What’s up, my know-it-alls? It’s time for another Know-It-All Files, and this one’s all Star Trek. I went online, I’ve been to Quora and Reddit, and I pulled your questions. If you’d like to ask one yourself, put it in the comments on the video and I’ll answer it in a future episode. I’d really love to begin to engage with the Know-It-All Nation on that level.

Where Did the Denobulans Go?

The question: other than what we see in Star Trek: Enterprise, what do we know about Denobulans and the place of Denobula within the Federation and its history?

Wow. Okay. In terms of the canon, we’ll call it prime, A canon, whatever, there’s really nothing. Beyond Dr. Phlox, I’m trying to think. I remember there was a quote from John Billingsley, the actor who played Dr. Phlox, who was a Denobulan, and he said that there are no Denobulans in the future. I remember seeing that article. I think there was speculation that Phlox’s species, by the time we get to the original series and eventually Next Generation, had essentially all died out. That’s a thing that happens. I think there was a novel where it talks about the Denobulans suffering heavy losses during the early days of the Earth-Romulan War, so that’s probably a big part of it.

But there are a lot of species like that. Bolians didn’t get much attention until years later. Deltans have pretty much been relegated to just the movies. So there are a lot of species that aren’t necessarily the popular ones, the ones that aren’t the Klingons, the Romulans, the Vulcans.

It’s one of those things that just happens when you have to deal with so many different species. From the creative standpoint, taking all this stuff off and just being real life, the writers and the showrunners and the whole bit, you forget sometimes. It’s hard to give everybody time, not to mention finding some place for them across the galaxy. Across the universe, rather.

I hope that answers your question. It felt like a really difficult one for me to answer, and I apologize.

The Borg Meet Species 10-C

The question: what would happen if the Borg encountered Species 10-C from Star Trek: Discovery and tried to assimilate them?

I don’t believe the Borg would try to assimilate them. I believe the 10-C are so vastly superior that the Borg would take note of them, steer clear of them, and then begin prepping to eventually try. I don’t think the Borg have evolved powerful enough or strong enough to do that.

If they did encounter them, I believe the 10-C would have either ignored them or treated them like they treated us, because of who they are. Remember, the 10-C do care about their children. There’s a paternal instinct. They’re caring. The minute dialogue was opened with them, real dialogue in Discovery, what happened? They talked. They absolutely talked. I feel like the 10-C would try to approach the Borg that way.

So let’s just say the Borg were not smart enough to steer clear. Let’s jump right into the scenario you’ve offered. The Borg bump into the 10-C. The 10-C would be like, “Hey, let’s try to communicate.” All lights and glowing things. The Borg would try to figure out how to communicate. And the minute they started communicating, you know what the Borg would say?

“We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.”

They would try. But here’s the thing. Let’s say you did assimilate a 10-C. You would suddenly have to have a ship that could handle them, which feels like an evolution that goes way beyond the Borg. I don’t know. We’ll see. Especially considering the Borg haven’t really evolved that much, not until you get to Picard.

Is Adam Soong Responsible for the Eugenics Wars?

The question: in Star Trek: Picard, was Adam Soong responsible for the Eugenics Wars happening, because he had his Project Khan and his ancestors experimented with augmented humans?

No. I don’t think he’s responsible for the Eugenics Wars. I believe he is just another cog.

I don’t believe the Eugenics Wars are the event we all believe they are, until I’m told differently. If you remember Voyager, when they went back in time, even they were like, “This is not what’s supposed to be happening this year.” 1996 is when the Eugenics Wars were supposed to take place. So the world changes, and time moves forward.

Now, obviously, we still had a Khan and everything else. So at some point in the future they do experiment with genetic manipulation, which is why there’s the ban on genetic manipulation. I do feel like there’s a world in which he is involved. But if I’m answering the question the way you’ve worded it, no. I do not believe Adam Soong is responsible.

Do You Need the Original Series?

The question: if a Star Trek fan has never seen the original series from the 1960s, do you think that at this point they’re missing a crucial piece of the franchise? Why or why not?

That’s a twofold answer. Yes and no. Yes, they’re missing information. No, it’s not crucial.

There’s so much filling in of the gaps now, and with shows like Strange New Worlds, I’m going to give you a very, very horrible hot take. You do not need to watch or be familiar with the original series.

What did you say?

Does it help? Absolutely. Absolutely, it helps. But you don’t need it. There are episodes I think you should watch. “The Trouble with Tribbles.” “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” “Amok Time,” of course. There’s a ton of really great episodes that tell you some things. But overall, we know Captain Kirk’s an awesome guy. We know this. We don’t need anybody to try to tell us otherwise.

At the same time, I feel like there’s enough information in existing Trek moving forward, meaning Next Generation, Voyager, all these other pieces, and now of course Strange New Worlds, that you don’t have to be exposed to it.

Let me know if you think otherwise. If your answer is “if you don’t watch the 1960s show, you’re absolutely not a Star Trek fan, get out of here,” I want to hear it.

Gravity Wells and Warp Drive

The question: why do some people continue to think gravity wells would have any effect on Star Trek’s warp drive, when decades of both alpha and beta level lore demonstrate otherwise?

I’m going to need you to cite some stuff. In the original Quora post there was no citing of these decades of alpha and beta lore that demonstrate what they’re talking about. In fact, I kind of feel like everything says the opposite.

Warp technology is in and of itself based around the concept of gravity. You have your inertial dampeners, you create a static warp shell. A warp bubble creates a gravity null zone. That’s why a ship can go so fast through space.

And heck, there’s that scene from Generations, the first Next Generation movie, where Data and Picard are in stellar cartography. It’s the first time you’ve seen stellar cartography in its own right, and it’s this giant three-story room where, as a chief engineer, I’m like, “Where is this room on the schematics?”

Anyway. Data points out that the main villain, when he destroyed a star, was changing the direction of this ribbon that everybody was trying to get to. The plot is irrelevant here. The science is what I’m talking about. Gravity affected this actual stellar body moving through space. So yeah, of course it’s going to affect warp. They even say it in the scene. With the Amargosa star destroyed, one of the things ships had to do was make some course corrections, and Data explains that any ship traveling through the sector will have to make a minor course correction because of it.

So I feel like canon, alpha, beta, whatever, is in favor of gravity affecting warp. I’m pretty sure I’m not wrong, but I’m totally open to hearing it if there’s another explanation.

Well, there you go. Now you know, and if knowing is half the battle, you are halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.

Got a Star Trek question of your own, or a citation that says I’m wrong about warp? Leave it in the comments on the video above and I’ll answer it in a future Know-It-All Files.