[horatio]

If I may devil's advocate for a moment:
Was Q ever insincere (i.e. playful lies don't count) to Picard? Is Guinan just a devil in disguise or a meddler like Commodore said who uses more subtle methods than Q?
For those who know the movie, is Q not somehow like Joe Pantoliano's character in Memento, an honest guy who appears like the opposite as opposed to the sweet-talking Guinan who might have a hidden agenda?

[Commodore]

Originally Posted by horatio

If I may devil's advocate for a moment:
Was Q ever insincere (i.e. playful lies don't count) to Picard?

Q has never outright lied to Picard, but he has been known to leave out some (frequently important) details for Picard to figure out on his own. Q's lies always had a ring of truth in them somewhere. Throughout the course of TNG, Q went from malevolent threat, to bothersome trickster, to unlikely teacher.

Is Guinan just a devil in disguise or a meddler like Commodore said who uses more subtle methods than Q?
For those who know the movie, is Q not somehow like Joe Pantoliano's character in Memento, an honest guy who appears like the opposite as opposed to the sweet-talking Guinan who might have a hidden agenda?

The $100,000 question that must be asked is what does Guinan stand to gain by involving herself in the affairs of others?

[Zardoz]

We know El Aurians are "listeners." We aslo know they can sense changes in time/space other beings cannot.

Also, we can assume they have a sense of non-linear existance and of more powers than they have let on. Guinan tried to defend herself from Q, in Q Who? Do El Aurians have powers to ward away the Q? Or even battle them?

[Tiberius1964]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

We know El Aurians are "listeners." We aslo know they can sense changes in time/space other beings cannot.

Also, we can assume they have a sense of non-linear existance and of more powers than they have let on. Guinan tried to defend herself from Q, in Q Who? Do El Aurians have powers to ward away the Q? Or even battle them?

I remember it was in "Yesterday's Enterprise" I think, Guinan was able to tell that something was wrong, and that Tasha wasn't supposed to be there. She could even remember something about how Tasha died.

One of my favourite all time moments in TNG was when Q showed up asking to join the crew because he'd been kicked out of the Q Continuum and had his powers stripped. No one, of course, believes him - until Guinan sticks a fork in his hand. He howls in pain and she says, "Seems human enough to me."

[Zardoz]

Originally Posted by Tiberius1964

I remember it was in "Yesterday's Enterprise" I think, Guinan was able to tell that something was wrong, and that Tasha wasn't supposed to be there. She could even remember something about how Tasha died.

One of my favourite all time moments in TNG was when Q showed up asking to join the crew because he'd been kicked out of the Q Continuum and had his powers stripped. No one, of course, believes him - until Guinan sticks a fork in his hand. He howls in pain and she says, "Seems human enough to me."

So we can assume that El Aurians have some sort of powers. We know the live a very long time by human standards.

[Commodore]

El-Aurians are powerful empaths (capable of sensing the moods rather than the actual thoughts of other people), but it is unclear if Guinan's ability to sense changes in the space/time continuum is something common to all El-Aurians or specific only to her because of her previous contact with the Nexus.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

The fact that she seems capable of defending herself seems to suggest it's more than just contact with the Nexus. I think if anything, Generations just watered down what it is to be El-Aurian.

[Commodore]

Actually, it's no fact at all that Guinan has any powers at all other than empathy. We certainly didn't see her ever demonstrate any. Her defensive posture with Q could have been just that, a defensive posture like one an unarmed martial artist may take against an armed opponent...

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

Originally Posted by Commodore

Actually, it's no fact at all that Guinan has any powers at all other than empathy. We certainly didn't see her ever demonstrate any. Her defensive posture with Q could have been just that, a defensive posture like one an unarmed martial artist may take against an armed opponent...

I don't know, not only does she take that stance but Q responds to it. It wasn't just reflex or something like that, she was ready for him. There is something more to it. Now, later on as the series and then the movies progress they may have left that idea behind. But there was definitely something to that scene.

[Commodore]

Originally Posted by Captain Tom Coughlin

I don't know, not only does she take that stance but Q responds to it. It wasn't just reflex or something like that, she was ready for him. There is something more to it. Now, later on as the series and then the movies progress they may have left that idea behind. But there was definitely something to that scene.

Unfortunately, because the idea was never touched upon again--nor even explained--it remains just some kind of funny gesture that Guinan did.

At the time "Q Who?" was written, it was not established exactly who or what Guinan was--the term "El-Aurian" wasn't coined until much later. For all intents and purposes, Guinan may have been meant to be a superbeing similar to Q, but after her people were later firmly established as a race of empathic listeners, it makes the idea of Guinan being able to truly ward off someone like Q now very unlikely, IMO.