Spoilers Why didn't the Borg ever send an armada to assimilate the Federation?

[Unimatrix Q]

Previously it could have been explained by the farming theory. So that the Federation was just being prodded to develop new technologies to make it eventually more desireable for the Borg to assimilate them, when they come in masses to seal the deal.

Now with the implications about Locutus and Jack this doesn't work anymore as an explanation.

So the question rises its head anew.

Your theories?

 

[The Wormhole]

TBOBW was a case of the Borg sending the ship which was closest to the Federation and believing one cube would be sufficient to do the job. And truth is, it nearly worked, that cube captured and assimilated the Captain of Starfleet's flagship, decimated Starfleet, made it to Earth orbit and was only stopped by Riker capturing Picard back (an act they considered unusual) and Data hacking through Picard's connection to put the cube and its drones to sleep.

First Contact happened at a time when the Borg were getting their asses handed to them by Species 8472. They likely couldn't spare an armada without weakening their own defenses. Attacking and assimilating the Federation was an act of desperation to add to the Collective someone who previously defeated them in the hopes that the Federation could contribute a means of defeating 8472, a logical reasoning since a lone Starfleet ship would later convince 8472 that the Federation posed an existential threat to their very existence. Further demonstrating this to be an act of desperation, the backup plan to go back in time and assimilate humanity in the past, with the belief they could at least add humanity's ingenuity and spirit that makes them such a worthy adversary to the Collective in the hopes it gives them an edge over 8472.

 

[Citiprime]

I wonder if the Borg were aware of the weakness towards being tied to one collective consciousness meant that altering one meant altering all of them. The more cubes you send, the more the chance that drones and Borg infrastructure could be captured and disabled, analyzed, and the weakness exploited.

In "Q Who," the Borg are very careful to remove pieces of equipment from their casualties that disintegrate the bodies. Maybe that's because they didn't want any other group attempting what Data and the Enterprise crew do in using their access to Locutus for putting them to sleep.

Also, the Borg may reason that they don't need an armada, since they can assimilate people and infrastructure along the way.

 

[Takeru]

The Picard/Jack bio assimilation might have always been the plan. They send the first cube intending to fail, they easily destroyed the fleet at Wolf 359 but then shot at the Enterprise with a beam slooooowly cutting through the hull? They were simply pretending to fight them but really giving them time to hack them and when the best they could come up with was "sleep" the collective decided to give them the win anyway and blew the cube up.

Then they send the occasional vessel into federation space to do some prodding to make the eventual assimilation more worthwhile and show the federation that they still meant business, "We're totally trying ... oh, Picard, here's the cheat code to blow up the cube!", the entire time travel plot in First Contact could have been the borg making sure history happened as it was intended to after they learned they were present right before human/vulcan first contact.

In reality they were just waiting to press the assimilation button after enough time had passed and should Picard have died without children they still could have send a fleet to assimilate them the old fashioned way, they just preferred not to send a bunch of cubes halfway across the galaxy when they didn't have to, the cubes were doing assimilation work in the delta quadrant after all.

Then Janeway crippled them and suddenly the assimilation fleet was no longer an option and they kept licking their wounds for 20 years and eventually after recovering enough went after Jack and Picard more aggressively to finally assimilate earth.

 

[Qonundrum]

But why would the Borg do a backup plan of time travel, about one species in a little part of the galaxy where there would be zero ramifications in regard to changing history? Didn't any of the 4,546,568,479,829,634,897,486,789,456,978,456 drones (excluding those in the incubation chambers, of course) think up how not engaging the fleet and going back in time and ducking around them temporally as well as spatially would be a lot easier, since humans of the past only had bows and arrows and little cap guns and things? The Borg had, and still do have, time travel technology and if the goal is expansion of their number and with as few casualties... they don't seem to be like time lords, mindful of not changing history anywhere (except for letting the Doctor do it incessantly, but that's another story)...

 

[Sketcher]

I always aspire to the theory the Borg are constantly in the process of "fattening up" the Federation. As in, what one does to an animal before slaughter. During BOBW and FC, there really isn't anything too unique about the Federation's capabilities vs many other species in the galaxy. But keep sending a cube here and there, throw in some time travel, and maybe, just maybe the Federation will develop new skills and technology worthy of armada-sending assimilation down the road.

 

[Citiprime]

But why would the Borg do a backup plan of time travel, about one species in a little part of the galaxy where there would be zero ramifications in regard to changing history? Didn't any of the 4,546,568,479,829,634,897,486,789,456,978,456 drones (excluding those in the incubation chambers, of course) think up how not engaging the fleet and going back in time and ducking around them temporally as well as spatially would be a lot easier, since humans of the past only had bows and arrows and little cap guns and things? The Borg had, and still do have, time travel technology and if the goal is expansion of their number and with as few casualties... they don't seem to be like time lords, mindful of not changing history anywhere (except for letting the Doctor do it incessantly, but that's another story)...

It could be the events of First Contact were a predestination paradox. It was always meant to happen that way, since it's the knowledge of the Enterprise, the Federation, and the future that is on the line that changes Zefram Cochrane into seeing warp drive as something more than a way to make money.

Any other attempt by the Borg to alter history was risking intervention by Daniels and the Federation time cops in the 30th century.

 

[shapeshifter]

Because that would have made sense and the Federation would have fallen like all before it had. lol

But yeah, the Queen's continuing arrogance at assuming there was nothing special about Humans until it was too late.

 

[Qonundrum]

It could be the events of First Contact were a predestination paradox. It was always meant to happen that way, since it's the knowledge of the Enterprise, the Federation, and the future that is on the line that changes Zefram Cochrane into seeing warp drive as something more than a way to make money.

