Guinan, something I just noticed

[A'ern Zerxes]

Okay, so I was watching the "Time's Arrow" two-parter this weekend and it had Guinan in the late 1800s of Earth. But if you remember in the "Generations" movie, she was on the ship full of El-Aurians escaping the assimilation of their homeworld by the Borg. That would have been about 500 years later.

So are we to believe that the El-Aurians had the technological capacity to get all the way from the Delta Quadrant (assuming that's where their homeworld was) to Earth in the 1800s, and yet they've had an almost invisible presence in the outworking of the galaxy during that time?

Seems kinda hinky.

[A'ern Zerxes]

On a side note, the "Samuel Clemens" character in these episodes may be the most annoying thing ever portrayed on Star Trek.

[Hannibal Parker]

Guinans' people sure got around. they are a long-lived race, and perhaps extremely technologically advanced...enough so they attracted the attention of the Borg. They were a race of listeners, content to watch things unfold and not on a galactic conquest. I don't think it was ever established exactly where their homeworld actually was.

[+ Yalu]

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I don't think Generations explicitly stated the El-Aurian refugees aboard the Lakul and the Robert Fox were escaping the Borg, though I suppose that is implied given what we know about both El-Aurian history and the nature of refugees. I always assumed the El-Aurians in Generations had been expelled from whatever planet they'd resettled on, thus their refugee status.

Considering the long lifespans of the El-Aurians, and the fact they'd already become scattered about the galaxy by Earth's 19th century, it's possible that the El-Aurian home world lies somewhere deep in the Delta Quadrant, and could have been one of the earlier species encountered and assimilated by the Borg. In Earth's 15th century, the Borg controlled only a handful of solar systems, and by the mid 21st century, they'd still not left their Quadrant, save for the events of First Contact. A species with ships capable of warp 6 could travel 70,000 light years from the DQ to Earth in just under 180 years, so it's not an unreasonable assumption.

A secondary explanation: Guinan is a bit of a weirdy, and has a habit of showing up whenever the Enterprise crew needs to learn a valuable lesson about themselves. She probably planned the whole thing ages ago.

[A'ern Zerxes]

I think it's accepted canon (according to Memory Alpha) that the El-Aurians from Generations were refugees from the Borg attack. I've always assumed that meant their homeworld was in the Delta Quadrant as the Borg were supposedly drawn to the Alpha Quadrant due to Q's transporting the Enterprise there in "Q Who," though the Borg were supposedly the ones who were attacking outposts in the earlier episode, "The Neutral Zone."

It's funny trying to go back after the fact and add continuity to stuff that really wasn't written with that in mind.

[+ Rune Jolara]

I believe Guinan had planned becoming part of the Enterprise crew having met Picard originally on earth in the 1800s. I can't remember exactly but there was a special connection between them.

As for the El Aurians, I assumed (even though not specifically stated) that they were running from the Borg and that is why they were refugees. The Borg somehow taking over their planet, they didn't have access to the technology or whatever gave them the ability to transport.

Another theory I've heard is they were an off-shoot of Q which could explain the ability to be on Earth during the 1800s. Something happened and they no longer had the ability or something something... I believe this theory came from the fact that Q was afraid of Guinan and they had a history that was never really explained.

Through out all of the series, things were hinted at but never fully explained, then a better idea or what seemed like a better idea was thrown in that didn't completely mesh with what had been hinted at. There were times I wondered if some of the writers even knew anything about Star Trek. It seemed like they were just muddling through to get an episode out.

[Hannibal Parker]

Q was absolutely afraid of Guinan, so the possibility they are a perhaps more powerful Q offshoot raises some interesting possibilities....