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.

Memory Alpha

  • View history

El-Aurians were a spacefaring humanoid species originating from the El-Aurian system . A long-lived race of "listeners", they possessed perceptive abilities that extended beyond the normal space-time continuum .

  • 5.1 Appearances
  • 5.2 Background information
  • 5.3 External link

History [ ]

The El-Aurians were a widely traveled people who spread themselves across many parts of the galaxy and beyond. At least one El-Aurian, Guinan , visited Earth in 1893 , before Humans had any common knowledge of alien species . ( TNG : " Time's Arrow ", " Time's Arrow, Part II ") Another region which the El-Aurians visited was near System J-25 . ( TNG : " Q Who ")

In the distant past, the El-Aurians engaged in a long cold war with the Q Continuum , which was ended with a truce struck over a bottle of liquor . The moment of the truce was captured within the bottle, which could subsequently be used to summon a Q . The bottle was in Guinan's possession as of 2024 . ( PIC : " Monsters ")

Around 2265 , when Guinan wasn't present, this species was the victim of a major attack by the Borg , with all but a handful of El-Aurians being assimilated or killed and all El-Aurian cities being destroyed. ( TNG : " Q Who ", " Ensign Ro ", " I Borg ") The El-Aurian fatalities numbered in the millions, which included Tolian Soran 's wife and children , and the loss of their homeworld scattered the survivors throughout the universe. ( TNG : " Q Who ", " The Best of Both Worlds ", Star Trek Generations ) On the other hand, by resisting when the Borg came to assimilate them, the El-Aurians defied their attackers' motto that "resistance is futile." ( TNG : " I Borg ")

El-Aurians surround Chekov

A group of panic-stricken El-Aurians surround Chekov in 2293

In 2293 , a group of 415 El-Aurian refugees were traveling to Earth, following their escape from the Borg, transported on two ships , the SS Lakul and the SS Robert Fox , when they were caught in the Nexus energy ribbon near the Sol system . None of the El-Aurians wanted to leave the Nexus, despite it endangering and eventually destroying their transport ships . The USS Enterprise -B was able to rescue 47 of the refugees, including Guinan and Dr. Soran. The survivors were in a state of panicked confusion and had at least some minor injuries . In the Enterprise 's sickbay , they were given medical assistance and assured that everything would be alright by Pavel Chekov and a group of journalists who served as a makeshift medical team (although the mission cost the life of James T. Kirk , or so it was thought). ( Star Trek Generations )

By 2368 , there were still very few El-Aurians left, due to the Borg, and those who were still alive remained scattered throughout the galaxy , with no collective home any more. ( TNG : " I Borg ") While Guinan became the bartender aboard the USS Enterprise -D in 2365 , Soran, following the Enterprise -B rescue, dedicated the next seventy-eight years (until his apparent death in 2371 ) to finding a way to return to the Nexus. ( Star Trek Generations ; TNG : " The Child ") Martus Mazur , another El-Aurian refugee, visited Deep Space 9 in 2370 . ( DS9 : " Rivals ")

Biology [ ]

Guinan, age 12

Guinan, as she looked in her childhood

Externally, the El-Aurians were physically identical to Humans, in structure and even the range of racial phenotypes. ( TNG : " The Child "; Star Trek Generations , et al. ) El-Aurians had rybo-viroxic-nucleic sequences in their genes (similar to other humanoids, including Humans and Bajorans ). ( TNG : " Rascals ")

A significant physical difference between Humans and El-Aurians was in the aging process, as the extremely long El-Aurian life span covered many centuries. One particular El-Aurian male was known to be a father of an adult when he was around two hundred years old in the 19th century, and to be in virtually perfect health at the age of around seven hundred years old as of the 24th century . This longevity also afforded them the opportunity to have many children. ( TNG : " Time's Arrow ", " Rascals ", " Evolution ") According to Guinan, El-Aurians only age when they choose to. ( PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

A Devidian temporal vortex suddenly being opened could potentially injure an El-Aurian more than it could a Human, knocking the El-Aurian unconscious and wounding them in such a way that the El-Aurian couldn't walk thereafter unless they received medical treatment. ( TNG : " Time's Arrow, Part II ") El-Aurians might also suffer from more common physical sensations, such as thirst and tennis elbow . ( TNG : " Time's Arrow, Part II ", " Suspicions ")

El-Aurians were empathic , and also possessed a limited form of telepathy whereby they could, with difficulty, project an image of themselves into the mind of another person. ( PIC : " Mercy ")

