Let Sleeping Borg Lie (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

When the crew encounters a dormant Borg cube, Zero risks everything to save their ship.

Summary[]

Act One[]

With Gwyn's memories returned, the crew of the USS Protostar reviews the holodeck log from when the Diviner first told her of his mission and the true nature of the Protostar. The crew discusses the situation, and Hologram Janeway expresses disbelief that she wouldn't know about such a powerful weapon on the ship. Jankom Pog points out that she has had her memory wiped before, and she accepts his point. When the playback is about to show the hologram of Zero remove their containment suit, Zero hastily ends the program. They express their concern about hurting someone else and quickly leave the holodeck.

The crew searches the ship for the Diviner's weapon, and they eventually discover it in a secret subdeck underneath the bridge, accessed via a reaction with Gwyn's heirloom. However, they can't find a way to disarm or destroy the weapon from the future, since it somehow reshapes itself to avoid their phaser fire. Not long after, the proximity alert sounds and the crew returns to the bridge to see that they've come across a dormant Borg cube. Though Hologram Janeway strongly advises them to leave the area, citing how dangerous the Borg are, the crew decides that since the Borg have accumulated knowledge from across the galaxy, they may know how to disarm the weapon.

On the USS Dauntless, Admiral Janeway glumly orders black tea from a replicator, which surprises Ensign Asencia, as the admiral is not drinking her usual coffee. Janeway explains that she had to switch from coffee to tea on doctor's orders, though quips that she "needs a second opinion". But the ensign didn't come to talk about beverages.

The two go to sickbay and Janeway asks Doctor Noum about the comatose alien that they found at Tars Lamora– The Diviner. Noum states that the patient is recovering, but that he has no way of reviving him since he is unfamiliar with his biochemistry. Asencia has the idea to replicate the serum from alien's biosuit to see if it will help revive him. Her idea impresses both the admiral and the doctor. Asencia informs Janeway that they will arrive at relay station 721 within a few hours, and Janeway directs Dr. Noum to continue working to revive his patient.

Act Two[]

Hologram Janeway informs the Protostar crew that the Borg are dormant due to being infected with a neurolytic pathogen. The Protostar flies directly into the Borg cube and lands; most of the crew disembark, but Murf stays on the ship with Hologram Janeway. The crew explores the strange vessel and are frightened when they see a large number of Borg drones. Zero leads the crew to the vinculum, from which they intend to directly access the information stored by the Borg. However, Jankom is unable to access the information because the viniculum does not have a console that can be used without being part of the Collective. The crew realizes someone will have to allow themself to be assimilated in order to access the information. Zero volunteers since Medusans, like the Borg, are of a hive mind; Zero's experience living as part of a Medusan collective will give them a better chance at resisting the Borg's collective will.

Zero promises Dal that they will return safely from being assimilated, and then plugs themself into the Borg Collective. Inside the hive mind, they introduce themself to the Borg and are surprised that the Borg are unbothered by their appearance. The Borg inform Zero that they will be assimilated, and Zero struggles to resist, overwhelmed by the hive mind.

Meanwhile, the dormant Borg inside of the cube begin to awaken and approach the Protostar crew. Hologram Janeway is unable to beam the crew out due to interference, and they must flee, chased by Borg attempting to assimilate them. The crew ultimately fails to escape from the Borg and attempts to fight them off, but after a short battle, everyone except Gwyn is defeated and captured by the Borg.

Act Three[]

Inside the Collective, Zero attempts to negotiate with the Borg and ask about the weapon on the Protostar, but the Borg are not cooperative, and Zero must struggle to hold onto their sense of self. The Borg identify the weapon as the Living Construct, and state that they will assimilate it so they can use it as a weapon of their own; they also plan to assimilate the Protostar crew, starting with Zero.

Janeway counsels Gwyn not to appear threatening, so she puts away her heirloom; just as Janeway advised, the Borg now ignore her. Gwyn searches the Borg cube and finds Dal, Jankom and Rok-Tahk in an assimilation chamber, restrained and being prepped for assimilation. Just then, Zero arrives, but the crew are shocked to see that Zero has already been turned into a Borg drone.

Zero attempts to assimilate Jankom, expressing their regret for hurting their friends in the past and saying that they will no longer hurt anyone now that they are Borg, but will assimilate them instead. Gwyn brings Zero back from being assimilated by telling them that she appreciates them trying to protect her even though she got hurt; she reminds them that the Protostar crew are their collective, and declares that "resistance is not futile." Zero breaks free of the Borg Collective, sending out a shockwave that disables the other Borg drones in the area. The crew returns to the Protostar, and they fly the ship out of the Borg cube to escape.

Back on the Protostar, Zero reports that the weapon, called the Living Construct, can neither be deactivated or removed. Though the crew realizes this means they can't go to Starfleet, they decide that they can still use the ship to do good. They receive a distress signal and decide to help, with Dal as captain. When Hologram Janeway points out to Dal that he is "growing and adapting", Dal good-naturedly remarks that "resistance is futile."

Later, the Dauntless tracks the Protostar's last movement and discovers the destroyed comm relay station CR-721. Admiral Janeway realizes that Chakotay must no longer be in command of the ship, and vows to stop whoever destroyed the station.

