Want to read about the origins of the Borg?

[willpittenger]

All you have to do is read Star Trek: Destiny. It is set about one year after Nemesis. It features the debut of the starship shown below with the newly minted Captain Dax in command. We also see the return of NX-02.

From Image:Aventine.jpg (USS Avetine; Vesta class) at Memory Beta. Note: Don't follow any links on that page if you want to avoid spoilers.

 

[willpittenger]

Ok. Time to post a few spoilers. Accuracy not guaranteed. :mrgreen:

1. Starfleet was to blame for the creation of the Borg.
2. The first two Borg were NX-02 crewmembers Graylock and Thayer.
3. A reclusive peace loving civiliation was the source of the Borg's nanites.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

I went through some of the explanations for the Borg awhile back. But, it's very difficult to sort out what is "canon" and what isn't. I'm familiar with some of the ST Universe but, not everything. I know one wiki is noncanon and there are some interesting ideas there. But, have the writers/producers ever come clean with an origin for the Borg?

 

[willpittenger]

In canon? Other than they appear to have originated somewhere by where the Beta and Delta quadrants meet, I have seen nothing Canon. We do know that Transwarp allowed them to reach all four quardants to various degrees.

 

[drwayne]

On the non-canon front, an alliance of the Borg and some Romulan elements were responsible
for using nanites to resurrect - James T. Kirk - at least in some Shatner co-authored books.

My favorite non-canon is that the Doomsday machine was a prototype of a weapon used
in a war between the Borg and the .... Preservers!

Wayne

 

[mj1]

I think I will read it. I'll be back with thought after I do.

 

[docm]

Remember V'ger in the first Trek molvie? That was a Voyager probe that was found by the Borg (remember that Spock saw a machine planet during his trip through V'ger's core) and refitted to meet its mission. Can't remember the novel, but this was in one of them.

In TOS they also ran into a probe known as Nomad that merged with an alien probe, quite possibly Borg, becoming the entity in The Changeling.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

Remember V'ger in the first Trek molvie? That was a Voyager probe that was found by the Borg (remember that Spock saw a machine planet during his trip through V'ger's core) and refitted to meet its mission. Can't remember the novel, but this was in one of them.

In TOS they also ran into a probe known as Nomad that merged with an alien probe, quite possibly Borg, becoming the entity in The Changeling.

I've heard conflicting stories on the origins of V'ger. In one, it was simply a mechanical civilization which repaired and provisioned Voyager to continue its mission and its apparent "purpose." Which, I assume, held some special relevance for the civilzation. (If I was a coffee pot, I'd think my primary purpose was pretty special too and would want others to fulfill their own, special purpose. <que banjo music>) The other is that it was an early Borg civilization. Yet, the Borg have been absorbing everything the meet for a very long time so that second one just doesn't make sense to me. Why refit something like that instead of just incorporating it. And.. the darn thing was huge. It's as big as a superstardestroyer. They were just going to put all those resources into it and.. let it go?

On Nomad, I'd hate to think it was part Borg but, because of its cheery disposition, I'd have to side with the Borg origins on that one.

 

[docm]

From Memory Alpha;

*Gene Roddenberry joked in an interview shortly after "Q Who" that the planet seen by Spock might have been the Borg homeworld. (Star Trek Encyclopedia) This idea was further developed in the William Shatner novel The Return, where Spock's mind meld with V'Ger not only protected Spock from being assimilated (since the Collective was already present in Spock's mind, the Borg assumed he was already one of them), but provided the Federation with the coordinates of the Borg homeworld for a final attack.

It is also interesting to note that Spock, when referring to V'Ger, said, "resistance would be futile." In the game Star Trek: Legacy, it's said that V'Ger itself created the Borg to gain the knowledge by assimilation. However, in the Star Trek Voyager episode "Dragon's Teeth", the character Gedrin states to Seven of Nine that his species, the Vaadwaur, had encountered the Borg over nine centuries prior to his revival. This would place their genesis at least as far back as around the year 1400 AD. It should also be noted, however, that the story writers for Star Trek Legacy claimed on the official game forum that Voyager 6 was meant to have been thrown back in time as well as across the galaxy, an aspect mentioned in the "extras" cutscenes of the game itself.

