A friend of mine asked a Star Trek question.

Why didn't the Federation know about the Borg after they took in Guinan's people, the El-Aurians, after the Borg decimated their civilization?

My belief isn't original, but I've never been one to keep my opinions to myself.

So here we do. Why didn't the Federation already know about the Borg before the Enterprise D encountered them?

Short answer, the didn't.

Long answer, they did, with a caveat.

And, of course, that caveat is Section-31.

First we have to go back to Star Trek: First Contact. In my second-favorite Star Trek film (Undiscovered Country is my favorite), the Enterprise E follows a Borg sphere back in time to the point after World War 3, just before Zefram Cochrane makes his warp flight and makes First Contact with the Vulcans.

Long story short (too late!), the Enterprise destroyed the Borg sphere, spreading wreckage across the Arctic.

I hold with the headcanon that Section-31 knew about the Borg from stories Zefram told when he was drunk. Eventually, during the Enterprise era, the Arctic wreckage was uncovered, and Archer's Enterprise encountered them. The Borg were stopped, and the Enterprise NX-01 crew was sworn to secrecy.

In the aftermath, Section 31 quickly covered up the incident but kept their eyes and ears open for further contact.

A century later, Section 31 covered up the El-Aurian disaster, where the Borg decimated their entire civilization.

Eventually, Section-31 encouraged the Hansen family to shadow the Borg once a cube at the edge of explored space was pinpointed. The assimilation of the Hansens led the Borg to investigate the Alpha and Beta Quadrant region.

In short, Q saved us all.

- Josh (09-02-2026)