Poll Do you consider Discovery to truly be in the Prime Timeline at this point?

[Crazy Eddie]

Doesn't the episode imply the 2063 borg are the reason the borg are heading to the Beta quadrant?

The estimation of how long it would take for the message to reach the Delta Quadrant is the 24th century.

Which is interesting in another way, because it implies that the Borg ship that attacked Earth in "First Contact" was completely unrelated to the one that attacked them in "Best of Both Worlds."

First Contact implies that Picard had been assimilated by the Borg before, but it strongly implies that the Borg Queen had always been present on that ship and had worked closely with Picard on its mission. This vaguely implies a version of the Borg invasion slightly different from "Best of Both Worlds" in which Locutus wasn't actually all that important and may have just been one of hundreds of officers assimilated in a prior incident.

Picard says "They attack our space, and we fall back... they assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back..." This, too, paints a vision of Federation/Borg interaction COMPLETELY different from the prime universe, since the Borg attacks we've seen didn't involve them "assimilat[ing] entire worlds" or the Federation falling back in the face of that threat. Even in "Best of Both Worlds" they went out of their way to engage them as quickly as possible.

Lastly, the Borg's M.O. changes completely in First Contact and they are using COMPLETELY different technology as the last time we see them. Where as in TNG we have Hugh saying explicitly "The Borg assimilate civilizations, not individuals." In First Contact, not only are they content to assimilate the Enterprise crew literally one at a time, but they also travel back in time to prevent humanity from ever developing useful technology, which would, supposedly, make them that much easier to assimilate.

In the end, we're forced to speculate (in universe, at least) that either there are two different timelines, or two VERY different versions or species of the Borg.

 

[lawman]

I dunno. I think most of that can be explained just by various individuals (Picard, Hugh, etc.) expressing subjective and incomplete perspectives on exactly what the Borg are and how they operate. Feeling different parts of the elephant, as it were. Even we as viewers have only glimpsed them in very limited ways on very specific occasions. Continuity-wise, I'm content to think that the message sent off at the end of "Regeneration" was simply never received, or was superfluous if it was, as speculated in the continuity notes in Memory Prime's discussion of the episode.

That said, I do think introducing a Borg Queen in FC was a conceptual mistake (and from what I understand, though I haven't watched it myself, that mistake was magnified in VOY). Braga (or somebody) thought "hey, it's a hive mind, let's play out the metaphor and give it a Queen, that way we can personify the story's villain," and they just ran with it. Big picture, it was a retcon that caused more problems than it solved.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

I dunno. I think most of that can be explained just by various individuals (Picard, Hugh, etc.) expressing subjective and incomplete perspectives on exactly what the Borg are and how they operate. Feeling different parts of the elephant, as it were. Even we as viewers have only glimpsed them in very limited ways on very specific occasions. Continuity-wise, I'm content to think that the message sent off at the end of "Regeneration" was simply never received, or was superfluous if it was, as speculated in the continuity notes in Memory Prime's discussion of the episode.

That said, I do think introducing a Borg Queen in FC was a conceptual mistake (and from what I understand, though I haven't watched it myself, that mistake was magnified in VOY). Braga (or somebody) thought "hey, it's a hive mind, let's play out the metaphor and give it a Queen, that way we can personify the story's villain," and they just ran with it. Big picture, it was a retcon that caused more problems than it solved.

Well, part of it is the writers of First Contact basically aped the story for "Aliens" for the Enterprise scenes, which is basically where the "We've got to blow the ship!" and "The Borg have a queen!" plot points come from. Then they decided to bring the Queen back for Voyager because reasons.

 

[Tuskin38]

Side note, I like that they got Alice back to play the Queen in Endgame.

 

[Discofan]

What if we considered that Dsc is the prime timeline? Wouldn't that be the series not in total agreement with it that would be off?

 

[Nyotarules]

Does it? There's nothing in Kelvin Trek to suggest that the Enterprise we see there is the first of the name, right?

Captain Pike talks bout Enterprise maiden voyage in ST09, the scene where they are getting ready to go to Vulcan

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Captain Pike talks bout Enterprise maiden voyage in ST09, the scene where they are getting ready to go to Vulcan

Well no, he talks about this being the maiden voyage of "Our newest flagship." This does nothing to suggest this is the maiden voyage of any ship named Enterprise. In fact, the IDW comics (which are considered semi-canon) suggest that Captain Robert April commanded an Enterprise that pre-dated Pike's ship by at least ten years and was only recent decommissioned (Alex Marcus was his first officer). This could easily be the same ship we're seeing in Discovery. in universe, it might be a factor that the Klingon War resulted in so many losses that Starfleet judged they couldn't afford to retire the old Enterprise before a new ship could be constructed and they just kept it in service for another twenty years. In the Kelvinverse, where no Klingon War takes place, Starfleet doesn't have such a great shortage of starships and the old Enterprise got scrapped in favor of a newer, sleeker, upgraded design.

