Don't Provoke the Borg!
- Thread starter Villordsutch
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Still, it is one of the more intriguing possible follow-ups/interpretations to the 'Don't provoke the Borg' statement Q gave his son.
The Q aren't entirely invulnerable.
Voygaer was able to enter the Continuum for example.
True, they knew where to look and how to do it via lady Q knowledge, but still ... the Borg could learn and adapt themselves to a similar process.
They gained access to Voyager's database on more than one occasion (Scorpion rings a bell for example when Tuvok asked 7 how they were able to get information on their photon torpedo compliment), so it's possible they were aware of this instance.
Unless of course the Q deleted the information or Voyager crew went to necessary lengths to conceal it from the Borg.
Though as someone else has said, the Q could wipe the Borg from existence with a mere hand wave, they are not a threat to the Q in any shape or form
Well the Borg could be a threat to the race that eventually evolve into the "Q". Keep fucking around with the Borg, and you end up wiping yourself out because you've just got your ancestor race assimilated so they never evolve. I know, the "Q"-- IRC-- are suppose to be centuries/millenia old, but that's from the perspective of a race that is outside normal space-time.
That's an assumption without merit.
Compared to the rest of the species, the Q do portray a vast range of abilities ... but I would hardly call them invulnerable.
I agree that the possibility of the Borg hurting the Q is very small ... practically inexistent ... then again, with the Borg's ability to adapt and whatnot, it's also possible it would just be a matter of time before they find a way.
And the Borg can study this via the species they assimilate (SF/Federation and others that the Borg might have had contacts with).
Besides, the Q are not in the business of destroying races as far as on-screen evidence is concerned (civil war not withstanding because that was caused inadvertently)... regardless of their nature.
Though if really put in jeapordy, it is quite likely they would retaliate.
Although I have yet to see if the Q are actually portraying highly advanced mental abilities, or highly advanced technology ... or possibly a combination of both.
I doubt that there is place for vulnerability in the definition of omnipotence.
Really though, how Omnipotent are the "Q"? Sure they display a level of omnipotence, but at the same time they display a level of...linear limitation that makes me think they're not as "Godlike" as they like to proclaim or think.I doubt that there is place for vulnerability in the definition of omnipotence.
All Seeing Eye
Admiral
Q took Picard to Earth at a time when there were only amino acids.
Q and Q2 went to the beginning of the universe.
The Q may choose to exist in a linear fashion but they are linear by choice and not nature. They can live at any moment in time they wish and could no doubt freeze time and reverse it and still exist at that moment.
I'm sure TheGallifreyanSith wasn't talking about 'temporal linearity' here. What I think he's trying to say is that there are some instances where the powers of the Q are portrayed as having limitations rooted in a linear universe of cause and effect. Because what omnipotence ultimately means is that the Q should be able to do virtually everything. And yet there are episodes where Q seeks Janeway's help, which kind of implies that they can't really do everything. Futhermore, why does Q even have to interact with humans? If he really was omnipotent he already knew every possible outcome of every possible situation beforehand. So, while I think the latter has more to do with the conventions of storytelling (if Q really knew everything and had no reason to deal with humans, there'd be no episode), I suspect the former has more to do with the writers not understanding the premise of Q's omnipotence. To make a long story short, on TNG they would never have suggested the Q were afraid of the Borg.
The Q have been described as omnipotent, but I don't believe they've even been described on-screen as omniscient. One means all-powerful, one means all-knowing. They're two separate things. A Q can do whatever it wants ... a Q does not know everything. A Q knows a lot more than a human, certainly. But they do not know everything, nor do they usually pretend to. They are also not omnipresent -- they can only be in one place at a time, though they can endlessly manipulate time, which perhaps makes their lack of omnipresence a mere matter of semantics outside their own realm.
That's a good point. I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess I just find it odd that an allmighty being isn't potent enough to make itself all-knowing. So yes, I'd say for me omniscience is the logical consequence of omnipotence. Because how omnipotent are the Q if they can't make themselves know everything?
^^^ Yes, but it seems like they only appear omnipotent when it comes to our realm. They can control space, matter and time, but they can only react to what they see. They can see whatever they want as long as they bend time or space to pay a personal visit and see for themselves, but if they don't choose to do that, then it seems like they're as blind as we are to the things happening away from them or the things that will happen in the future.
We have to remember that in TNG Q was punished for pissing with lesser races. Supposedly cause they were having to apologize for his actions, but if they weren't limited or vulnerable in some way why should they care? Voyager adds the element of them [Q] being afraid [more or less] of change and having grown stagnant, for the most part, over the centuries. It is entirely possible that for all their power, that the Q really aren't as invulnerable as they claim to be.
Well the Q could do that to anyone. But they won't.
Also a few Voyager crew members shot some Qs.
I think the Q do fear the Borg to some extent.
I always thought I had read somewhere that originally in "Q-who" there was kind of treaty between the Borg and Q.
That may be the case in "Q-Who" but since the books aren't canon we can't assume the that applies to the Trek universe.
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