Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard.
In Star Trek: Picard season 2, the former Enterprise captain is told to atone for a past sin, which could be his failure to pass Q’s Borg test. Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced the enduring fan-favorite aliens in the sixteenth episode of its second season. “Q Who” saw the Enterprise being cast adrift into the Delta quadrant by Q (John DeLancie), to prove the Federation’s complacency to Picard (Patrick Stewart). “Oh, the arrogance. They don't have a clue as to what's out here,” Q observes as he puts the Enterprise in the path of a Borg cube for the very first time. Picard was forced to concede Q’s point and resolved to better prepare the Federation for the threat to come. It’s now possible that he learned the wrong lesson.
Since their first encounter, the relationship between the Federation and the Borg has been one of conflict. The seminal Next Generation season 3 finale “The Best of Both Worlds” is the first of many devastating battles between the Borg and the Federation. It leaves lasting scars on Picard’s psyche. In the season 4 episode “Family”, Jean-Luc confides to his brother Robert that the Borg “used me to kill and to destroy, and I couldn't stop them. I should have been able to stop them! I tried. I tried so hard, but I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't good enough.” Decades later, Picard is still trying to make amends, and the relationship he has with fellow conversion survivors Hugh and Seven (Jeri Ryan) offers a glimmer of hope.
Despite this, Picard still clearly feels uneasy around the Borg, but this unease doesn’t stretch to Starfleet command and the Romulans. They’ve both used Borg tech to enhance the capabilities of their respective fleets. When Q first introduced the Enterprise to the Borg, he described how different the Collective’s outlook was to the Federation’s. “They're not interested in political conquest, wealth, or power as you know it. They're simply interested in your ship, its technology. They've identified it as something they can consume." By harvesting abandoned Borg tech, the Federation is more like the Collective than ever before. At the end of “Q Who”, Guinan observes that when the Federation is ready, it might be possible to establish a relationship with the Borg. It’s possible that Q has realized the moment has come and is allowing Picard a second chance to pass the test.
Picard Is Unwilling To Face The Things For Which He Must Atone
In the opening scenes of “Penance”, Q leads Picard through his alternate history. He points out a militaristic portrait of an alternate version of the Enterprise D, blasting two Borg cubes. Picard is clearly horrified as Q describes General Picard’s bloodthirsty reign of terror. Visibly enjoying himself, Q then asks Jean-Luc “Shall we see what else has been lost in the wake of your fear?”. A fearful look briefly passes across Picard’s face. It’s a subtle moment in Patrick Stewart’s performance, but it’s clear that something is dawning on Picard—he knows what Q is referring to.
Offered a way out of this dystopian future through his atonement and perhaps even forgiveness, Picard refuses. He doesn’t refuse in the way that the Enterprise captain always refused to play along with Q’s games, however. He refuses in the manner of an exhausted old man, one who may never be ready to confront his biggest fear. The Borg have always been Picard’s biggest fear, even before he was assimilated into the Collective. He admits his fear to Q in the climax of “Q Who”, and it’s something the character has carried with him throughout The Next Generation, Star Trek: First Contact, and the first season of Picard. Is it Picard’s fear of the Borg that catapulted the Federation into a brutal war that lost countless lives? To further emphasize the point, Q bloodies Picard’s nose, harking back to one of his closing lines in “Q Who”: “If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here.” Once again, Q is challenging Picard to change, but it remains to be seen if he will.
The Federation Still Fear The Borg Four Decades After “Q Who”
The events of “Q Who” took place in 2365, whereas season 2 of Picard is set in 2401. Despite Admiral Janeway and the crew of Voyager devastating the Collective in “Endgame”, many in the Federation still see the Borg as a threat. It’s established in Picard season 1 that the xB, former Borg living and working on the Artifact, hope to establish a new identity. Hugh Borg, now identifying as an xB, claims that they are the most despised people in the galaxy. The Vhat Nash Colonel, Narissa, exemplifies this by ordering their genocide as retribution. It’s clear that the Federation has a long way to go in establishing the relationship that Guinan had hoped for in "Q Who". When defending the La Sirena from space pirates, Seven is told to show her “ugly Borg face”. The Federation’s prejudiced attitude toward the Borg is likely what Q was referring to when he chastized Jean-Luc for “changing in all ways but the one that matters.”
The Stargazer's Encounter With The Upgraded Borg Is Eerily Familiar
The Federation’s prejudice against the Borg Collective is on full display in the opening episode of Picard season 2. Joining the crew of the new Stargazer at the site of a subspace anomaly, Picard is horrified to see a new type of Borg ship emerge. Due to Seven and Rios’ prejudice and distrust, hostilities ensue. All hell breaks loose when a sleek new Borg Queen beams aboard and begins assimilating information from the ship’s systems. When events spiral out of control, the crew is snapped away from harm by Q.
It's a mirror of the first encounter between Picard and the Borg. When the Enterprise first encountered the cube in the Delta Quadrant, a lone drone beamed aboard to gain an understanding of the ship’s systems. It only attacked a crew member when they were under threat. Even when Worf fires on the drone, they deflect the phaser fire rather than shoot back. Again, prejudice and resentment color the views of the ship’s crew. Guinan lost her home to the Borg and shares spine-chilling stories of their ruthlessness. The only time the Borg voice a threat is when they warn the Enterprise not to defend themselves with their inferior weapons capabilities. It’s this statement that defines all future interactions with the species.
Theory: Q Meant The Borg As A Test For Starfleet’s Ideals Not Their Capabilities
When Q first introduced the Enterprise to the Borg, he prefaced his introduction by name-checking those species the Federation has fought wars against – the Romulans and Klingons. “You judge yourselves against the pitiful adversaries you have encountered so far,” he says. Both the Romulans and Klingons understand war, honor, militaristic institutions. However, Q later asserts that the Borg aren’t interested in any of these things. In saying that Starfleet isn’t ready for what awaits them, he’s not suggesting that they don’t have the weapons capabilities to take on the Borg. Instead, he’s saying that for all their talk of discovery and open-minded understanding, the Federation is still too rooted in a military mindset.
By replacing the Federation with the brutal perversion of the Confederation, Q is dramatically emphasizing his point. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, and the events on the Stargazer have proved that Picard has learned nothing since his original interactions with the Borg. In his speech to Starfleet Academy in the opening episode, Picard said that time rarely allows for second chances. As Star Trek: Picard season 2 continues, Jean-Luc’s old nemesis has granted him, and Starfleet, a second chance at first contact with the Borg.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.