In Defense Of Q
The most important character in the ‘Star Trek’ universe isn’t Jean-Luc Picard
In the very last episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, probably the most important line in the life of the entire fifty years of the series gets delivered and it’s not even delivered by one of the main cast members. It’s delivered by a villain. Well, some consider him a villain, but it’s better to describe him as an antagonist. It was Q. Q said the line. I — Okay, some of you reading this might not be Trek fans and don’t follow so let me back up a little bit.
In the series premiere of ST:TNG, Captain Picard and the plucky crew of the USS Enterprise encounter Q. That’s his name. Q from the Q Continuum who are collectively called The Q. Yeah, sounds kinda lame, but they wrote this in like 1986 and there was a lot of cocaine going around in those days so cut them some slack. Q is an omnipotent, immortal being who has the power to wipe entire planets or rewrite history with the snap of a finger. They are gods in all but name.
So in the episode, The Q Continuum has decided that humanity is a savage, barbarian race who is a threat to the galaxy and should be wiped out. Since this is Star Trek, Captain Picard gives a Shakespearean soliloquy defending humanity. He argues that yes, Q is right, that humanity once enslaved each other…
