# Star Trek Squire of Gothos, Speculation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330 "2010-07-28T17:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/21 "2010-07-29T01:12:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > [@Todderbob](#): > > > > He could be a very old Q, looking like a child and acting like one, but I don’t think he could be a young Q, because Q-junior is the first new Q in a “long time,” isn’t he?. > > Apart from the Enterprise crew-member in TNG who discovers she’s the offspring of Q parents. But weren’t her parents _former_ Qs who’d given up/been stripped of their powers by the Continuum and turned into humans _before_ she was born? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/22 "2010-07-29T01:13:54Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Anyone notice how both Trelane and Q were flamingly effeminate? To quote my late father: “He’s not gay, just theatrical.” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/23 "2010-07-29T01:44:00Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > But weren’t her parents _former_ Qs who’d given up/been stripped of their powers by the Continuum and turned into humans _before_ she was born? Something like that, yeah. Still, the point is, it wasn’t all that long since the last New Q. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/24 "2010-07-29T01:52:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Remember the planet that will soon be invaded by klingons? Kirk goes to warn them and setup defenses. The people refuse to protect themselves. They are appalled by violence. Turns out they are highly advanced and stop the war. > > I always wanted to learn more about that race. It’s a shame none of the series revisited them. The Organians did not appear again in ST continuity after the events in “Errand of Mercy,” but they were the basis of the 4th season Enterprise episode “[Observer Effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_Effect).” Reed and Mayweather play hosts to two Organians who are observing the crew’s reaction to a virus which has been contracted by Trip and Hoshi. The Organians are on the Enterprise to determine whether the member species are advanced enough to make first contact with them. As the disease progresses, it causes them to call their policy of non-interference into question. The Organians start working on a process for first contact which later comes to pass in the 23rd century. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/25 "2010-07-29T01:56:04Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > > > Anyone notice how both Trelane and Q were flamingly effeminate? > > To quote my late father: “He’s not gay, just theatrical.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/26 "2010-07-29T02:17:52Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The look on Kirks face when he realizes that he was a child’s plaything is priceless. 😃 [Child?! He’s thirty-four years old!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_No_Fan_Has_Gone_Before) :mad: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/27 "2010-07-29T02:42:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > The look on Kirks face when he realizes that he was a child’s plaything is priceless. 😃 > > [Child?! He’s thirty-four years old!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_No_Fan_Has_Gone_Before) :mad: He’s also a [Klingon.](http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Koloth) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/28 "2010-07-29T03:43:06Z")
I saw the title of this thread and knew exactly where it was going. And in my personal canon, yep, he’s a Q. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/29 "2010-07-29T04:09:20Z")
Hijack: The Q obviously are distinct individuals. They have independent wills that can collide with one another, as in “The Q and the Gray.” The Q Continuum is not like the Borg Collective – and even the Borg have individual designations. So, why do all Q have the same name? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/30 "2010-07-29T04:20:20Z")
The Q don’t use names at all in the Continuum, it’s just an artefact of they’re dealing with humans, who do, that they end up acting like they’re all named Q. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/31 "2010-07-29T11:41:18Z")
When “Encounter at Farpoint” was first aired (a week before my wedding) I clearly remember saying to The Wife: “Trelane has grown from a spoiled child to a know-it-all teenager!” She looked at me with the condescending look reserved for spontaneous demonstrations of geekery. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/32 "2010-07-29T17:01:11Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Hijack: The Q obviously are distinct individuals. They have independent wills that can collide with one another, as in “The Q and the Gray.” The Q Continuum is not like the Borg Collective – and even the Borg have individual designations. So, why do all Q have the same name? They only _seem_ to call one another the same name. Since they have no trouble distinguishing among themselves when they are talking in a group, clearly there is some distinction in the way they say _Q_ that is too subtle for mortals to discern, but nonetheless obvious to them. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/33 "2010-07-29T17:39:57Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > They only _seem_ to call one another the same name. Since they have no trouble distinguishing among themselves when they are talking in a group, clearly there is some distinction in the way they say _Q_ that is too subtle for mortals to discern, but nonetheless obvious to them. Nah, that’s just a bizarre quirk you can pick up when you have a very common name. Back in high school I gamed at a place that had 5 or 6 Marks show up on any given Tuesday. We always knew which of us was being addressed when one of the Marks was talking, but anyone else who tried to just use “Mark” invariably got a response from the wrong one. Drove the non-Marks insane, it did. ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/34 "2010-07-29T19:08:15Z")
