Well, if I'm getting the stories right he was more worried that us poor viewers might think the search for an almighty might be a good idea.
Emulatable behavior and all that.
Do you think that believing in the Roddenberry vision of the future is required to be a fan?
- Thread starter nagyvezír
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Emulatable behavior and all that.
Quinn (sp?) a Q in a Voyager episode said that the Q weren't as powerful as they let on.
Like that Dominion fleet, the Prophets could just make Q "go away" and never come back.
I assumed Quinn was speaking of the Q's lack of knowledge of certain things like human behavior, which would explain why human behavior fascinated them or perplexed them and why they were even bothering with us. But they seem to have "simple" physics and time and space and dimensions down pretty well.
As for "losing" a whole Dominion Fleet, that might not take much effort when you control the highway, shunting them to oblivion, a timeless void, another time, or an unmovable wall to their destruction, pretty much everyone (normal) is at their mercy when using their wormhole, but outside the wormhole - not so much.
It might just be my impression Q could snap his fingers and destroy those wormhole aliens, if he were so inclined, but that's my take on it considering what Quinn and Q' were doing, where they were going, what dimensions they had access to and control over, etc. Time and Space and dimension seems trivial to Q. Friendship, loyalty, compassion for others, OTOH, baffling.
Actually according to IDW's Kelvin Timeline comics, the Pah-Wraiths actually can pose a threat to Q, though by merging with a Prophet he was able to defeat them.
I would imagine one could create any non canon fiction facts where many things could rival or surpass the Q if they so wanted, particularly once you also introduce any number of infinite time lines, but I've not seen any canon material that would suggest the apparently more limited, local phenomenon of the wormhole and its aliens could do as much as the Q that seem to span at least the entire Milky Way galaxy, and possibly more galaxies, besides (since only time and space separate them and time and space are nigh meaningless barriers to the Q). But even speculation upon accepted canon isn't proof the Q are superior, so it's not like I can prove my impressions of them.
Of course I'm not at all familiar with this IDW Kelvin timeline comic story, so for all I know, they might have some pretty substantially canon based reasons for this line of thought.
Of course I'm not at all familiar with this IDW Kelvin timeline comic story, so for all I know, they might have some pretty substantially canon based reasons for this line of thought.
QUINN: But you mustn't think of us as omnipotent, no matter what the Continuum would like you to believe ... We may appear omnipotent to you, but believe me, we're not.
Not a lack of knowledge (although Q was ignorant of Voyager being in the delta quadrant), Quinn spoke of the limits of the Q's abilities and power.
The Prophets power extends outside too.
It came as no surprise to me at all to learn that the Q were not omnipotent. In "Encounter at Farpoint," Q said:
http://www.chakoteya.net/NextGen/101.htm
A being that needs to make preparations doesn't sound omnipotent, quasiomnipotent though it might be.
"Q: Facts about you? Splendid, splendid, Captain! You're a veritable fountain of good ideas. There are preparations to make, but when we next meet, Captain, we'll proceed exactly as you suggest."
http://www.chakoteya.net/NextGen/101.htm
A being that needs to make preparations doesn't sound omnipotent, quasiomnipotent though it might be.
I never thought they were omnipotent - just more powerful and wide ranging than any other god-like beings we've seen on Trek (as far as I can remember). Time, space, and dimension don't seem a bother to them, but there's more to power than just that - mostly just keeping each other in check means any one of them isn't all powerful. I don't know who really can challenge them in canon, though I've always felt Q's reaction to Guinan was over the top, unless she and her kind were seriously holding back (but then I wouldn't expect they'd have any problem with the Borg, or an energy ribbon). So why Q feels she's a particularly dangerous creature, we never did find out. Considerable longevity and an apparent awareness of anomalies in adjacent timelines are about the most amazing things I've seen her do. That, and make Q apprehensive, or one hell of a Sumarian Sunset.
Preparations to make. Yeah, but when they can go back in time, they could whip that up is no relative time. I suspect Q wanted to think about it some more, or needed to consult with the Q continuum.
Is there a canon God-like being that anybody here thinks surpasses the Q in raw power?
No. But it probably makes you more forgiving of the bad parts of the series.
I forgive a lot. But by forgive, I usually mean I can think of a plausible reason why something may be so. If I can't, I'm less likely to let it slide.
And sure as heck I can find a plausible reason for everything. But some things are also pretty trivial, even when clearly wrong. Meh.
Trek is still, on average, better than a lot of other T.V., IMO.
And sure as heck I can find a plausible reason for everything. But some things are also pretty trivial, even when clearly wrong. Meh.
Trek is still, on average, better than a lot of other T.V., IMO.
But we didn't see a whole lot of other god-like beings explored in depth like the Q were. The Thasians ("Charlie X") and the Metrons ("Arena") seemed to be pretty powerful beings.
Also, you has the "proto-Q" from "The Squire of Gothos".
The major difference there is we didn't see them do much, or as much, and they appeared to be localized to a much smaller area. So while, for example, the Organians seem pretty powerful, since their enforced treaty either doesn't hold or only holds in that area near the neutral zone, so I don't think they are as powerful. Same for the others you mentioned.
However, it is fiction, and they can be as powerful as a writer wishes to make them. I just didn't see any evidence they were more powerful, and some indication they were less powerful than Q.
No doubt, though, they are powerful beings, and we do generally classify all those as "god-like" for a reason. Even Gary Mitchell would have been so classified, had Kirk not killed him. But then, non canon fiction suggests he was just some manifestation of the Q, anyway, so
However, it is fiction, and they can be as powerful as a writer wishes to make them. I just didn't see any evidence they were more powerful, and some indication they were less powerful than Q.
No doubt, though, they are powerful beings, and we do generally classify all those as "god-like" for a reason. Even Gary Mitchell would have been so classified, had Kirk not killed him. But then, non canon fiction suggests he was just some manifestation of the Q, anyway, so
The Organians are from ENT, too. Does that increase or decrease their stature?
True.
Nah. If any of that were so, I seriously doubt that he would have said, "but when we next meet, Captain, we'll proceed exactly as you suggest," as that and the word "exactly" implies (all the more so with line about there being "preparations to make") that he had already reached a decision on exactly how to proceed.
Extremely optimistic
I share this vision...........Extremely optimistic
I'm less optimistic that I can fulfill it thought...I share this vision...........
Then I wonder what preparations would take so much time. Maybe his cast of characters weren't artificial constructs, but had to be gathered up from the corridors of time to lend the realism to the scene. Maybe he had to live the part for a time so the cast wouldn't question his authority. With time travel, this isn't too difficult, but it would take time, where ever and when ever that length of time was located.
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