 

[Graham]

Captain Pike talks bout Enterprise maiden voyage in ST09, the scene where they are getting ready to go to Vulcan

That just means the first journey of that particular ship. It doesn't mean there was no prior ship called Enterprise.

 

[Lord Garth]

Oh, God... There's only one Starship Enterprise with the registry of NCC-1701. In either timeline (Prime or Kelvin, in case you people need it spelled out).

If there were another Enterprise in the Kelvin Timeline, after the 2233 split, it would have a different registry number.

If we're sticking to the Prime Timeline, then the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 is the first Enterprise serving in Starfleet since the United Federation of Planets was founded. And, yes, I know I'll have to spell this out for some of you people. So here it goes:

In DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations", the Temporal Invesigations guys want to know which Enteprise Sisko encountered.

TI Guy #1: "Be specific, Captain, which Enterprise? There have been five."

TI Guy #2 (correcting him): "Six."

Sisko: "The first one."

TI Guy #1: "His ship, James T. Kirk."

Sisko: "The one and only."

TI Guy #2: "The man was a menace..."

Counting from the "first" one:

• 1. NCC-1701
• 2. NCC-1701-A
• 3. NCC-1701-B
• 4. NCC-1701-C
• 5. NCC-1701-D
• 6. NCC-1701-E (and Star Trek: First Contact came out the same month as this episode, so it was a reference to the upcoming film. I know because I was watching at the time and I was very excited about it. More excited than I am typing up this stupid response.)

The NX-01 Enterprise was part of Starfleet before the United Federation of Planets was founded so it's not a Federation Starship Enterprise. But, in a sense, it's the "zeroth" Enterprise.

So that's the Prime Timeline.

In the Kelvin Timeline, after the 2233 split... could there have been another Enterprise before the one in the 2009 film? Sure! But it wouldn't have the same fucking registry number! It wouldn't be NCC-1701.

Furthermore, they for sure would've referenced a Klingon War in Star Trek Into Darkness especially if it was only two years earlier and the Federation lost 20% of its space! That's NOT exactly something you just gloss over in discussion!

Finally, the most important part, the creators of Star Trek: Discovery say it's in the Prime Timeline. Why the Hell would they say it's in the Prime Timeline if it were supposedly in the fucking Kelvin Timeline? And if it were in the Kelvin Timeline you can bet they'd try to ride that wave and capitalize on those films. But they didn't. And there's no reason for them to say they wouldn't be in the Kelvin Timeline if they are.

"But the fans don't like the Kelvin Timeline!" Bullshit. I like the 2009 film, I like Beyond. I still would've liked Discovery even if it were set in the Kelvin Timeline. I didn't care which timeline it was in but it's Prime.

If you're about to ask "What about the Purists?" Well, it wouldn't matter to them which timeline it would've been set in. Discovery never would've won over purists. Nothing made after TNG or Gene Roddenberry's death ever will. So trying to appeal to them is a complete and total waste of time.

Discovery is in the Prime Timeline because they wanted to keep what's happening in DSC separate from whatever is going on in the Kelvin Films. Which makes sense. Both can do whatever they want without having to worry about how one effects the other. Things got wonky sometimes with DS9 and the TNG Movies both taking place in the same time and space and having to share one of the main characters. No need to elaborate on it here but Discovery and the Kelvin Films are much better off being separate.

 

[fireproof78]

Well no, he talks about this being the maiden voyage of "Our newest flagship." This does nothing to suggest this is the maiden voyage of any ship named Enterprise. In fact, the IDW comics (which are considered semi-canon) suggest that Captain Robert April commanded an Enterprise that pre-dated Pike's ship by at least ten years and was only recent decommissioned (Alex Marcus was his first officer). This could easily be the same ship we're seeing in Discovery. in universe, it might be a factor that the Klingon War resulted in so many losses that Starfleet judged they couldn't afford to retire the old Enterprise before a new ship could be constructed and they just kept it in service for another twenty years. In the Kelvinverse, where no Klingon War takes place, Starfleet doesn't have such a great shortage of starships and the old Enterprise got scrapped in favor of a newer, sleeker, upgraded design.

