Discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Q
posted by wonder2wonderSTAFFMOD on July 19, 2017 at 3:22 PM
Who or what is Q?
Q (played by John de Lancie) seems to be omnipotent and omniscient. He is not God, as there are more of his kind (Q Continuum) with similar powers, but he can be considered a god by lesser beings.
Q is the alpha (S1E1 & S1E2 "Encounter at Farpoint") and the omega (S7E25 & S7E26 "All Good Things...") of this series.
He has made numerous appearances and influenced the journey of the Enterprise and its crew in various ways (e.g. S2E16 "Q Who?").
At the end of this journey, is the whole series not just an experiment devised by the Q Continuum to explore humanity's right of existence?
As Q would put it:
"The trial never ends. We wanted to see if you had the ability to expand your mind and your horizons. And for one brief moment, you did."
And so, what is Q to us?
Is he a friend or a foe, a mentor or a bully?
Are we to him just "lab rats", toys to be played with for his amusement?
Reply by Knixon
on January 26, 2018 at 2:21 AM
Sure, that was my reference to universal cosmos terms. But if you want to use Confucius (Confuse-us) or whatever to "prove" that by saying I know more than a 2-year-old really means I know less than a 2-year-old, you're just being silly.
Reply by Nexus71
on January 26, 2018 at 2:24 AM
No I meant that you know a little more than a two year old it depends from which perspective you're looking at it.
Reply by Knixon
on January 26, 2018 at 2:29 AM
Again, sure. But just because I only know "a little more" than a 2-year-old in universal cosmos terms, doesn't mean the 2-year-old gets to drive. Or vote. Or whatever.
Reply by Nexus71
on January 26, 2018 at 2:37 AM
Driving and voting are hardly indicatives of intelligence.
Reply by Knixon
on January 26, 2018 at 2:54 AM
In some ways they certainly are. A 2-year-old driving wouldn't likely understand things like momentum, friction, collision... And a 2-year-old voting would vote for whoever offers the most candy and chocolate cake with sprinkles for every meal... i.e., a liberal.
Reply by Moonglum9
on January 31, 2018 at 8:09 AM
Well I ain't done know nothin, so I guess that makes me the smartest man alive. WOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOO! In yo face Hawking!
Reply by Nexus71
on February 1, 2018 at 7:14 AM
there is a thin line between genius and madness......
Reply by CharlesTheBold
on February 1, 2018 at 7:25 AM
Reminds me of a funny exchange in this year's GAME OF THRONES:
JAIME: A man learns from his mistakes.
OLEANNA: Then you must be very wise by now.
Reply by Maria Kelly
on February 1, 2018 at 2:41 PM
Speaking of Game of Thrones, is there a character in the series that could be considered to have Q like powers?
Reply by CharlesTheBold
on February 1, 2018 at 3:33 PM
"Speaking of Game of Thrones, is there a character in the series that could be considered to have Q like powers?"
Two of the characters can bring dead people back to life. A main character, Khaleesi, is invulnerable to fire and has 3 dragons at her command. But nobody has overwhelming powers like Q.
Reply by Maria Kelly
on February 1, 2018 at 9:00 PM
@CharlesTheBold
Thanks for the info.
Reply by revengine
on February 5, 2018 at 7:59 AM
I can't recall the episode but Data described the relationship between Q and humans as pets to their master and Picard was his favourite pet. Something like that I think is a fairly accurate analogy.
As for being omnipotent iirc it was in a Voyager episode where a member of the Q continuum is trying to commit suicide admits to Tuvok that the last thing that anyone should think of the Q is as omnipotent. But that seems to be a point of contention as the John DeLancie Q has stated he was omnipotent (I think it was in the TNG episode where he loses his powers).
Reply by CharlesTheBold
on February 5, 2018 at 9:26 AM
Of course, Q SAYING that he is omnipotent doesn't mean that he is. He's the sort of person that would brag a lot.
Reply by Knixon
on February 5, 2018 at 3:17 PM
You mean, he's the sort of Q that would brag a lot.
Reply by Maria Kelly
on February 6, 2018 at 6:21 PM
@revengine
The impression I got from the Voyager episode you're talking about is that the Q that wanted to commit suicide had to have permission from the other Q to do it. I remember that at the end of the episode, Q lets the other Q (who was nicknamed Quinn) kill himself.