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Guinan was an enigmatic bartender who ran Ten Forward , the lounge aboard the USS Enterprise -D . She was well known for her wise counsel, which proved invaluable many times. Guinan was an El-Aurian , a race of "listeners" who were scattered by the Borg . Q , however, once suggested that there was far more to her than could be imagined. ( TNG : " Booby Trap ", " The Measure Of A Man ", " Galaxy's Child ", " Q Who ", " Deja Q "; Star Trek Generations )

  • 1.1 19th century
  • 1.2 21st century
  • 1.3 22nd century
  • 1.4 23rd century
  • 2 Aboard the USS Enterprise -D
  • 3 After the USS Enterprise -D
  • 4 Dealings with Q
  • 5.1 Fencing
  • 6.2.1 Jean-Luc Picard
  • 6.2.2 Beverly Crusher
  • 6.2.3 Wesley Crusher
  • 6.2.4 Geordi La Forge
  • 6.2.6 Ro Laren
  • 7 Alternate timelines
  • 9 Chronology
  • 10.1 Appearances
  • 10.2 Background information
  • 10.3 Apocrypha
  • 10.4 External links

Early life [ ]

Guinan was born on her homeworld sometime before the late 19th century . In her childhood, she had a Tarcassian razor beast as an imaginary friend. When she was troubled, she'd talk to it. She enjoyed imagining that she was curling up on its warm belly. As she grew older, she found that she talked to it less and less, but the idea of the creature always remained with her. ( TNG : " Imaginary Friend ")

As a mature adult, Guinan hid from her father on Earth (prior to the planet 's first official contact with an alien race), posing as a celebrated and obviously wealthy socialite in San Francisco , calling herself " Madame " Guinan. While there, she entertained such luminaries as Samuel Clemens . ( TNG : " Time's Arrow ")

19th century [ ]

Guinan and Data (1893)

Guinan and Data on Earth in 1893

In 1893 , Guinan encountered Data , from the 24th century , who claimed they were friends from the Enterprise . Guinan had no knowledge of this and when she expressed her absence of awareness about the situation, it allowed Data to quickly realize that he was dealing with the Guinan of this era rather than from his own time. She learned about his predicament and agreed to help in any way she could in stopping the Devidians and returning Data to the 24th century. She also met Jean-Luc Picard , William T. Riker , Geordi La Forge , Deanna Troi , and Dr. Beverly Crusher from Data's time. When Data prevented the Devidians from attacking them, he was decapitated but the rest of his body, along with Samuel Clemens and the Enterprise crew (sans Picard), traveled back to the 24th century. Picard stayed behind to make sure Guinan was all right. When Clemens helped Picard return, he saw to Guinan's wounds. ( TNG : " Time's Arrow ", " Time's Arrow, Part II ")

21st century [ ]

During the 21st century , Guinan owned a bar at 10 Forward Avenue in 2024 Los Angeles . She planned on leaving Earth, but met up with Picard, whom believed Guinan to be the Watcher . However, she led Picard to said watcher, Supervisor Tallinn . Guinan later helped Picard by contacting Q. However, to her confusion her technique did not immediately bring Q to her and Picard. She and Picard were then arrested by FBI agent Martin Wells . ( PIC : " Watcher ", " Monsters ")

In the FBI's custody, Guinan denied being an alien and called Agent Wells crazy. Guinan was then called to another room while Wells interrogated Picard personally. Guinan was later interrogated by Q , who complained about her summoning him. Guinan thought she sensed Q's fear about himself dying and that Q was unable to vaporize her by snapping his fingers. She demanded to know what his plans with Picard, but Q evaded her questions. She was then left in the room. Guinan was able to project herself into Picard's mind, telling him what Q said about all humans being stuck in the past. She then joined Picard and the two of them were let go by Wells. Guinan admitted to Wells that she was not from Earth and floated the idea that Wells was meant to encounter non-humans in order to eventually be there to help Picard. Guinan then wished Picard good luck and hope to meet him more properly. ( PIC : " Mercy ")

After her encounter with Picard, Guinan became a good friend to Cristóbal Rios , Teresa Ramirez , her son Ricardo , and Renée Picard who frequented her bar every time they were in Los Angeles. ( PIC : " Farewell ")

22nd century [ ]

Guinan had "some dealings" with Q sometime during the 22nd century and also other members of the Q Continuum , some of whom she said "were almost respectable." Her relationship with Q was evidently hostile. Centuries later, Q described Guinan as an "imp" and stated, " Where she goes, trouble always follows. " Around the 22nd century, Guinan, according to Q, went by another name. ( TNG : " Q Who ")

23rd century [ ]

Chekov meets Guinan

Guinan assisted by Pavel Chekov in 2293 after being pulled from the Nexus

Following the destruction of her homeworld by the Borg in the 23rd century , Guinan became a refugee aboard the SS Lakul in 2293 . She, along with the rest of her ship, subsequently became caught in the Nexus , an experience she described as "being inside joy." She was rescued, among 46 others, shortly before the destruction of the ship by the USS Enterprise -B and assisted by Pavel Chekov . Along with most of the other El-Aurian refugees, Guinan was traumatized upon being pulled out of the Nexus. In 2371 , Captain Picard conferred with the "echo" of Guinan who remained in the timeless Nexus and, with her help, was eventually able to leave the Nexus. ( Star Trek Generations )

Aboard the USS Enterprise -D [ ]

Guinan, 2365

Guinan in 2365

Guinan came aboard the Enterprise -D in 2365 , at Captain Picard's personal request. Guinan and Picard shared a long-time relationship, which, according to Guinan, went "beyond friendship and beyond family." ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ") At that time, there were rumors among the Enterprise -D crew that she had met Picard when he was the commanding officer of the USS Stargazer . However, to protect the timeline, she lied by saying she only knew Picard after boarding the Enterprise . ( TNG : " The Child ")

In Ten Forward, Guinan kept a selection of alcoholic beverages for special occasions. These drinks included a bottle of Aldebaran whiskey given to her by Captain Picard. ( TNG : " Relics ")

Her quarters aboard the Enterprise -D were located on Deck 8 , Room 3150. She also had an office located on Deck 10, adjacent to Ten Forward. ( TNG : " Q Who ")

As lounge host, Guinan made herself available to anyone in need, especially to the senior staff , as an informal counselor .

In mid- 2366 , Lieutenant Commander Data believed spending time in Ten Forward, observing Human social interaction, would be beneficial for his android "offspring" called Lal . With Guinan's guidance, Lal worked as a waitress for a brief period. ( TNG : " The Offspring ")

Guinan, age 12

Reverted to age twelve

No stranger to the phaser range , Guinan once beat Worf on Level 14, firing left-handed. ( TNG : " Redemption ")

Guinan firing her Magus III energy weapon

Guinan defuses a tense situation in Ten Forward with the aid of a rifle

When, in 2367 , REM sleep -deprived crewmembers began to draft conspiracy theories about the Enterprise being unable to escape a Tyken's Rift , Guinan was able to defuse the situation, thanks to an energy-beam rifle she had acquired on Magus III . ( TNG : " Night Terrors ")

In early 2369 , Guinan, together with Captain Picard, Ro Laren , and Keiko O'Brien , was affected by an anomaly that caused them to revert to the bodies of twelve-year-olds due to the effects of a molecular reversion field . While Captain Picard temporarily stepped down from command , a group of Ferengi commandeered the Enterprise . Believing Guinan to be a child, they confined her to a classroom aboard the ship. She, Picard, Ro Laren, and Keiko O'Brien, however, with the help of Alexander Rozhenko , were able to devise a plan to retake the Enterprise from the Ferengi. ( TNG : " Rascals ")

Guinan, 2367

Guinan sitting at Picard's desk in his ready room

Guinan, 2371

Guinan in 2371

In 2371 , Guinan cautioned Captain Picard that Dr. Tolian Soran was seeking to return to the Nexus, which Guinan described as a doorway to a paradisiacal place. She also warned Picard that anyone who entered the Nexus would never want to leave it and that, should someone be forcefully taken away from the Nexus, their desire to return to it might make them extremely dangerous. When Picard was trapped in the Nexus shortly thereafter, an "echo" of Guinan that had remained there after the rest of her left the Nexus reminded him to focus on his mission: to prevent Soran from destroying the Veridian sun . With the help of Captain Kirk , Picard succeeded in stopping Soran and was able to escape from the Nexus. Guinan, meanwhile, was among many individuals who survived an emergency crash landing of the Enterprise . ( Star Trek Generations )

After the USS Enterprise -D [ ]

Guinan, 2379

Guinan at the Riker-Troi wedding in 2379

After the destruction of the Enterprise -D, she attended the wedding ceremony of Deanna Troi and William Riker in 2379 . ( Star Trek Nemesis )

By 2401 , Guinan had returned to running a bar at 10 Forward Avenue in Los Angeles. She had adjusted her physical aging to appear older, as she had observed that Humans " don't like to be reminded of their mortality. " ( PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

Following Picard's return from 2024 , he visited Guinan who apologized for not telling him sooner about their meeting in the past. Guinan was sure that if she guided him right and set Picard straight, he'd circle around eventually. Guinan also thanked Picard for setting her straight first. Guinan then drew Picard's attention to a picture of Cristóbal Rios behind the bar and revealed that Rios and Teresa Ramirez had started a medical movement together, the Mariposas and led them through hard times to help those in need while Ricardo put together a team of the brightest minds in the world and they found a way to heal the ocean and clean the sky using the alien organism found by Renée Picard on Europa . Having become close friends with Rios and his family, Guinan shared funny stories of his life with Picard before revealing the details of Rios and Teresa's deaths. Guinan then joined in Picard's toast to family alongside Seven of Nine , Raffaela Musiker and Elnor . ( PIC : " Farewell ")

Later that year, Guinan decided to capitalize on the occasion of Frontier Day by selling small models of various starships Enterprise in her bar. ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

In 2402 , the former senior staff of the Enterprise -D gathered at 10 Forward Avenue and stayed long past the bar's closing time. Geordi La Forge claimed that Guinan had been giving them " the side-eye for the last half an hour " and Deanna Troi speculated that Guinan was doing so because Beverly Crusher had drank too much of the bar's stock of bloodwine . ( PIC : " The Last Generation ")

Dealings with Q [ ]

Guinan reacting on Q

Guinan's first meeting with Q aboard the Enterprise -D, in 2365

Guinan met Q again aboard the Enterprise in 2365, at which time Q was surprised to see her; he also questioned whether the name given was her current alias, indicating that she had used another name upon a previous encounter. He advised Picard to get Guinan off the ship, and added he would be more than pleased to "expedite her departure." In response, Guinan raised her hands, implying she had a special ability to defend herself from Q's powers. However, Guinan did not take any further action against Q as, before she could do so, he returned his attention to Picard with a dismissive taunt aimed at Guinan: " Enough about this creature; she's diverting us from the purpose of my being here. "

Although Q then remarked that Humanity was not ready for what awaited it, Guinan defended Humans, arguing that they "learn to adapt." As Q continued making his proposals to Picard, Guinan let off a snort of disgust, then protested Q's throwing the Enterprise into the verges of space.

After the encounter, Guinan talked to Picard about how Q had set a series of events in motion. Their contact with the Borg, she claimed, had come long before it should have. When they were ready, it might have been possible to establish a relationship with the Borg, but for then Humanity was only raw material to them. In addition, since the Borg were aware of their existence, they would be coming. Picard responded that Q might have done the right thing for the wrong reasons, as the Federation needed a good kick in its complacency to get it ready for what was ahead. ( TNG : " Q Who ")

Q and Guinan (2366)

A powerless Q meets Guinan; not a moment he had been looking forward to

Guinan's second encounter with Q while on board the Enterprise came a year later, in 2366 . Q was, at the time, stripped of his powers by the Continuum and requested asylum aboard the Enterprise , a request Picard reluctantly granted. When Data informed her that the captain and much of the crew were not yet convinced Q was truly Human, Guinan casually picked up a fork from beside a patron's plate on the bar and stabbed Q's hand. When the latter cried out in agony, Guinan commented, " Seems Human enough to me. " She told Q he was a pitiful excuse for a Human and the only way he was going to survive would be by the charity of others. After he was attacked by the Calamarain and lying on the floor of Ten Forward crying out for help, Guinan observed this dispassionately from a short distance away, remarking " How the mighty have fallen. " Q's powers were later restored by the other members of the Continuum. ( TNG : " Deja Q ")

Personal interests [ ]

Fencing [ ].

