IIRC it was actually the Voyager novel Unworthy.
Do you think there are any species in Star Trek that WANT to be assimilated by the Borg?
- Thread starter The Rock
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Were they sentient? I don't recall that coming up in dialogue, but they didn't strike me as much more than instinct-driven.
In Vendetta, the serving AI of the Penzatti actively requested the Borg to visit, seeking a sort of liberation.
The organics of the planet were less than welcoming, as you might imagine.
The organics of the planet were less than welcoming, as you might imagine.
In the TOS episode, a single creature controlled its victim, and as Aurelan Kirk described them:
AURELAN: "They use it to control us. They're spreading, Jim. They need us to be their arms and legs. They're forcing us to build ships for them. Don't let them! Don't let them go any further!"
Communicating a very specific message (understanding the advanced concept of building spaceships / travel, etc.) and inflicting pain as a motivator to achieve their goals reads as the creatures being sentient.
Not if they have technology they'd desire. They don't give a crap if a race worships them or not.
This.
Generally, if a species has interesting and formidable technology, the Borg will definitely want to assimilate them. Biologically, the species can also be unremarkable, but still deemed worthy of assimilation.
It was mainly the Kazon who were considered 'space trash' in both technology and physiology (which is why they were considered unworthy of assimilation), while the Talaxians on the other hand were seen as worthy mainly from a biological point of view.
Either way, technology plays a big role, and sometimies biology does (or at least if it shows up in Borg scans).... otherwise, they don't care if you worship them or not.
Perhaps that is one of the original posters points?
It makes sense the Borg would have their own version of the Prime Directive and curate if/when to assimilate a particular species. Why assimilate primitives that would add nothing to the Collective when you could wait until they come up with something uniquely useful?
The whole "the Borg wait until a race is advanced enough to contribute to perfection" theory fall apart when you realize they assimilated twenty-first century Earth in First Contact at a time when humanity was actually technologically less advanced than even the Kazon.
To plays devils advocate here that was a specific mission in order to nip the federation in the bud, it wasn't standard fare.
Why they didn't go back to like, the dark ages, or prehistoric man, or rome, or the civil war, or went back to kill Lucy herself, that's the bigger question.
Eh? We literally see assimilated Earth in the movie, it's the whole reason the Enterprise E follows the Borg sphere through the time vortex. How can that be a retcon?
But why assimilate though? If they went back in time to prevent the Federation from forming, an orbital bombardment of the planet would accomplish that, or even just destroying Cochrane's silo, which they started with anyway. What reason is there to assimilate a technologically primitive species particularly when other races more advanced than them have already been rejected?
How can it be a retcon? The first appearance of the Borg was TNG "Q Who" 1989. The movie where Earth is assimilated was released in 1996. 7 years is plenty of time to retcon the Borg.
For example, you referenced "First Contact". That movie, by introducing the Borg Queen actually retcons "Best of Both Worlds" by saying the Borg Queen was present for the events of that episode (even though she hadn't been thought about yet)
In "Q Who" the Borg never attempt to assimilate the entire Enterprise.
Okay, but assimilation was introduced in TBOBW. If you want to call that a retcon, than TBOBW was the one that retconned things. First Contact showing a Borg assimilated Earth can not be a retcon since it had been part of Borg mythos for six years preceding the movie's release.
Regardless, it was stated in Q Who the Borg are interested primarily in technology, and that has continued to be the case even after assimilation was introduced/retconned. So with that in mind, it makes no sense the Borg would assimilate a technologically primitive planet as they did in that movie, which was the original point I was making anyway.
Regardless, it was stated in Q Who the Borg are interested primarily in technology, and that has continued to be the case even after assimilation was introduced/retconned. So with that in mind, it makes no sense the Borg would assimilate a technologically primitive planet as they did in that movie, which was the original point I was making anyway.
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