"All Good Things" little goof

[Captain Picard's Hair]

When Q takes Picard back to Earth 4.5 billion years ago (the depiction is incorrect at least because the atmosphere at the time wasn't breathable - but we may possibly excuse this due to the machinations of Q) he said that the spatial anomaly took up the entire quadrant - if that is so, it would eliminate many species other than humans. Certainly Vulcans and Andorians who are close to Earth, and who knows how many more (dozens or more). In fact, since it is expanding backwards in time, it would get even bigger as it goes earlier than the formation of Earth (in fact, it would probably interfere with the formation of Earth itself as we go further back!) and who knows what could happen if we let it rewind all the way back to the Big Bang.

The episode is still one of the best, and it's a good idea, but just a small oopsie when you follow the logic.

(also, Picard did all this in a universe in which humanity never existed, which means Picard couldn't have been there to do it...)

[kostmayer]

Well, its possible it only expanded so far as you go further back into time and then stopped.

Or perhaps the rate it expands decreases the further into the past. If, say, the total volume increases at a fixed rate, then its radius would increase at at a lower and lower rate - it might not expand to the source of the big bang.

Another way of looking at it is - one theory of time travel is that when you go back in time and change something, you effectively split the universe in 2 - the original universe, and the universe that has changed due to your actions. As the anomaly increases the further into the past, it is created alternate universes. One alternate Universe might well involve the Earth being enveloped by the anomaly, and another with the anomaly altering the Big Bang. The paticular Universe Picard is flicking back and forth between is the one created by the anomaly interferring with the first formation of life on Earth.

The main problem with the episode, which I think is pointed out on this site, is that the anomaly gets bigger the further into the past, and therefore smaller right upto the point its created. Yet when the future Enterprise goes back to the area of space where the anomaly is formed, it is bigger - therefore the anomaly has increased in size a time moves forward.

[Deepcrush]

But it wasn't real. None of it was real. It was Q's final test for humanity. There wasn't a flaw in logic because there was no need for logic. Q could make and break whatever he wanted to in that timeline because, well, he's f***ing Q!

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Even within this universe, the only talk was about the destruction of Humanity, when in fact I showed that all life in the quadrant would be destroyed. Trek takes homo-centralization to the extreme!

[kostmayer]

Doesn't neccesarily mean it wasn't real

Remember when he flung the Enterprise into a confrontation with the Borg. That wasn't one of his illusions or creations.

I've often wondered if the events of Tapestry were an illusion. I suppose Picard could look up the history of the events and see if he altered history, or if history played out how he remember it. I do like how Picard is grateful to Q for the experience, and I'd like to think Q was trying to teach Picard something, rather then just torture him.

To go off on a tangent, which is unusual for this board I know :-

When Q threw the Enterpise into its first confrontation with the Borg, did he do them a favour, and was it worth the 18 (?) dead crew members.
I also thought that their confrontation was what alerted the Borg to the Federation, which in turn sparked their first invasion. This was down to Guinan warning Picard that now that the Borg knew of their existance they'd be coming. However, its revealed that the Borg had already destroyed a Federation Colony, and would already be aware of them. Guinan could have been referring to that incident. Also, why didn't Guinan warn the Federation about the Borg earlier?

[Blackstar the Chakat]

well until the E-D seemed to cross a large distance in an instant the Borg may have thought the Federation developed an unknown method of propulsion. Until that incident the Borg had no reason to assimilate the Federation. Besides who would listen to the crazf woman talking about Zombie-like cyborgs taking over everthing.

As for the AGT contradictions, we have no understanding of temporal physics because we've never traveled through time. And the anomaly could stretch in both directions right(past and future)? And in ENT Danials(I think that was his name) said that the past doesn't immediately effect the future. Like how it takes a ripple time to cross a pond.

[Captain Seafort]

There were a lot more problems in the AGT timeline than just the continues existence of humanity and the universe in general despite the anomaoly's existence in the distant past. Some were even commented on, such as the fact that the "current" crew didn't remember Picard's different interactions with the "past" crew. The best explanation is that the entire event was a Q-generated illusion, like "QPid" and almost certainly "Tapestry".

[Captain Picard's Hair]

If this was a test for Picard, I'm not too sure he did all that well, having missed so many other paradoxes aside from the tachyon pulses creating the anomaly. Maybe Q shouldn't have been so easy on him.

[Captain Seafort]

Maybe Q missed them as well? Face it - this is the same joker who got sucker-punched by Ben Sisko. Einstein he ain't.

[Deepcrush]

Unlimited power does not equal unlimited IQ.

[Mikey]

Got that right.

Being all part of a Q-designed scenario also explains the constant referneces to "humanity" rather than to "sentient life" - in a test for Picard, humanity would be a dearer subject.

[Sionnach Glic]

Good point.