There’s a quote by Picard in an episode where he says something like “it starts as a fight over territory and then they hate each other and forget why they were ever arguing” Does anyone recognise this? I have a feeling he’s sat in the observation lounge as he’s saying it. I thought it was the Vengeance factor but it’s not.
I'd have guessed Vengeance Factor too. Attached? We don't see too many Alien of the Week episodes where old territorial/political divides were part of the plot.
SCHOLAR: The portfolio will indicate that the conflict is over a piece of land, or wealth, or some other tangible asset. But we both know that is not the case. RIKER: They've been at war for so long, it has become personal.
Too Short A Season, Loud As A Whisper, The Vengeance Factor, The High Ground, Man of The People, Attached, & yes, Legacy too. They had a civil war going on between a so called alliance & coalition There's also some kind of Montague & Capulet thing going on in The Outrageous Okona too lol. I'd guess the answer to this thread's question is Loud as a Whisper too
The op and I was talking about an conflict so old that nobody really knows what started it. Loud as a Whisper and The Vengeance Factor fits the bill. The one in Legacy was only a few generations old. I don't think they got into the nature of how conflicts in too short a season and the high ground began, much. And the conflict in Attached was more of a long Cold War, and nothing was said about how it started.
It's probably not the episode you were thinking of, but the quote in the OP kind of reminds me of a line from "The Wounded" when Picard is speaking with O'Brien:
Nemesis is definitely one of the better Voyager episodes. Voyager has a number of good or even excellent episodes and every character gets at least one chance to shine (except Harry), it's just the series when viewed as a whole that falls short to me.