q Who," as Seven was assimilated several years before that episode took place.

There's clearly something wonky about who knows what and when.

 

[Melakon]

I find it hard to believe the queen would fall for the same sleep command that defeated the rest of the Borg.

Maybe she was in a normal regeneration cycle with a "do not disturb" sign on her alcove when Picard was rescued.

 

[aj1981]

I've heard many theories over the years, from the El-Aurians having a prime directive to Starfleet having a copy of Cochrane's memoirs where he mentions the Borg and they classify it all to prevent changes to the timeline. I've always felt that the Voyager writers just didn't give a flying f*ck about continuity and just wrote the story they wanted to write regardless of whether it matched up with what had already been portrayed.
Personally I've always thought of it like this. Starfleet and the Federation council learn of the Borg from the El-Aurians but classify them to prevent a panic. Gradually over the years, as there has been no further contact or incidents Starfleet's interest wanes and they are slowly forgotten. Years later Magnus Hansen, a noted xenobiologist who worked with Starfleet (and presumably having access to classified info) wishes to study the Borg and as Starfleet views them as a non issue grants him permission. The Hansen's disappear and Starfleet chalks it up to misadventure. The Borg are forgotten and aren't viewed as threat until after Q Who

 

[Spectral]

Have you met the Admirals? I'd keep it secret too.

 

[ConRefit79]

The more annoying Borg retcon is in First Contact when they claim the queen was on the cube during BOBW. That doesn't make sense. I find it hard to believe the queen would fall for the same sleep command that defeated the rest of the Borg.

I always got the impression she was not physically there, but it was the hive mind connection.

 

[Ithekro]

Keep it secret. Keep it safe.

 

[Dukhat]

1. The Enterprise-B: Considering that the Borg were from the Delta Quadrant, and that Guinan's home planet was presumably there as well, perhaps Starfleet didn't consider these mysterious alien invaders to be a threat.

2. The Hansens: Just the fact that the Hansens struck out on their own without any assistance from Starfleet again implies that Starfleet did not consider the Borg to be a threat.

3. "Regeneration" (ENT):Thanks to the remains of the Borg sphere from FC, there's evidence of the existence of the Borg even as far back as the 22nd century. The Borg send a signal to the Delta Quadrant, but T'Pol shrugs it off since it won't be received for 200 years. Again, the Borg are ignored.

4. Star Trek: First Contact: In the 21st century, Zefram Cochrane is aware of the Borg and apparently talks about them, but nobody believes him because he's a drunk, and eventually he shuts up about them.

5. "Best of Both Worlds" (TNG): Whoops.

 

[Marsden]

Now that I understand the question better, I didn't assume those elaurulians were actually running from the borg but just refugees of some kind, maybe Star Fleet listened to their story and basically said, "you poor people, you're so traumatized that you're making up stories of Cybermen." and just didn't believe it. What proof would they have had?

 

[The Old Mixer]

Even in "Q Who?", Picard doesn't think of the Borg out in the Delta Quadrant to be a threat to the Federation until the very end of the episode, when he realizes, "They'll be coming...."

The real head-scratcher is right there in the beginning between "The Neutral Zone", "Q Who?", and "Best of Both Worlds." They go out of their way to establish that the Borg are the mysterious force that was scooping up Neutral Zone outposts in the first of those episodes...yet they never consider in the second and third episodes that there might already be a Borg presence in the Alpha Quadrant....They weren't expecting the Borg so soon in BOBW? Their home turf had already been attacked by the Borg two years before that!

 

[Nebusj]

Enterprise B? I thought Q introduced them.

During the series, yes. But in Generations, the Enterprise B rescues El-Aurian refugees. You would think Starfleet or the Federation would want to know what they were running from. And you would think the El-Aurians would warn them.

Who said the Lakul and the other ship were refugees from the Borg invasion, and not some unrelated but tragic other incident? Recall that (per ``Q Who'') Guinan wasn't on her home world when the Borg destroyed it a ``century ago'', which would be about 25 years before the events of Generations. Granted she might have been rounding 75 years off to a century (or using her home world's definition of year, which could be any length), but it seems to me there's a loophole wide enough even Timo doesn't have to work it into existence.

 

[T'Girl]

Thanks to the remains of the Borg sphere from FC, there's evidence of the existence of the Borg even as far back as the 22nd century.

21st century?