By Chris Snellgrove
| Revealed
Outdoors of the Klingons, essentially the most legendary foe in Star Trek is arguably the Borg, whose nearly-unstoppable cybernetic warriors have come near wiping out the Federation on a lot of events. Whereas these baddies have been considered defeated within the collection finale of Voyagerthey popped up but once more to torment the titular hero of Picard throughout a number of seasons. Nevertheless, what most followers don’t notice is that we’d have presumably by no means heard from the Borg after The Subsequent Technology if not for the late, nice govt producer, Michael Piller.
Piller is, in a really possible way, the person who saved TNG: he turned showrunner in Season 3, ushering in an period of higher uniforms, greater units, and infinitely improved writing. In Season 6, the author of the two-part, Borg-centric episode “Descent” was uncertain tips on how to broach the truth that the Enterprise crew returned a freed Borg (Hugh) again to the Collective. This might theoretically change their total race, and whereas “Descent” handled Borg who had been contaminated with individuality, the episode by no means specified simply what number of Borg have been affected by Hugh’s return.
My Borg Buddy’s Again (And There’s Gonna Be Hassle)
That was really Michael Piller’s suggestion, and he thought the episode can be stronger if it left that matter as an open query for the followers. Understandably, these episodes led to intense on-line hypothesis and various Star Trek conference arguments about whether or not the Borg have been now utterly completely different. Beforehand, they’d been like robotic zombies pushed by the monolithic will of their Collective; nevertheless, the Borg in “Descent,” after reabsorbing Hugh (a Borg who developed an identification of his personal), have been mainly only a bunch of independent-minded thugs being bossed round by Knowledge’s evil brother.
Whereas Star Trek followers typically favored “Descent,” the fandom was nearly collective in its dislike of the brand new Borg. Having them crew up with one other villain made for some good short-term drama, and it led to a very nice episode for Brent Spiner’s Knowledge. However as villains, the Borg had arguably misplaced the whole lot that made them cool or distinctive within the first place.
Resistance Was Futile
That’s why it was such a reduction when these villains confirmed up as their outdated selves in Star Trek: First Contact. Positive, some issues have been new (principally, the truth that they now had a creepy Queen), however these guys have been principally again to being the shambling, unstoppable robotic zombies that terrified followers within the first place. This film served as a type of artistic reset for these villains, and most future appearances of the Borg (from their many appearances in Voyager to their remaining look in Picard) targeted on them as a Collective reasonably than a bunch of people.
None of that will have been attainable, nevertheless, with out Michael Piller. He was the one who instructed that “Descent” author Ronald D. Moore ought to by no means specify what number of Borg had remodeled into people as soon as Hugh’s freed character had been absorbed into the Collective. On the time, many followers hoped that it might simply be a small phase of the Borg that have been affected, and the remainder of the Collective had remained unchanged; these hopes have been paid off in First Contacta film whose plot would have been unimaginable if Piller hadn’t saved the Borg from turning into generic villains.
Creatively talking, this was each a blessing and a curse; the Borg ultimately turned wildly oversaturated within the franchise, with each new look making them really feel a bit much less particular. Nonetheless, although, they continue to be essentially the most legendary foes from the Golden Age of Star Trek, and they might have light into obscurity if not for the intervention of Michael Piller. On this approach, the person who saved Picard’s first present additionally saved the foes who would make the captain’s life a residing hell for many years to come back.