Ent-E kept away from Earth in FC

[Captrek]

Why was the flagship ordered to stay away from the battle in FC? They said bringing Picard face to face with the Borg would introduce an “unstable element.” Still, the only Starfleet captain to ever face and defeat the Borg in battle is Will Riker. If Picard’s the problem, why not just put him off the ship and send her into battle under Riker’s command?

 

[The Wormhole]

Plot device so Picard could rebel against orders. Or, putting sarcasm aside, Starfleet is that protective of their flagship. Which is also why the Enterprise E was kept out of the Dominion War. And was the stated reason for why the Enterprise was kept out of the Klingon War on Disco.

 

[Jedi Marso]

One more chance for our heroes to boldly disobey orders. Because disobeying orders from Starfleet Command never gets old.

 

[DonIago]

Maybe Starfleet was using reverse psychology? "We need Picard, but he'll never come here if we tell him to...on the other hand, if we tell him to stay the hell away..."

 

[fireproof78]

Plot device so Picard could rebel against orders. Or, putting sarcasm aside, Starfleet is that protective of their flagship. Which is also why the Enterprise E was kept out of the Dominion War. And was the stated reason for why the Enterprise was kept out of the Klingon War on Disco.

I more agree with your initial sarcastic answer. It's the dramatic element of the moment, that of the Enterprise riding in to save the day, against orders.

Never mind that Picard should have been relieved due to Starfleet's concerns, Riker put in command and ordered to Earth. Or, Riker put in charge of the Defiant and leading the attack on the Borg. Either way, Riker would be the most appropriate fit.

But, drama wins out here.

 

[The Knappos]

It was so they could do the

“Another ship’s coming in. It’s the Enterprise.” hero shot.
And, that unstable element needed a Moby Dick lesson from Lily before he acted sanely towards the end there. So they were arguably right.

 

[NCC-73515]

And now we know that

Spoiler

he was still a receiver and perhaps not entirely free of Borg control, which is what SF was apparently afraid of

 

[DonIago]

Indeed, Starfleet knew what they were talking about. Picard's lingering connection to the Borg was vital to destroying the cube as it turned out, but it could just as easily have gone down the same route as Soong's homing beacon for Data in "Brothers".

 

[NCC-73515]

Imagine that: Picard locks everyone out of the computer, pushes security away with mobile forcefields, then beams himself to the Queen who starts screwing with his palate... then asks him to whistle and tap his head while rotating his other hand...

 

[DonIago]

It would have the benefit of being unexpected...

More likely Picard would send the Borg the prefix codes for all the ships in the fleet and a massacre would ensue.

 

[Unnamed Caitian]

Imagine that: Picard locks everyone out of the computer, pushes security away with mobile forcefields, then beams himself to the Queen who starts screwing with his palate... then asks him to whistle and tap his head while rotating his other hand...

I misread the last line as "tap his head while rotating his other head" and was thoroughly confused for a second

 

[Oddish]

1. So that he could show up at the last second and win the battle in 30 seconds.
2. So they wouldn't have to blow oodles of budget bucks having an extended space battle.

 

[suarezguy]

It definitely is for more real-world plotting reasons but they do make sense. It wouldn't make sense or be dramatically satisfying, or it would at best be extraneous, for the captain to be left off the ship yet still somehow manage to return to it or be confined to quarters for a few minutes and then be allowed to retake command, also given the kind of role Riker ended up having it wouldn't make much sense for the beginning to highlight/praise him as being great and effective commander in the previous conflict with the Borg (and the film still feels like a consistent enough and satisfying enough follow-up to the general and some specifics of "The Best of Both Worlds").