This is a good point.

"Newest flagship" is also an interesting qualifier for Pike to make about the ship, and certainly not prohibitive of another Enterprise serving prior to then.

 

[Ovation]

Oh, God... There's only one Starship Enterprise with the registry of NCC-1701. In either timeline (Prime or Kelvin, in case you people need it spelled out).

If there were another Enterprise in the Kelvin Timeline, after the 2233 split, it would have a different registry number.

If we're sticking to the Prime Timeline, then the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 is the first Enterprise serving in Starfleet since the United Federation of Planets was founded. And, yes, I know I'll have to spell this out for some of you people. So here it goes:

In DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations", the Temporal Invesigations guys want to know which Enteprise, Sisko encountered.

TI Guy #1: "Be specific, Captain, which Enterprise? There have been five."

TI Guy #2 (correcting): "Six."

Sisko: "The first one."

TI Guy #1: "His ship, James T. Kirk."

Sisko: "The one and only."

TI Guy #2: "The man was a menace..."

Counting from the "first" one:

• 1. NCC-1701
• 2. NCC-1701-A
• 3. NCC-1701-B
• 4. NCC-1701-C
• 5. NCC-1701-D
• 6. NCC-1701-E (and Star Trek: First Contact came out the same month as this episode, so it was a reference to the upcoming film. I know because I was watching at the time and I was very excited about it. More excited than I am typing up this stupid response.)

The NX-01 Enterprise was part of Starfleet before the United Federation of Planets was founded so it's not a Federation Starship Enterprise. But, in a sense, it's the "zeroth" Enterprise.

So that's the Prime Timeline.

In the Kelvin Timeline, after the 2233 split... could there have been another Enterprise before the one in the 2009 film? Sure! But it wouldn't have the same fucking registry number! It wouldn't be NCC-1701.

Furthermore, they for sure would've referenced a Klingon War in Star Trek Into Darkness especially if it was only two years earlier and the Federation lost 20% of its space! That's not exactly something you just gloss over in discussion!

Finally, the most important part, the creators of Star Trek: Discovery say it's in the Prime Timeline. Why the Hell would they say it's in the Prime Timeline if it were supposedly in the fucking Kelvin Timeline? And if it were in the Kelvin Timeline you can bet they'd try to ride that wave and capitalize on this films. But they didn't. And there's no reason for them to say they wouldn't be in the Kelvin Timeline if they are.

"But the fans don't like the Kelvin Timeline!" Bullshit. I like the 2009 film, I like Beyond. I still would've liked Discovery even if it were set in the Kelvin Timeline. I didn't care which timeline it was in but it's Prime.

If you're about to ask "What about the Purists?" Well, it wouldn't matter to them which timeline it would've been set in. Discovery never would've won over purists. Nothing made after TNG or Gene Roddenberry's death ever will. So trying to appeal to them is a complete and total waste of time.

Discovery is in the Prime Timeline because they wanted to keep what's happening in DSC separate from whatever is going on in the Kelvin Films. Which makes sense. Both can do whatever they want without having to worry about how one effects the other. Things got a wonky sometimes with DS9 and the TNG Movies both taking place in the same time and space and have to share on of the main characters. No need to elaborate on it here but Discovery and the Kevlin Films are much better off being separate.

But, but...
But what about...



Nah. Just kidding.

 

[WebLurker]

Ok, I'm missing something so I'll bow to your superior knowledge on this subject, save for one point.

I don't see how the Kelvin Timeline Diverged so far back before "First Contact" occurred, since there really isn't enough variation, and we see MACO's, as part of their history. I still maintain that the point of divergence is the Narada incident and illuminates Starfleet history right before "The Cage" (uniforms, ships, etc).

Talking about time travel gets confusing. Here's how I mean it. In First Contact, the "present day" is in 2273. If the "First Contact created an alternate timeline that ENT (and variations of the rest of the franchise?) are set in, then events in pre-2273 years would presumably be set in the "unaltered" timeline. The Abrams movies diverged in 2233, well over a century before 2273, meaning that that timeline would've been unaffected by the First Contact changes. Since we know from information in the Abrams movies that ENT was a part of that timeline, it means that ENT was "always" a part of the prime universe timeline pre-2233, meaning that it was also a part of the timeline in 2273 when the Borg tried to change history and the TNG crew stopped them and repaired the timeline (or played their roles in the predestination paradox, as VOY and ENT would establish).

