Spoilers Please explain the baddie plan

[F. King Daniel]

This post from Tumblr sums it up:

Everyone is blinded by callbacks to their childhood and not that many people seem to be noticing that this mystery box plot makes as much sense as Discovery season 2.

 

[The Wormhole]

But because of the LCARS screens, it's a Masterpiece.

 

[fireproof78]

Everyone is blinded by callbacks to their childhood and not that many people seem to be noticing that this mystery box plot makes as much sense as Discovery season 2.

And?

This is the harshest lesson in the simple reality that if you like the season, series or characters then you will forgive these errors. I'm guilty of it as much as anyone else and that's fine. People are going to like what they like.

 

[Gepard]

I'm assuming most of it is a plan of opportunity, otherwise it doesn't make sense. There were changelings looking for revenge, and the remains of the Borg sitting around plotting a comeback, and somehow the two factions hooked up to help each other. And It can't have been going on for 35 years, otherwise Starfleet officers up to 60 years old would be susceptible.

Everyone is blinded by callbacks to their childhood and not that many people seem to be noticing that this mystery box plot makes as much sense as Discovery season 2.

It's dumb, but it was better foreshadowed than DSC season 2's abrupt change of direction midseason. So in that sense it's functional as a story in ways that DSC wasn't.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I'm not sure that "carry out sneak attack with enemies of your enemy" is a particularly complex plan.

 

[Sci]

It wasn't a 35-year-old master plan -- it was an opportunistic plan developed in response to learning about numerous events that occurred far beyond the Borg's control. The Borg have clearly been rebuilding after being devastated by Janeway's neurolytic pathogen in 2378 in "Endgame, Part II." They discovered the existence of Jack Crusher and realized he inherited Jean-Luc's genetic alterations, plus a mutation that would allow him to be a biological transmitter rather than a receiver. They came into contact with a rogue faction of Changelings who wanted revenge against the Federation for the Section 31 virus, and they persuaded the Changelings to infiltrate Starfleet so as to do four things:

• modify the transporter system to insert Locutus-style genetic modifications into Starfleet officers en masse
• steal the dead first body of Jean-Luc Picard so as to obtain the necessary genetic materials to insert into the transporter system as described above
• foist the plan to bring the entire starship fleet into the Sol system and network them together for Frontier Day
• abduct Jack for use as the biological transmitter

The Changelings accomplished all but the abduction of Jack, but the Queen instead used her influence on his mind once he opened the Red Door to mind mojo-him into coming to her.

Once she had Jack, she used him to activate the signal; those officers whose prefrontal cortexes had not yet finished developing were vulnerable to the signal transmitted from Jack and therefore became drones. From there, the Queen seized control of the ships and of the ships' computer systems to gain effective military control of Earth. She is just about to order the destruction of Spacedock and has ordered the civilian population to surrender. Presumably the plan is to assimilate the population via traditional methods from this point. Having the entire Starfleet starship fleet in the Sol system will make it extremely difficult for the rest of the Federation to intervene militarily, even if the other Federation Members send their individual space force fleets like the Vulcan Defense Force or the Andorian Imperial Guard. No word yet on how many other cubes survived Janeway's 2378 pathogen.

 

[Citiprime]

Or....

• In "Best of Both Worlds" it's actually stated that the Borg have altered his DNA.
• In Star Trek: First Contact, Picard is able to hear and feel the Borg even though he was no longer connected to the Collective in any way. Picard KNEW where to target the Borg Cube.

So the idea that some of this doesn't fit is just wrong. Beyond that...

• After Janeway caused significant damage to the Borg Unimatrix and transwarp conduit hub, the Borg had to bide their time rebuilding.
• Jack Crusher is born and the Borg realize that whatever biological connection they had with Picard has been passed to Jack.
• They see an opportunity and devise the plan to use the renegade Changelings as a way to surreptitiously infiltrate Starfleet given that they've failed two times to take the Federation by force in an open invasion.

