Do you think there are any species in Star Trek that WANT to be assimilated by the Borg?

[Shawnster]

Okay, but assimilation was introduced in TBOBW. If you want to call that a retcon

No, I'm not saying assimilation was a retcon. I saying or asking or wondering if the Borg were retconned from assimilating only unique biological and technological distinctiveness to assimilating the entire species.

Were the Borg interested in assimilating the entire Enterprise-D in "Q Who"?

 

[The Wormhole]

Were the Borg interested in assimilating the entire Enterprise-D in "Q Who"?

While the term "assimilation" was not used, it was stated in Q Who that technology was the only thing the Borg were interested in technology many times:

PICARD: What is it you want? We mean you no harm. Do you understand me?
Q: Understand you? You're nothing to him. He's not interested in your life form. He's just a scout, the first of many. He's here to analyse your technology. He may attempt to gain control of the ship. I wouldn't let him

Q: The Borg is the ultimate user. They're unlike any threat your Federation has ever faced. 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.

TBOBW retconned the whole thing of them assimilating people, and rather abruptly at that. Part 1 treats the idea of the Borg turning Picard into a Borg as something completely unique, then in Part 2 everyone talks about the process as though it's SOP.

But regardless, we're repeatedly told throughout TNG that the Borg's primary interest is technology. This gets repeated in Voyager as the reason the Borg won't bother with the Kazon. So why would they assimilate a technologically primitive 21st century humanity.

Actually going through some previous discussions on the matter we've had, I've seen it speculated that the whole operation in First Contact was an act of desperation on the Borg Collective's part. They were at the time getting their asses kicked by Species 8472, causing them to turn to humanity, one of the only other races to successfully resist them. Feeling a need to obtain humanity's ingenuity, they launched in invasion to assimilate Earth, preferably modern 24th century Earth, though time travelling to assimilate humanity of the past would be an acceptable alternative, as long as they still got humanity's ingenuity in the hopes it would give them an edge over 8472. Works as well as any explanation, I guess.

 

[publiusr]

Were the Borg interested in assimilating the entire Enterprise-D in "Q Who"?

Q all but dumped Enterprise in the Borg's lap.

They might have been down for maintenance as it were...a previous scan showing quiet.

So they were caught napping.

Q bailed them out right before the -D was forced to heave to'

 

[evilchumlee]

Regardless, it was stated in Q Who the Borg are interested primarily in technology, and that has continued to be the case even after assimilation was introduced/retconned. So with that in mind, it makes no sense the Borg would assimilate a technologically primitive planet as they did in that movie, which was the original point I was making anyway.

The thing is, it's clear the time travel thing from First Contact was NOT the Borg's "Plan A". They weren't expecting Locutus to show up and hit them in exactly the right spot.

That was a seat of the pants idea cooked up by the Borg Queen. I think they only assimilated past-Earth out of necessity. They weren't doing it for the tech, they were doing it for the drones.

That's why I think the Borg are usually happy to just leave you alone. They don't usually need drones, so... some dude walking around isn't interesting. If they DO need drones... they'll grab you in a second.

The Borg were just stuck in the late-21st century on Earth, so... they took Earth.

 

[Shawnster]

That's why I think the Borg are usually happy to just leave you alone. They don't usually need drones, so... some dude walking around isn't interesting. If they DO need drones... they'll grab you in a second.

Except, they really aren't willing to leave you alone. Not since BOBW. Sure, they ignored the Raven crew for while, but that changed and it wasn't because the Borg needed 3 new drones. Nor were they willing to ignore Voyager.

 

[The Wormhole]

They weren't doing it for the tech, they were doing it for the drones.

Even that doesn't add up since the Queen has even said that biologically speaking, there's nothing special about humanity. So even if the Borg stranded in the past were in a serious need of drones, they could easily track down somewhat a bit more biologically fancier. Even if we entertain they were stuck at Earth and unable to go anywhere else, all they'd have to do is wait a day and Vulcans would show up.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

The Borg were just stuck in the late-21st century on Earth, so... they took Earth.