(So, I actually agree with you, I think I just didn't word it well.)

Which is interesting in another way, because it implies that the Borg ship that attacked Earth in "First Contact" was completely unrelated to the one that attacked them in "Best of Both Worlds."

I don't think they were supposed to be the same ship, but Picard does note at the beginning of the movie that it's the latest step that all the other Borg encounters lead up to.

First Contact implies that Picard had been assimilated by the Borg before, but it strongly implies that the Borg Queen had always been present on that ship and had worked closely with Picard on its mission. This vaguely implies a version of the Borg invasion slightly different from "Best of Both Worlds" in which Locutus wasn't actually all that important and may have just been one of hundreds of officers assimilated in a prior incident.

I don't think so; In "Best of Both Worlds" it's explained that it's been decided that Picard would be assimilated to provide a representative for them as part of their plan to assimilate Earth. First Contact did add another reason (the Borg Queen wanted an equal in the Collective), but also referred to the idea that Picard had been a special kind of drone, as we saw in the TNG show.

Picard says "They attack our space, and we fall back... they assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back..." This, too, paints a vision of Federation/Borg interaction COMPLETELY different from the prime universe, since the Borg attacks we've seen didn't involve them "assimilat[ing] entire worlds" or the Federation falling back in the face of that threat. Even in "Best of Both Worlds" they went out of their way to engage them as quickly as possible.

Picard was very worked up at that point and angry over suggestions that they abandon the ship and may not've been thinking clearly, or at least broadly generalizing.

Lastly, the Borg's M.O. changes completely in First Contact and they are using COMPLETELY different technology as the last time we see them.

There are some differences to be sure (TNG emphasized that Borg ships have no centralized parts, while later ones had them using ships with specific components -- but as tech gatherers, it's not a dealbreaker that they have different kinds). But no real discrepancies; their personal shields work the same (even if the tech has changed since we last saw it, which isn't a mistake). We never saw the exact assimilation process before First Contact, but that's not a discrepancy (either they had the tubes in their wrists at the time or they got them between the stories).

Where as in TNG we have Hugh saying explicitly "The Borg assimilate civilizations, not individuals."
In First Contact, not only are they content to assimilate the Enterprise crew literally one at a time, but they also travel back in time to prevent humanity from ever developing useful technology, which would, supposedly, make them that much easier to assimilate.

First of all, assimilating the Enterprise was a specific mission to a specific end, not their usual MO. As far as how they handled Earth goes, we know that they want both a species and technology added to the Collective as they try to perfect themselves and as "Dark Frontier" (VOY) indicated, they willing to try less orthodox ways to assimilate Earth when the conventional methods keep failing. (As far as the difference between the TNG shows showing the Borg assimilating a planet's population, scooping up all the cities to harvest the tech and leaving the ruined world and First Contact showing an assimilated Earth transformed to act as a Borg world, I don't see a problem if they do both depending on what suites their needs best.)

In the end, we're forced to speculate (in universe, at least) that either there are two different timelines, or two VERY different versions or species of the Borg.

Because of some of Seven's VOY flashbacks, we do see that there were First Contact Borg around before the TNG Borg were seen, so they arguably have coexisted. (Besides, with how large the Collective is and the fact that they're constantly looking for new tech, it would make sense that their appearances would be varied).

 

[Butters]

And the Borg in first contact don’t look like the ones in Q-Who, so clearly a reboot there, and the TNG movies are not prime either. What a tangled web they weave.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

I don't think so; In "Best of Both Worlds" it's explained that it's been decided that Picard would be assimilated to provide a representative for them as part of their plan to assimilate Earth. First Contact did add another reason (the Borg Queen wanted an equal in the Collective), but also referred to the idea that Picard had been a special kind of drone, as we saw in the TNG show.

Well, they say pretty explicitly "Your arcane cultures are authority based" and they assimilate Picard to be a socket puppet that humans are supposed to be able to relate to more readily. They gave the impression that the Borg genuinely didn't understand how non-collective species even work and were trying something new.

OTOH, if the Borg Queen actually existed, assimilating Locutus would be entirely redundant since the Queen is exactly the sort of "single voice" authority figure they would need. More importantly still, the COLLECTIVE wouldn't have addressed Picard on the cube, the Queen would have, just like she did in First Contact.

Bad retcon is bad.

First of all, assimilating the Enterprise was a specific mission to a specific end, not their usual MO. As far as how they handled Earth goes, we know that they want both a species and technology added to the Collective as they try to perfect themselves and as "Dark Frontier" (VOY) indicated, they willing to try less orthodox ways to assimilate Earth when the conventional methods keep failing...

