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Greetings and salutations to those finger-clicking, mirror-loving tricksters of Star Trek lore.
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00:00In 1966, William Campbell burst onto our screens as Trelane, the energetic and fiercely powerful
00:05demigod, intent on having his fun no matter the cost. Why, it was all a lark, so what does it
00:10really matter if you're all my prisoners now? Though Kirk had his thoughts on the matter,
00:15this wouldn't be the last time Starfleet would encounter beings of near omnipotence in their
00:19travels. Along the way we would meet Metrons and we would meet Organians, the Dowd would be dour
00:25while the Vezda continue to puzzle. Through it all, there is but one continuum. The Q continuum
00:31is almost as abstract as the original statement Star Trek is. The Q continuum is… a road? A
00:38battleground? An ever-changing empire ready to overpower mortality with a swish and a flick?
00:43There is so much that we now know, mixed with the tomes of lore we've yet to learn.
00:48The Q are at once eternal and not, evidenced by a certain 21st century example by way of
00:54alternate 24th. They can experience pain and suffering, both physical and mental.
00:59They are not without conscience, though their fierce intelligence lifts them to lofty heights
01:04above us mere mortals. Above all else, through matter manipulation and entertainment via torture,
01:11one must remember that to a Q, time is like a predator with no teeth. That is to say, sometimes
01:18we learn more as we travel farther backwards in time. I'm Sean Ferric for Trek Culture and here is
01:25everything we now know about the Q continuum. 10. Three cheers for the original Trelane
01:34The squire of Gothos was an oddity for more than 20 years. The godlike child Trelane took Kirk and crew
01:41hostage, played jaunty tunes on his harpsichord, and to wrap up the day, he engaged in a game of duelling
01:46pistols. This might have been a standard Tuesday for him, but it was anything but for Starfleet.
01:51The inspiration behind Trelane, created by Paul Schneider, was the image of children playing at
01:57war. Here was a being godlike with his toys, but childlike in his understanding of consequence.
02:03At the episode's conclusion, and after a couple of ornamental revelations, Trelane was given a good
02:09spanking by his cloudy with a chance of green parents. He was, after all, just a bold boy,
02:14playing a little rough in the toy box. With his second appearance on screen, this childlike nature
02:20remained, even if the character has a new dimension in terms of familial connections.
02:25What does this mean for the biggest family of them all? With his fabulous costumes,
02:30outdated research on Earth's history, and ever-winning smile ,
02:35Trelane was unique in Star Trek's pantheon of gods and monsters. He then served to inspire the
02:41original named member of the vaulted continuum. 9. I am the guardian of the continuum
02:51Wedding Bell Blues has not only added a new beat to the history of the continuum,
02:56but it has also recontextualised some Star Trek lore in its wake. John Delancey's guest appearance as
03:02Trelane's dad may seem like a fun little gag to end the story with, but it connects to another
03:09ancient being while doing so. In The Squire of Gothos, Trelane is scolded by his parents at the
03:15close of the episode. His mother and father are voiced by Barbara Babcock and Bartel LaRue,
03:21respectively. LaRue would go on to voice another iconic character in the original series,
03:26and discovery via archived audio. The guardian of forever. The guardian could change its natural
03:32state, consider Carl, move as it willed through space, and also possessed the ability to affect
03:38time. All of these are traits that we, the audience, have seen as part of the continuum.
03:44As the studio has confirmed that Rhys Darby was playing Trelane, it stands to reason that Delancey
03:51was playing that same role that LaRue originated. Two men with French names playing some cosmic giants?
03:58What's not to like? Perhaps this may best be read with tongues firmly in cheeks, but
04:03connecting the continuum to the guardian of forever, when one considers the powers and abilities of both,
04:08may not seem like that much of a stretch. 8. It's all about the fans.
04:14John Delancey is the most immediately recognisable member of the Q continuum, for good reason.
04:19His Q, the apparently eternal trickster, debuted in Encounter at Firepoint, thanks to some rewrites,
04:26some padding, and a little tip of the hat to a fan club president. Janet Corton had led the Star
04:31Trek Action Group, the group responsible for hosting the first UK Star Trek convention in 1974.
04:37She later met Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett, and Susan Sackett, which in turn led to several
04:43appearances at conventions. When Roddenberry received Dorothy Fontana's script for the TNG pilot,
04:49he hastily began some rewrites. Q was added by Roddenberry in part to extend the pilot into
04:55feature length. Naming the character for Quarton became an ongoing gag as many of the episodes that
05:00feature the character, or the continuum, play with the letter in the title, Hyde and Q, Cupid,
05:06the Q and the Grey, ensuring the legacy of Quarton's friendship with Gene remained ever present.
05:137. It's Been a Long Road
05:15By now, the image of the Q continuum, represented as one long, unbroken road, is familiar to many fans.
05:23Originating in the episode Death Wish, this version of the continuum served only to allow Janeway and
05:29Tuvok to understand the nature of the beast. It was not meant to be taken literally, nor was it the
05:35precursor for the greatest theme song of them all. The road that would form the basis of a crucial
05:41scene in the episode was also a stand in for the then journey of the character. John Delancey's Q
05:48had appeared several times on The Next Generation, and once on Deep Space Nine. Rick Berman was initially
05:54resistant to having him simply pop up on Voyager as well, particularly if it meant more of the same.