Picard and Guinan (2368)

Picard and Guinan, shortly after Picard won their fencing match

In late 2368, Guinan was coached by Picard in fencing . In a series of matches later in November of that year, she lost the first match that day, saying she didn't think she liked the sport. Picard replied she liked it well enough two weeks prior, when she scored two touches on him.

They then took a moment to relax and soon found themselves talking about Hugh , the Borg drone Picard had allowed to be taken on board. To Guinan's question whether taking Hugh on board was wise, Picard replied it was an errand of mercy, and that Dr. Crusher decided for humanitarian reasons to care for him.

They rose again for their second match in which they advanced and retreated a few times, parrying. Then Guinan lunged, stumbled and grabbed at her leg – apparently she had pulled a muscle. Picard lowered his foil and started toward her in concern. Suddenly Guinan was upon him, swiftly knocking the foil from his hand and scoring a touch upon his chest. " You felt sorry for me, " she said. " Look what it got you ." She did, however, after speaking with Hugh herself, change her opinion on the matter. ( TNG : " I Borg ")

Personal relationships [ ]

Guinan was born sometime prior to the 19th century, Earth calendar. Her father was seven hundred years old as of the 24th century . ( TNG : " Rascals ") In her life, Guinan married twenty-three times and had "a lot" of children . ( Star Trek Nemesis ; TNG : " Evolution ") She had a good relationship with her maternal uncle Terkim , who she described as " sort of the family misfit. " ( TNG : " Hollow Pursuits ") However, Guinan once had some relatively unusual (for her species) difficulty with relating to one of her sons, as he wouldn't listen to anyone. After several hundred years, Guinan managed to persuade him to open up to her, convincing him to do so just by listening to him, though she didn't initially realize she was thereby shaping him. ( TNG : " Evolution ")

Friendships [ ]

Riker Wesley Guinan

Riker "pretends" to be flirting with Guinan

Immediately upon coming aboard the Enterprise , Guinan was able to draw the attention of many people because of the mysteries surrounding her age and origin. Except for Captain Picard, none of the Enterprise crewmembers had met her, but she soon developed a friendly relationship with many members of its senior staff. ( TNG : " The Child ", " Time's Arrow ")

In 2365 , Guinan and Riker attempted to counsel Wesley Crusher regarding his relationship with Salia . As Riker pretended to flirt with Guinan, they proved their own advice inadvisable. ( TNG : " The Dauphin ")

Jean-Luc Picard [ ]

Guinan and Jean-Luc Picard shared a long-term relationship, which, according to her, went "beyond friendship and beyond family". ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ") Picard also made a similar confession, stating that their relationship was something that went "far beyond friendship". ( TNG : " Time's Arrow, Part II ") She also once said to Geordi La Forge that she was attracted to bald men, because a bald man once took care of her in a time of need. ( TNG : " Booby Trap ") In return, Picard once remarked that Guinan was "very selective about whom she calls a friend". ( TNG : " Ensign Ro ")

Guinan and Picard (2365)

Picard and Guinan talk about Data's rights as a sentient being. " ...the past always resonates in the present, and decisions made today reach into the future. "

Guinan often advised Picard in times of dilemma. In 2365, Data's rights as an individual were challenged when cybernetics expert Commander Bruce Maddox wanted to disassemble the android for study. Picard challenged Maddox's assessment before the local Judge Advocate General . As the hearing neared its end, Picard admitted to Guinan he feared he was losing the case. Guinan asked what Maddox would gain if he should be successful in disassembling and reassembling Data. Picard responded that he would possess the ability to build many more androids. He remembered Guinan's words that the decisions we make today have implications for the future, and so Picard reasoned that if it were decided that Data was indeed Starfleet property, all future androids would be also. Guinan noted there was an ancient word for that – slavery . Eventually, Picard won Data's case by pointing out that an entire race of Datas would be used as slaves – strictly against Federation principles. ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ")

Guinan also participated in several recreational activities with Picard. In 2367, she featured as cousin Gloria in one of Picard's Dixon Hill holonovels . She, however, was not much impressed with the program. ( TNG : " Clues ")

Besides joining Picard on the holodeck, Guinan occasionally shared a game of chess with him, and Picard also coached her in fencing in 2368, begun when she considered exercise to strengthen her arm. Shortly prior to their match, the Enterprise had taken on board a Borg drone, at that point named Hugh. Although Guinan initially questioned Picard's decision in that matter, she was convinced by La Forge to speak with the former drone. She could not help but acknowledge that this Borg was developing a personality, becoming an individual. Upon her conversation with Hugh, she convinced Picard to speak with him as well. ( TNG : " I Borg ")

Beverly Crusher [ ]

Beverly Crusher and Guinan (2366)

Beverly and Guinan talk about Wesley

In 2366 Beverly Crusher, seeing her son socialize with other teenagers, asked Guinan whether she had any children. Guinan replied she had a lot, and Crusher inquired whether she had ever had trouble with any of them. Guinan said she had with one who went through a phase when "he wouldn't listen to anybody" – something unusual "in a species of listeners." Asked how he had grown out of it, Guinan explained a mother shapes her child in ways she doesn't even realize, sometimes just by listening. ( TNG : " Evolution ")

When Crusher was relieved of duty in 2369 , Guinan visited her in her quarters, claiming she sought treatment for her tennis elbow , which she claimed was caused by an unsuccessful tennis match with Geordi La Forge. As Crusher began to talk about her recent actions, she explained she had illegally performed an autopsy on the Ferengi scientist Reyga , who had appeared to have committed suicide . As Crusher later found out, the Takaran scientist Jo'Bril had in fact murdered Reyga in order to discredit the Ferengi. Upon Guinan's encouragement, Crusher eventually discovered Jo'Bril's plan, prevented him from stealing Reyga's research data, and proved the technology was valid. She was exonerated and returned to duty shortly following the incident. In order to thank Guinan for her encouragement, Crusher presented her with a state-of-the-art tennis racket , upon which Guinan admitted she had never played tennis. ( TNG : " Suspicions ")

Wesley Crusher [ ]

In early 2365, Wesley Crusher was reluctantly preparing to leave the Enterprise and join his mother, who had departed to become head of Starfleet Medical . When he was staring out the windows of Ten Forward, Guinan approached him, asking him whether he wanted anything to drink. As they talked, Guinan asked him three more times during their conversation, and when Wesley pointed that out, she replied it was what she was expected to do, asking if he didn't always do what was expected of him. He tried to reply, because sometimes you have to consider others more than yourself. Guinan responded that the question was to know when to consider yourself more than others and to give yourself permission to be selfish. Their conversation made Wesley decide to stay on board the Enterprise after all. ( TNG : " The Child ")

Geordi La Forge [ ]

Guinan and Geordi La Forge (2366)

La Forge asks Guinan for advice after his date with Christy Henshaw went troubled. " Always room at the bar for another broken heart. "

Guinan would often advise, or rather cheer up, Geordi La Forge after one of his dates went poorly. Thus, in early 2366, La Forge sought her advice after his date, Christy Henshaw , admitted she was not in love with him. When La Forge asked about what Guinan sought in a man, she replied she was attracted to bald men, because long ago one saved her life (Picard had "saved" the 19th century Guinan by remaining with her as she was injured by a time portal, as help came by). La Forge went on explaining that he never knew what to say around women. When Guinan remarked that he did not appear uncomfortable at the time, La Forge replied that he wasn't "trying" when he was speaking with her. Guinan replied: " That's my point ", making him realize he was only uncomfortable when trying to chat up a girl. A few days later, La Forge found himself rather smitten with a holographic recreation of Dr. Leah Brahms . ( TNG : " Booby Trap ") A little over a year later, he got the chance to meet the real Dr. Brahms and found her much less charming than her holographic version. At the time, he again sought Guinan's advice. ( TNG : " Galaxy's Child ")

Guinan beats Worf at phaser range

With ease, Guinan defeats Worf on the phaser range

In mid- 2366 Guinan first approached Worf, introducing him to the Terran beverage of prune juice . Although the drink was generally unpopular among Humans, Worf called it "a warrior's drink". As Guinan sat down at his table, she asked Worf why he always sat alone. Worf looked at her with vague irritation as the conversation was venturing into areas he preferred to avoid. Worf replied he would require a Klingon woman for companionship as Human females were too fragile. Despite Guinan's claim that she knew one or two women on board who might find him a bit tame, Worf laughed and refuted this as "impossible". Guinan teasingly called him a coward for not wanting to meet them, upon which Worf replied he was merely concerned for the safety of his crewmates. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ")

When the Klingon Civil War erupted in 2367, Worf was torn between remaining in Starfleet service and joining Gowron against the House of Duras . While practicing their skills in the phaser range , Guinan asked Worf how his son, Alexander , was doing. Worf replied he was having difficulties adjusting to life on Earth, to which Guinan responded that the time would come when Alexander would find out what it really meant to be Klingon , just as the time had now come for Worf. Worf would later request a leave of absence, and with the help of Captain Picard would reveal Romulan assistance to the Duras cause in the civil war. ( TNG : " Redemption ")

Ro Laren [ ]

Guinan and Ro Laren (2368)

Guinan talks with Ensign Ro Laren

When the Bajoran Ensign Ro Laren came aboard the Enterprise in 2368, she immediately drew everyone's attention. After discussing Ro with La Forge, Guinan sat next to Ensign Ro in Ten Forward. Although Ro initially claimed she did not want any company, Guinan remarked that she would have stayed in her quarters if that were true. As they talked, Ro commented that Guinan was not like any bartender she had ever met, to which Guinan responded that Laren was unlike any Starfleet officer she had ever met and that this might be the start of an interesting relationship. Ro objected mildly to this, saying she never stayed anywhere long enough to make friends. Guinan said that she had just made one.

When Ro was later confined to her quarters, Guinan visited her there. Ro decided to confide in Guinan after her new friend told her that people like themselves, who had lost their homes, sometimes felt like they had no control over their own lives. Ro confessed she was in great trouble. Guinan advised that she herself had been in great trouble once and that she would still have been had she not trusted one man. This conversation was instrumental in Ro's decision to reveal to Captain Picard that Admiral Kennelly had made a pact with the Cardassians in order to eliminate Bajoran "terrorists". ( TNG : " Ensign Ro ")

When Guinan, Ro, Picard, and Keiko O'Brien were transformed into children, Guinan took the opportunity to enjoy her 'second childhood'. Ro, however, found the idea of 'enjoying' their current situation idiotic and pointless, particularly since Ro herself had not had much of a first childhood. Guinan took her feelings as a challenge, and during the time that followed tried to provoke Ro into enjoying their situation, such as jumping on the bed. Later, after they aided in defeating a group of Ferengi who had taken over the ship, La Forge and Data managed to return everyone to their proper age. Ro surprisingly now found herself reluctant to return to adulthood. When she didn't show up for treatment, Guinan went in search of her, finding her in her quarters drawing pictures of her mother with crayons. Guinan reminded Ro that she would need to 'grow up' again, but also said there was no rush, as she joined Ro in drawing. ( TNG : " Rascals ")

Ro remained on board the Enterprise and continued her friendship with Guinan until 2370 , when she decided to join a Maquis faction. ( TNG : " Preemptive Strike ")

Alternate timelines [ ]

Guinan, alternate 2366

Guinan in the alternate timeline

In an alternate version of 2366 that featured the Federation fighting a losing war against the Klingons , Guinan was still working in Ten Forward, though it was altered to befit the military nature of the timeline. She was the only one aboard who noticed the changes, which had followed upon the USS Enterprise -C arriving from the year 2344 . Data speculated that Guinan's species, El-Aurians, could perceive alternate timelines. Guinan advised Captain Picard to send the Enterprise -C back to its own time in order to restore the timeline, an idea Picard tried with success. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ") Guinan remained aware of the now-reverted changes in the restored timeline. ( TNG : " Redemption II ")

Hologram [ ]

Guinan hologram

The hologram of Guinan

As part of Reginald Barclay 's holo-addiction , he created a recreation of the USS Enterprise -D including a holographic duplicate of Guinan. ( TNG : " Hollow Pursuits ")

Chronology [ ]

Guinan San Francisco Register

Guinan, pictured in the 1893 San Francisco Register on Earth

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

  • " The Child " (Season 2)
  • " The Outrageous Okona "
  • " The Measure Of A Man "
  • " The Dauphin "
  • " Shades of Gray " (Archive footage from "The Dauphin")
  • " Evolution " (Season 3)
  • " Booby Trap "
  • " Yesterday's Enterprise "
  • " The Offspring "
  • " Hollow Pursuits "
  • " The Best of Both Worlds "
  • " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II " (Season 4)
  • " The Loss "
  • " Galaxy's Child "
  • " Night Terrors "
  • " In Theory "
  • " Redemption "
  • " Redemption II " (Season 5)
  • " Ensign Ro "
  • " Imaginary Friend "
  • " Time's Arrow "
  • " Time's Arrow, Part II " (Season 6)
  • " Rascals "
  • " Suspicions "
  • Star Trek Generations
  • Star Trek Nemesis
  • " The Star Gazer "
  • " Watcher "
  • " Monsters "
  • " Farewell "

Background information [ ]

Guinan, costume polaroid

Costume continuity polaroids of Guinan's costumes

Guinan sketch

A sketch of Guinan by Durinda Rice Wood

Guinan was played by Whoopi Goldberg , who was first introduced in the episode " The Child ".