Sure, but assimilating pre-warp Earth gains them the SPECIES but none of the TECHNOLOGY, which would make the entire pursuit self defeating. They might as well assimilate a planet of trained apes.

More importantly, why would an unorthodox approach even be necessary? If Starfleet barely managed to stop a single cube, wouldn't the next logical step to be to attack them with TWO cubes?

 

[cultcross]

Talking about time travel gets confusing. Here's how I mean it. In First Contact, the "present day" is in 2273. If the "First Contact created an alternate timeline that ENT (and variations of the rest of the franchise?) are set in, then events in pre-2273 years would presumably be set in the "unaltered" timeline. The Abrams movies diverged in 2233, well over a century before 2273, meaning that that timeline would've been unaffected by the First Contact changes. Since we know from information in the Abrams movies that ENT was a part of that timeline, it means that ENT was "always" a part of the prime universe timeline pre-2233, meaning that it was also a part of the timeline in 2273 when the Borg tried to change history and the TNG crew stopped them and repaired the timeline (or played their roles in the predestination paradox, as VOY and ENT would establish).

But the changes weren't made in 2273, they were made in 2063, any events after that point (such as ENT, or indeed the Kelvin), would be existing in an alternate timeline, one in which Riker et al were part of the Phoenix launch. In fact, we know they do as we saw the Borg's changes lead to an assimilated Earth in 2373. If we were dealing with a predestination paradox then the Earth wouldn't have changed (the Enterprise crews intervention would already be part of the timeline, a la Assignment Earth). Plus, we know as you point out that ENT references the events in 2063 at least twice, so it definitely exists in a timeline in which the events of STFC have already occurred.
Then on top of that, we know from TATV occurred in a timeline which was nearly indistinguishable from the TNG era we knew, and that future Spock in ST09 also was near indistinguishable from the character we knew, when he traveled back to meet Kelvin!Kirk etc.

So really, the only explanation that actually makes sense with all the facts is that STFC created an alternate timeline beginning in 2063, but that it was so similar to the one preceding the Borg appearance that it is almost identical and led to much the same ultimate outcomes. All of which faff could have been avoided by not having the single shot of Borg Earth in STFC. Got to love time travel

 

[Gepard]

In other words: Dentistry is a booming industry in Star Trek.

So's insulin.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

I always felt the Borg queen role should have functioned similarly to Locutus, in that she's merely a representative of the collective rather than an outright leader.

 

[WebLurker]

Well, they say pretty explicitly "Your arcane cultures are authority based" and they assimilate Picard to be a socket puppet that humans are supposed to be able to relate to more readily. They gave the impression that the Borg genuinely didn't understand how non-collective species even work and were trying something new.

Maybe?

OTOH, if the Borg Queen actually existed, assimilating Locutus would be entirely redundant since the Queen is exactly the sort of "single voice" authority figure they would need.

I don't think that the Borg Queen would be able to bridge the gap to humanity like a human Borg drone would, which Picard remembers was the reason in First Contact itself.

More importantly still, the COLLECTIVE wouldn't have addressed Picard on the cube, the Queen would have, just like she did in First Contact.

Bad retcon is bad.

I don't see the problem that there are a couple of ways. (Besides, in TNG, they get some info on the Borg's root command system, but not much about who controls the root command and First Contact specifically mentions that Picard forgot some details, like the Borg Queen, after being unplugged. It's not the most elegant retcon, but I have seen far worse ones that don't even remotely fit together.)

Sure, but assimilating pre-warp Earth gains them the SPECIES but none of the TECHNOLOGY, which would make the entire pursuit self defeating. They might as well assimilate a planet of trained apes.

I assume they consider it a fair tradeoff for getting the job done. (Incidentally, the time travel sourcebook for the late, lamented LUG Star Trek RPG pointed out that having the Borg try that stunt again would be a bad idea in a post-"Scorpion" [VOY] setting, given that the Borg need humans to give them the technology to save themselves from Species 8472.)

More importantly, why would an unorthodox approach even be necessary? If Starfleet barely managed to stop a single cube, wouldn't the next logical step to be to attack them with TWO cubes?

To be fair, the First Contact time travel stunt seemed to be a contingency plan when the conventional invasion failed (and it only failed because of Picard's knowledge of the Borg and/or the message he seemed to pick up from them).