El-Aurians had an awareness that superseded the normal flow of time and space , allowing them to be extraordinarily sensitive to the space-time continuum itself. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ") Guinan was able to perceive the change from the regular timeline to the aforementioned alternate one and back again, switches that occurred in 2366 , due to a disruption in the history of the starship USS Enterprise -C ; the changes were felt by both the Guinan of the alternate timeline and that of the regular timeline. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ", " Redemption II ") After Data postulated his theory about El-Aurians being able to intuitively detect such alterations, the Jean-Luc Picard of that timeline admitted there were many things about El-Aurians which they couldn't easily explain. However, the faith he had in Guinan's "special wisdom", as he called it, was instrumental in resetting the timeline. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ")

El-Aurians could be physically affected by changes in the timeline, with symptoms ranging from general feelings of unease to severe nausea and vomiting. These physiological effects were called Af-Kelt , or "time sickness". ( PIC : " Watcher ")

Culture [ ]

El-Aurians described themselves as a race of "listeners", by which they meant that they could "hear" the world like music . To them, every action and word vibrated with a specific resonance , and they could further manipulate reality by finding and plucking the "right chord ". ( PIC : " Monsters ")

Some El-Aurians used their abilities to help others, acting as advisers or confidants. A few turned their talent to more dubious pursuits, becoming con artists and tricksters, such as Martus Mazur, while Dr. Soran used his abilities to help bring his genocidal plan to re-enter the Nexus to fruition. ( DS9 : " Rivals "; Star Trek Generations ) El-Aurians usually didn't experience difficulties with parents relating to their children, as El-Aurian children were usually good at listening to their parents. ( TNG : " Evolution ")

The El-Aurians believed that they were united by food and drink . Using their abilities, they could capture the half-life of a moment in time within physical objects. ( PIC : " Monsters ")

  • Martus Mazur
  • Tolian Soran
  • Unnamed El-Aurians

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

  • " The Child " (Season Two)
  • " The Outrageous Okona "
  • " The Measure Of A Man "
  • " The Dauphin "
  • " Evolution " (Season Three)
  • " Booby Trap "
  • " Yesterday's Enterprise "
  • " The Offspring "
  • " Hollow Pursuits "
  • " The Best of Both Worlds "
  • " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II " (Season Four)
  • " The Loss "
  • " Galaxy's Child "
  • " Night Terrors "
  • " In Theory "
  • " Redemption "
  • " Redemption II " (Season Five)
  • " Ensign Ro "
  • " Imaginary Friend "
  • " Time's Arrow "
  • " Time's Arrow, Part II " (Season Six)
  • " Rascals "
  • " Suspicions "
  • DS9 : " Rivals "
  • Star Trek Generations
  • Star Trek Nemesis
  • " The Star Gazer "
  • " Watcher "
  • " Monsters "
  • " Farewell "

Background information [ ]

Whoopi Goldberg, John Alonzo and Malcolm McDowell

El-Aurian-playing actors Whoopi Goldberg and Malcolm McDowell , with Director of Photography John A. Alonzo

Descriptive text about Guinan in the internal reference work Star Trek: The Next Generation Writers'/Directors' Guide stated that several El-Aurians met Jean-Luc Picard while he was serving as a lieutenant on board the USS Stargazer and that they fascinated him at that point. The description also explained that the fact they were often described as a group of listeners was because something about the species "encourages others to be honest when they speak." ( [5] ; Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 012)

The first canonical evidence of this species were references to Guinan not being Human. Wesley Crusher mentions in TNG Season 2 opener " The Child " that the crew of the Enterprise -D are curious as to where she has come from (Crusher saying he has heard that a rumored answer to that mystery is Nova Kron ), and in later second season installment " The Outrageous Okona ", Guinan makes a joke in which she refers to herself as a humanoid. Her "people" were first referred to in " Q Who ", later in the same season, which also introduced the Borg. The first time Guinan's people were referred to as a species of "listeners" was in TNG Season 3 opener " Evolution ".

In the writer's first draft of the script for TNG : " Rascals " (which had the working title "Maker of Dreams"), Guinan's people were referred to as having encountered a shapeshifter who, in the story, called himself "Caliban", in reference to a character from Shakespeare 's The Tempest . The script established that Guinan's people commonly referred to him as a "Maker of Dreams".