According to the script for "The Child", Guinan was pronounced "GUY-nun." [2]

Whoopi Goldberg got the role of Guinan after she expressed interest to the producers, being a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series – mostly due to Nichelle Nichols , one of the first black women to be regularly featured in an American television series. ( Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book , Trek: The Unauthorized Behind-The-Scenes Story of The Next Generation ) When Goldberg learned that her friend LeVar Burton had been cast in a role on the new Star Trek series, she asked him to tell Gene Roddenberry that she wanted to be on the show too, but the producers thought she was joking and did not take the request seriously. The following year, Goldberg took it upon herself to contact Roddenberry directly. ( Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book ) According to Roddenberry, Goldberg called him up and said, " I am a Star Trek fan, I was a Star Trek fan long before I was ever Whoopi Goldberg, and I'm wondering if there's some part I can play in your show. " ( The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next ) According to Maurice Hurley , Roddenberry and Hurley thought this was a joke by Goldberg and asked her if she would really work on The Next Generation ; Goldberg replied, " I am successful now and I can do what I like! " ("Mission Overview, Year Three – Whoopi Goldberg", TNG Season 2 DVD special features)

Roddenberry had originally intended the Enterprise 's bartender to be played by "the most beautiful girl in all creation." ( Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special ) When Whoopi Goldberg asked him for a role in his new Star Trek show, he gave it to her and rewrote the character in the process. ( Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations': The Multicultural Evolution of Star Trek , Heidelberg: Winter, 2004)

Guinan was named for Texas Guinan , a famed female saloon owner from Texas during the early 20th century. ( Star Trek Encyclopedia  (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 321); "Mission Overview Year Three – Guinan Returns", TNG Season 3 DVD special features) Goldberg described Guinan as primarily " a cross between Yoda and William F. Buckley , " but admitted that she put a lot of her own personality into the character as well. ( Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book ) She also had a backstory in mind to explain how Guinan knew Picard and how she had come to be aboard the Enterprise . " In my mind, " she explained, " I always believed that Guinan was the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great, couple more greats, grandmother of Picard. And the reason she's on the ship is just to see how he's doing. 'Cause, you know, she can go anywhere at any time. " ( 50 Years of Star Trek )

In the first draft story outline of " The Best of Both Worlds ", only a single reference to Guinan was made, as she was stated to give "a little support" to a research team, consisting of Wesley Crusher , Geordi La Forge , and Data , while they figured out a potential tactical vulnerability in the Borg. [3] However, she doesn't do that in the final edit of the episode, in which she features in only one scene, where she instead has a chat with Picard.

Guinan wasn't mentioned at all in the story outline for " Family " (while that episode had the working title "Crossroads"), despite having one scene in that installment, too. [4]

As evidenced by the first draft script of TNG Season 6 outing " Relics ", Guinan was originally to have been included in that episode. She would have met Montgomery Scott and voiced a doubt about him claiming to have been drinking Scotch before she had been born. She eventually served Scott a green drink, the contents of which she was uncertain about. In the final draft of the script, though, Guinan's role in the episode was rewritten with a waiter and Data instead, the final version of the scene containing only a reference to Guinan. [5]

Regarding Guinan's taste for large hats, the first time she is seen without a hat is on the fencing court in " I Borg "; the first time she is seen without headgear of any kind is in Star Trek Generations . (When in Human costume, or disguise, in " Clues " or " Time's Arrow ", she has always accessorized with an era-appropriate hat.)

In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Rivals ", the writers, Jim Trombetta and Michael Piller , intended the character of Martus Mazur to be a son of Guinan. Guinan herself was to appear in the episode, but Whoopi Goldberg was unavailable. All the references to Guinan were removed and only Martus' status as an El-Aurian was retained. Although that episode was the first to name Guinan's species, she herself was not identified as an El-Aurian until Star Trek Generations . Guinan having a wayward son had been an idea floating around since The Next Generation . ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (p. 109)) Rumors that Guinan might appears on Deep Space Nine had been circulating as early as the opening of DS9 Season 1 . ( Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book )

Commenting on Guinan's absence in Star Trek: First Contact , Ronald D. Moore said, " We decided fairly early on that Guinan wouldn't be in the movie because she wasn't part of our storyline and we didn't want to shoehorn the character in. " ( AOL chat , 1997 )

Guinan was temporarily considered for inclusion in VOY Season 5 installments " 11:59 " and " Timeless ". In the latter case, the possibility of her appearing in "Timeless" influenced Brannon Braga to assign LeVar Burton as the episode's director early in the writing of the episode. " I had actually, on behalf of Brannon and the company, approached Whoop to see how she would feel about it, " Burton recalled. " They wanted to sort of take the temperature before they dove head first into the script. Whoopi was tickled at the prospect. " Since the writers found it too difficult to devise a story they felt was good enough to warrant Guinan being in it, the notion of including the character was left by the wayside. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 51)

Apocrypha [ ]

Guinan makes brief contact with three stranded Iramahl in 1892 in Elusive Salvation .

The Star Trek: Stargazer novel Oblivion depicts Picard's first meeting with Guinan from his perspective, with Guinan currently in a deep state of depression after being torn out of the Nexus, tormented by her 'reunion' with her youngest daughter in the Nexus before her daughter was lost to the Borg. In the course of her encounter with Picard, Guinan is reminded that it is still possible to find joy in this universe, particularly when Picard risks his mission to rescue her.

In the novel Vendetta , Guinan is reunited with Delcara, the last survivor of a race decimated by the Borg, who settled with Guinan's people after her own were lost and came to consider Guinan a sister. However, by this point, Delcara has been consumed by her desire for revenge against the Borg, convinced that everything she touches is destroyed, to the point that she retrieves an advanced planet killer to use it against the Borg. Despite Picard and Guinan's efforts to appeal to who Delcara was before she was consumed by her desire for revenge, Delcara eventually traps herself in a time loop trying to push the planet killer to Transwarp to reach Borg space.

In the novel Engines of Destiny , it is revealed that Guinan was indirectly responsible for Montgomery Scott being on the USS Jenolen when it crashed on the Dyson sphere . In the course of the novel, Scott changes history by going back in time to rescue Kirk from the Enterprise -B, but this inadvertently results in a timeline where Earth has been assimilated by the Borg in the events of Star Trek: First Contact , although El-Auria has been spared. When the Enterprise -D goes back in time as well to try and intercept Scott, they encounter Guinan's alternate self, whose memories of the original timeline – including her meeting with Picard in San Francisco – help her recognize that history has been altered, accepting the assistance of the Enterprise in restoring history.

In the novel Greater than the Sum , Guinan returns to the USS Enterprise -E in the wake of a new Borg invasion, officiating at Picard's wedding to Beverly Crusher, but she departs the ship at the conclusion of the novel as she concludes that she can best serve Picard by letting him face his problems without her, rather than relying on each other out of fear.

In the Doctor Who crossover comic Assimilation² , Guinan and the Eleventh Doctor are the only characters able to sense that their two respective universes were forcibly merged. She also assures Picard that the Doctor can be trusted and that they're going to need his help, with Picard saying the Doctor reminds him of Guinan in their similar mysterious natures, which Guinan takes as a complement. Later, Guinan explains to the Doctor Picard's past with the Borg and why he refuses to help them to defeat the Cybermen .

In the novel Indistinguishable from Magic , Guinan joins the crew of the USS Challenger to be there for Geordi La Forge, who is on temporary assignment there from the Enterprise -E. She sensed from her Nexus self that she needed to be there for him, and wound up being instrumental in helping him cope with his opportunity for a relationship with Leah Brahms, and most importantly, solving the mystery behind his mother's disappearance years ago.

External links [ ]

  • Guinan at StarTrek.com
  • Guinan at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
  • Guinan at Wikipedia
  • 2 Federation attack fighter
  • 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Untold Truth Of Star Trek's Guinan

Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

Star Trek: The Next Generation doesn't boast as many recurring characters as other Star Trek shows , but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality.  TNG 's recurring characters are some of the most memorable of the franchise. There's the trickster Q , the cybernetic Borg, and one of the most intriguing characters in the history of  Trek  — Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan.

Introduced early in  TNG 's second season, Goldberg would reprise the role close to 30 more times during the series, as well as in the Star Trek movies Generations and Nemesis . In all that time, few recurring  Trek  characters proved as mysterious as the  Enterprise 's bartender. As much as we know about Guinan, there's so much we don't. Even though her official role on Starfleet's flagship doesn't go beyond serving drinks, time and again she not only proves herself capable of so much more, but it's hinted she knows and can do more than any of us have ever imagined. So let's do our best to chip away at the edges of this enigmatic figure and see how deep we can get into the untold truth of  Star Trek 's Guinan.

Guinan is part bartender, part therapist

As the Enterprise 's bartender, we usually find Guinan in Ten Forward, the bar/lounge where many of the ship's crew members go to relax and where Guinan sees what's troubling them, no matter how hard they try to hide it. After all, Guinan is part of a nomadic species called El-Aurians. Her people are known as listeners, and members of other species often find themselves compelled to unload their problems on any nearby El-Aurians. It's not a trait all El-Aurians value, but Guinan embraces her role and offers her centuries-won wisdom whether it's asked for or not.

Guinan somehow knows exactly what demons are at her patrons' doors, and she always knows what to say and exactly how to say it. When she sees Worf's (Michael Dorn) adoptive parents gazing out the window of Ten Forward in "Family," she knows they need a friendly stranger to tell them just how constant they are in their son's thoughts. In "The Measure of a Man," when Captain Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) fights to protect the rights of his synthetic officer Data (Brent Spiner) , it's Guinan's words about how Data's potential status as Starfleet's property could lead to "whole generations of disposable people" that help Picard realize what's at stake. 

Sometimes, Guinan's silence speaks louder than anything. In "Evolution," when Wesley (Wil Wheaton) confides in Guinan that a high-tech project of his may be wreaking havoc on the Enterprise  and asks her not to tell anyone, it's Guinan's silence that reminds Wesley that he already knows what he should do.

She's a woman of many years and many talents

We don't know how old Guinan is, but we know she's old —  very  old, by human standards. With a few noteworthy exceptions, at any given time she's likely  the  oldest person on the  Enterprise . In the two-part "Time's Arrow," Data finds Guinan in 19th-century America as an acquaintance of the famous author Samuel Clemens, better known as his alias Mark Twain. So she's at least 500 years old, and it's likely you can add at least 100 or so years on that since she's an adult when Data sees her while time-traveling. From her cameo in  Star Trek: Nemesis , we know she's been married 23 times, and while we don't know exactly how many children she has, towards the end of "Evolution," she puts the number roughly at "a lot." 

Guinan's many years have afforded her time to learn a lot of things you wouldn't necessarily expect of her upon first glance. For example, during  TNG , she proves that she's not timid about using firearms under the right circumstances. In "Redemption," when she interrupts Worf's shooting range program to remind him of his responsibilities to himself and his son, she first asks to join him in target practice. When Worf warns her that he practices at level 14, Guinan says, "I guess I could come down to that level for a while." She beats his score easily, before doling out some much-needed wisdom.   