Any other attempt by the Borg to alter history was risking intervention by Daniels and the Federation time cops in the 30th century.

What would Daniels and the Temporal Cops version do to the Borg, give them a 50 latinum fine and ask them nicely?

Besides, if the Borg went back into 1947 instead of First Contact Day, they'd still be able to prevent the problem of being defeated, preventing Daniels and co from even existing. Whatever information they got out of the databanks in Q WHO, they'd find plenty of pivotal places, and plenty of drones to send to beat up Species 8674 with.

On the other hand, what controls exist to prevent any faction, Federated worlds, the Borg, or otherwise, from tinkering with any aspect of history? "Predestination paradox" renders the Keystone Clock Cops pointless.

 

[Paul Weaver]

the entire time travel plot in First Contact could have been the borg making sure history happened as it was intended to after they learned they were present right before human/vulcan first contact.

The reason the Borg were pottering around near Federation space and assimilating the Tombaugh and later found in J-25 was because of the message sent by the First Contact Borg in Enterprise

It could be the events of First Contact were a predestination paradox.

Almost certainly, and Dulmer and Lucsly hate those

 

[Qonundrum]

I always aspire to the theory the Borg are constantly in the process of "fattening up" the Federation. As in, what one does to an animal before slaughter. During BOBW and FC, there really isn't anything too unique about the Federation's capabilities vs many other species in the galaxy. But keep sending a cube here and there, throw in some time travel, and maybe, just maybe the Federation will develop new skills and technology worthy of armada-sending assimilation down the road.

That's a pretty awesome point.

The Federation had nothing properly unique, but definitely looked interesting enough to grow and cultivate - ever since Q WHO, I did wonder just what made the 1701-D so spectacular and worthy of analysis when that Borg ship clearly had far more - or at least other - advantages, and at such a scale. Maybe the "D" something small and esoteric, or just carving a bit of the ship to get at computer components with more information... the "D" could also separate, something the Borg haven't considered implementing - or feel they have no need to do. Instead of one big cube, splintering into a bunch of itty bitty Rubik Cube segments and making a ring formation around the planet would have some benefits that one big cube in geostationary orbit would not...

 

[Qonundrum]

The reason the Borg were pottering around near Federation space and assimilating the Tombaugh and later found in J-25 was because of the message sent by the First Contact Borg in Enterprise



Almost certainly, and Dulmer and Lucsly hate those

Except that reason from ENT wasn't even thought of when Q WHO or TBOBW were made. It was a happy accident, which also rules out Q being lambasted by Janeway for introducing the Federation to them - another error since the Borg were already carving up outposts along with the Romulans' ("The Neutral Zone" told the detail)... so even by then, before carving up the "D", they had some information. The "D" showed off more (their own database, more recent information between TNZ and QW, etc...)

 

[Sketcher]

The Borg's interest in the Federation probably stems from a couple things. First, the signal the time-traveled Borg in Enterprise sent that took two centuries to reach them in the Delta Quadrant. Second, when Q flung the Enterprise D across space to encounter them. From the Borg's perspective, they probably thought the Federation was a more enticing entity to assimilate than they wound up being.

 

[Annorax849]

For a long time my head canon was that they never really considered the UFP a top tier priority. Yes, they had an interest in humanity, but because of the great distance, they would still prioritize Delta Quadrant races.

Granted, something like this map from DITL shows that the Borg could take all of "local space" with only a marginal increase (relatively speaking) to their territory:
https://www.ditl.org/mapgalactic-page.php?ListID=Politics

 

[Richard Baker]

I like the idea that the prior unsuccessful attacks were indended to cause increased technological advancements to Federation for future assimilation. We saw several examples in Voyager where the Borg used multiple cubes to an attack, but they only send one every so often to Earth. After each attack Starfleet creates advanced weaponry and new ships to combat the Borg, the cube analyses the new tech and adds the information to use themselves

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Borg are powerful enough that they can afford to take their time.

IWe saw several examples in Voyager where the Borg used multiple cubes to an attack,

Thus giving rise to the greatest episode teaser of all time:

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"We are the Borg. Existence as you know it is over. We will add your biological distinctiveness to our own...."

ZAP!!

 

[Citiprime]

I like the idea that the prior unsuccessful attacks were indended to cause increased technological advancements to Federation for future assimilation. We saw several examples in Voyager where the Borg used multiple cubes to an attack, but they only send one every so often to Earth. After each attack Starfleet creates advanced weaponry and new ships to combat the Borg, the cube analyses the new tech and adds the information to use themselves

We also see that the Borg have a mentality of stupidly allowing people roam around their cubes until they start blowing up things.

They have a tendency to do the very least to confront a potential threat, and only doing more when forced to.

 

[Sketcher]

That's probably because their mentality is "if it's powerful enough to be a threat, it's worth adding to the collective".

 

[The Wormhole]

Thus giving rise to the greatest episode teaser of all time:

Eh, it paved the way for the incredibly short episode teasers that would dominate later seasons of Voyager and all of Enterprise. Not something I was particularly fond of.

Granted, these days the streaming shows have swung the pendulum in the opposite direction with twenty minute episode teasers which are just as annoying.

 

[F. King Daniel]

There's an early First Contact script out there where it was a whole Borg armada sent to Earth, and they were getting smashed by the Enterprise-E's "gatling gun phasers". It's the same script where Troi's job has been changed to communications officer.

They also did in the novels. Death toll: 60 billion, and more than half of Starfleet itself gone.

In-universe for TV and movie? Ummm, the Queen just cba.