According to the reference book Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (3rd ed., p. 319), the El-Aurians were named after an "angel of flame" from ancient Hebrew lore. Though many people think the name of the species was first established in Star Trek Generations , it actually originated in DS9 : " Rivals ". However, the name was likely taken from early drafts of Generations , which were definitely in circulation around the Star Trek office at Paramount by the time "Rivals" entered production. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (p. 109)) The name wasn't included in the first draft script of "Rivals" (dated 14 September 1993 ), which instead referred to Martus Mazur as being from one of numerous races of Listeners (the script didn't specify how many there were, nor what any of them were called). At one point in the same first draft script, Odo commented, " You Listener-types are the worst, " to which Mazur replied, " I beg to differ, constable . Listeners – my race included – are the finest diplomats , counselors , advisors – " but Odo interrupted, ending the sentence with " – and con-artists in the galaxy. " The references to Martus as an El-Aurian were added into the script by the time the final draft was submitted (on 18 October 1993 ) [6] , by which point the name had already been featured in the first draft screenplay of Generations (dated 1 October 1993). Although early reports regarding Soran claimed he was a Vulcan , Rick Berman confirmed he would be an El-Aurian (in Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine  issue 97 , dated June / July 1994 ). [7]

With Guinan having set a precedent of virtually always wearing elaborate hats, the El-Aurians in Star Trek Generations had to be effectively styled. Upon introducing them in the film's script, the screenplay physically described them as "humanoid and dressed in distinctive clothing." [8] El-Aurian hairstyles in the film were designed by Key Hair Stylist Joy Zapata . ( Star Trek Generations production notes) Meanwhile, Costume Designer Robert Blackman was assigned the task of designing individual costumes for thirty El-Aurians. This challenge was welcomed by Blackman, as working on Star Trek: The Next Generation had involved him encountering tight budgets and schedules that usually didn't allow for more than seven alien individuals to be shown per episode. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 231)

Whereas the first draft script of Star Trek Generations called for a series of "photos and biographical information" of the El-Aurian survivors from the Lakul to be shown on a screen aboard the Enterprise -D, El-Aurians other than Guinan and Tolian Soran are ultimately shown in only one scene of the film, to depict them panicking but being aided by Chekov and the journalists in the Enterprise -B's sickbay. The master version of this scene, used in the first edit of the film, spotlighted all of these individuals. [9] (X) This is also the only time when any El-Aurian other than Guinan, Tolian Soran, and Martus Mazur has appeared on camera.

External link [ ]

  • El-Aurian at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
  • 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the finale of Picard and the continuations of Discovery , Lower Decks , Prodigy and Strange New Worlds , the advent of new eras in Star Trek Online gaming , as well as other post-56th Anniversary publications such as the new ongoing IDW comic . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} or {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old . Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. ' Thank You

  • Memory Beta articles sourced from novelizations
  • Memory Beta articles sourced from comics
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  • Memory Beta articles sourced from short stories
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  • USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) residents
  • View history
  • 1.1 Early life
  • 1.3 On the Enterprise -D
  • 1.4 On the Enterprise -E
  • 1.5 After the Enterprise
  • 2 Alternate versions
  • 3 Appearances
  • 4 External link

Biography [ ]

Early life [ ].

She was born sometime after the 1600s on the planet El-Auria and lived in the city of Lauresse . During her early one-hundreds, she migrated away from home to travel around the galaxy, paying her way by using her listening skills as a bartender as she lacked the patience to earn psychiatric degrees on all the worlds she visited and was uninterested in sex work. ( TLE novel : The Buried Age )

She visited the planet Earth on several occasions during her youth, including in 1893 , where she met the time-traveling Jean-Luc Picard and Data from 2369 . ( TNG episode : " Time's Arrow "; ST website  : StarTrek.com )

Also in 1893, she met three Iramahl who had been hiding out on Earth from the Ptaen Consortium . ( TOS novel : Elusive Salvation )

In 1984 , Guinan told Gary Seven about the top secret research happening at Da Vinci Research Base in Antarctica , leading to Seven and Khan Noonien Singh undertaking a successful mission to stop the research. ( TOS novel : The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1 )

She was also on Earth in the 1990s . ( TOS novel : The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 2 ) An adversary of Q since the 22nd century , and has remained such up until the latter half of the 2300s . ( TNG episode : " Q Who ")

She had returned to her home world of El-Auria by the mid- 23rd century , and was among the refugees when the Borg destroyed it, though she wasn't a witness to the attack. Her young daughter was killed, and a despondent Guinan fled the planet aboard the freighter Lakul . The freighter came into contact with the Nexus, and Guinan, along with 46 others (including Yuriel Tyvan and Tolian Soran ), was temporarily transported into that paradise. She was removed by rescuers from the USS Enterprise -B . ( TNG movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Generations , TNG episode : " Q Who ")

In 2294 , Guinan met retired Starfleet Captain Montgomery Scott in a bar in Glasgow , Scotland while she was on Earth; the two shared several rounds of Saurian brandy . She delayed Scott from leaving long enough that he met Matt Franklin , although she did not know the reason at the time. ( Star Trek novel : Engines of Destiny )