Guinan has a mysterious sixth sense

Guinan has a mysterious sixth sense, and the members of the  Enterprise  crew have learned to trust it. For example, in "Q Who," when Geordi (Levar Burton) notices that Guinan seems preoccupied, he asks her if everything is alright. She says, "I don't know," and even though he's off-duty, that brief answer is all Geordi needs to hurry back to engineering to check on the ship.

Guinan's intuition is more important than ever in one of the very best TNG episodes , "Yesterday's Enterprise," when the arrival of the time-lost Enterprise -C changes the timeline so that, among other things, Starfleet is fighting a losing war against the Klingons and Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) — who was killed in the first season — is still alive. While all of the other characters react as if the events of their time are normal, Guinan is overcome with the sense that something is wrong. In particular, the presence of Tasha disturbs her, as Guinan intuitively senses Yar doesn't belong there. 

Some fans believe her sixth sense is explained by 1994's Star Trek: Generations . Early in the film, Guinan and other El-Aurians are beamed out of a place called the Nexus, in which time has no meaning. When Picard later enters the Nexus, he finds an "echo" of Guinan there. It's the existence of this echo that some people think allows her to sense when there's something wrong with the timeline.

For unknown reasons, she's an enemy of Q

More than any other scene in  TNG , an interaction in season two's "Q Who" hints that there's a lot more to Guinan than we know. When the trickster entity Q (John de Lancie) brings Captain Picard to Ten Forward, Guinan and Q recognize each other, and they're  not  buddies. Q calls Guinan "an imp" whom trouble follows. When he hears Picard use Guinan's name, Q asks if that's what she's calling herself now — suggesting she's used other names in the past. 

But arguably the most intriguing thing about the scene is that Q seems genuinely threatened by Guinan. He offers to remove her from the Enterprise ,   and Guinan raises her hands in response, suggesting she could somehow protect herself from Q. Considering the absolutely godlike things we've seen Q accomplish, the notion that Guinan could defend herself against such unthinkable power is very intriguing.

During her time on the  Enterprise , Guinan doesn't reveal darker feelings for many people, but Q is a definite exception. In the later episode "Deja Q," when Q says he's been de-powered by the Q Continuum, Guinan tests his claim by stabbing him in the hand with a fork. However, we never learn exactly how Q and Guinan first met or under what circumstances, though at the 2016  Star Trek  50th Anniversary Convention, Whoopi Goldberg suggested they may have dated, even joking one of her children could be half Q.

Her ties to Picard go 'beyond friendship, beyond family'

There's been a good deal of speculation about the nature of the relationship between Guinan and Jean-Luc Picard. And as most things go when it comes the enigmatic El-Aurian, we don't have any firm answers. 

A few hints are dropped here and there during  TNG  that Picard and Guinan's relationship might have at one point been romantic. After Picard is assimilated by the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds," Guinan tells Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) that her ties to Picard go "beyond friendship, beyond family." Granted, that doesn't necessarily mean there's anything intimate going on. Guinan could just mean they have a very close friendship. However, in the earlier episode "Booby Trap," as she's talking to Geordi about his relationship woes, Guinan confesses she's attracted to bald men, and of course,  TNG  does have one pretty well-known bald guy.

But Goldberg has a different insight. The actress said Gene Roddenberry had suggested to her that, because of Guinan's age, she could be the ancestor of other characters on the show. At the 2016  Star Trek  50th Anniversary Convention,  she told the crowd , "I always assumed Picard was one of my great-great-great-great-great grandkids." Though never confirmed in any of the series or movies, it's an interesting idea, and were it to prove accurate, it opens up the question of whether or not Picard knows she's his ancestor.

Whoopi Goldberg was inspired by another Star Trek character

One of the main reasons Goldberg worked so hard to get a role on  TNG  was the inspiration she found in the form on Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Uhura. The communications officer on the first  Star Trek  series was a rarity in 1960s television — a black woman who wasn't only in space, but who was one of the most important members of the crew.

Nichols told NPR in 2011 that she had the chance to meet Goldberg for the first time while the latter was working on  TNG . She said Goldberg told her when the young actress first saw Lt. Uhura on TV, she happily ran through the house yelling that there was a black woman on TV, "and she ain't no maid." Nichols said, "And that did something to my heart, so I knew that I had made the right decision."

By "the right decision," Nichols referred to an encounter she had with Martin Luther King, Jr during which the historic activist insisted she could not — as she was considering — leave the cast of  Star Trek.  King told Nichols that because of her presence on the show, for the first time on television, African-Americans were "being seen the world over as we should be seen." He added because of her,  Star Trek  was the only show he and his wife allowed their children to watch. 

Guinan was one of Gene Roddenberry's last gifts to us

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of both  Star Trek  and  TNG , died in 1991, a little over a month before the release of the final original crew-only  Trek  film,  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .  TNG  continued on for three more years ,  and more regular series and films would be inspired by the utopian narrative Roddenberry forged in 1966. 

And on a 2020 episode of  The View , Goldberg and Patrick Stewart confirmed that the enigmatic alien bartender who gave so much of her wisdom to the  Enterprise  crew was the last recurring character Gene Roddenberry created for  Trek  before his passing. On The View ,   Goldberg said , "I think [Guinan] might have been the last character that Gene created. That he actually created. I think that might be mine." Stewart agreed, saying, "I would say the true lasting character that we saw again and again and again." And it's fitting that a man whose creative expression was so concerned with the future would create, for his final addition to  TNG , a character who would potentially see further into the future than any of his other  Trek  creations.

We almost met one of her sons

If you've watched  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , you almost met one of Guinan's children. In the DS9  second season episode "Rivals," we encounter Martus Mazur (Chris Sarandon), an El-Alurian con artist. Mazur doesn't embrace his species' role as "listeners." For the most part, he uses his "listening" to con strangers out of as much money as he can get, but otherwise, he resents being the object of unwanted conversation. According to  The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , Mazur was originally meant to be Guinan's son. Goldberg was going to reprise her role as Guinan in the 1994 episode, presumably to help clean up after the havoc Mazur wreaks. When scheduling prevented her from appearing, all mention of Guinan was removed from the script. 

It's possible Mazur was at least partly conceived much earlier than his DS9  appearance. In the 1989  TNG  episode "Evolution," when Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) asks Guinan if she had trouble relating to any of her children, Guinan says there was one who "wouldn't listen to anybody." She adds it took "several hundred years" before she "managed to bring him around." Maybe she didn't "bring him around" as well as she thought she did? The fact that Michael Piller is one of the two credited writers on both "Evolution" and "Rivals" adds at least a little fuel to the theory. 

She was named after an old-timey actress

Because of her reputation as a comedic actor, Whoopi Goldberg's early campaigning to join the cast of  TNG  wasn't taken seriously . When Gene Roddenberry realized Goldberg wasn't playing a practical joke on the Trek  crew, he chose a name for Goldberg's character that not only reflected Guinan's profession but had meaning for women in film.

The Enterprise  bartender Guinan is named after the real-life Texas Guinan , a vaudeville actress, film producer, and speakeasy hostess and singer. The real Guinan appeared in over 30 silent films between 1917 and 1921. She also appeared in a pair of sound films, 1933's  Broadway Thru a Keyhole and 1929's  Queen of the Night Clubs. In the 1929 film, she played a fictionalized version of herself. 

It's most likely that Roddenberry was tapping into her "queen of the night clubs" reputation when naming Goldberg's character. Texas Guinan's prohibition-era hostess work included her well-known catch phrase, "Hello, sucker! Come on in and leave your wallet on the bar." Goldberg's Guinan never got to use that line, though considering her different tone — and the fact that money apparently doesn't exist in  TNG 's Federation — it's probably for the best.

Guinan wants to be on Discovery

The 2017 premiere of  Star Trek: Discovery  began a new era for the franchise's television life, and that fact didn't escape Whoopi Goldberg. As early as a year before  Discovery 's release, Goldberg made it clear she wanted to be a part of this new age of  Trek  storytelling. At the 2016  Star Trek 50th Anniversary Convention, Golberg told the crowd she was campaigning for a spot on the new series, and that she was starting a new Twitter hashtag —  #BringBackGuinan  — to help her cause. Rod Roddenberry, the  Star Trek  creator's son and a producer on  Discovery , was there and seemed receptive to the idea. 

While Discovery takes place before the events of the original Star Trek series, there's no reason Guinan's appearance on Discovery would hurt continuity or need any kind of time travel to be facilitated. As Goldberg said, "The great thing that Gene did for me was he wrote a character that can appear anytime, anywhere." From  TNG 's two-parter "Time's Arrow," we already know Guinan was alive during Earth's 19th century. If that's the case, then she's  somewhere  in the galaxy during the events of  Discovery . Time will tell if we ever get to see the El-Aurian interact with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) or anyone else on the  Discovery  crew.

Guinan will return in Star Trek: Picard

In January 2020,  Star Trek: Picard premiered on CBS All Access with Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard, now retired from Starfleet but called back to adventure after a mysterious young woman shows up at his home in France. The day before  Picard 's premiere, Stewart appeared on  The View  —  of which Whoopi Goldberg is a co-host —   and he didn't come just to promote but to recruit. 

Shortly after sitting down, Stewart said, "I have something I need to bring up, if that's okay. I'm here with a formal invitation." The invitation was for Goldberg to reprise her role as Guinan on the second season of  Star Trek: Picard . Goldberg's response was immediate and emotional. She shouted, "Yes, yes!" and embraced Stewart. During the rest of the segment, she seemed to be having trouble holding back tears. " Star Trek was one of the great experiences from the beginning to the end," Goldberg told the audience. "I had the best, best, best time. Best time ever."

As of the writing of this article, the first season of  Picard  has yet to conclude. So we'll have to wait and see how much time Guinan gets in season two and whether or not any of the many questions about Guinan will be answered. Considering the mystery surrounding the character is one of her more appealing traits, it's tough to decide whether we want any answers or not.

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Star Trek: Guinan & El-Aurians, Explained

The wisest bartender on the Enterprise comes from a species of unique long-lived aliens with fascinating capabilities.

Most Star Trek aliens are created to serve a specific purpose in an episode or story arc and are gradually fleshed out over the years. Some don't get the benefit of future adaptations. The rare exceptions often involve a fan-favorite newcomer from an unnamed species. Guinan was introduced without any suggestion of her species, but the series gradually unveiled the El-Aurians she came from.

Guinan is one of the most beloved supporting characters of the Star Trek franchise. Those who haven't seen much of the series might not know her name, but they've seen Whoopi Goldberg in her collection of hats. She was a considerable draw, regularly bringing in more viewers when she appeared. Her role in the show was small, but her story was revealed slowly.

RELATED: Star Trek: Who Are The Devidians?

Who are the El-Aurians?

Of all the alien species on Star Trek , few look as human as the El-Aurians. There are no visible biological differences between El-Aurians and humans. They easily blend into groups of humans . Long before humans knew about the existence of aliens, El-Aurians visited Earth and mingled. El-Aurians even possess multiple genetic phenotypes with distinct eye, skin, and hair colors. This is somewhat rare among Star Trek aliens, as most share almost identical traits. Though El-Aurians look exactly like humans, they possess unique abilities that set them apart.

El-Aurians are known for their perceptive abilities. El-Aurians can hear and see beyond the bounds of time and space. They can detect fluctuations in the timeline and disruptions in history. El-Aurians are frequently negatively affected by temporal disturbances. They experience "time sickness," the way many feel motion sickness . Their listening skills don't end at the boundaries of time and space. They can find the specific sonic resonance of any action or word. El-Aurians can manipulate reality through sound. They can also experience limited telepathy and project themselves into the minds of others. Their lives tend to be hundreds of years long. A lot of El-Aurians used their power to act as advisers or confidants, while others became con artists.

Who is Guinan?

Guinan is best known as the bartender of Ten Forward, the finest lounge on the USS Enterprise-D. She dispenses sage advice to the crew, often helping people when they need it most. Her identity was unclear in her early appearances, but many argued that she was more complicated than she seemed. Guinan was born sometime around the 1800s. She first met Data, Picard, and their friends in 1893, when the Enterprise crew went back in time. She and Mark Twain helped everyone get back to their correct timeline. In 2024, she opened up a bar at 10 Forward Avenue in Los Angeles, California. She met Picard there again in a snafu with an alien-obsessed FBI agent. Jean-Luc's ancestor Dr. Renée Picard frequented her establishment. Guinan's unique relationship with Jean-Luc Picard defined her time with Starfleet.