06:00In Star Trek Monthly issue 10, Berman noted, bringing Q to Star Trek Voyager has to be done
06:06carefully. We don't want to give the impression that of all the Starfleet ships around, the only
06:12ones Q visits are those that have on-air series. Delancey's appearance on Deep Space Nine was an
06:17attempt at bringing his trickster god character to the spin-off, but it didn't seem to click,
06:21so even though he initially believed he was being pitched another script for that series, Delancey had
06:26no idea Voyager was on the cards, as per the official Star Trek Voyager magazine issue 6.
06:32Number 6 Q Jr. was created by a non-Trek fan. Kenneth Biller, who was a staff writer on Star
06:40Trek
06:40Voyager, was assigned the Q and the Grey. This episode would go on to have lasting repercussions
06:46for the continuum, not least in introducing the character who would eventually pop Spock into a
06:52glass and put down pee pads for Corby. According to Cinefantastique volume 29, Biller described
06:58himself as the least avid Star Trek fan on the team. Creating the script for the episode involved
07:03looking backwards. Biller drew on one of the ideas that Sean Pillar, son of Michael, had included in
07:09his story for Death Wish. There Q had warned that the death of a Q would result in a grave
07:15fallout and
07:16may involve the entire galaxy. The Q and the Grey, at least in part, sees that promise through.
07:22Much like the road in the previous episode, Biller decided to represent the continuum in a way that
07:27humans could understand. As there was to be a Q Civil War, it was presented as the American Civil War,
07:34redressed Hollow Mansions included. Returning star John Delancey enjoyed almost every aspect of this
07:40latest offering, believing the episode to be well-rounded, creative and fun, as per the Star
07:46Trek Monthly issue 34. However, he also said, there is always a problem when you make the choice of
07:52showing something like the baby Q at the end, I just didn't think showing the baby was a good thing
07:58to do.
07:595. Q Me? The sixth season episode of The Next Generation, eventually titled True Q,
08:06long after production had commenced, was pitched by a young writer named Matthew Corey and originally
08:11titled Q Me? This was the first of two Q-related episodes in the show's sixth season and the last
08:19time in The Next Generation that anyone from the main cast other than Picard encountered Delancey's Q.
08:26Amanda Rogers was originally written as a male character, one whom Jerry Taylor believed Corey
08:31intended to play himself, according to the Star Trek The Next Generation companion. This episode
08:36is the first chronological mention of a Q offspring, though one that doesn't break canon with later
08:42outings. While Q Jr., introduced in The Q and the Grey, would be the first true child of two Q,
08:50Rogers was a child of two human Q, making her an unexpected anomaly. That she inherited powers was
08:56a mistake, thus resulting in Q's inspection, as well as the very real chance of her execution. Delancey was
09:03delighted to return to a mad, bad, and dangerous to know character, as per the companion, but felt
09:10that the episode fell short. He agreed with Michael Piller that Q had been softened somewhat in his
09:15frequent outings and tried to imbue this performance with something a little edgier. The inclusion of Q's
09:20shadowy contact, another member of the continuum, was added to Corey's story to add some tension.
09:26However, per Delancey, I tried to put malevolence in places there, but that didn't really lend itself again.
09:32I can't do it within the context of birthday parties and babysitting and stuff like that.
09:37It's something you need to have the set up for. I would have liked to have taken it one step
09:41further,
09:41where Amanda was killed. As presented, the continuum may have been fully capable of dropping
09:47a tornado on some errant members, but would stop short of killing a young woman.
09:524. The Trouble with Mirrors
09:54The Q continuum had always existed, according to Q, and by the time Quinn encountered Captain
10:00Janeway in the USS Voyager, they had been everywhere and seen everything. This was the story that led
10:06to the creation of a new Q child, which sent ripples through time and led to a potential plot hole
10:11in
10:12Star Trek's history. Trillane, posing as the Squire of Gothos, focused his powers using a mirror machine,
10:18one that was destroyed by Captain Kirk. Though this did little to rid Trillane of his powers, it did seem
10:23to weaken him for however brief a time. However, Wedding Bell Blues confirms that Trillane is Q
10:29Jr., the child of Q and the female Q, so what need was there for a mirror machine at all?