But the changes weren't made in 2273, they were made in 2063, any events after that point (such as ENT, or indeed the Kelvin), would be existing in an alternate timeline, one in which Riker et al were part of the Phoenix launch. In fact, we know they do as we saw the Borg's changes lead to an assimilated Earth in 2373. If we were dealing with a predestination paradox then the Earth wouldn't have changed (the Enterprise crews intervention would already be part of the timeline, a la Assignment Earth). Plus, we know as you point out that ENT references the events in 2063 at least twice, so it definitely exists in a timeline in which the events of STFC have already occurred.
Then on top of that, we know from TATV occurred in a timeline which was nearly indistinguishable from the TNG era we knew, and that future Spock in ST09 also was near indistinguishable from the character we knew, when he traveled back to meet Kelvin!Kirk etc.

So really, the only explanation that actually makes sense with all the facts is that STFC created an alternate timeline beginning in 2063, but that it was so similar to the one preceding the Borg appearance that it is almost identical and led to much the same ultimate outcomes. All of which faff could have been avoided by not having the single shot of Borg Earth in STFC. Got to love time travel

My brain's starting to hurt too much to continue this.

 

[cultcross]

I always felt the Borg queen role should have functioned similarly to Locutus, in that she's merely a representative of the collective rather than an outright leader.

To me, she is being literal in her description of herself in STFC. She is the 'one who is many', the personification of the collective in one body, not a leader (as she was in Voyager).

 

[lawman]

It would be easier with diagrams, yeah, but these forums doesn't really accommodate that. FWIW, though, Cultcross has it right. Let me take a crack at explaining...

...Here's how I mean it. In First Contact, the "present day" is in 2273. If First Contact created an alternate timeline that ENT (and variations of the rest of the franchise?) are set in, then events in pre-2273 years would presumably be set in the "unaltered" timeline. The Abrams movies diverged in 2233, well over a century before 2273, meaning that that timeline would've been unaffected by the First Contact changes. Since we know from information in the Abrams movies that ENT was a part of that timeline, it means that ENT was "always" a part of the prime universe timeline pre-2233, meaning that it was also a part of the timeline in 2273 when the Borg tried to change history and the TNG crew stopped them and repaired the timeline (or played their roles in the predestination paradox, as VOY and ENT would establish).

In FC, the present day is 2273, yes. But that's not when the time alteration takes place. It takes place in 2063. It's correct to say that events pre-2273 as we originally saw them would be set in the unaltered timeline. However, any depictions of the timeline after FC (including not just events post-2273, but flashbacks to earlier events post-2063, such as "TATV" (to the events of "Pegasus" in 2371) and indeed the entire ENT series) would be to the reconstructed timeline, which is similar to but not a perfect match for the original.

Here, let's see if I can manage a quick-and-dirty diagram after all (hmm, tricky, the forum doesn't seem to like empty spaces)...

2063 --Timeline A --------TOS-------TNG----FC
_________________________________________/ /
/ Borg incursion
= Timeline B -----------------------------------> /
________________________________________/
/ Ent crew incursion
= Timeline C ----ENT-----TOS-------TNG---2273------->

In Timeline A, Cochrane had no interference with his warp experiment in 2063, and things proceeded as we saw on screen up to FC. In Timeline B, the Borg prevented Cochrane's experiment and assimilated Earth (and the only reason the Ent-D was able to see the effects of this in 2273 and follow them back is because of Data's technobabble about how "We appear to be caught in a temporal wake... [that] must somehow have protected us from the changes in the time-line"). In Timeline C, Cochrane got an assist, and every event from 2063 forward was (presumably) similar to but (potentially) different from what we'd actually seen on screen. (At the very least, there were Borg buried in the Arctic, which couldn't have been true in Timeline A. By my hypothesis, the rest of ENT in its entirety is also an alteration.)

Picard was very worked up at that point and angry over suggestions that they abandon the ship and may not've been thinking clearly, or at least broadly generalizing.
...
There are some differences to be sure (TNG emphasized that Borg ships have no centralized parts, while later ones had them using ships with specific components -- but as tech gatherers, it's not a dealbreaker that they have different kinds).
...
(As far as the difference between the TNG shows showing the Borg assimilating a planet's population, scooping up all the cities to harvest the tech and leaving the ruined world and First Contact showing an assimilated Earth transformed to act as a Borg world, I don't see a problem if they do both depending on what suites their needs best.)

No disagreement with you about any of this, FWIW. I don't think the Borg retcons were as problematic as CrazyEddie proposes.