Guinan and Picard shared a decades-long relationship that appeared hard to pin down. It was described as more than friendship and beyond the bonds of family. The show occasionally teased a romantic element to their partnership, but it's usually framed as a platonic partnership. Picard recommended Guinan for the Enterprise after years of quiet friendship. She picked up fencing and chess, befriended most of the crew, and gave excellent advice to whoever would listen. She stayed part of the captain's life well into Star Trek: Picard .

What happened to the El-Aurian?

Around 2265, while Guinan lived far from the El-Aurian homeworld, the Borg Collective attacked . Many El-Aurians were assimilated, but many more died fighting. The unknown population of El-Aurians in the universe was reduced to hundreds. Over 400 refugees tried to escape to Earth in 2293. They were exposed to the Nexus, which corrupted most of their minds. The 47 who could be convinced to leave were saved in a mission that almost killed Captain Kirk . The few remaining El-Aurians were scattered across the universe. Though their population was decimated, El-Aurian's long lives allowed them to change that. Guinan, for one, had at least 23 husbands over her long life. She never revealed how many children she had, nor were they depicted in any media, but she admitted to mothering many kids. The El-Aurian suffered much, but long lives allowed them to bounce back more easily than most.

Guinan is an unexpected icon of the Star Trek franchise. Her species offers many unique and interesting elements to the universe. Writers could find many fascinating stories in the lives of El-Aurians. Their powers remain partially unexplored, and any series could use a character like Guinan in a supporting role. Star Trek has an impressive ability to turn characters that could feel one note into beloved icons and expand their stories into something that affects the entire universe. The El-Aurians may have been absent from most of the series, but they had a tremendous impact on the main cast.

MORE: Star Trek: Who Is Mirror Spock?

The Real Person Who Inspired Guinan On Star Trek

Guinan

If you're a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fan, you know the character of Guinan played by Whoopi Goldberg. She's the bartender and host of the Ten Forward aboard the USS Enterprise -D. Guinan is hundreds of years old, and from a race of "listeners" called the El-Aurian. It makes her the very best person on the Enterprise to go to for advice. Everyone has been in front of Guinan at some point, particularly Captain Jean-Luc Picard who considers her to be closer than family. She'll return in " Star Trek: Picard " season 2 .

Goldberg got the job when her co-star LeVar Burton let the executives know that she was interested in being on the show. When she spoke to "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, he rewrote the role of the Enterprise bartender for her. 

What you might not know is that the role is based on a real bartender, actress, and entrepreneur named Texas Guinan. 

From Showgirl to Movie Star and Back Again

Texas Guinan was born Mary Louise Cecilia Guinan in Texas on January 12, 1884, and was set on becoming an actress. She grew up on a ranch, learned to shoot and rope and ride horses. She attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago for two years, and then joined a " Wild West " show. She married John J. Moynahan in 1904 — but it only lasted for two years. (Guinan on "Star Trek" was married 23 times .) 

Texas Guinan moved to New York City to pursue her dream of performing and was often in vaudeville's "Gibson Girl" shows. Though she performed a lot, she was lured away by a talent scout and moved to Los Angeles in 1917 to be a movie star. The nickname "Texas" had by then become the name she was known by.

In Hollywood, she did a few films, primarily playing a female gunslinger, and ended up starting her own production company, Texas Guinan Productions in 1921. Unfortunately, it only lasted a year. At that point, Guinan moved back to New York and ended up signing at the Beaux Arts Hotel , where she managed to become the emcee of ceremonies — something women rarely did at the time. 

Hello Suckers!

What Texas Guinan is really remembered for, however, is her work in speakeasy clubs in the 1920s. She'd already gotten a reputation for saying, "Hello suckers," when people came in — and became famous for that line in the process. She moved from club to club  for a while, but after meeting bootlegger and racketeer Larry Fay, she joined his El Fay Club . There, she sat on a stool in the center of the room with a whistle. She coined another phrase during that time, calling someone from out of town spending big a "Big butter-and-egg-man." (We'd probably refer to them as "weekend warriors" today.) 

The police closed the El Fay, and Guinan ended up at the Del Fay, then the Texas Guinan Club, the 300 Club, the Club Intime, and Texas Guinan's Salon Royale. Hey, you've got to stay ahead of the law, right? She didn't always manage it, though — getting arrested more than once for working and operating a speakeasy, but nothing stuck. 

In an interview with MyHarto , Goldberg mentions one of her famous catchphrases. Goldberg says, "He [Gene Roddenberry] wrote my character, Texas Guinan, she's based on, who had a great bar in New York in the '20s and she greeted everyone by saying, 'Hello suckers' ... So we couldn't do that to the extraterrestrials."

Texas Guinan returned to the stage and had her own review called "Padlocks of 1927," and made two more movies before taking her review on the road. France wouldn't let her perform the show there, so she decided to call it "Too Hot for Paris," and toured the Western United States and Canada. Unfortunately, she eventually contracted amoebic dysentery and passed away at the age of 49 in 1933.

Texas Guinan's life may have been significantly shorter than the "Star Trek" version of Guinan, but oh my, did she make the most of her life.

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Guinan was a supporting character introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Child . She was a member of the El-Aurian race, a long-lived species.

She was portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg as an adult in the 1890s and the 23rd through 25th centuries, Isis J. Jones as a de-aged Guinan in the episode Rascals , and Ito Aghayere in the second season of Star Trek: Picard .

She was born sometime prior to the 1890s on the El-Aurian homeworld. By 1890s she was living on Earth, working as an author and listening to different humans. When she encountered the time displaced Commander Data Guinan assumed at first that he was someone sent by her father to bring her home and asked Data to go back and tell her father that she was not ready to return as she was not done listening to the humans. Data, not realizing that Guinan had visted Earth in the past, at first assumed she also had traveled back in time from the 24th century. The two set each other straight and she began working with Data to help prevent the Devidians from interfering in human history. From her prespective she met Jean-Luc Picard and the other Enterprise -D senior staff for the first time. She was badly injured when a Devidian opened a temporal portal but was saved by Samuel Clemens, who arranged for her to be treated for her injuries.

Guinan was still on Earth in 2024, and owned a bar in Los Angeles. By then she had become disillusioned with the human race and was preparing to leave Earth. She was in the process of closing her business when she met Picard again. Guinan helped him stop Q from changing human history. Seeing Picard and his 25th century comrades in action, she regained her faith in the human race. During this time she met Q for the first time. When Cristóbal Rios elected to stay in the 21st century instead of going back to the 25th century. She became close to Rios, his new significant other Teresa Ramirez, and her son Ricardo - who would often come to see her when they were in Los Angeles.

Some time in the 22nd century she had further dealings with Q and some of his fellow Q. While she felt other Q were "almost respectable" she despised Q.

In the late 23rd century she was one of the few survivors of the Borg attack on the El-Aurian homeworld. Arriving back home she found her daughter had been killed by the Borg. She found her adopted sister Delcara screaming over the body of her deceased husband and was forced to drag her away and to safety. Those screams stayed with her the rest of her life. Fleeing with other refugees on the freighter Lakul , she was rescued by the Enterprise -B when the Lakul was trapped in the Nexus. Beamed away from the Lakul before it exploded, part of her consciousness remained within the Nexus.

At a loss, she drifted through the Alpha Quadrant before encountering a young Starfleet officer named Jean-Luc Picard in 2335. From Picard's perspective this was their first meeting. He was able to help her deal with her grief, and the two forged a strong relationship. Feeling that Ten-Forward needed a good hostess to run the place, Picard contacted her in 2365 and invited her to come work and live on the Enterprise -D.

Over the next several years she forged strong relationships with many of the Enterprise crew. This included William Riker , Worf , Deanna Troi , Geordi LaForge , Wesley Crusher , Beverly Crusher , Ro Laren , and Miles O'Brien and his wife Keiko.

When the Borg invaded the Federation in 2367 she convinced Riker that to defeat the Borg he had let Picard go after Picard had been kidnapped by the Borg, knowing that Riker could not win as long as he clung to Picard's memory. Riker was able to use her advice to form his own command style, and working with the Enterprise crew defeated the Borg.

She, Keiko, Ro, and Picard were all de-aged to about 12 years of age in 2369 when the shuttle they were on passed through an energy field. Prior to the Enterprise crew figuring out how to reverse the process, Guinan helped retake the ship from a band of rogue Ferengi who had captured the Enterprise . She helped Ro deal with being de-aged caused Ro to relive her traumatic childhood.

In 2371 Guinan helped Picard deal with the rogue El-Aurian scientist Tolian Soran, who was desperate to get back to the Nexus no matter how many people he killed in the process. After the destruction of the Enterprise -D she returned to Earth and was living there in 2379 when she attended the wedding of Riker and Troi.

By 2401, she was living in Los Angeles once again. She owned and operated a bar at 10 Forward Avenue. As an El-Aurian, she was able to control her physical appearance. Feeling that some humans resented El-Aurians for not aging at the same rate, she changed her appearance to that of an older woman. After Picard returned from the 21st century, she apologized for not telling him sooner of their 21st century meeting but trusted that Picard would do the right thing. She filled him in on what happened to Rios, Teresa, and Ricardo and how they had helped save humanity.

Alternate Timelines [ ]

In a timeline where the Federation was at war with the Klingons due to the disappearance of the Enterprise -C, Guinan became aware of the changes in the timeline in 2366. In this timeline she was good friends with Tasha Yar . Guinan was able to convince Picard to send the time displaced Enterprise -C back to 2344 to continue protecting the Klingons. As a result, this timeline was prevented from coming in to existence.

  • The character of Guinan was inspired by Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan , an actress, businesswoman, and speakeasy operator of the 20th century.
  • Original Guinan actress Whoopi Goldberg had been inspired by original Nyota Uhura actress Nichelle Nichols to become an actress.
  • Ito Aghayere was cast to play the 2024 version of Guinan as Goldberg had aged too much to convincingly play a younger Guinan.
  • Q implies Guinan had a mischievous history just as bad as his own; the very fact he recoiled in fear and offered to remove her fron Picard's ship meant she was just as capable
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Published Nov 13, 2023

The Art of Guinan’s Aphorisms

Let’s take a look at some words of wisdom shared by Guinan that had an impact on those around her.

Illustrated triptych featuring three Guinan episodic stills from Star Trek: The Next Generation

StarTrek.com

Guinan, who was first introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation and reintroduced in Star Trek: Picard , is several centuries old and full of wisdom which she does not mind sharing with the Starfleet crew. The El-Aurian bartender was invited to be a crew member on the U.S.S. Enterprise -D, directly by Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

The owner of the famous 10 Forward bar also served as the unofficial therapist to Starfleet staff, always available to anyone in need.

In celebration of Whoopi Goldberg's birthday, let's revisit some of Guinan's most poignant observations.

My name Is Guinan. I tend bar and I listen.

Guinan, "Rascals"

Guinan and Ensign Ro (both in their kid bodies) peek past a doorway in 'Rascals'

"Rascals"

In Star Trek: The Next Generation sixth-season episode "Rascals" episode, Guinan, Captain Picard, Ro Laren, and Keiko O’Brien materialized as their 12-year-old selves due to a transporter accident. Just as they are attempting to get ahead of what is happening, the Enterprise is boarded by Ferengi invaders and the crew devises a plan to outsmart them. The Ferengi are apprehended and the crew, is able to take back control of the ship.

I haven't been young for a long time, and I intend to enjoy every minute of it.

Guinan, "Ensign Ro"

Guinan and Ro Laren stand side-by-side in Captain Picard's ready room in 'Ensign Ro'

"Ensign Ro"

A warrior for her crew, Guinan also saved the REM sleep-deprived crewmembers by using an energy-beam rifle to escape the Tyken’s Rift. In "Night Terrors," the Enterprise searches for a ship that released a signal for help and were all of their crew has died. Sometime after searching the doomed ship, the Enterprise crew start to feel unwell while also displaying strange behavior following sleep loss.

Dr. Troi starts to have nightmares that actually end up being a message in her subconscious that contains a warning about what actually happen to the other ship’s crew. With this new information, Guinan is able to use the rifle to disrupt the energy and free the crew from the sickness.