She drifted through life in the Alpha Quadrant until 2333 , when, while living on an outpost on Oblivion , she met a young Jean-Luc Picard. He was able to reach out to her, and they developed a strong relationship. Years later, in 2365 , she accepted his offer to live and work on the USS Enterprise -D as hostess of the Ten-Forward lounge. ( STA novel : Oblivion , TNG episode : " The Child ")

In 2366 , new Lt. Reginald Barclay III made such an impression on her (from his superiors, such as Geordi La Forge ) that he reminded her of her uncle, Terkim . A sort of "atypical" family member, whose uncommon sense of humor influenced his niece. In four years' time, she was carried by Barclay himself into sickbay from the unbearable strain put on her special, space -time senses brought on by Trelane . ( TNG episode : " Hollow Pursuits ", TNG novel : Q-Squared )

Guinan's bond-sister, Delcara , chose to place herself in an infinite battle with a doomsday machine from 2367 onward. ( TNG novel : Vendetta )

By 2379 , she had married 23 times and had many children. ( TNG movie : Star Trek Nemesis ; TNG episode : " Evolution ")

Guinan's third husband bought her gifts every single day. He eventually died in a gardening accident. ( TNG novel : Spartacus )

On the Enterprise -D [ ]

In January 2365 , Picard's ship, the USS Enterprise -D , picked up Guinan from Starbase 80 , and she subsequently served as hostess at the Ten-Forward lounge until the ship's destruction in 2371 . She befriended many of the crew, listening and giving advice. ( TNG novel : Fortune's Light , TNG episode : " The Child ")

Guinan

Guinan in 2366

In 2368 , Guinan began receiving memories of things she felt she should not actually remember. When the Doctor arrived on the Enterprise and experienced the same problem, Picard brought him to Ten Forward to meet Guinan. They had a familiarity with each other that they shouldn't otherwise have. These memories were due to their abilities to sense disturbances in time, and they realised that the Cybermen had somehow altered history in order to bring their respective universes together and forge an alliance with the Borg. ( TNG - Assimilation² comic : " Issue 4 ")

In 2369 , Guinan heard the news that the Enterprise -D had rescued Scott from the USS Jenolen ; she considered again offering him Saurian brandy, but decided against it, figuring he was already disoriented enough. ( Star Trek novel : Engines of Destiny )

In 2370 , the Enterprise rendezvoused with Scott's loaned shuttlecraft , the Goddard ; this time, she brought the Saurian brandy, but Scott evaded the opportunity; instead, he was secretly working on a method to go back in time and save his former commanding officer, Captain James T. Kirk . Guinan shared her misgivings with Picard, but too late they discovered Scott had departed the Enterprise and set course for the Arhennius star, intending to gravity slingshot back in time; the Enterprise was forced to follow and found themselves in an alternate timeline where the Borg had taken over a significant amount of the Alpha Quadrant

Although Picard had trusted her instincts, he became frustrated when she could not immediately offer further assistance; in truth, she was withholding information - Earth was completely assimilated, and humans no longer existed in this universe, but her homeworld of El-Auria was untouched by the Borg. A vessel from the universe approached the Enterprise , and the alternate versions of Romulan Commander Tal and Guinan greeted them. The alternate Guinan beamed aboard and spoke with Picard, sharing her false memories of the "normal" timeline, and her relationship with Tal; the two Guinans then spoke, determining the split of time must have been in Earth's twenty-first century.

The alternate Guinan, having had a relationship with Tal for nearly a decade, and having saved his life at least once with her premonitions, was tolerated aboard the D'Zidran . The alternate convinced Tal to speed ahead to Gateway where Guinan spoke with the Guardian of Forever , learning the source of their power - the echo of Guinan within the Nexus linked her through all of time and across universes, but was not enough to give them knowledge of the future, only mysterious feelings of the present.

Meanwhile, as Picard and Kirk attempted to determine how to return the timeline to its proper flow, they suspected that it was Kirk's death that had made the difference. Kirk offered to kill himself, but Guinan insisted that he could not die, and instead must be returned to the Nexus. As the alternate Guinan spoke with the Guardian, all the others went catatonic, until they learned the same knowledge. Picard's Guinan went and apologized to Scott for affecting his life in a significant manner before the Enterprise was able to return Kirk to the energy ribbon, righting the timeline.

