By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
In the world of Star Trek: The Next Generation and its spinoff, the Borg have always been something of a paradox. We’ve seen how a single one of their Cube ships is a threat to the entire Federation, but most of the galaxy remains unconquered by the Borg despite how easy that would be for these bionic bad boys. However, one Star Trek Borg theory offers an explanation: namely, that the Borg have been kept in check by failsafes installed by their unknown creators.
The Star Trek Borg Theory
As for why Star Trek fans would create a special Borg theory in the first place, it mostly comes down to answering a burning question. Namely, if the Borg are powerful enough to conquer entire planets and star empires, why the heck do they barely make an effort to do so, and why is it so easy to defeat them? According to this theory, the Borg may be powerful, but they are held back by limitations imposed on them by their creators.
The Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter “The Best of Both Worlds” gave us our most complete look at the Borg and serves as the main impetus for this fan theory. In this episode, a single Cube quickly becomes an existential threat to Earth, and it destroys dozens of ships before Riker and the Enterprise crew manage to stop it. Part of their efforts include beaming over to the alien vessel, where they discover the Borg mostly leave them alone until they start blowing things up.
If you’re a longtime Star Trek fan, you’ve probably pondered the bizarre Borg weaknesses that led to the creation of this theory. Like, why can our heroes simply beam over to this intimidating vessel, something that could be prevented by the aliens raising their shields around hostile ships? Why do the Borg not clock the presence of hostile visitors until those visitors get a chance to access and destroy key systems?
Once you start asking those questions, you’ll ask follow-ups. Like, why do these aliens not systematically assimilate or destroy everyone in the galaxy? Why do they never send more than one Cube to attack the Federation, and why do they avoid assimilating less advanced life forms even though this would help innovate their species? According to this Star Trek Borg theory, it’s because they were created by an advanced race like the Iconians who placed failsafes in the system in case their creation went rogue.
There are still many unknown variables in this theory…for example, it’s not clear why a race like the Iconians would design aliens as dangerous as the Borg in the first place, nor is it clear how or why these bionic bad guys went rogue. However, the theory maintains that the advanced race was aware of both the possibility and danger of the Borg going rogue and installed various failsafe devices to keep their creation from conquering or destroying the galaxy. These failsafes were only partially effective, though, because the Borg are still the single greatest threat to life around the galaxy.
Star Trek has had more than one Borg theory over the years. For example, we’re fond of author Peter David’s theory that the Planet Killer from The Original Series was originally designed by aliens to destroy the Borg. However, most theories never address the convenient weaknesses of an enemy that can simultaneously threaten the entire galaxy but also be shut down by Data inputting a “sleep” command. This new theory attempts to square that circle, and while it’s not perfect, it did accomplish one thing: we’ll never look at the Borg or the Iconians the same way again.
