(explosive intro music)
(gentle music)
- Your answers are not in the stars,
and they never have been.
- [Shane] The "Star Trek" universe
is filled with many memorable characters.
Some we know a lot about,
and others we know very little.
And then, there are others that we've seen frequently,
but are still a mystery wrapped into an enigma,
and no character fits this description better than Guinan.
The wise bartender who ran 10 Forward
onboard the USS Enterprise-D seems equally adept
at advising Geordi La Forge after a date,
out shooting Worf on the phaser range,
or advising Captain Picard on the Borg.
These things alone
might have had fans raising their eyebrows,
but Guinan's already mysterious backstory
became true "Star Trek" puzzle
during the episode Q Who
in "Star Trek: Enterprise"'s second season.
Guinan is able to sense Q's presence,
even though he isn't aboard the ship.
Then, it is revealed to us
that she knows our troublemaking Q.
And on top of that, he seems to fear her,
which is very un-Q-like, considering his God-like abilities.
We would learn more about Guinan over time,
but unfortunately we were never given the backstory
between these two characters before the show ended.
Guinan always seemed to know things.
But, what secret powers does she hold
that would trouble a Q?
Speculation fueled by the fandom would suggest
that Guinan was perhaps a Q herself, or was at one time.
Some suggested she was Q's mother,
although we aren't sure even Q
would call his mother an imp or a creature.
Others suggested she was a shape-shifting founder, like Odo,
although there is no proof of this whatsoever.
But, with her return to the "Star Trek" universe
for "Picard" season two, the mystery is back again.
And with Q in the mix as well,
fans are more eager than ever to learn who Guinan really is,
and what power she must hold to frustrate Q.
We believe the upcoming season of "Picard"
will reveal the mystery
we've spent years trying to figure out.
And thanks to a lot of research
and clues from the most recent "Picard" trailer,
we believe we have figured out
exactly why Q doesn't like her.
It was right under our nose the whole time.
So, you don't wanna miss this episode.
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- Also, I can kill you with my brain.
- Guinan was seen in 29 episodes
of "Star Trek: The Next Generation,"
as well as the "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
and "Nemesis" movies.
Whoopi Goldberg, who plays Guinan,
paved her own way into the franchise.
Coming off a huge role in "The Color Purple,"
and the lead in "Jumping Jack Flash,"
Whoopi had become a household name.
When Tasha Yar was killed off
in the first season of "The Next Generation,"
she thought there would be a vacancy
for a female actress on the series.
Goldberg reached out to her friend Levar Burton,
who was playing Geordi La Forge.
She asked him to tell Gene Roddenberry
that she wanted to be on the show.
But, the producers thought she was joking
and didn't take the request seriously.
Once they realized she really did wanna be on the show,
but wouldn't be able to commit
to appearing as a permanent member of the cast,
Roddenberry and Rick Berman
created the character of Guinan for her,
and she became a mystic, Yoda-like bartender
of the newly created 10 Forward.
Roddenberry envisioned the character as extremely old,
leading Goldberg to suggest she could be the ancestor
of some of the other characters on the series.
Whoopi once said during a standup comedy routine
that she was going to be
the great, great, great, great, great grandmother to Picard.
But after Gene died, the episode never got made.
Whatever the original plan for Guinan was going to be,
it's obvious that her character changed
throughout the series and movies.
After nearly 30 years to consider her relationship with Q,
Picard, and her innate ability
to sense the fabric of time around her,
we are finally going to understand her purpose.
Something everyone needs to realize
is that what he didn't request a cameo on "Picard."
Patrick Stewart invited her to be on the show
in January, 2020.
Not Worf, Geordi, Beverly, or Will, it was Guinan,
and that is because they had a plan.
- Want to invite you into the second season.
- Oh!
- [Shane] The announcement that John de Lancie
was reprising his role as Q on "Picard" didn't come
for more than a year after Goldberg's invitation.
The fact that they are both on the show now
is not a coincidence.
Guinan is critical in a storyline
where Q is turning the world upside down.
What does "Picard" say
in the most recent season two trailer?
There is a divergence, and I know someone
who can help us understand the change in time.
Of course, Picard is talking about Guinan.
And in the clip, we see her joking
that she needs Earl Grey tea, hot.
Joke as much as she wants,
but Guinan is exactly who Picard needs in Q-altered reality.
The interesting part of Guinan's story
really begins in the episode Q Who.
Q throws the Enterprise across space
and in the path of the Borg.
At the beginning of this episode,
there are several lingering scenes
with Guinan looking troubled.
It's a buildup for something.
And when Q and Picard suddenly show up in 10 Forward,
Guinan comes at Q with a purpose and says,
"I knew it was you."
Here's a question for you,
what happened to all the people in 10 Forward
who were there only moments before?
Why were they gone, but Guinan was still there?
Hold on to that thought for a moment.
When Q recognizes her,
he is surprised, appalled, dismissive,
and most importantly, a little scared.
This is one of two times we ever see Q fear another being.
And the second time is once again Guinan,
during the episode, Deja Q,
when she stabs him in the hand with a fork.
During Q Who, Guinan throws up her hands
as if she is going to use some power she possesses
against Q.
What results is a standoff,
as we are sidetracked by Riker showing up.
A few moments later, after Picard refuses Q's help,
Q decides to teach him a lesson.
And just before he snaps his fingers,
Guinan says, "Q, don't."
This shows us that Guinan knows what Q is about to do.