The echo of Guinan in the Nexus was at peace knowing that the Collective's attempt to stifle Earth had failed, and eventually they would fall, although she did not know how; there were many things that she did not or did not want to know, but was thankful, since it would leave her in a tedious Q-like existence, and to know that was all as was it should be was enough. ( Star Trek novel : Engines of Destiny )

In the "Track A" continuity universe aboard the USS Enterprise-D , her counterpart is a hostess by the name of Johnson. ( TNG novel : Q-Squared )

On the Enterprise -E [ ]

Her whereabouts since 2371 have been mostly unknown, though as of 2374 , she was living on Earth, and she attended the wedding of William T. Riker and Deanna Troi in 2379. ( TNG novel : The Q Continuum , TNG movie : Star Trek: Nemesis )

In early 2380, Guinan officiated Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher's wedding. By late 2380, at Picard's request, she briefly served as hostess of the lounge aboard the USS Enterprise -E during the third Borg crisis of the year. Although she admitted to a deep-seated fear of the Borg, Picard convinced her that he needed her. Guinan explained that every time she faced the Borg and was victorious, she did so while on a starship Enterprise . Jasminder Choudhury suggested the Guinan simply wanted support from a friend following the recent Borg attack on Earth, which Guinan mused could be true. At the conclusion of the mission, and motivated by her belief that she could best serve her dear friend by letting him face his problems without her, she disembarked from the Enterprise , but promised to visit when Picard's baby (with new wife Beverly Crusher) was born. ( TNG novel : Greater Than the Sum )

After the Enterprise [ ]

As of 2382 , Guinan had agreed to become the bartender aboard the Starfleet Corps of Engineers vessel USS Challenger as she felt that she had a stake to be aboard the ship during its mission. While on the Challenger , Guinan participated in the mission to restore the derelict Intrepid where she was reintroduced to Berlinghoff Rasmussen . Guinan would remain aboard the Challenger following its transfer to her friend Geordi La Forge . In 2383 Guinan revealed to La Forge that she had flashes of events happening both in the past, present, and future due to her time in the Nexus and she knew that she was instrumental in the investigation of trans-slipstream . Through Guinan, the Challenger crew was able to communicate with the creatures who were capable of trans-slipstream flight. Guinan was also confronted by Sela and helped her to make amends with her origins as the daughter of Tasha Yar . When the Challenger was destroyed, Guinan decided to visit Romulus after being given a visa by Sela and hoped to become bartender for the Romulan Senate . ( TNG novel : Indistinguishable from Magic )

10 Forward Avenue

Guinan at 10 Forward Avenue Bar

By 2400 , Guinan had relocated to Los Angeles . There, she returned to her 10 Forward Avenue bar where she met up with Admiral Picard.( PIC episode : " The Star Gazer ")

Alternate versions [ ]

In an alternate reality , Guinan decided not to return to the Enterprise after the death of Captain Picard. ( TNG - Myriad Universes novel : The Embrace of Cold Architects )

In an alternate reality in which the Klingons conquered the Federation, Guinan was a resistance member and Picard's lover. ( TNG - Myriad Universes comics : " Do Not Close Your Eyes ", " No Cure For That ", " What Happens Now ", " Inevitability ")

Appearances [ ]

External link [ ].

  • Guinan article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
  • Guinan article at the Star Trek Timelines Wiki .
  • 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
  • 2 Odyssey class
  • 3 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel

Well over 600 years old now, Guinan hid out from her father on Earth in AD 1893 as a mature adult and had an imaginary Tarcassian razor beast as a childhood pet -- and still finds time to "talk" to him. She herself has been married at least twice and has "a lot" of children. One of her offspring "wouldn't listen to anybody" -- a rarity in a species of listeners -- but he "grew out of it after several hundred years." Her family also includes her father, who is over 700 years old and had pursued her nearly 400 years earlier to come home, and a maternal-side Uncle Terkim, the "black sheep" of the family.

In the 2160s, Guinan first encountered the Q entity, and both mutually consider the other an implacable enemy -- though she went by a different name then. A century later she was not present when her people were attacked by the Borg and scattered from their home system thousands of light-years from Federation space -- though she was aboard the refugee-filled S.S. Lakul some 27 years later near Earth, in 2293, when part of her being was trapped in the same Nexus ribbon which destroyed her ship and a sister El-Aurian craft and caused the apparent death of Captain James T. Kirk. Following the incident, Guinan developed what otherwise would be dubbed a "sixth sense."

Though usually a calm and reasoned observer, Guinan's personal life proved fitful and she held long grudges against both Q and the Borg as enemies -- though even she relented against the latter when "Hugh" Borg proved civilized when cut off from the collective in 2368. She coyly says her relationship with Picard goes "beyond friendship and beyond family," and had earlier claimed she liked bald-headed men; she has vaguely spoken of "serious trouble" that she escaped thanks to the trust of Picard; in return, he once observed that "Guinan is very selective about whom she calls a friend."