The idea of fitting in just repels me.

Guinan, "Hollow Pursuits"

Guinan — The Enterprise's Secret Weapon

Human intuition and instinct are not always right, but they do make life interesting.

Guinan, "The Loss"

Star Trek: Picard

"Watcher"

In Star Trek: Picard 's second-season "Watcher," Guinan's younger version is reintroduced and is reunited with her friend Jean-Luc Picard. She is able to offer him wisdom as he navigates new adventures and challenges, just as she did in the earlier series. The evolution of their friendship progresses forward and throughout Season 2, we are able to see just how they were able to sustain their relation over the many years.

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Candice E. Lewis is a cinephile and writer from Chicago, IL.

In addition to streaming on Paramount+ , Star Trek: Picard also streams on Prime Video outside of the U.S. and Canada, and in Canada can be seen on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. Star Trek: Picard is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Home » TV & Streaming » Star Trek » Guinan: Gene Roddenberry’s Final Gift to STAR TREK

Guinan: Gene Roddenberry’s Final Gift to STAR TREK

Posted by Rebecca Kaplan | Apr 26, 2022 | Star Trek , Stuff We Like , Think Pieces , TV & Streaming | 0

Guinan: Gene Roddenberry’s Final Gift to STAR TREK

Guinan has been a  Star Trek   franchise fan favorite since her introduction. She’s named after the real-life prohibition-era hostess and vaudeville actress, Texas Guinan, who appeared in over 30 silent films and sound pictures, including 1929’s Queen of the Night Clubs .

Guinan first appeared in 1988’s  Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 episode “The Child,” portrayed by  Whoopi Goldberg . The character is best known as a bartender at the Ten Forward lounge in the U.S.S.  Enterprise -D, reprising her role approximately 30 times during the next four seasons of  TNG ,   Star Trek: Generations   and  Star Trek: Nemesis .  

Since the character’s first appearance, Guinan has been portrayed by other actresses, including in the TNG episode “Rascals,” where actor Isis Carmen Jones plays her. Recently, Goldberg reprised her role as Guinan in Star Trek: Picard  to pass the baton to her 2024 self portrayed by  Ito Aghayere , whose biceps have me in a real “do-be” mood since the actress’s introduction.

Let’s hear it for the Guinan Squad in this comprehensive herstory of the character. Read on, geek girls, geek boys, geek nonbinary babes and geek Bynars!

RELATED: Keep up with  Star Trek: Picard  this season with our recaps!

Whoopi Goldberg wanted to be in Star Trek 

Guinan sets a tray of glasses down on the bar next to Geordi, who has a glass in his hand.

Following the departure of Tasha Yar ( Denise Crosby ) during the first season of  TNG , Goldberg believed the show needed another female character, so she approached her friend LeVar Burton , who plays Geordi La Forge, about joining the TNG cast—more than once. Since Goldberg was better known as a comedic actress in the ’90s, Star Trek didn’t take her requests to join the series seriously at first.

Goldberg is a lifelong Trekkie, and Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura in  Star Trek: The Original Series   inspired her to become an actress. Nichols told NPR in 2011 that when she had the chance to meet Goldberg while the latter was working on  TNG , Goldberg said to her that when she first saw Uhura in  TOS , Goldberg ran through her house happily screaming there was a Black woman on TV, “and she ain’t no maid.”

Nichols said, “And that did something to my heart, so I knew that I had made the right decision,” referring to the actress’s famous encounter with Martin Luther King Jr. , during which he insisted she didn’t leave the franchise.

Madame Guinan

Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan stands next to Mark Twain in the 19th century while wearing a black dress

Photo: StarTrek.com

Before Earth’s first official contact with the alien race, El-Aurian, Guinan hid from her father on the planet beginning in 1893, making it the earliest contact between her species and humans in Star Trek canon (and maybe the earliest contact between an alien species and humans, since the Vulcans’ T’Mir, Mestral and Stron didn’t crash-land until 1957).

In the 19th century, “Madame” Guinan posed as a celebrated and wealthy socialite in San Francisco who entertained luminaries like Mark Twain . 

El-Aurians have a different aging process than humans and can live to be many centuries old. With Guinan making her way to Earth in the 19th century, she must be at least 500 years old. In that time, she has married 23 times and had roughly “a lot” of children (according to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , Martuz Mazur was almost one of her sons, but when Goldberg couldn’t appear in the 1994 episode, the writers removed all mention of the character from the script).

RELATED: Rod Roddenberry Chats Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, First Lady of Star Trek

There are rumors Guinan also met Picard during his tenure as Captain of the U.S.S. Stargazer . Although that hasn’t been confirmed anywhere outside of the Beta canon (where they met dealing with Garak’s father), descriptive text about Guinan in the internal reference work Star Trek: The Next Generation Writers’/Directors’ Guide states Picard did meet several El-Aurians while he was serving as a lieutenant on board the Stargazer and they fascinated him. The description also explains the species “encourages others to be honest when they speak,” as the listener race.

“My name is Guinan. I tend bar, and I listen.”

Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan standing in front of a bar on Star Trek: Picard.

Pictured: Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan of the Paramount+ original series STAR TREK: PICARD. Photo Cr: Nicole Wilder/Paramount+ ©2022 ViacomCBS. All Rights Reserved.

Guinan came abroad to the  Enterprise at Picard’s request because their relationship went “beyond friendship and beyond family,” so she decided to join the crew as a lounge host. As the Ten Forward bartender, Guinan does more than serve drinks; she also acts as the Enterprise’s  second therapist to anyone in need.  

As an El-Aurian, she embraces her role as a listener, offering her centuries of wisdom to troubled crewmembers whether it’s asked for or not (although it’s almost always needed). She knows to tell Worf’s ( Michael Dorn ) adoptive parents in TNG’s  “Family” how they are constantly in their son’s thoughts.

Then, in “Measure of a Man,” it’s Guinan who helps Picard realize what’s truly at stake in his fight to protect Data’s ( Brent Spiner ) status as a Starfleet OFFICER, not Starfleet PROPERTY, which could lead to “whole generations of disposable people.”

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Recap: (S0204) Watcher

Good thing, too. If it weren’t for Data, Starfleet wouldn’t know El-Aurians had a precognitive awareness that supersedes the normal flow of time and space, making them extra-sensitive to the space-time continuum. In the TNG -saving episode, “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” Guinan can perceive the changes from the regular timeline to the alternate time and back again.

As an El-Aurian, she experiences a time-sickness, making her disoriented and nauseous (something only occurring when the timeline has been affected). 

“When the Borg destroyed my world, my people were scattered throughout the universe.”

Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan and Walter Koenig as Chekov standing near a wall while looking pensive.

Star Trek: Generations. Photo: Paramount

Guinan hates the Borg almost as much as she hates Q. The El-Aurians have a history with the Borg, who destroyed their homeworld. In  Generations , the U.S.S.  Enterprise -B rescues 47 El-Aurian refugees from the Nexus, including Guinan.

The first time Guinan meets Picard chronologically was back in the 19th century when she was on Earth as a lady of letters, although she doesn’t reveal their past meeting to him when they meet again 500 years later.

The lounge hostess holds a grudge against the Borg, having trouble when the U.S.S.  Enterprise -D encounters a young Borg, Hugh, cut off from the collective. At first, Guinan struggles to accept Hugh, who is the first to prove that Borg can become civilized once free from the collective, and she must confront her prejudices with the help of Geordi. 

Perhaps her people’s history with the Borg encouraged Guinan to learn how to shoot a phaser, as she is certainly no stranger to the phaser range. In “Redemption,” she beat Worf on Level 14, firing left-handed, saying, “I guess I could come down to that level for a while.” She also once stopped a dream-deprived paranoid mob in Ten Forward with an energy-beam rifle hidden behind the bar.

“Seems pretty human to me.”

John de Lancie as Q lying on the floor while Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan looms above him

“Deja Q.” Photo: CBS

We know little about Guinan’s long history with Q ( John de Lancie ), other than they met over 200 years ago in the 2160s. The two characters are hostile, mutually considering each other implacable enemies. However, Trekkies never learn how Q and Guinan first met or under what circumstances. Although Looper   reports at the 2016 Star Trek 50th Anniversary Convention, Goldberg suggested they may have dated, even joking one of her children could be half Q.

Whatever their personal history may be, the Ten Forward bartender has no compassion for Q, stabbing him with a fork to determine whether he is flesh and blood when stripped of his powers by the Q Continuum in “Deja Q.”

As he howls in pain, she says, “Seems pretty human to me.” Then, after the alien energy beam leaves him floored, begging for help, she remarks, “How the mighty have fallen.”

Furthermore, according to the Beta canon novel The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett, Guinan has a unique ability to perceive Q, thanks to the echo left after the time she spent trapped in the Nexus. Guinan’s “echo” is better explained in both drafts of the Generations screenplay , “When the Enterprise-B beamed us off the Lakul, we were partially in the Nexus. The transporters locked onto us … but somehow, everyone left a part of themselves behind.” 

Ten Forward to LA

Ito Aghayere as young Guinan, sitting in a restaurant with a weapon on the table in front of her

Pictured: Ito Aghayere as young Guinan of the Paramount+ original series STAR TREK: PICARD. Photo Cr: Trae Patton/Paramount+ ©2022 ViacomCBS. All Rights Reserved.

In Episode 4 of  Picard , “Watcher,” Admiral Picard beams down to the Watcher’s coordinates on 2024 Earth provided by Agnes Jurati ( Alison Pill ) after she rooted around in the Borg Queen’s mind. Picard finds himself at a familiar lounge, located in a new time, Ten Forward Los Angeles (remember we learned in the first episode of Season 2 , elder Guinan had also opened a bar in Los Angeles).

With the future timeline of Starfleet wiped out, none of the crucial “Time’s Arrow” episodes happened, meaning Picard never met Guinan in 1893, and no time travel paradox ever occurred. So instead, in “Watcher,” Picard finds Guinan packing to leave Earth and humanity FOREVER, and she tells Jean-Luc, “I don’t know you, old man!” Even when Picard tells the bartender his name, although she is familiar with it, she doesn’t know him.

Inverse reached out to Picard co-showrunner Terry Matalas, who explained it like this:

“This Guinan wouldn’t remember Picard because in this alternate timeline, the TNG episode “Time’s Arrow” never happened. Because there was no Federation, those events did not play out the same. No previous relationship exists. However, she still was likely traveling to Earth and, as we know, she hung around a bit. So this Guinan is different. But she, of course, can sense something is off. She’s going through a kind of time-sickness thanks to Q’s meddling with the timeline.”

But, like in “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” Guinan feels the alteration to the timeline, and she gets time sickness.

History Notes: Gene Roddenberry on Guinan

On a 2020 episode of The View , Goldberg and Stewart confirmed the last recurring character Gene Roddenberry created for Star Trek  before his death was Guinan. On The View , Goldberg said, “I think [Guinan] might have been the last character that Gene created. That he actually created. I think that might be mine.” Stewart agreed, saying, “I would say the true lasting character that we saw again and again and again.”

Roddenberry suggested to Goldberg about the character that, because of Guinan’s age, she could be one of the TNG characters’ ancestors. At the 2016 Star Trek 50th Anniversary Convention, she told the crowd, “I always assumed Picard was one of my great-great-great-great-great grandkids.” 

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About The Author

Rebecca Kaplan

Rebecca Kaplan

Rebecca Kaplan (she/he) has a JD and an MS in Criminology but believes that telling a good story does more good than the law. She's the Features Editor at Prism Comics and regularly contributes to the Eisner-winning PanelxPanel. You can find more of his writing at MovieWeb, StarTrek.com, Comics Bookcase, and MarvelBlog, and in Double Challenge: Being LGBTQ and a Minority, which she co-authored with her wife, Avery Kaplan.

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‘Star Trek: Picard’: How the Actor Playing Young Guinan, Ito Aghayere, Stepped Into Whoopi Goldberg’s Shoes (EXCLUSIVE)

SPOILER WARNING: This story discusses specific events in Season 2, Episode 4 of “ Star Trek: Picard ,” currently streaming on Paramount Plus .