10:35Trillane's
10:35true nature had previously been explored in Beta Canon in Peter David's novel Q². Here, David suggested
10:42that the mirror machine was a sort of training device for young Q, like the wheels on a child's first
10:47bicycle. When this is combined with Strange New World's revelation, we can surmise that although
10:52Q Jr. had previously demonstrated his abilities in Q2, this device was a sort of assignment,
10:58or even punishment, for a period of his existence. Wedding Bell Blues seems to take place mid-Q2,
11:05in the interval where both he and his father leave Voyager, with the former episode clearly
11:10demonstrating Q's supervision over his son. In truth, the machine has never truly fit into established
11:16Q Continuum continuity, though for a species that exists outside of non-spacetime, that's not all
11:22that shocking to discover. 3. Q Fight at the Galactic Barrier
11:27True to their nature as omnipotent beings, the Q Continuum was never going to be confined to
11:32a single type of media. They leapt from the screen to novel form, though this jump almost destroyed the
11:39galaxy, Q himself, and had a fairly large impact on Star Trek canon, including two barriers and a bunch of
11:45rock men who may or may not have been seen on screen. Greg Cox's series involves flashbacks to a
11:50younger version of Q, while also helping to explain part of his frequent dealings with humans. Instead
11:56of, at least initially, it being his happiness at seeing his human friends, he was there by way of
12:00punishment from the Continuum for inadvertently helping to destroy several civilizations. In this
12:06version of Q's story, he is still connected to the Guardian of Forever, though rather than vocally,
12:11he abuses it. Perish the thought. Q discovers an ancient being known as Nil. Nil manages to trick
12:18Q into releasing him into our plane of existence, despite the protestations of the Guardian. What
12:24follows is a war that includes the Tikkan, Sargon's people, the Ancient Ones, and even the Calamarain.
12:29Nil allies himself with the Beta-12a creature, the Gorgon, and the One, who is better known as the
12:35Shakari being. Facing them are Q, Quinn, Q2, and the Female Q. The end result is destruction,
12:43escape, banishment, and barriers. The Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy and the Galactic
12:47Barrier encircling the Milky Way galaxy are both direct outcomes of this Q war, which is something
12:53that Cybok, Dr. Elizabeth Dayner, and Gary Mitchell may all have something to say about.
12:57Number 2. What is a life worth when a Continuum doesn't know what happens when it's over?
13:02In 2012, Kirsten Beyer, who would go on to co-create Star Trek Picard as well as write several stories
13:08and scripts for Discovery and Strange New Worlds, was already an established author. She took over
13:13the Star Trek Voyager relaunch novels and as part of that series was responsible for a major revelation
13:18about the Continuum. Her novel, The Eternal Tide, reveals that the Continuum has its own set of
13:24commandments, including one that specifically warns Q not to reanimate the dead. The Q Continuum don't fully
13:31know what happens after death. In Hyde and Q, Riker, when imbued with Q's powers, refuses to bring a
13:38dead child back to life, though as part of his promise to Picard rather than any restrictions on
13:43power. Worf and Wesley are both seemingly killed by soldiers in Q's war game. While the aforementioned
13:49child stays dead, Worf and Wesley are returned to life without any real repercussions. From Q Who onwards,
13:56the dead tend to stay dead, with a notable exception. Beyer's novel seems to confirm this is a conscious
14:03choice by the Continuum so as not to disrupt reality and those living in it any further. However, there is
14:10another consideration here. According to the Captain's Logs, The Complete Unauthorised Trek Voyages,
14:16Rene Echevarria felt that Hyde and Q was symptomatic of some early season teething issues. He said,
14:22a lot of first season stuff we try not to feel bound by because a lot of it wasn't well
14:27executed.
14:28By his own admission, as the years went on, some of the writers hoped that people hadn't watched the
14:32debut season of The Next Generation. Byer's novel may simply be another extension of that hope.
14:37Number 1. We all have our favourites, Jean-Luc.
14:41And now, I die. So came the final act of John Delancey's familiar cue in Star Trek Picard's
14:48second season finale, Farewell. With a click of his fingers, he returned JL, Raffi and Seven to
14:54the right time and place, while also resurrecting Elnor and seemingly killing himself in the process.
15:00Farewell was written after the publication of The Eternal Tide by Christopher Monfette and Akiva
15:05Goldsman. In this episode, Q states that as he is about to die, he is about to experience something
15:11new. This, reminiscent of Quinn from Deathwish, may be another state of being entirely,
15:16something already experienced by Worf, Wesley and Elnor, or different again thanks to their
15:21different physiologies. Thanks to this uncertainty, the Q continuum get to have their cake and eat it.
15:27They are both unable to know what it is beyond death, while still having the power to recall
15:31people from it, even if it breaks their own rules. The episode also suggests that Delancey's
15:36Q is definitely dying, though what is time to a time traveller? The post-credits scene in The Last
15:42Generation shows Q admonishing Jack Crusher for thinking in three-dimensional terms.
15:47So, for as much as we know about the continuum, do we really know anything at all? One thing is
15:51for
15:51sure, if William Campbell, Reece Darby and John Delancey have proven anything, it's that whatever
15:56they do, they do it in style. And that's everything for our list today folks, thank you so much for
16:01watching along, we really really appreciate it. Please make sure that you're subscribed and please make
16:04sure you're following us on the various socials, we're at TrekCulture or at TrekCultureYT on Instagram.
16:09I have been Sean, you can catch me at SeanFerrick on the various socials too. If you want to grab
16:12yourself some merch, you can do so by following the link underneath the description of this video.
16:16You look after yourselves until I see you again, lead with love, lead with peace,
16:20put some kindness out into the world and wherever you are, stay safe, live long and prosper.
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