She is extraordinarily familiar with him.
And this episode establishes the relationship
between Guinan and Q as familiar and adversarial.
(Guinan scoffing loudly)
(gentle intriguing music continues)
Guinan also admits that she's known many Qs,
because unlike the Q they're currently dealing with,
some of them are actually respectable.
We have no idea what happened between these two previously,
but we know it didn't work out for Q.
And what do we know about Q?
The only thing that we've seen that frustrates him
is when he doesn't get what he wants.
What can Guinan do
that keeps Q from getting what he wants?
We went over and over this,
trying to figure out what it could be,
and then we found a connection.
But before we show you that link,
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- (laughing) Impossible.
- [Guinan] You never know till you try.
- [Shane] The connection for us came
while watching the season three episode,
Yesterday's Enterprise.
In it, the Enterprise-C
passes through a rift into the future,
where instantaneously the Enterprise-D is transformed
from a ship of exploration to a ship of war.
And the only person who is aware of the change is Guinan.
She doesn't know specifics,
but she knows what's happening isn't right.
And she knows there are people like Tasha Yar
who are suddenly on the Enterprise and shouldn't be there.
Even though she had never met Tasha,
she knew she should be dead.
Now, Guinan wasn't immune to the timeline change,
but some ability inside her allowed her to be aware of it.
Remember how she was also aware that Q was nearby
when he wasn't even on the ship?
When Jean Luc tells his crew, in the trailer,
that he knows who can help him,
he knows Guinan is aware of false realities.
- It's not right.
- [Shane] And what does Q do when he is toying with people,
whether it is Picard, Janeway, or whomever?
He is altering their realities.
He is changing the fabric of their existence to play out
whatever scenario he wants to see them struggle with.
So, if Guinan can see through or recognize false realities,
and that's what Q does best,
than Guinan could be a huge pain in Q's butt.
While we don't know exactly what happened
to make Q and Guinan hate each other so much,
we believe Q tried to do something to her
and she was able to see through what he was doing,
so much so that it actually kept him from accomplishing
what he wanted to do,
and he was somehow powerless to do anything about it.
This is why he is so frustrated by her.
This is why he calls her an imp.
An imp is a small, mischievous devil.
Who could possibly be mischievous to Q?
Someone who can stop him from doing what he wants.
So, what is Guinan?
Guinan is Q's kryptonite.
Remember when we said earlier,
Q made everyone in 10 Forward vanish, except for Guinan?
We believe it's because he can't get rid of her.
Or if he can,
she has the power to make him pay for it somehow.
So, what exactly does this have to do with Guinan
in "Picard" season two,
and where did these powers come from in the first place?
Let's start with her powers.
Much to the disappointment of a lot of fans,
we don't believe Guinan is an outcast Q
or some other outlandish being.
She is very old.
She'll be right around 620-years-old
during "Picard" season two.
She's an El-Aurian.
We didn't actually know the name of her race
until the movie "Generations."
We know the race is long-living
because Guinan's parents are still alive and well
in the 2360's.
We do get to see Guinan in 1893,
when she is about 100-years-old,
during the two-part episode, Time's Arrow.
In these episodes,
she doesn't display any of the awareness
of her older counterpart.
She isn't aware that Data is out of his time,
and she isn't aware that an alien race
is time-traveling right under her feet,
in ancient San Francisco.
So, if she's not born with her ability,
she must have gained it along the way.
In fact, Guinan can thank her special powers to the Nexus,
or more appropriately,
Enterprise-B beaming her away from the Nexus
at a critical moment that brought her physical body back,
but left behind her echo.
This is the echo that helps Picard realize
his reality is not real while he's in the Nexus.
In an early version of the "Star Trek: Generation" script,
Guinan explains that her experience
with the Nexus and Enterprise-B
are responsible for her sixth sense.
This would end up not making it into the final script,
but Ronald D. Moore confirmed this
during a 1997 AOL chat session.
So, let's put this together.
The Nexus is an extra-dimensional, heaven-like realm,
where one's thoughts and desires shape their reality.
Inside the Nexus, time and space have no meaning,
allowing one to visit any time and space
that one could imagine.
But, the Nexus is ultimately a false reality,
and recognizing false realities would be Guinan's superpower
for the rest of her life.
So, how will she use her super power in "Picard" season two?
We believe she will once again play Q's foil,
by spilling the beans to Picard, and helping him understand
the nature of the false reality timeline he is stuck in.
And she will tell him exactly what he needs to do
to get home.
Of course, she'll do it through some example
that Picard won't understand without an embarrassing lesson.
So in the end,
Guinan is just an alien who lives a long time,
and has a special ability to help Picard
whenever he's in trouble,
and frustrate Q whenever she shows up.
We find it impossible to believe they will not find a moment
to put Q and Guinan together this season.
We expect Q to reveal that her Nexus-given abilities
are the source of his frustration.
And we expect all will eventually turn out well
for Picard and his crew, thanks to a little help
from our favorite 10 Forward bartending mystic.
What do you think?
Are you excited to see Guinan in "Picard" season two?
Do you think she'll get more than a cameo?
Do you wanna see her and Q get into a brawl,
or makeup after all these years?
Let's talk about it in the comments below.
Also, check out this awesome
"Star Trek" Q, The Trial Never Ends graphic design
from the amazing artists at mixedtees.com.
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- Do you remember the first time we met?
- Of course.
- Don't be so sure.
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