Meanwhile, in sickbay, the Diviner suddenly wakes up, gasping for air.

Log entries[]

Admiral's log, Stardate 61284.3. We arrived at CR 721 only to make a frightening discovery: a helpless Starfleet relay station decimated, no sign of survivors. The Captain Chakotay I know could never do this. I fear he's lost command of the Protostar, and whoever gave this order must be stopped.

Memorable quotes[]

"Look, Jankom fully understands he needs to be sensitive, but… THERE'S A WEAPON ABOARD OUR SHIP THAT WE GOTTA FIND!!!"

- Jankom Pog

"No way Jankom flies in a box!"

- Jankom Pog, who doesn't want to be assimilated by the Borg and forced to fly on something Jankom doesn't even recognize as a ship

"You aren't actually considering boarding that ship? I'm an advisor. I advise you to run away as fast as you can."

- Hologram Janeway, to the Protostar crew

"Tea… black."
"Admiral, you're not drinking coffee?"
"Doctor's orders. Between you and me, Ensign, I need a second opinion. But I know you didn't come here to talk about beverages."

- Admiral Janeway and Asencia

"Can he hear me?"
"Not likely. Considering he seemed like a frozen corpse. Any sign of life means I'm a miracle worker."
"We need him awake if we're going to get any answers."
"Oh, oh, sure. Let me just wake him up. Except I don't know his neurological system functions, let alone what species he is."

- Admiral Janeway talking with a self-aggrandizing and sarcastic Dr. Noum about their patient, the Diviner

"I wish I knew how to kiss tail like that, Ensign. Keep it up and we'll be taking orders from you…"

- Dr. Noum, to Asencia

"Oh great, the Borg never assimilated a turbolift?"

- Jankom Pog, realizing they will have to climb to reach their destination in the Borg cube

"Resistance is futile."

- Rhino Borg

"You will be assimilated."
"Eh, I'm good."

- Borg drone and Dal

"We all get hurt, Zero. It's the risk we take for revealing pieces of ourselves to each other. But what you did, trying to protect me, was an act of love, and you should never feel ashamed for that. If there's any part still listening, protect us again, Zero. Break free from their hold. Resistance is not futile."
"Resistance is... not futile? I will resist, because I am already a part of a collective that is stronger than you will ever be!"

- Gwyn inspires an assimilated Zero to break free from the Borg Collective

"While I may have harmed others in the past, I now choose to save. The same is true for our ship. It may be a weapon against Starfleet, but it can still be used for good."

- Zero

"What do you think? Five minds are better than one."
(Murf squeals in Murfese)
"I stand corrected, 5 and a half."

- Dal and Murf

"We may not be ready for Starfleet, but we're ready to take your orders, Captain."
"Then let's do some good. Plot a course."

- Zero and Dal

"You're growing and adapting."
"Eh, what can I say? Resistance is futile."

- Hologram Janeway and Dal

Background information[]

Title[]

The title was announced by Paramount+ in 25 October 2022. [1] The title was erroneously listed on Crave as "Let Sleeping Borgs Lie".
It is a reference to the phrase, "Let sleeping dogs lie", meaning to allow something that is currently harmless to remain so by not bothering it. The same phrase was also the basis of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode title "Sleeping Dogs".

Continuity[]

The Protostar crew replays the events of "A Moral Star, Part 2" on the ship's holodeck.
The Protostar encounters a dormant Borg cube that was disabled by a neurolytic pathogen. Future Admiral Janeway introduced such a pathogen to the Borg Collective in the Star Trek: Voyager finale, "Endgame".
The crew is briefed by Hologram Janeway on the Borg, whom she strongly suggests they should avoid, and advises them to locate the ship's vinculum, first encountered in the Voyager episode "Survival Instinct" by the real Captain Janeway's crew. Following the Protostar's Borg encounter, the relieved Hologram Janeway confesses, "I've had enough Borg for two lifetimes."
While commenting on the familiar appearance of the disabled Borg cube in this episode, Prodigy screenwriter Aaron Waltke suggestively tweeted the cube could be the ship that becomes the Artifact in Star Trek: Picard: "Newly built Borg invasion cube is functionally hobbled by Janeway’s neurolytic pathogen. Borg cube goes dormant. Still hobbled Borg cube is awakened by a Medusan. Cube moves on, tries to rebuild a new collective. Borg cube tries to assimilate the wrong Romulan ship. Maybe..." [2]
Captain Jean-Luc Picard learned to tolerate ordering his Earl Grey tea from the replicator on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but in contrast Admiral Janeway orders her Black tea with obvious disdain.
This episode marks the first instance of a Tellarite doctor, whose bedside manner is far different than that of most other doctors on Star Trek, but is quite fitting for him.
Jankom identifies Monotanium aperture valves aboard the Borg cube.
The Medusans were identified by the Borg designation "Species 802".
The crew encounters a Borg drone whose species was last seen on Tars Lamora in earlier episodes, identified in the credits as a Borg Rhino.
When the crew fights with the Borg, Rok tells them to keep changing the phase variance of their phasers to prevent the Borg from adapting, as has been done in multiple other Star Trek episodes featuring the Borg. Assumedly this is something Hologram Janeway briefed them on before they entered the Borg cube.