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The Q Continuum has ruled against Humanity, so they use a Time/Anti-Time Anomaly, which reverses the development of life, ultimately disrupting the beginnings of life on Earth.

It doesn't seem to me, though, that the effects of this anomaly would be limited to Humanity. Granted, there's nothing to suggest that it effects other races, but I find it odd that it wouldn't.

Indeed. Q says the effects spread over much of the galaxy at that point, IIRC. I'd imagine it destroyed/prevented most life in the galaxy from happening.

Although it's the Q. I'm sure they could arrange things so that it only disrupted life in one specific place, if they wanted to.

Additionally, I'm not convinced that the Q would care too much if the "collateral damage" of their sentence happened to be all other life in the galaxy.

I don't even think the Q cared that much beyond tormenting things or a little curiousity like the human race.

There's one other small nit I notice. It seems that the writers couldn't completely get the reversal of time straight when it comes to the future time period, when the anomaly started. The first scans in the future time found nothing but later scans (FORWARD in time) found the beginning of the anomaly.

Anyway, if the anomaly becomes big enough to occupy much of the sky on ancient Earth it must be enormous at that time, and physically occupy a lot of the space in which neighboring star systems should exist. Clearly those systems would be wiped out entirely. There is a hint of greater purpose in Q's actions though, since this isn't a conclusive sentence so much as a test for humanity (specifically Picard, as a sort of chosen 'Champion"). He did after all give Picard the chance to save the galaxy, and even a few helpful hints.

Captain Picard's Hair wrote:Anyway, if the anomaly becomes big enough to occupy much of the sky on ancient Earth it must be enormous at that time, and physically occupy a lot of the space in which neighboring star systems should exist. Clearly those systems would be wiped out entirely.

Q: "At this point in history, the anomaly fills your entire quadrant of the galaxy."

And, since it started in a system between the Federation and the [former] Romulan Empire, it's a good bet the entire future Klingon and Romulan Empires are within that anomaly.

There is a hint of greater purpose in Q's actions though, since this isn't a conclusive sentence so much as a test for humanity (specifically Picard, as a sort of chosen 'Champion"). He did after all give Picard the chance to save the galaxy, and even a few helpful hints.

It was entirely Q's idea to provide the hints; the Continuum had nothing to do with that part.

It was the whole purpose of the time jumping to show Picard the relationship between each timeline.

It was future Picard and his cronies who created the big Time Anomaly of Doom and got bigger in the past.

I wonder what Kirk and Spock's reaction would have been. Wait.... is that a nitpick? That Spock should have figured it out after Kirk banged a couple of green and purple chicks and ripped his shirt and Scotty complaining about the ship. I mean c'mon it is Spock! He is every bit the equal to Data.

Anyhoo... back to my beer.