As even casual fans of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” know, one of the beloved sci-fi show’s most meaningful relationships was between Capt. Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and the proprietor of the main bar on the U.S.S. Enterprise, Guinan ( Whoopi Goldberg ). The characters mean so much to each other that Stewart moved Goldberg to tears when he invited her to join him on the “TNG” sequel series “Star Trek: Picard” while appearing on an episode of “The View” in January 2020.

The Season 2 premiere of “Picard” wastes little time in bringing Goldberg back as Guinan, with a lovely scene in which the two old friends throw back some strong hooch in Guinan’s bar on Earth, as she attempts to soothe Picard’s wounded psyche.

It turns out that scene wasn’t just an exercise in nostalgia, either. After his reunion with Guinan, Picard finds himself plunged into a horrific alternate timeline in which the Federation doesn’t exist, the Earth is the center of a violent totalitarian empire, and Jean-Luc Picard has risen to power as a ruthless and bloodthirsty conqueror. So with the rest of the show’s main cast — all of whom also retain their memories of how things used to be — Picard travels back in time to 2024 to the point where he believes the timeline diverged irrevocably from its true path.

And that’s how, in Episode 4, “Watcher,” Picard finds himself stepping back into Guinan’s bar, where he comes face-to-face with a young Guinan. As the exclusive clip below illustrates, instead of Goldberg, however, the character is played by actor Ito Aghayere (“Carol’s Second Act”).

In her exclusive first interview about the role with Variety , Aghayere reveals that playing Guinan was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to be a part of “Star Trek” — especially “The Next Generation.”

“I watched all of ‘TNG’ as a kid, primarily because my parents are immigrants, and they’re very conservative,” she said in a Zoom interview. “As a kid growing up, there were very few shows that they would let us watch without having to care what it was about, or understand what it was about.”

She laughed. “I don’t think I told Patrick — as I probably should have — but they thought he looked really smart and intelligent,” she said. “So they were like, ‘Eh, she’s gonna learn something, let them watch it.’ I couldn’t watch ‘Power Rangers,’ but I could watch ‘Star Trek.'”

Rather than pour him a drink, Aghayere’s Guinan is so deeply disillusioned with humanity that she pulls a shotgun on Picard when he reveals he knows she’s a member of a long-lived alien species called El-Aurians. But as much as she enjoyed shooting the scene, as a “TNG” devotee, Aghayere also noticed that it seemed strange that her Guinan does not recognize Picard at all when he steps into her bar.

That’s because in the two-part “TNG” episode “Time’s Arrow,” Guinan first meets Picard in 1893 San Francisco, part of a twisty time-travel plot line that is launched when the severed head of the android Data (Brent Spiner) is discovered after its seemingly spent 500 years buried in a California cavern. So Aghayere said she asked executive producer and showrunner Terry Matalas about why Guinan wouldn’t recognize Picard in 2024 if she’d met him so memorably in 1893.

“I think what Terry does in terms of storytelling when it comes to time travel is just brilliant,” she said at first with a smile. “I don’t think he ever got me a clear answer on it. And I think…” She paused for a long time. “I never will.”

Fortunately, a representative for Paramount Plus did provide a rather head-squeezing answer from Matalas on this question: “Guinan does not recognize Picard in 2024. Fans might be briefly confused by this because she did meet him on Earth in 1893 in ‘The Next Generation.’ The reason that she doesn’t recognize Picard is that he’s traveled from a future in which Starfleet doesn’t exist, and therefore the whole thing with Data’s head in ‘Time’s Arrow’ never happened.” In other words, the alternate reality Picard was too busy conquering and never traveled back in time to 1893, so he never met Guinan then.

Time travel shenanigans aside, Aghayere talked with Variety about how much Guinan meant to her, how she approached playing the role, and what surprising gift cemented her own friendship with Stewart.

When you were first watching “The Next Generation,” what do you remember of your feelings about Guinan and who she was?

Oh, man, I just thought she was so cool. I have to paint a picture of you what it was like back then: I had braces until I was a freshman in college, so I was the epitome of a Black nerd. So watching Whoopi just steal scenes right out from under Patrick Stewart — I love you, Patrick — but just stealing scenes left and right. It just felt so empowering to watch her do that. Looking back now, I just think this woman completely encapsulated the kind of Puck-like quality of [being] both mischievous and omniscient. She wasn’t in that many episodes, so to have such a pivotal impact on the series is quite remarkable. As a kid, every time I saw, “And guest starring Whoopi Goldberg,” I was like, “Yes! She’s back! It’s going to be a good one!”

So given your abiding love for the show and this character, what was your reaction when you first learned it was not only “Star Trek: Picard,” but the role was a younger Guinan?

It was actually quite strange. I found out the normal way: My reps were like, “There’s this role, we have no idea what it is. But it looks interesting, read it.” At the time, my character’s name was Gwen. I had no idea she was Guinan. They were dummy sides — it was a scene that was written that had the same dynamic and the same relationship to the actual scene from the episode, between a person named John and a woman named Gwen. All I knew is that when I read the scene, it felt like I understood her. I understood her bitterness and her disappointment and her fear to hope in the world. That’s what locked me in, just to the story that she seemed to be telling, which resonated with me as a Black woman in America. It felt like a story I wanted to tell.

But did you know it was for “Star Trek,” at least?

I had no idea that it was “Star Trek.” I found out maybe two callbacks in that it was “Star Trek.” It was one of those things where I was like, No way . There are very few moments in an actor’s career where you get to be in the thing that you loved as a kid. Usually those things end — as they should. Unless you’re [auditioning for] “Grey’s Anatomy” and were born in 2000. So it didn’t sink into me until I was doing my final test with producers. It was at that point of the pandemic where my now-husband and I couldn’t be in the house anymore. So I was at Mount Zion National Park in some hotel room with my laptop stacked on top of the suitcase, stacked on top a case of water, doing this really heartfelt scene. I think it was with Terry Matalas, the showrunner. And at that point, in that moment, I was like, this is legit . This is “Star Trek.”

How did that feel?

It was lovely, because the thing about “Star Trek” is that they don’t shy away from delving into really reflective topics that shed a light on the world that we live in. There’s this moment where Guinan lets loose on “John,” and she’s just like, “Your privilege blinds you from my pain.” And it’s just, ahhh — what more can I say, as a Black woman? It just went there for me. So to be able to be with people who are writing about something that still resonates with me as a 33-year-old woman was cathartic. To be able to tell stories that are still relevant in a universe that means a lot to me — it was just unreal.

What really struck me in your performance is that your Guinan is in a much different place than Whoopi Goldberg’s — she’s much more emotionally demonstrative and distraught. How did you work on connecting on what Whoopi had done in the role while differentiating yourself?

Rewatching her episodes, it gave me a lens into the future of who this character would be. In some ways, what I did was reverse engineer what someone has to grow into in order to be Whoopi’s Guinan. What wisdom doesn’t she have access to, what optimism does she not subscribe to, so that she can have a place to go? What does she not know yet that she will come to learn to be the enigmatic, wise counselor that she is in “TNG”?

One of the things that I did was go through all of the different moments through “TNG” where Whoopi’s Guinan mentions things about loss, things about her history, things about her pain. I took note of every moment where she hints at a past pain. That allowed me to strip that down into its component parts. What wisdom do I have now, but isn’t applied in the best way? You know, and I think that’s why this story can happen, because I need the Picard of Whoopi’s timeline to at least get me going along the path of where Whoopi’s Guinan ends up.

What is something you wanted to emulate physically from Whoopi’s performance as Guinan?

I think Whoopi had this beautiful stillness to her work. I took that to be that to come from a place of confidence and an ease with which she exists in her body. She sits in the center of herself, in each moment. You never see her fidgeting. You never see her move around. I wanted to use that. I think that is key to who this person is, but in 2024 Guinan, I think that stillness is used as a weapon. It is the precursor to a threat, to an attack. It is aggressive. It’s not out of a place of ease, it’s out of a place of, “I’m going to gauge what I need to do to protect myself.” It is selfish in many ways. It’s not giving in the way that I think Whoopi’s Guinan is.

Did you get to meet Whoopi?

I didn’t because of the pandemic. There were so many stops and starts with closures and people getting sick, so pretty much no one shot anything in sequence. It was a lot of bouncing around. I think they’d hoped at one point that it could work out. I’m still holding out hope. I think eventually we’ll make a connection.

You did, of course, meet Patrick Stewart since all your scenes were with him. What was that like for you?

He is such a generous actor, on and off the screen. One of our first scenes together, besides having to go there calling him out on his privilege as Jean-Luc, I also had to pull a shotgun on the man and look calm doing it. And, I mean, he has a “Sir” in front of his name. He was just ready for it. He was like, “Bring it! Bring it!” And such a sweet soul.

A friend of mine had told me he really likes this yeast thing, Marmite. Because I have family in the U.K., I know it, and I hate it. It’s awful. But it’s hard to get here. I was at a store and I saw it and I was like, I wonder if it’d be cheesy to get him like a little jar of Marmite? It’s so random — why would some random person you’re working with just hand you a jar of Marmite? And so, the first time we met, we’re outside and I have this jar of Marmite in this bag. I’m like, “Patrick, you don’t know me. But here’s the Marmite.” He lost it! He was like, “Oh, my goodness, Marmite! I love this stuff! Who told you?” That was how we started. He just brought this joy. He doesn’t have to be kind and warm and generous. And he does. It was just thrilling.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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"Earl Grey, piping hot" —

Picard and guinan have a warm reunion in s2 trailer for star trek: picard, "your answers are not in the stars and they never have been.".

Jennifer Ouellette - Jan 21, 2022 11:14 pm UTC

It has been a long, pandemic-fueled wait, but the second season of  Star Trek: Picard  is almost here, and we now have an official trailer. In addition to seeing Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) encounter his mischievous former frenemy, Q (John de Lancie), fans' hearts will warm to see the retired Starfleet captain reunite with Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), the El-Aurian bar hostess from Star Trek: The Next Generation .

As I wrote in my review last year, the series is set 20 years after the events of  Star Trek: Nemesis .  The first season opened with Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) having retired to the family vineyard. His bucolic existence was interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious woman named Dahj (Isa Briones) who pleaded for his help. Alas, Picard failed to save her. She was killed in front of him by Romulan assassins belonging to a radical sect known as the Zhat Vash, who is dedicated to eradicating all artificial life forms. Picard discovered that Dahj was actually a synthetic—technically Data's "daughter"—and she had a twin sister, Soji, who was also in danger.

Resolved to save Soji, Picard asked Starfleet for a ship, but he had been gone a long time, and his entreaties were rebuffed. Never one to admit defeat, Picard amassed his own scrappy crew over the next few episodes for his unauthorized rescue mission. The crew included Cristobal Rios (Santiago Cabrera), a skilled thief and pilot of the ship La Sirena ; Raffi (Michelle Hurd), a former Starfleet intelligence officer and recovering addict; Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill); and a Romulan refugee, Elnor (Evan Evagora).

Seeing Guinan and Picard together again gives us some warm fuzzies.

Some details about the second season have been trickling out over the last year. We know, for instance, that even though Picard's consciousness is now in a synthetic body, the show will still explore themes of dealing with the last stage of one's life, the nature of connectedness—hence the return of Q and Guinan—and Picard's struggle with his own personal history, which will include time traveling to the past. Per the official synopsis:

Picard takes the legendary Jean-Luc Picard and his crew on a bold and exciting new journey: into the past. Picard must enlist friends both old and new to confront the perils of 21st century Earth in a desperate race against time to save the galaxy’s future—and face the ultimate trial from one of his greatest foes.

Patrick Stewart personally invited Whoopi Goldberg to reprise her role as Guinan in S2 during an appearance to promote S1 on The View  in January 2020. Paramount dropped an initial S2 teaser in April last year, on First Contact Day, that strongly hinted that fan favorite Q—an extra-dimensional being with power over time, space, the laws of physics, and reality itself—would return and that the second season would play with time. A one-minute teaser dropped last July , giving us our first look at Q.

Q (John de Lancie) is up to his old tricks.

That teaser also showed us that time has been broken in S2, with many significant changes. We saw Elnor and Raffi fleeing for their lives, Soji dressed all in white, Rios in a snazzy new Federation uniform with new insignia, and Agnes Jurati in civilian garb. Also, Seven of Nine awoke in an unfamiliar apartment, and when she looked in the mirror, her Borg implant was gone.