That, and the Borg had developed a bit of an obsession with Earth and the Federation after BOBW. I imagine running into a culture that successfully resists you on a repeated basis would make you want to figure out what they have going on that makes them unique, given how the Borg are probably used to just steamrolling their way around the galaxy.

 

[publiusr]

And with the novels—what they can’t assimilate, they wish to eradicate.

 

[Farscape One]

The whole "the Borg wait until a race is advanced enough to contribute to perfection" theory fall apart when you realize they assimilated twenty-first century Earth in First Contact at a time when humanity was actually technologically less advanced than even the Kazon.

The Borg assimilating pre-Federation makes sense because the Borg themselves stil have all the knowledge of the 24th century, which also included all Starfleet, Federation, etc. people they assimilated by that point. By going back to a point in time before the Federation formed, they have the benefits of the already assimilated knowledge but no real resistance can happen, so the Borg can have a vast amount of space under their control, as well as the Delta Quadrant.

 

[DonIago]

What real resistance was the Federation presenting in the 24th century? They were barely able to handle a single cube.

If the Borg had ever attacked the Federation in force, much less focused their energies on a particular Federation world, the ensuing carnage would have made the Dominion War look like a minor skirmish.

 

[publiusr]

It depends on whether or not they were busy handling other powers. Maybe the Husnok kept them in check.

It might also be a memory of equals in the Vegan Tyranny kept them out of UFP space…

 

[The Wormhole]

What real resistance was the Federation presenting in the 24th century? They were barely able to handle a single cube.

On Voyager the Queen spoke of the fact that the Federation defeated both invasion attempts in TBOBW and FC as being something truly unique. In the novels, that combined with the destruction of the transwarp hub in Endgame and the thwarting of another attack (in which the Borg managed to destroy Pluto) was enough for the Collective to consider the Federation to be an existential threat which required complete eradication, as all previous attempts at assimilation had been defeated.

 

[DonIago]

Just because the Federation (barely) defeated single cubes on two occasions and that that was unprecedented hardly makes them a significant threat. Just send more cubes.

I've read the novels of that period, but I don't recall the Borg considering the Federation to be an existential threat; more that the Borg simply got tired of the Federation resisting so decided to finally attack with overwhelming force.

 

[Shawnster]

And with the novels—what they can’t assimilate, they wish to eradicate.

Which definitely is a retcon of "Q Who"

 

[Nyotarules]

That, and the Borg had developed a bit of an obsession with Earth and the Federation after BOBW. I imagine running into a culture that successfully resists you on a repeated basis would make you want to figure out what they have going on that makes them unique, given how the Borg are probably used to just steamrolling their way around the galaxy.

But Earth didn't resist the Federation, it was the Enterprise via Picard. Without Picard in BOBW and in First Contact the UFP is doomed.

 

[DonIago]

The Borg essentially lay the foundation for their own defeat in BoBW as well. If they hadn't connected Picard to the collective then Data wouldn't have been able to exploit that connection.

 

[Nyotarules]

The Borg essentially lay the foundation for their own defeat in BoBW as well. If they hadn't connected Picard to the collective then Data wouldn't have been able to exploit that connection.

So in a universe where there is no Data, the UFP is finished. It is probably that 'bushy beard Riker' universe in Parallels

 

[The Wormhole]

Clearly a case of the Borg's sheer fucking hubris. In TBOBW the Borg (through Locutus) declare Data to be obsolete and that there'd be no place for him in their "new order." Then he proves instrumental to their defeat in that episode. Which was likely a factor in why the Queen took a special interest in him in FC.

 

[DonIago]

I don't know whether 'hubris' is the right word. The Borg lost a cube. That's like me losing a toenail. Not a toe, just a toenail. It'll grow back.

 

[The Wormhole]

That one cube very nearly defeated the entire Federation. It made it all the way to Earth orbit more or less unimpeded. If it weren't for Data, Earth would have been theirs within the day, and taking the rest of the Federation after that would have been super easy, barely an inconvenience. They lost all that because of one android they deemed obsolete. So yeah, Hubris.