EPISODE
The Best of Both Worlds
Attribution
Series:	The Next Generation
Written by:	Michael Piller
Directed by:	Cliff Bole
Production information
Episode no.:	3x26 and 4x01
Production no.:	174 and 175
First aired:	Part 1 - 18 June 1990 Part 2 - 24 September 1990
Chronology
Date:	2366 and 2367 Stardate 43989.1 to 44001.4

Summary

When the Enterprise is tractor beamed by a borg cube, Captain Picard is kidnapped and turned into a borg drone.

References

Characters

Beverly Crusher • Wesley Crusher • Data • Gleason • Guinan • J.P. Hanson • Geordi La Forge • Miles O'Brien • Jean-Luc Picard • William T. Riker • Dennis Russell • Elizabeth Shelby • Deanna Troi • Worf, son of Mogh

Referenced only 

Reginald Barclay • Horatio Nelson • Marguerite Sherman

Starships and vehicles

USS Enterprise-D (Galaxy-class) • USS Ahwahnee (Cheyenne-class) • USS Buran (Challenger-class) • USS Chekov (Springfield-class) • USS Firebrand (Freedom-class) • USS Gage (Apollo-class) • USS Kyushu (New Orleans-class) • USS Lalo (Mediterranean-class) • USS Liberator • USS Princeton (Niagara-class) • USS Tolstoy (Rigel-class) • USS Melbourne (Nebula-class)

Referenced only 

HMS Victory

Locations

Earth • Earth Station McKinley • Jouret IV • New Providence • Paulson Nebula • Saturn • Sector 001 • Sol system • Wolf 359

Referenced only 

Danula II • Sentinel Minor IV • Starbase 157 • Starbase 324 • System J-25 • Zeta Alpha II

Races and cultures

Betazoid • Borg • El-Aurian • Human • Klingon

States and organizations

Borg Collective • Starfleet • United Federation of Planets • Starfleet Command

Other

poker • report • yellow alert • Ops • distress signal • tractor beam

Appendices

Related stories

• TNG episode: "Q Who?" - "Q Who?" depicted the Enterprise's first contact with the Borg, preparing Starfleet for the coming of the Borg which was finally realized in this episode.
• TNG novel: Death in Winter - Captain Picard flashes-back to when Dr. Crusher tried to save him from the Borg and later saved him from their clutches.
• DS9 episode & novelization: Emissary - The opening of "Emissary" depicts the Battle of Wolf 359 from aboard the USS Saratoga. One of the themes in the episode from this is Sisko's coming to terms with the death of his wife, which he blames Picard for.
• TNG movie & novelization: First Contact - First Contact is a sequel to "The Best of Both Worlds" building upon Picard's time as Locutus.

• The Battle of Wolf 359
  • TNG video game: Borg - Borg depicts Q transporting a cadet back in time to the Battle of Wolf 359 and trying to save his father aboard the USS Righteous.
  • VOY comic: "Ghosts" - "Ghosts" established a temporal vortex opened during the battle, which several escape pods became trapped in. The vortex eventually opened in the Delta Quadrant where it pulled the USS Voyager in allowing them to witness the battle, and meet the people in the escape pods.
  • TNG comic: "Second Contact" - This X-Men crossover comic features another temporal anomaly, this time placing the X-Man John Proudstar as a member of the Saratoga's crew during the battle.
  • TNG novel: Greater Than the Sum - This novel establishes a Borg sphere was launched from the cube during the battle, taking assimilated personnel back to the Delta Quadrant.

• Aftermath of the Borg attack
  • TNG comic: "Loyalty" - This manga comic shows Starfleet's reaction to the Borg attack, in a hearing to decide whether or not Picard should be allowed to resume command of the Enterprise.
  • TNG episode: "Family" - This episode shows the Enterprise crew's recovery following "The Best of Both Worlds"; while the Enterprise undergoes repairs Picard visits his home in France to recuperate.
  • TNG comic: "Alien Spotlight: Borg" - This comic references the Locutus protocols, a series on contingencies put in place in case the Borg assimilated a Starfleet captain again, which were established following the Battle of Wolf 359 in this episode.
  • VOY novel: Homecoming - This novel refers to the Borg Entreaty, a speech given by a Wolf 359 widow.
  • DS9 comic: "Program 359" - This comic shows Benjamin Sisko using the holodeck to relive the Battle of Wolf 359, trying to find a way to win.

• Alternate realities
  • TNG short story: "Civil Disobedience" - In this Strange New Worlds short story Q witnesses a timeline where the Enterprise's deflector pulse weapon destroyed the ship, and thus the Borg went on to assimilate Earth. Q intervenes to disable the weapon, allowing the Enterprise to stop the Borg.
  • TNG comics: "The Worst of Both Worlds", "The Belly of the Beast", "The Armies of the Night", "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" - This four-part comic arc depicts an alternate reality where the Borg succeeded in assimilating Earth.
  • TNG novel: The Worst of Both Worlds - This Mirror Universe novel shows the mirror universe equivalent of the events of "The Best of Both Worlds", with Noonien Soong becoming Locutus rather than Picard and the Borg targeting Qo'noS rather than Earth.

• Locutus resurrected
  • TNG video game: Armada - In Armada The Borg make a clone of Picard to recreate Locutus to lead the Borg Invasion of the Alpha Quadrant.
  • TNG novel: Resistance - In this novel Picard willingly offers himself to the Borg for reassimilation, to become Locutus again, in an attempt to infiltrate a Borg cube and stop them.

Timeline

Images

The Borg Cube over Earth

Picard as Locutus

The Borg capture Picard

Data and Picard connect

New Providence

The cube waiting at the Paulson Nebula

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External links

• The Best of Both Worlds (episode) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• The Best of Both Worlds, Part II (episode) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.