What’s up my know-it-alls!? It’s the Mr. Know-It-All show, specifically the Know-It-All Files. That’s where I search the internet for your questions, this time specifically about Star Trek, and I go into depth and answer them for you, ultimately proving that I truly am a know-it-all.

Why Does Q Die in Star Trek: Picard?

The first question: in Star Trek: Picard, why does Q die when he’s omnipotent and all Q live forever?

Yeah, it came as a surprise to Q too.

I guess you want the real answer, though. John de Lancie is done with the role. How do you play an omnipotent, immortal being and still continue to get older? Eventually you have to write the character out, as much as we’d love to keep John de Lancie forever and ever and ever, especially with all that nifty de-aging technology we have today. But the truth is he’s done with the role.

And it’s not new. With Doctor Who they came up with a very clever concept, regeneration, so you can always swap out an actor when they’re done with the role. You also had the original, George Reeves, who played Superman in the old, old black and white days, and here he is turning 40 and running around in a leotard. The original Highlander TV series, same thing. The producers had a hard time with Adrian Paul. He’s getting older.

So at the end of the day you sit here and you say, okay, what’s the solution? And the solution clearly is you kill off the character. You find a reason, in a way that works in story and in canon, and I think they did that.

Of all the elements people like or dislike in Star Trek: Picard season two, and you can take or leave parts of it, and though it feels forced in some places, I genuinely loved the moments at the end where you get that nice resolution between Picard and Q, right as he’s about to send him off. I love that moment. I just ate it up. I’m a big sucker for that.

What I’d love to know is what it means for the Q. Is it because of John de Lancie’s desire to be done with the role? Does that affect canon and the other Q? Or should we just assume now that all Q have an actual expiration date of some sort?

Why Did Vulcan Let Spock Serve in Starfleet?

The next question: if Spock was from such a powerful family and knew T’Pau personally, why was he allowed by the Vulcans to serve in Starfleet and even risk his life?

Up until the 2009 film, we’d never actually seen firsthand Spock having to deal with these events. We’d heard about them somewhat, and they’d inferred that it was an act of defiance, versus him trying to find and discover who he is personally. Historically speaking, in non-canon, or B canon if you will, the books and novels and whatnot, you’re given the impression that Spock has always searched for who he is, only to finally discover who he was on the Enterprise, as a result of his friendship with Kirk and the others, and the events that eventually moved us to Reunification and onward and forward.

Spock was a half-breed, and he had to deal with the abuses of being a half-breed on a world that is almost xenophobically racist and bigoted. It doesn’t come from distrust or dislike of other species. It comes from logic: they figure they’re the better fit. Vulcans are an entire planet of narcissists. Take it from a recovering one. They literally are. Over time they learn to use that wisdom better, and they learn to treat everyone somewhat like a child species compared to themselves, and ultimately how they can always help.

I’m actually very interested to see, in the far-flung future that Discovery has laid out for us, the 34th and eventually 35th century, what they look like together. What that whole Romulan and Vulcan coming together means. Is this where Romulans eventually become like Vulcans? That’d be an interesting journey to see and discover moving forward.

What Is Uhura’s First Name?

The next question: what was Uhura’s first name in Star Trek?

The first time Uhura’s name is officially, canonically used is in the 2009 Star Trek film, when you find out that her name is Nyota.

Now, there’d been several times throughout the series that Nyota was dropped, but I believe it comes from a novel. If I’m wrong, there is a book, and I want to say it was in the Star Trek II biographies. I know it’s one of those extra books that you get when movies come out, the artwork, the concept art, all that nonsense. Something there labels her as Nyota, and I want to say it was a Star Trek II art book.

Anyways, the point is, Nyota is officially her name. In the original series they’d inferred several different, very African sounding names. I know Nichelle Nichols was very partial to Nyota, and was ultimately very happy that it ended up being considered the official canon name for her.

