Why does Q tell his son "how many times do I have to remind you DO NOT PROVOKE THE BORG?

Anyone have any speculations?
What possible threat could the borg pose to the Q?
Is it possible a Q could be assimilated?

 

It needn't necessarily be a threat to the Q continuum. Perhaps the Q are concerned that any 'unexplained' phenomena will impel the Borg to do things they wouldn't otherwise have done. For example, perhaps the Borg wouldn't have sent a cube to earth repeatedly to assimilate that planet if he hadn't thrown the Ent-D into their space first (and then whisked them away again), while perhaps all he meant to do was to poke a bit in the human assertion that they were ready for anything.

(And yes, I know there is a Borg first contact causality loop debate with the Romulan Outposts/The Raven/ First Contact/ etc, but I'm not going into that one here).

 

None. No threat to Q from the borg.
I liken it to a rebellious teenager causing mischief and his parents having to clean up after him.

 

Exactly what the posters above said.

I doubt they're concerned about their own welfare, but the Q (at least the continuum collectively, if not our Q in his earlier days) have shown some sort of collective responsibility against messing up the galaxy for its various residents.

Provoke the Borg and the Borg go on a rampage assimilating every species that's ever seen, heard or smelled a Q. Including the Humans in whom they see some interesting potential.

 

Right. However, if you think about it, this really shouldn't have been a problem for the Q. We don't know exactly how many Q there are but it seems like a lot and given their power, it wouldn't seem like too much effort to contain the borg. I mean, If Kevin Uxbridge, as a Douwd, could wipe out the entire Husnock race himself, then the Q being able to reign in the borg should be pretty simple.

 

True, but consider that the more effort you have to put in to keep your species separated, the less the galaxy looks like a forest, and the more it looks like a zoo. Zoos are a lot less interesting to humans, perhaps to the Q as well.

 

According to the Q Quinn, the Q aren't as powerful as they make themselves out to be. The Borg could be a actual threat to the Q.

A single bee isn't a threat to a Human, an entire hive could kill one of us..

 

This is the conclusion I came to, as well as not punching up the order of the universe.

 

What is "Q Quinn"?

 

A member of the Q continuum who identified himself as "Quinn" from the Voyager episode Death Wish. He wished to commit suicide and during his conversations with Tuvok he said this.

 

If Voyager can enter the Q continuum (wuth help from Q), then it's something a vessel can do, so there is always a chance the Borg could get in. If they can get in, you never know what they might do.

 

The Q pose no threat to the Borg, however since by this time Q has 'matured' he is aware that provoking the Borg could lead to the collapse of entire civilizations which he would now feel responsible for.

 

Even if they could get in, the only way they could possibly pose a threat is if the Q create a metaphorical civil war enactment which enables them to pick a Q weapon off the ground.

 

I mean I see this argument but at the same time from what I’ve seen Q do he can blink civ’s into and out of existence with the wave of his hand. I think it’s possible they aren’t as powerful as they claim. And perhaps the Borgs ultimate goal of perfection could threaten the Q because to me despite how powerful the Q may or may not be they are far from perfect.

 

Some good points raised thus far.

In my head I always figured that if any corporeal race actually could pose a threat to the Q, the Borg were almost certainly most likely to do so. The Continuum isn't omniscient, so perhaps in the back of their collective mind (see what I did there?) there's a slight bit of concern that the Borg may figure out a way to become a threat that they simply couldn't anticipate.

Consequently, any demonstration of the Continuum's abilities in the presence of the Borg would give the collective more data to work with and press them further down the path of potentially becoming a threat.

 

Yes I like what you did there. So when the Q fight they blow up stars basically with their weapons. I certainly could see the Borg achieving this ability given enough time especially if they were to ever find and harness Omega Molecules. In fact, I find it completely plausible that through harnessing omega they may be able to not only kill a Q but perhaps wipe out the continium entirely. That episode raised even more questions for me about the true potential of the Borg and how great a threat they truly are.

 

Thanks. I forgot about that.

However, I think you guys are underestimating the power of the continuum in total. I can't buy for a minute that the Borg could threaten them.

 

Q got in trouble for his actions in Q-Who. His punishment was living as a human. In Q-Who, Q provoked type Borg unleashing a huge chain of events that had far reaching consequences.

Q2 goes through the same story arc as Q did back in TNG(I forget the name of the episode-the one where Guinan stabs him with a fork).

The Q get upset when Q's mischief turns from benign, to disastrous.

 

I read that Quinn comment slightly differently. Sure, the Q aren't invulnerable from Quinn's perspective, since he knows what their weaknesses are and what knowledge could be used to exploit that. Still doesn't mean that 'lower' species can easily gain access to that kind of knowledge.

To make a comparison. Suppose Starfleet finds a stone age tribe. From their own perspective, Starfleet isn't omnipotent/invincible. From the tribe's perspective, they probably pretty much are -- until Starfleet explicitly explains to them that they're not. Now suppose the tribe and Starfleet end up in an armed conflict somehow (of course, Starfleet would never allow that to happen).

Even if that stone-age tribe got their hands on some TNG-level "magical" weapons (a bit like the Voyager crew got Q weapons in in the Q and the Grey), they could perhaps win an isolated surprise encounter , but not much more than that in a sustained conflict. They simply don't have the required knowledge base (and other facilities) and aren't going to have it for several millennia. From their viewpoint, Starfleet effectively would be utterly invincible.

The gap between the Q and the Borg may be much larger than the gap between the stone age tribe and Starfleet. (Then again, it might not be-- we don't know for sure).

 

Q never said the Borg were a threat to them. He just said not to provoke them.

Perhaps not even Q wants to see the Borg wreak havoc on the rest of the galaxy? He's not completely heartless, after all. The only mischief he wants, is what he himself causes.