No stranger to the phaser range, she once beat Worf on Level 14, firing left-handed, and she silenced a dream-deprived paranoid mob in Ten-Forward with an energy-beam rifle hidden behind the bar. She has also been coached in fencing by Picard, begun when she considered exercise to strengthen her arm in 2368.

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Star Trek: Picard | Understanding Guinan And Q's History | Paramount+

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 has a special relationship with him. Take a look at the pair's backstory, from Star Trek: The Next Generation to Star Trek: Picard Season 2. Stream all-new episodes of Star Trek: Picard on Thursdays, exclusively in the U.S. on Paramount+.

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Published Jul 5, 2018

Listening to the Universe: The El-Aurians

star trek what species is guinan

Hailing from a star system beyond Federation space, the El-Aurians are a humanoid species known for their “listening” ability. After their homeworld was destroyed by the Borg, the few survivors became nomads, scattered throughout the galaxy.

star trek what species is guinan

A Race from a Faraway Star

The planets in the system around the star El-Auria were home to the El-Aurian race. Their outward appearance is much like that of humans, but they age much more slowly. The lifespan of an El-Aurian covers many centuries, with some recorded as living past 700 human years.

El-Aurians are known as “Listeners.” They are highly perceptive, possibly empathic. Some El-Aurians appear to have an awareness of the fluctuations of time and space. Because of this, as they’ve traveled through the galaxy, El-Aurians have often served as counselors, bartenders, and peacekeepers, with a few using their talents to ill effect as conmen.

star trek what species is guinan

Homeworld Destroyed

Circa 2265, the El-Aurian system came under Borg attack. Though they resisted, most of the El-Aurians were assimilated or killed, with fatalities numbering in the millions. Their cities were destroyed, and the handful of survivors were forced to flee.

In 2293, a group of 415 refugees headed for Earth hailed the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-B for help after encountering a mysterious ribbon of energy, known as the Nexus. During the rescue mission, the Nexus destroyed their transports, but the Enterprise was able to beam 47 El-Aurians to safety. In the process, the Enterprise lost its former captain, James. T. Kirk.

star trek what species is guinan

One of the El-Aurians rescued by the Enterprise was a female named Guinan, who was around 500 Earth years old at the time. She had spent her earlier adult years traveling and had been away from her homeworld at the time of the Borg attack. Guinan even spent some time on Earth in the 1890s, hiding out from her father, living among the humans. She also encountered a Q in the 2160s and began an adversarial relationship with him.

star trek what species is guinan

Guinan was aboard the S.S. Lakul when it was caught up in the Nexus in 2293. While the ship was being torn apart, Guinan and the other refugees were trapped in the ribbon. Inside the Nexus, time is not linear, and everything one desires can become real. Though she was rescued, an echo of Guinan remained in the Nexus. Following the incident, she developed what one might call a “sixth sense.” She was able to perceive different timeline disparities and detect vortices.

star trek what species is guinan

In 2365, she was invited by Captain Jean-Luc Picard to come aboard the Enterprise as the civilian hostess of the Ten-Forward lounge. Guinan once said their relationship went “beyond friendship and beyond family.” She spent many years on the Enterprise , listening to crew, providing advice, synthehol, and alcohol. She was forced to face – and reconcile – her hatred of the Borg when Hugh, a Borg cut off from the collective, joined the Enterprise in 2368.

star trek what species is guinan

Guinan was said to have been married 23 times, mother to several children, and an expert marksman.

Return to the Nexus

In 2371, another survivor of the Nexus disaster, Dr. Tolian Soran, was rescued again by the Enterprise , this time, the NCC-1701-D , when the Amargosa Observatory was attacked. Soran had been working with trilithium to develop an explosive strong enough to destroy the sun in the Veridian system. This would change the course of the Nexus, enabling him to reach it from the planet Veridian III. He was desperate to return to recreate a life with the family he lost when the Borg attacked the El-Aurian system.

star trek what species is guinan

On Veridian III, Soran battled Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard and succeeded in blowing up the sun. Picard entered the Nexus, where he met an echo of Guinan, who guided him to Captain James T. Kirk, who had been trapped in the Nexus since the 2293 incident. Because of the way time worked in the Nexus, the captains were able to exit to a time before Picard entered – and before Soran destroyed the sun. In the battle that followed, Soran was defeated, resulting in his death and the actual death of James T. Kirk.

star trek what species is guinan

Around the same time Soran was enacting his plan to return to the Nexus, another El-Aurian, Martus Mazur, opened a club on space station Deep Space 9 . A con man, he rigged games and swindled his customers. He was arrested by the station’s Constable Odo.

star trek what species is guinan

The other surviving El-Aurians led quiet lives, rarely making history.