I for one, don’t think Trelane was a Q. Trelane seems to come from a recognizable family unit (‘you must forgive our child’), whereas Q (and the other Q we’ve seen) show no evidence of families or even of biology. It is implied in the dialogue at the end of the episode, by his parents, that whatever species he belongs to ages and matures. “You’ll grow up, Trelane.” Trelane relies at least partially on a device to enhance, control or generate his power. No Q uses such a device. And finally… there’s just no reason for it. Just because the two characters are both immensely powerful, there’s no reason to assume that they MUST be the same species. The Organians have inconceivable power, are they Q, too? I very much like the idea that there are more races out in the Star Trek universe than we can count. No need to start condensing them together. thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/35 "2010-07-29T19:14:58Z")
> [@thwartme](#): > > I for one, don’t think Trelane was a Q. > > Trelane seems to come from a recognizable family unit (‘you must forgive our child’), whereas Q (and the other Q we’ve seen) show no evidence of families or even of biology. > > It is implied in the dialogue at the end of the episode, by his parents, that whatever species he belongs to ages and matures. “You’ll grow up, Trelane.” > > Trelane relies at least partially on a device to enhance, control or generate his power. No Q uses such a device. > > And finally… there’s just no reason for it. Just because the two characters are both immensely powerful, there’s no reason to assume that they MUST be the same species. The Organians have inconceivable power, are they Q, too? > > I very much like the idea that there are more races out in the Star Trek universe than we can count. No need to start condensing them together. > > thwartme I think the reason people link Trelane and Q is that the former acts lik ea younger and brattier version of the John deLancie Q; it’s not the super-powers. No one finds Trelane reminiscent of the Prophets or Organians. If I were to commit to the fanwank, which I’m not going to (like it matters 😉 ), I’d agree that Trelane is the child of the deLancie Q and the Suzie Plakson Q, in his very early childhood. The continuum is outside the normal time stream, after all. Q-Junior decided he wanted to emulate Daddy, so he want to the “normal” universe seeking out the Federation starship Enterprise; he just picked the wrong one. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/36 "2010-07-29T19:42:36Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Why clearly? [Star Trek VI is full of dialogue about a neutral zone between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.](http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Neutral_zone) > It’s pretty clear from context there that they aren’t talking about the Romulan Neutral Zone, since that was effectively still a legitimate treaty zone during the run of, at least, ST:TNG. A neutral zone is not mentioned in any TOS episode. The purpose of the Romulan neutral zone is to separate the Romulans from the Federation - while the Klingons and the Federation clearly had their own territories, there was never any mention of violation of a neutral zone when their ships met. A DMZ, perhaps, ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/37 "2010-07-29T19:42:56Z")
What about [Apollo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Mourns_for_Adonis), is he a Q too? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/38 "2010-07-29T19:55:49Z")
I think the most powerful alien was Kevin in the Survivors. A creature so powerful that he wiped out an entire species (50 billion) everywhere with a single thought. Even the Q would be terrified of him. That’s one guy you don’t want to piss off. Kevin was a Douwd. > **[The Survivors (episode)](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Survivors_(episode))** > > The Enterprise investigates two survivors living on the only undamaged patch of land on a devastated planet. The USS Enterprise-D is en route to a Federation colony, Rana IV, which sent out a distress signal indicating they were under attack. When... The Survivors > [@](#): > > The Enterprise responds to a distress call from Rana IV, a Federation colony that is under attack from an unknown alien ship. When they arrive, they find the entire surface of the planet destroyed, save for a single house and two occupants. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/39 "2010-07-29T19:57:29Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] A neutral zone is not mentioned in any TOS episode. The purpose of the Romulan neutral zone is to separate the Romulans from the Federation - while the Klingons and the Federation clearly had their own territories, there was never any mention of violation of a neutral zone when their ships met. A DMZ, perhaps, [/QUOTE] Klingon Neutral zone was specifically mentioned in TWOK and ST VI. (I don’t recall if it is mentioned in ST-V). While they are not TOS television episodes, they still occur in the (later) TOS timeframe, and are considered canon. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330/40 "2010-07-29T20:27:09Z")
> [@mrklutz](#): > > Nah, that’s just a bizarre quirk you can pick up when you have a very common name. Back in high school I gamed at a place that had 5 or 6 Marks show up on any given Tuesday. We always knew which of us was being addressed when one of the Marks was talking, but anyone else who tried to just use “Mark” invariably got a response from the wrong one. > > Drove the non-Marks insane, it did. Gawd, you just had to drag the Marklars into it didnt you? 🙂 As for the human half Q girl, IIRC her parents were Q who chose to actually become human to have a human child (who might end up being Q ish (not that there is anything wrong with that)). Also, not sure if their chosing human form was temporary or permanent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-squire-of-gothos-speculation/548330.md?page=3)