I know that I’m thrilled for Strange New Worlds to start up again, and to see everything that actress is putting into the character of Uhura. She’s bearing that standard now, now that Nichelle Nichols is no longer with us and has truly boldly gone. So I’m looking forward to seeing what the character has in store, and how that evolution continues.

Did Kirk Make a Mistake With President Lincoln?

The next one is about Captain Kirk’s desire to extend full, quote unquote, presidential honors, or diplomatic honors, to the then generated, recreated, however you want to call it, President Abraham Lincoln.

It’s Starfleet standard. He may not have been the president of Starfleet, or president of the Federation, or anything along those lines, but he absolutely, positively would be considered a diplomat and worthy of that level of respect. So no, I don’t think he made a mistake at all.

Default to what you know, man. You can sit here and be like, well, you’re just a figment of our imagination. Or you can say, you’re President Lincoln, let me show you the president’s suite, let me show you where we put all diplomats, and kind of walk him off that way. I don’t think it’s wrong or bad or whatever else. I think it’s right where it needs to be.

Should he have been like, whatever, man, put him in the bunk, like Shaw does for Picard and Riker in Picard season three? Can you imagine Lincoln sleeping in a bunk, with some lower decker beneath him going, you good, Mr. Lincoln? What’s going on?

Why Would the Romulans Give Away the Cloak?

Time for one more. In Star Trek lore, the Romulans gave cloaking technology to the Klingons in exchange for the D7 class design. Why would the Romulans give away such a powerful technological advantage for just a few ships?

Okay, so remember, Romulan power at the time was sheer impulse. Their whole thing was, I want to do this, I want to do that, I want to conquer, and they didn’t have warp capability. So all of a sudden you’re introduced to another species, and it turns out to be Klingons. They seem to be down. You guys are equally idealistic. We don’t necessarily know if we trust you or not, but we do see you have an impressive piece of technology that would all of a sudden open up the stars. Which, by the way, according to Romulan history, were closed to them.

Remember, Vulcans at some point evolved to become Romulans, and they eventually broke off. The ones that wanted to become logical became the Vulcans we know, live long and prosper. The Vulcans that didn’t want to stay and be logical became Romulans, and they got on a ship and took off. Chances are, when they took off, they were going at some form of sublight, and they traveled for hundreds of years until they eventually arrived where they were. Meaning the Vulcans got about a hundred years or so of a jump on them, in terms of their history and their evolution.

So now you have this group who has traveled through space, maybe encountered one or two species, and eventually, well after they’ve established themselves in a home, they’re looking to expand. They have nowhere to go but space, and they don’t have the ability to actually travel in space the way they need to. How aggressive can you be, literally, as a species doing nothing but putzing around the universe at sublight speed?

So they’d need the technology, and they’d need the ship that lends itself to travel. I don’t believe the ramifications of giving cloaking technology away were understood, because they weren’t part of the bigger tapestry. But they need to go. They’re like, well, clearly there’s a universe out there we have to be a part of. So how about this. Hide and seek technology, here you go. Give us the ability to actually explore.

That’s all that mattered. The ability to conquer, the ability to go out.

When you think realistically about the scenario, you kind of go, okay, I get it. I totally get it. It’s something to keep in mind for how all of them move forward and progress. But I wouldn’t judge them too harshly for that.

Now You Know

So there you go, now you know, and if knowing is half the battle you’re halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.

I’ve got to tell you, I love doing the Know-It-All Files. Ask your questions. I’d love to hear more about the thought process you have on some of these scenarios, and if I’m wrong, if I’m right, let’s talk it through, man. Your knowledge may be deeper than mine. I’m a Trekker who jumped on at Next Generation season three, so what do I know? I know the name is Mr. Know-It-All, but you might know more than me.

NEVER FORGET, everyone loves a know-it-all!

Your turn. Do all Q have an expiration date now? Should Spock have stayed on Vulcan? Did Kirk get Lincoln right? And if you’re a Romulan historian of any kind, was the cloak for the D7 a good deal, or should they have bargained a little more? The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.