Behind the Scenes

The El-Aurians were named after El Auria, the angel of flame in ancient Hebrew lore. The name was first heard on January 2, 1994 in the Deep Space Nine episode “ Rivals .”

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry named Guinan after vaudeville actress Texas Guinan, who ran a speakeasy in New York City during Prohibition.

Whoopi Goldberg has said that seeing Uhura on the Bridge as a child in the ‘60s showed her that she could be anything, and she instantly became a lifelong fan. She lobbied for a role on Star Trek: The Next Generation , but the producers didn’t believe she was serious. Finally, she personally contacted Gene Roddenberry. He rewrote the part of Guinan for her, and she joined the cast in season two.

star trek what species is guinan

When Goldberg made her first convention appearance at Star Trek Las Vegas in 2016, Guinan’s unique wardrobe came up. Goldberg referred to her outfits as “tents” and told the audience that her trademark large hats were designed to resemble the ship’s saucer section, prompting the other cast members to call her “shuttle head.”

star trek what species is guinan

Guinan’s relationship history with Captain Picard has always been a mystery, but at the convention Goldberg shed some light on it. She said Roddenberry wanted Guinan to be very old and perhaps an ancestor of another character: "I always assumed that Picard was one of my great-great-great-great-great grandkids.”

star trek what species is guinan

Guinan almost had another maternal relationship. In the DS9 episode, “Rivals,” producer Michael Piller originally planned for Martus Mazur to be her son and for Guinan to appear in the episode. Goldberg wasn’t available, however, and the script was changed. He remained an El-Aurian, but all references to Guinan were removed. Piller had additional plans for Martus. He considered making him a recurring character to spar with Quark.

Goldberg left the series in season six, with Star Trek Generations coming out a year later in 1994. Guinan made one more, very brief appearance at the wedding of Will Riker and Deanna Troi in the 2002 film Star Trek Nemesis .

star trek what species is guinan

Robin Berla Meyers is a NYC-based writer and TV producer specializing in pop and geek culture. Her work has been seen all over the world, on things like BBC America, AMC, and The Verge. Her mom introduced her to Trek when she was 3 years old, and she never stopped watching.

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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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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
  • 1 Yoshi Toranaga
  • 2 Mariko Toda
  • 3 Charlie Morningstar

Star Trek: Picard Reveals the History Between Q and Guinan

Star Trek: Picard finally addresses one of The Next Generation's biggest mysteries involving Q and Guinan: how do the two characters know each other?

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 7, "Monsters," streaming now on Paramount+.

One of the biggest unsolved mysteries that came out of Star Trek: The Next Generation was the history between Guinan and the omnipotent Q. When the characters met in the TNG Season 2 episode “Q Who?,” it was clear that they had a fractious past, with the two ready to come to blows before they turned their attention to the Borg Collective. With both Q and Guinan playing prominent roles in Star Trek: Picard Season 2, more of the history between the Q Continuum and the El-Aurian civilization has been unveiled.

Season 2 sent Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of La Sirena back to Los Angeles 2024 to undo Q’s tampering with human history in another bid to change the species’ trajectory in the galaxy. As Picard worked to ensure the timeline progressed as intended, without Q’s interference, he realized that this trial was apparently as much for Q as it was for humanity. This revelation led Picard to reconnect with the Guinan of this timeline , who was in the midst of closing up her dive bar in the City of Angels.

RELATED: Spock Finally Gets a First Name in Star Trek Canon - and It's One Fans May Recognize

When she finds out Picard is interested in summoning Q to put an end to the time-travel shenanigans and learn what exactly is troubling the omnipotent being, Guinan shares her civilization’s complicated history with the Q Continuum. Long ago, the El-Aurians and Q Continuum ratified a peace treaty, with the Continuum providing the El-Aurians means to summon them if they were ever needed. Since the El-Aurians favor cuisine as one of the most prestigious elements in their society, the Continuum can be summoned through a bottle of spirits present during the treaty agreement.

The existence of this treaty hints that relations between the El-Aurians and the Continuum are not as strained as Guinan and Q made them appear to be in TNG . There is still unseen history between 2024 Los Angeles and the TNG era three centuries later, during which the agreement could have crumbled, but Guinan appears more than willing to summon a Q in the 21st century. This also creates the question of what happened between the El-Aurians and the Borg.

RELATED: Chris Pine Is Right, Star Trek Isn't Marvel - But Then How Can It Survive in Theaters?

