Hello All! Ric here today looking into one of Star Trek’s myriad of stellar phenomena,
this centrepiece for Star Trek Generations; the Nexus energy ribbon. This string of
roiling radiation and energy is a wave of cosmic temporal energy that sweeps through the Milky Way
on an elliptical orbit on a 39.1 year cycle. It was first encountered by Starfleet in 2293, on the
commissioning voyage of the Enterprise B. The crew of Captain John Harriman were responding to the
distress call from the El Aurien refugees fleeing the assimilation of their homeworld by the Borg.
Two of their ships, the SS Robert Fox and the Lakul were caught in the gravimetric wake of
the Nexus energy ribbon, effectively being dragged along in the current of the storm
while bolts of energy and ambient radiation levels threatened the vessels. The crew managed to beam
out the survivors of the Lakul, including Soren and Guinan, but the Robert Fox was
lost to the energy discharges. The fate of the crew remains unknown, but the Lakul survivors,
at least for a time, experienced the strange effects of the Nexus itself.
Any being that enters the Nexus, if they survive the approach,
is transported into a realm where reality is shaped around them to create a paradise
tailored to the individual. The Nexus too, exists outside of linear time, which explains
the high levels of temporal energy that wash out from it. Flying into the energy ribbon itself
usually results in the destruction of the ship as it cannot withstand the gravitational forces,
chaotic blasts of energy and virulent radiation produced by the tear. Soren’s research yields
that in order to maximise the safe entry into this Nexus, you’d have to be standing on a large
planetary body that would easily weather the storm. Star Trek: Generations ensues
so I’m not going to recap the entire plot here. This energy ribbon, after being encountered in
2293, passed out of Starfleet’s range and off on its orbital course. In 2332, it re-entered
federation space and according to apocryphal content, was monitored for as long as possible,
even at the cost of another Federation vessel, the Ambassador class USS Forrestal which was pulled
into the same conundrum that sized the El Auriens. In 2371, it reappears like cosmic clockwork,
although its course is slightly altered by the gravitational tampering of Doctor
Soren. Its next appearance would by in 2410, which it does in the video game Star Trek Online,
causing a whole new problem, but I’ll save that for that episode of my Story Series.
Another interesting thing that is noted about the Nexus is that because its contents exists out of
time with the rest of the universe, entering it at any point, effectively means you’ve always
been there and you can leave again (if you wanted to) at any point along the ribbons path in time or
space. This lack of time reminds me of the realms like the Celestial Temple of the Bajoran faith,
where the wormhole aliens dwell and is a common phenomenon with differing planes of existence.
Once you’ve entered into this Nexus, a part of you therefore never leaves, Guinan calls it an echo of
herself, forever a part of this strange realm. Incidentally, this is the reason given in some
books and behind the scenes for some El Aurien’s strange connection to space time, although a
quick disclaimer: this is not canon, only a theory and often the following traits are attributed to
simple intrinsic properties of being an El Aurien. Guinan has displayed the ability to sense when
time has been altered, perceiving temporal changes as things being wrong and this was because a part
of her consciousness is forever removed from the natural flow of time. She is still immersed in the
flow of time like the rest us, but on some level, she has a subconscious map of the river and how
it should flow, because her Nexus-touched mind is forever hovering above that map and can tell when
things have changed. I hope that analogy works. So moving on to what exactly the Nexus is,
and I think I have a simple answer. The Nexus is most likely a realm of subspace,
and I say that with more than just the nerve of technobabble behind me, so let’s look at the
proof. If you’ve seen my video speculating on what exactly subspace is (which I highly recommend,
I’m actually rather proud of that one), then you’ll know just how strange a place it can be.
We’ve seen subspace bubbles form and create pockets where reality is shaped
by the inhabitant’s mind and subconsciousness. The best example of this is the warp bubble accident
from TNG’s season 4 episode 5, “Remember Me”. In this event, Beverly Crusher is inadvertently
captured inside a pocket created by a warp experiment, which creates a temporary dimension,
shaped entirely by her own mind. In this realm, it was a facsimile of the Enterprise complete with
fictional crew that slowly vanished with time until the pocket dimension began to collapse.
We’ve seen evidence of the mind being able to shape subspace through willpower alone,
such as the realm where Suspiria and the Caretaker are originally from, these both very powerful
psionic beings, the Nacene. So there we have proof that certain layers of subspace are very
malleable and based entirely on a subjects thoughts, a state of affairs that the Nexus
shares strong similarities with. When Picard enters the Nexus,
his mind had been consumed recently by thoughts of his lack of family,
the death of his brother and nephew. Alongside the grief this understandably brought him, it made him
very aware that the family legacy of Picards would probably end with him. When he enters the Nexus,
his first situation is to find himself surrounded by a large family that he knew was his.
When Beverly Crusher was captured and placed into her own warp bubble by accident,
it was unexpected and she had been dwelling on the fear of losing those around her, fuelled by a
recent conversation with an aging friend, Doctor Quaice. The reality she ended up in was again,
shaped by her frame of mind. Initially she didn’t notice any difference in her surroundings,
experiencing exactly what she expected, the Enterprise and its crew. Soon however,
people began to disappear around her, having never have even existed in the first place,
a clear reflection of her fears upon entering this pocket dimension.
However, the nexus is always producing nice things, in many ways it alleviates
fears rather than acting on them. So there would have to be a reason for that to occur,
perhaps an ambient radiation that creates a mild sense of euphoria, this combined with the
ability to conjure up realities based on thought exclusively creates realities that are pleasant,
pleasurable and alleviate concerns. Once inside, the reality is shaped by the person’s conscious
thoughts too however, with even a strong enough desire to leave being facilitated.
As mentioned, leaving the Nexus is possible and you will reappear in
the standard universe at any point that was or will be along the Nexus’s journey, at any time,
but if the Nexus truly is timeless, then a part of you in theory will forever remain there.
I’ll also mention that this echo effect may also be the result or a transporter beam involuntarily
pulling someone out of the Nexus itself, as it did with the crew of the Lakul, which could
explain why Kirk and Picard were able to leave in full without experiencing any other side effects.
So yeah, we see that openings into subspace are seldom without
turbulence and high levels of space-time energies, such as gravitational forces and temporal issues,
wormholes are perfect examples of this, exhibiting both of these. It’s because of this, and the
reality bending effects inside that I assume the Nexus is a form of aperture to a deep subspace
realm, combined with some form of radiation, that pushes thoughts into a more chillax state.
Either that or the Q did it because they wanted to create a form of heaven where
they could drop their favourite mortals, I dunno. But that about sums up my theory on what exactly
the Nexus energy ribbon is. Honestly, I don’t know and apocrypha on the subject is equally as vague
but the idea of the Nexus is an intriguing one, perhaps it could be
a literally gateway to an afterlife, or the basis for numerous cultural ideas of a paradise.
Certainly much more mysterious than simply describing it as a subspace tear
emitting high gravitational and temporal energy.
Thanks for watching this video on the Nexus energy ribbon, and let me know if you’ve your
own theory as to what it is, or if you have encountered any others, it’s a Trek mystery
I’m genuinely intrigued by. So, thanks again for watching, I’ve been Ric, thanks again and goobye.