 

[Tuskin38]

I doubt the Queen knew that Picard having a kid would cause this. I imagine when he was born is when she realized it.

 

[Sci]

I think it's an open question as of yet whether the Queen even realized Jack existed for most of his life. He's indicated that he always felt different, but it's only recently he's been having visions of the Red Door. I think the Queen learned about Jack's existence only recently. Perhaps the re-activation of dormant drones aboard the Artifact led to the Queen sending a probe to scour the Federation Internet and figure out that Beverly had given birth to a child who was likely Jean-Luc's son, and that probe's entry into the Alpha Quadrant led to him starting to see the Red Door and her realizing his potential as a biological transmitter.

Either way, I think this plan is definitely opportunistic, not some long-term 3-D chess game.

 

[Tuskin38]

I think it's an open question as of yet whether the Queen even realized Jack existed for most of his life. He's indicated that he always felt different, but it's only recently he's been having visions of the Red Door. I think the Queen learned about Jack's existence only recently. Perhaps the re-activation of dormant drones aboard the Artifact led to the Queen sending a probe to scour the Federation Internet and figure out that Beverly had given birth to a child who was likely Jean-Luc's son, and that probe's entry into the Alpha Quadrant led to him starting to see the Red Door and her realizing his potential as a biological transmitter.

Either way, I think this plan is definitely opportunistic, not some long-term 3-D chess game.

Beverly said he had nightmares as a kid.

 

[Sci]

Beverly said he had nightmares as a kid.

Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Borg Queen knew about him. Particularly since Jack says it's only recently he's been having hallucinations and the like. My personal theory is that his brain was trying to connect to the dormant drones on the Artifact (hence the nightmares), but that his brain's signal never reached the Queen until the dormant drones on the Artifact were re-activated.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

1) twist moustache
2) drop anvil

 

[Racefuel]

I know the answer is "Have you met this community?"

But when did Star Trek fans need to be hand held across every single plot point and explained to the point where it requires no ability to connect dots or fill in the blanks?

 

[fireproof78]

But when did Star Trek fans need to be hand held across every single plot point and explained to the point where it requires no ability to connect dots or fill in the blanks?

When continuity became the most important thing in terms of personal satisfaction. Rather than be content with stories and characters, continuity in some circles is the pinnacle of proper Star Trek* and thus any deviation must be explained or else it is a plot hole.

*copyright pending.

 

[drt]

That the Borg needed Picard and Jack to obtain the gene sequences they put in Picard in the first place is super dumb.

It would make more sense if the renegade Changelings found out about the sequences and enacted this plan for their purposes, independent of the Borg. What's funny is the first eight episodes of the season still work 100% if that had been the case. It almost feels like at the last minute they were told, "no, it has to be Borg again."

 

[Racefuel]

That the Borg needed Picard and Jack to obtain the gene sequences they put in Picard in the first place is super dumb. It would make more sense if the renegade Changelings found out about the sequences and enacted this plan for their purposes, independent of the Borg.

As opposed to of all the humans available the Borg selected Picard to be Locutus? Why didn't the Borg select a known face to the Federation that might have more impact..like Spock?

People like deep-cuts that develop into story points and then bitch when those story points seem overwrought

 

[IMC Headquarters]

And it all comes down to naught as Worf beheads the Borg Queen as he orders her to "Assimilate this...your Majesty!"

 

[Sketcher]

I'm just here to see the Next Gen crew reunite. Paramount, Kurtzman, Matalas can fanwank this to the max for all I care. We'll never get something like this with this cast, and probably in Trek, ever again.

 

[Captain_Amasov]

I'd imagine the Borg have multiple plans on multiple levels going all at once. In the end they still might just go with the planetary virus they tried to have Seven of Nine help with.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Meanwhile, Styggron and Marshal Chedaki are minting new coins all the same year as they bank on their takeover plan to easily succeed...