The full trailer has some of that same footage, and more. It opens with Picard ruminating on the moments that still haunt him, "moments upon which history turns." Then, he wakes up in a different timeline, with Q welcoming Picard to the "road not taken." The Federation doesn't seem quite so noble as the version we've known in the past, and what is that mysterious blue substance in a vial that Q gives to Altan Inigo Soong (Brent Spiner)?

The Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) is also back and might be to blame for some time shenanigans that transport Picard and his crew back to 2024. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fans will understand the significance of that year, detailed in the two-part episode " Past Tense ." It's the year of the Bell Riots, a protest and crackdown that proved so violent that America embarked on a course of social and political reform that ultimately led to the formation of the Federation. So messing with that point in the timeline could have some serious repercussions.

Annie Wersching plays the Borg Queen this time around.

Desperate for someone who can help him understand what is going on with the divergence in time, Picard walks into a bar that just happens to be run by Guinan—perhaps a bit less posh than Ten Forward , but still plenty cozy. "I'm gonna need some tea. Earl Grey. Piping hot," Guinan says, wearing a truly spectacular red hat. She warmly embraces her old friend, assuring him, "I believe you have one final frontier yet to come."

The second season of Star Trek: Picard premiers on Paramount+ on March 3, 2022. A third season filmed concurrently, so we'll be getting even more adventures from the crew of La Sirena .

Listing image by YouTube/Paramount+

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Screen Rant

Guinan & picard's slavery talk is a defining star trek: tng conversation.

One conversation in this classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode sets the tone for the relationship dynamic between Guinan and Captain Picard.

  • Guinan's advice to Picard on Data's trial reveals deeper implications beyond property rights.
  • Picard's relationship with Guinan evolves throughout TNG and beyond, going beyond friendship.
  • This pivotal conversation showcases how Guinan helps Picard see beyond surface-level arguments.

One impactful conversation between Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) not only elevates Star Trek: The Next Generation but also helps to define Jean-Luc and Guinan's relationship moving forward. Guinan joined the cast of TNG in the show's second season to serve as the bartender in Ten Forward on the USS Enterprise-D. As an El-Aurian, Guinan comes from a race of listeners who often spend their long lives observing the world and sharing advice. On TNG , Guinan becomes one of the few people Captain Picard seeks out for advice and she often helps him look at problems in new ways.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 9, "The Measure of a Man," the android Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) finds himself at the center of a trial that will determine whether or not he is the property of Starfleet. After Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) delivers a compelling argument against Data, Captain Picard seeks advice from Guinan, worried that his case in support of Data may not be strong enough. Their brief conversation shifts the trajectory of the episode and pushes Picard to look at Data's trial from a different perspective.

Guinan's Complete TNG & Picard Timeline Explained

Guinan & picard's slavery talk takes star trek: tng to another level, "property. but that's not the issue at all, is it".

When Captain Picard sits down with Guinan in Ten Forward, he feels defeated even though he knows he's on the right side of the argument regarding Data's sentience. Picard just needs a push in the right direction to see the truth about what is really at stake in Data's trial. Guinan knows this, but she does not simply come out and tell Picard what to think. Rather, she leads him to the truth in a way that is clever and subtle. Guinan first talks about how valuable Data is and how being the property of Starfleet will increase his value. Picard questions Guinan and her reply hammers her point home. She responds:

Well, consider that in the history of many worlds, there have always been disposable creatures. They do the dirty work. They do the work that no one else wants to do because it's too difficult, or too hazardous. And an army of Datas, all disposable, you don't have to think about their welfare, you don't think about how they feel. Whole generations of disposable people.

Picard realizes that she's talking about slavery and that Data's trial could have much more far-reaching implications than even he realizes. If Data is determined to be property then that sets a dangerous precedent for every android or artificial intelligence that comes after him. Data's trial deals with metaphysical questions that even the humans of the far future cannot answer, and Picard's powerful, argument-ending speech finally gets everyone to see this. But it was Guinan who helped Picard see past the surface-level arguments and get to the heart of the matter.

How Picard & Guinan's Relationship Evolved In TNG & Star Trek: Picard

"i just knew that if i guided you right, set you straight, you'd circle around eventually.".

Guinan had only been around for a few episodes by the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Measure of a Man," and her conversation with Picard provided insight into the depth of the relationship between her and the Enterprise captain. Guinan does not treat Picard as her captain, but simply as her friend. And with the amount of trust Picard places in Guinan, it's clear they have been friends for a long time. Jean-Luc Picard doesn't open up to just anyone, after all. In TNG season 4, episode 1, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II," Guinan refers to her relationship with Picard by saying that it "is beyond friendship, beyond family."

Guinan refers to her relationship with Picard by saying that it "is beyond friendship, beyond family."

In Star Trek: Picard season 2, Jean-Luc encounters a younger Guinan (Ito Aghayere) at her 10 Forward Avenue bar in 2024 Los Angeles. Guinan had been planning to leave Earth, but helping Picard locate the Watcher and learn more about the motives of Q (John de Lancie) gave her a reason to stay. After Jean-Luc returned to the 23rd century, he visited Guinan at her Los Angeles bar, where she revealed that she had been good friends with Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) and Picard's ancestor, Renée (Penelope Mitchell). Throughout their long friendship, Jean-Luc and Guinan helped one another, sharing advice and reminiscing about their pasts, and much of their dynamic was set up by one scene in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2.

Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Picard are available to stream on Paramount+.

IMAGES

  1. The Untold Truth Of Star Trek's Guinan

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  2. Whoopi Goldberg returns as Guinan in trailer for Star Trek: Picard season 2

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  5. DANGEROUS DAYS

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COMMENTS

  1. Guinan

    Guinan was an enigmatic bartender who ran Ten Forward, the lounge aboard the USS Enterprise-D. She was well known for her wise counsel, which proved invaluable many times. Guinan was an El-Aurian, a race of "listeners" who were scattered by the Borg. Q, however, once suggested that there was far more to her than could be imagined. (TNG: "Booby Trap", "The Measure Of A Man", "Galaxy's Child ...

  2. Guinan (Star Trek)

    Guinan / ˈ ɡ aɪ n ə n / is a recurring character in the Star Trek franchise, portrayed by American actress Whoopi Goldberg.The character first appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and went on to appear in Star Trek: Picard and the films Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis.She was also played as a child by Isis Carmen Jones in the episode "Rascals" and a ...

  3. What are Guinan's powers from Star Trek: TNG?

    Guinan is an El-Aurian, which according to Star Trek canon is a race of highly intelligent, Extremely long lived space-travelers who pre-date Earth's first contact with the Vulcan. This contact was just unbeknownst to mankind at the time, as they visited in secret.

  4. Star Trek: How Old Guinan Is (Can She Die?)

    Guinan from Star Trek: The Next Generation is from a race of extremely long-lived aliens, but how old is the mysterious bartender? Played by Whoopi Goldberg, Guinan was first introduced in season 2 of The Next Generation and went on to play a significant recurring role in the rest of the series. Along with tending the bar in Ten Forward, Guinan served as a confidant and informal counselor to ...

  5. Guinan's Complete TNG & Picard Timeline Explained

    Guinan is an El-Aurian, a race of empathic and telepathic beings who are extremely long-lived; Guinan's exact age is never mentioned, but she is well over 500 years old by the time of her appearance in Star Trek: Picard season 2. Guinan was an instant hit with TNG viewers, dispensing drinks and sage wisdom from Ten Forward, the Enterprise's bar.

  6. The Untold Truth Of Star Trek's Guinan

    Guinan is part bartender, part therapist. As the Enterprise 's bartender, we usually find Guinan in Ten Forward, the bar/lounge where many of the ship's crew members go to relax and where Guinan ...

  7. Guinan's Complete Tng & Picard Timeline Explained

    Guinan is an El-Aurian, a race of empathic and telepathic beings who are extremely long-lived; Guinan's exact age is never mentioned, but she is well over 500 years old by the time of her appearance in Star Trek: Picard season 2. Guinan was an instant hit with Tng viewers, dispensing drinks and sage wisdom from Ten Forward, the Enterprise's bar.

  8. Star Trek: Guinan & El-Aurians, Explained

    Guinan is an unexpected icon of the Star Trek franchise. Her species offers many unique and interesting elements to the universe. Writers could find many fascinating stories in the lives of El ...

  9. Picard: Every Century's Version Of Guinan In Star Trek Explained

    The crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation time travels in season 5, episode 26 "Time's Arrow Part 1," and season 6, episode 1, "Time's Arrow Part 2," wherein they meet Madame Guinan in 1893 San Francisco. Guinan was hiding from her father on Earth and spent her time as a socialite who charmed high society earthlings at parties, like the writer Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, with her ...

  10. The Real Person Who Inspired Guinan On Star Trek

    The Real Person Who Inspired Guinan On Star Trek. CBS. By Jenna Busch / Feb. 14, 2022 12:29 pm EST. If you're a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fan, you know the character of Guinan played by ...

  11. Guinan

    Guinan was a supporting character introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Child.She was a member of the El-Aurian race, a long-lived species. She was portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg as an adult in the 1890s and the 23rd through 25th centuries, Isis J. Jones as a de-aged Guinan in the episode Rascals, and Ito Aghayere in the second season of Star Trek: Picard.

  12. What species is Guinan exactly? : r/startrek

    Later on, with better effects, Star Trek started to make Borg different alien races under the Borg makeup. Why Guinan seems to have special powers and then never uses them or references them again, I think the writers just overreached a bit and haven't retconned it yet.

  13. The Art of Guinan's Aphorisms

    Guinan, who was first introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation and reintroduced in Star Trek: Picard, is several centuries old and full of wisdom which she does not mind sharing with the Starfleet crew. The El-Aurian bartender was invited to be a crew member on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D, directly by Captain Jean-Luc Picard.. The owner of the famous 10 Forward bar also served as the ...

  14. Star Trek: Picard

    When Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) calls on 21st-century Guinan (Ito Aghayere) to help him summon Q (John de Lancie), it's because he knows the El-Aurian...

  15. Picard's Q Just Answered The Next Generation's Oldest Guinan Mystery

    Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 7.. Star Trek: Picard has finally answered the mystery behind Guinan and Q's hostility toward each other in Star Trek: The Next Generation.Towards the end of the Picard season 2 episode "Monsters", Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard returns to Ten Forward, seeking the assistance of a younger Guinan.

  16. Guinan: Gene Roddenberry's Final Gift to STAR TREK

    Before Earth's first official contact with the alien race, El-Aurian, Guinan hid from her father on the planet beginning in 1893, making it the earliest contact between her species and humans in Star Trek canon (and maybe the earliest contact between an alien species and humans, since the Vulcans' T'Mir, Mestral and Stron didn't crash-land until 1957).

  17. 'Star Trek: Picard': Young Guinan Actor Ito Aghayere Explains ...

    That's because in the two-part "TNG" episode "Time's Arrow," Guinan first meets Picard in 1893 San Francisco, part of a twisty time-travel plot line that is launched when the severed ...

  18. Picard and Guinan have a warm reunion in S2 trailer for Star Trek

    Picard and Guinan have a warm reunion in S2 trailer for Star Trek: ... 21st century Earth in a desperate race against time to save the galaxy's future—and face the ultimate trial from one of ...

  19. Star Trek: What Happened To Guinan After TNG Ended

    Star Trek: Picard has moved further into Star Trek 's future, to the end of the 24th century. Jean-Luc Picard had withdrawn from the galaxy, presumably including from his friendship with Guinan; the first season saw him begin to boldly go once again, although he didn't reconnect with Guinan. Star Trek: Picard season 2 features the return of ...

  20. How Star Trek: TNG Figured Out Guinan (It Was Because Of Picard)

    Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan joined the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in season 2, but it took some time for the writers to figure out this mysterious new bartender character. Guinan was added to TNG's cast after Whoopi Goldberg herself reached out to production requesting a role on the show.Goldberg had been a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series, and wanted to play a part in the Star ...

  21. Guinan & Picard's Slavery Talk Is A Defining Star Trek: TNG Conversation

    In Star Trek: Picard season 2, Jean-Luc encounters a younger Guinan (Ito Aghayere) at her 10 Forward Avenue bar in 2024 Los Angeles. Guinan had been planning to leave Earth, but helping Picard locate the Watcher and learn more about the motives of Q (John de Lancie) gave her a reason to stay. After Jean-Luc returned to the 23rd century, he ...