Something I'm unclear about with the Artifact

[mythme]

While reviewing the timeline of events within Picard, I've come upon a stumbling block. Maybe I'm mistaken but after her Admonition initiation, Narissa picks up her now-insane aunt Ramdha and tells her they "had work to do". Now I was under the impression that Narissa placed Ramdha aboard the Shaenor with the knowing intention that she would be assimilated by a passing Borg cube. If this is correct, my question is why? Did the Zhat Vash really think that disabling one cube was a significant blow to the Collective? Or am I missing something in the bigger picture?

 

[thribs]

The Borg Cube was just a accident. They never intended to take out a Cube.

 

[mythme]

That's what I kinda came to the conclusion to but I was hoping for something more since just an accident seems a VERY convenient coincidence in the unfolding of events. So a crippled Borg cube was an accident, and since such a cube existed Maddox sends Soji there to find answers about the attack on Mars (which in itself confuses me a little, what exactly would Soji find there). Thus Soji is sent to the very cube which just happened to carry the insane aunt of Zhat Vash agent Narrisa, whose very mission is to snuff out being like her?

and why would Narrisa say "WE have work to do" to her crazy aunt, if not to use her in some capacity?

 

[thribs]

maybe Ramdha’s mission was to analyse a Borg Cube and they got caught.
Biggest question I want to know is how they knew Soji and Dahj were robots. That’s the biggest unanswered question.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Narissa also told the catatonic Rhamda at her hospital bed that the "Borg chose the wrong tal shiar vessel" and commented that she would have been a better borg. That indicated to me that it was something that they didn't see coming.

I never had any problem with Rhamda'a insanity causing the Borg cube to malfunction as it was something that the Borg had never experienced before and didn't know how to process. Hugh's cube reacted similarly to his individuality.

 

[Harpsichord]

Biggest question I want to know is how they knew Soji and Dahj were robots. That’s the biggest unanswered question.

Someone showed up on the artifact who looked exactly like the android Oh had murdered on the Ibn Majid a decade earlier-- probably rang some alarm bells.

 

[mythme]

And since the Tal Shiar had leveled Maddox's lab just prior to searching for Soji and Dahj, they had probably had their eyes locked on his activities for some time.

 

[Bollie74]

Someone showed up on the artifact who looked exactly like the android Oh had murdered on the Ibn Majid a decade earlier-- probably rang some alarm bells.

Smart answer, I was wondering about that too.

 

[Christopher]

So a crippled Borg cube was an accident, and since such a cube existed Maddox sends Soji there to find answers about the attack on Mars (which in itself confuses me a little, what exactly would Soji find there). Thus Soji is sent to the very cube which just happened to carry the insane aunt of Zhat Vash agent Narrisa, whose very mission is to snuff out being like her?

I think you may have just answered your own question -- I suspect she was sent to find Ramdha and try to learn about the Zhat Vash, with an eye toward the ultimate goal of proving they were behind the Mars attack.

and why would Narrisa say "WE have work to do" to her crazy aunt, if not to use her in some capacity?

"We" means the Zhat Vash, the organization they both belonged to. She wasn't using Ramdha; on the contrary, Ramdha seemed to be her one soft spot, the one person she really had feelings for. As I take it, she was trying to comfort her and assure her that their shared purpose was still being carried out, that some good would still come of all she'd endured.

 

[thribs]

Someone showed up on the artifact who looked exactly like the android Oh had murdered on the Ibn Majid a decade earlier-- probably rang some alarm bells.

That’s likely it but she was gold on the ship. You would also think Maddox would have inserted them better with a way to trick recognition cameras.

 

[Aragorn]

Someone showed up on the artifact who looked exactly like the android Oh had murdered on the Ibn Majid a decade earlier-- probably rang some alarm bells.

If that were the case, the Romulans should've killed every single Soong out there since they all look the same.