* The concept of V'Ger, an Earth-launched space probe that becomes a powerful, sentient being in its own right, is in many ways a re-visiting of the Nomad probe featured in the original series episode "The Changeling".
>
* When Spock attempts the mind-meld with V'Ger and is quickly overwhelmed, among the images visible on the screen multiple times, when in slow motion, amid the background of his face, can be seen the dedication plaque carried not by Voyager 1 and 2, but by Pioneer 10 and 11. Other images include a Klingon cruiser seen earlier, the bridge and two crew members of (presumably) the IKS Amar, Epsilon IX, the Epsilon IX lieutenant, and Ilia.

 

[doom_shepherd]

The Destiny series is an awesome read. I've been mostly very impressed by the quality of Trek books coming out of Pocket in the last few years.

(They even found a plausible way to retcon out Enterprise's terrible final episode! Trip lives!)

I hope they can maintain the quality now that they've lost both Trek book editors, thanks to the economy going to poo.

 

[mj1]

The Destiny series is an awesome read. I've been mostly very impressed by the quality of Trek books coming out of Pocket in the last few years.

(They even found a plausible way to retcon out Enterprise's terrible final episode! Trip lives!)

I hope they can maintain the quality now that they've lost both Trek book editors, thanks to the economy going to poo.

Because of your recommendation, I bought all 3 books and am reading the series now. It is off the HOOK. An excellent read that I have not been able to put down. I really like how it brought ALL elements of TNG, DS9, and Voyager together along with Enterprise. It seems to avoid Kirk's time though, for no good reason. I wonder if that is intentional. There is a lot of time/space jumping is this series and to hit everything except Kirk's time seems a bit strange to me. Also, some have wondered how the changes to the classic Stat Trek timeline (i.e. Spock going back in time and changing history in the latest movie) will effect all of this this, but I say not at all. First of all there is so much time traveling going on, it's hard to know where or when anything is. Secondly, if any of you have watched DS9, and Voyager, you'd know that there are like star fleet time police going around cleaning stuff up. Also, the quantum theory would easily explain the ST universe having more than one timeline.

 

[doom_shepherd]

Because of your recommendation, I bought all 3 books and am reading the series now. It is off the HOOK. An excellent read that I have not been able to put down.

Glad to be of service. As a librarian, I can say I was just doing my job.

It seems to avoid Kirk's time though, for no good reason. I wonder if that is intentional. There is a lot of time/space jumping is this series and to hit everything except Kirk's time seems a bit strange to me.

Probably only intentional in that shoehorning a third era into the books would have needlessly complicated things. (There are really just 2 eras in the books, ENT (Columbia) and Post-Nemesis (DS9-Aventine, VOY, TITAN, and TNG))

Or maybe, not knowing exactly what was planned for the new movie, they wanted to leave that era alone.

Also, some have wondered how the changes to the classic Stat Trek timeline (i.e. Spock going back in time and changing history in the latest movie) will effect all of this this, but I say not at all.

Exactly right.

The publishers are already writing a series of 4 books set in the "new" trek universe, actually. Should be out this coming summer, last I heard.

But it's already been pretty much agreed-upon that events in the "new" universe do not affect or erase events in the "Classic" universe at all (other than the destruction of Romulus and disappearance of Spock, which is still some time in the future of the "Classic" book timeline. (The new movie comic-book prequel "Countdown" supports this, despite being as non-canon as the books are.)

And yes, Star Trek has already established that many parallell timelines can coexist. Most especially in the "Mirror" Universe, but also in the TNG Episode "Parallels" which has over 100,000 alternate-universe Enterprises existing together at one point, before a "tear" between the many universes is repaired.