posted
While we're on the episode title analyzation, can someone explain to me why "The Best of Both Worlds" relates to the Borg?
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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posted
Locutus, in particular, perhaps? He was the prominent character around which things revolved during most of the episode, an amalgam of human authority and rhetoric (the Borg probably recognized him as one of Earth's most important figures due to being commander of the flagship), crossed with the finest cybernetic enhancements his body could accept and the gift of infinite wisdom and insight from the collective.
Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
Why assume the title refers to the Borg, and not to the conflict in the episode, the Borg v the Federation?
The Borg sent their "best" ship to assimilate Earth (a stretch, do the Borg have things like "best", "better", "bestest"?), and encountered the "best" ship of the Federation. Hence, you have the "best" of the Borg against the "best" of the Federation. You could argue that all Borg are (or, were) essentially equal to one another at that time because of their interconnecticity and lack of Hugh- and Voyager-ness, but "Best of One World and Representative of Skills of Another World" is kind of long and um, boring.
Nim, I think the Borg's selection of Picard have less to do with him being CO of the flagship and more to do with "Wow, he commanded that ship that went really really really REALLY fast bye-bye right when we were about to gut it like a fish."
posted
I guess that never occurred to me before, that they could have easily have gotten a spokesdrone from the colony they scooped up or the ship they nabbed. . . They could hardly have known they would encounter the Hey-Don't-Zip-Off-So-Fast-We-Were-About-To-Assimilate-You ship so soon in their campaign, so I doubt they planned to grab Picard from the very start, they seem to be big on contingency plans (time-travelling spheres for example); they thought "we're going to need a Locutus at some point, let's wait and see if we bag ourselves someone with enough authority." I don't think they were going to count on whatever celebrity the captain of the Federation flagship might have, because even after, in later eps like "Chain of Command" and "Gambit" there are plenty of people who don't recognise him.
posted
It's possible the Borg create a "Speaker" when they encounter enough resistance that a targeted species will be wiped out rather than effectivly assimilated.
As to Picard "not being recognised", man, I HATE that! We've made celebrities of athletes and statesmen but no one recognises the man that saved Earth several times. It all stewms from that idiotic two part "pirate" story. that episode would have been ten times better if Picard's role was swapped with Geordi, Worf or fuck, even Crusher! Riker could still have played his part the same with Picard staying on Enterprise to follow along.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Also, think scale here. How many people are there alive in the 24th century in the Federation and nearby empires? There's going to be LOTS of people who could be famous for one reason or another. It's fairly likely that a bunch of pirates really weren't that up to date with "Big Enemies Attacking The Federation". I mean, apart from Wolf 359, the Borg didn't actually do anything during that incident.
That's not to say that the Borg weren't specifically looking for Picard. They did attack and possibly assimilate that, er Laku (or something like that). If that was a Federation ship, they could have been looking for records of the Starship Enterprise Registry NCC-1701-D. I can't remember but was the Borg ship heading for the Enterprise when they came into sensor range?
(And to go back to the Borg being amazed at the super amazingly fast Enterprise, there's every chance that Q "wiped" that bit of knowledge from the Borg, so that they only remembered the Enterprise, and not that it zoomed off really quickly).
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: (And to go back to the Borg being amazed at the super amazingly fast Enterprise, there's every chance that Q "wiped" that bit of knowledge from the Borg, so that they only remembered the Enterprise, and not that it zoomed off really quickly).
I always thought that was why the Borg were interested in the Federation in the first place! They wanted the technology to "zoom away really quickly".
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Well, no, that's a fan-made theory. They could just have easily decided that, based on the information in the Enterprise's computers, they should maybe send a cube out to conquer and assimilate the Federation. When they could be bothered.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: (And to go back to the Borg being amazed at the super amazingly fast Enterprise, there's every chance that Q "wiped" that bit of knowledge from the Borg, so that they only remembered the Enterprise, and not that it zoomed off really quickly).
I always thought that was why the Borg were interested in the Federation in the first place! They wanted the technology to "zoom away really quickly".
Well I would say that the Borg at J25 observing the 'Q-effect' would have started drooling collectively - and said "GET TO THE FEDERATION AND GET THAT TECH NOW!!"
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
Yes, you can say that, and many have. But Liam is right when he points out that that isn't actually a part of the story itself. It's inferable, sure, but even if we only consider TNG the Borg apparently had some interest in the Alpha Quadrant prior to that, not to mention that they should have known after "The Best of Both Worlds" that the Federation didn't have that technology, and gone off and bothered somebody else, were that their sole motivation.
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posted
The Borg could conceivably have known that long before BobW, even, from all the Federation colonies and outposts they scooped up along the neutral zone.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Exactly: if the Enterprise just had gotten carved up and assimilated like a christmas goose, the Borg may have left well enough alone: the Federation was hardly worth all the effort of schleping across the quadrant at that time or they'd have invaded after taking the colonies along the NZ. I (personally) think the Borg were intrigues by the fight the Enterprise gave them and it's rapid retreat was just the icing on the cake. Besides, scooping up colonies would tell you squat about a species' starships and colonies along the border were likely devoid of sensitive material: wouldnt want the Romulans to get their hands on it.....
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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