 

[NCC-73515]

the borg must have assimilated thousands of insane people before

 

[plynch]

I have been criticized on some other thread for saying this whole show was convoluted and difficult. I am SO tired of convoluted, difficult plots.

The fact that we, who are fairly intelligent humans, invested in Star Trek, don't get this, is telling.

Soji - Data's daughter? Wait, Maddox made her. No, now Soong's there. Another Soong. Data's alive. (But other poster says, no it's not Data, just a copy and the show's about Picard dealing with Data even though there was tons of plot not related to that. . . .)

I have so many questions about plot. They were likely answered at some point in some ep, but y'know what? I'm 53 and don't really remember every line from the ep 3 weeks ago that would explain what I'm seeing today.

Also, I got lit up (mildly, I'm kinda pissed about something else, don't mind me) because I had forgotten one line of dialog from ep. 1. Y'know, in a novel, I can go back and look for where it's explained why Soji looks like a painting of Data I didn't know he had painted. Serial TV -- not so easy.

Why is there Borg in this show at all? Was this TNG kitchen sink?

Basically what I take away from this show is if self-defense is justified, the Romulans were right.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Less self-defense and more self-fulfilling prophecy...the Romulans forced the issue with their crusade.

 

[valkyrie013]

Well in answer to the first question..
Just an accident that they assimilated her, and when the Admonition knowledge was assimilated, that cube went Coo Coo.. then was cut off probably quite quickly from the collective, amazed it wasn't asked to self destruct .. since the borg honestly have no respect for life At All.. 100,000 drones.. Egh.. just assimilate some backwater planet, problem solved..
Why it was damaged? maybe the romulans found it and had a shoot first, middle and Last approach, and when they seen it wasn't fighting back they beamed over and planted there Flag..

And yes, Bruce sending out Soji and Dahj that looked like the other ones was a mistake.. millions of faces to choose from.. lets send out 2 spies thats cover has already been blown since they shot the other look a like years ago..

 

[plynch]

and when the Admonition knowledge was assimilated, that cube went Coo Coo.. then was cut off probably quite quickly from the collective

OHHHH. I missed that. I kept waiting for mentally ill Aunt to play a key role in unraveling the mystery, like a Checkov's gun sort of thing, but I don't THINK that happened. Not gonna watch it again. I sure wish this had been much more of a drama/character study than such a mixture. Would fan's heads have exploded without all the pew-synths-action stuff and gotten just a straight drama? Maybe.

 

[Turtletrekker]

the borg must have assimilated thousands of insane people before

But none that had experienced the admonition.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I have to wonder if the Zhat Vash arranged to have Soji on the Artifact? Can't recall if anything was said as to how Soji wound up there.

 

[Christopher]

I have to wonder if the Zhat Vash arranged to have Soji on the Artifact? Can't recall if anything was said as to how Soji wound up there.

To quote Memory Alpha:

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Bruce_Maddox

However, Maddox firmly believed that the Federation and others were part of a conspiracy that orchestrated the attack on Mars. Despite Soong's concerns that it would bring unwanted attention to their sanctuary, Maddox created the Asha sisters, Soji and Dahj, to discover the truth. Soji was sent to the Borg Reclamation Project in the Romulan Free State, while Dahj was sent to Daystrom on Earth.

It was known that the cube had collapsed after assimilating a Romulan ship, so Maddox probably suspected that the Zhat Vash had something to do with it, and that one or more of the Romulan ex-drones aboard the Artifact might be Zhat Vash (as indeed one of them was, specifically Ramdha).

Dahj was presumably sent to Daystrom because the synths were built there; perhaps she was there to search for evidence that they were tampered with in some way, or at least to determine whether a construction defect could be ruled out.

 

[corndog]

Why is there Borg in this show at all? Was this TNG kitchen sink?

I kinda figured it was all about getting access to the Romulans, and the Borg are there mostly because it was a good pretext for Soji to learn what's going on with the Romulans - although she maybe didn't realize that.