“Q Who?” made it clear that both the Continuum and El-Aurians also have an unexplored history with the Borg Collective, with Q deciding to introduce humanity to the Borg early to give them time to better prepare for future conflict. Guinan and Q both hinted that their respective civilizations had harrowing encounters with the Borg, with Guinan implying in the iconic TNG Season 3 episode “The Best of Both Worlds” that the El-Aurians were nearly conquered by them. With the Borg Queen figuring prominently in Picard Season 2, this history may similarly be revealed in future episodes, especially with the Queen on the loose after taking control of Agnes Jurati's body .

Guinan and Picard's attempt to summon someone from the Continuum is unsuccessful, with the local police taking them both into custody instead. Q remains elusive, plotting with a new accomplice to carry out his plan to change the timeline, and what has been driving him is still a mystery. Picard Season 2 has begun to unveil more of the untold lore behind the Star Trek franchise and explain why this history is crucial in shaping the galaxy’s future.

Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Picard releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Strange New Worlds: Carol Kane’s Lanthanite Just Set Up a New Star Trek Mystery

The premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two introduces us to Carol Kane as new chief engineer Pelia and to the Lanthanites.

star trek what species is guinan

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Carol Kane as Pelia in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2

This Star Trek: Strange New Worlds article contains spoilers.

When engineer Pelia strutted her way onto the Enterprise bridge in the premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two, blatantly ignoring the evacuation warning and acting Captain Spock’s orders, viewers simply assumed she was just another one of the delightfully odd characters played by Carol Kane. From The Princess Bride and Scrooged to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Taxi , Kane has established herself as a master at playing wonderful oddballs, squeaky-voiced agents of chaos who disrupt the status quo simply by showing up.

And to be sure, that’s exactly what Pelia does. Not only does she see right through Spock’s (literally) textbook plan to falsely sabotage the ship and steal the Enterprise but she also offers a much more elegant solution, helping the skeleton crew answer a distress call from the erstwhile Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh.

Why is Pelia so quick to help Spock? Because she’s never known a Vulcan to act without a good reason and, more importantly, because of the respect she holds for Spock’s human mother, Amanda Grayson. After all, Amanda was the first human who ever learned that Pelia is in fact a Lanthanite.

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What is a Lanthanite, you ask? Well, that’s a good question, and honestly, we know as much as you do. Lanthanites are a completely new Star Trek species, so the only information available about them is found in “The Broken Circle.” We know that they’re humanoid (not a surprise, see the Next Generation episode “The Chase”), but unlike most other Trek aliens, they lack distinguishing foreheads, noses, or ears. This obvious similarity to humans allows Lanthanites to live on Earth undetected.

But the key aspect that defines Lanthanites, at least in this episode, is their very long life-span. We learn that Pelia has lived for over one hundred years and that she carries the weight of watching loved ones pass away. In her extended existence, Pelia has met few people like Amanda Grayson, the woman who not only won the heart of forward-thinking Vulcan Ambassador Sarek, but also helped direct the course of Spock and his adopted sister Michael Burnham of Star Trek: Discovery .

At this point, it’s unclear exactly how long Lanthanites live and why that’s significant. While some species definitely have shorter lifespans than humans (remember, the Ocampa Kes was only two years old when she and Neelix were introduced as a couple in Voyager ), many outlive humans by a great deal. Vulcans, Andorians, and Denobulans all live well into their hundreds, with some, such as Guinan’s species the El-Aurians, living several centuries.

Given the Enterprise crew’s reaction to Pelia’s revelation, it’s clear that the Federation knows a bit about Lanthanites, but we’re only given little bits and pieces of this new addition to the canon. Over the next nine episodes of season two, we’re sure to get to know this new species better, as Pelia becomes the ship’s new chief engineer. It’s hard to think of a wackier guide than Kane to lead us into the undiscovered country of the Lanthanites.

Joe George

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

Carol Kane's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Character Is A Different, But Familiar, Kind Of Trek Alien

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Carol Kane

This post contains  spoilers for the season 2 premiere of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

One of the more tragic plot twists in the first season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" was the death of the Hemmer (Bruce Horak) , the blind Aenar engineer on the Enterprise. Hemmer was a serious character, often put upon and annoyed by the crises on the ship, but clearly intelligent, principled, and even approachable under the right circumstances. That he died was a tragedy to the character's many fans. 

The Enterprise, it seems, is now lacking a chief engineer (a condition, incidentally, that also plagued the first two seasons of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"). Stepping into the role for the second season of "Strange New Worlds" is Lieutenant Pelia, a casual, downright sloppy character played by Carol Kane. Pelia looks human but is actually a Lanthanite, a species that lives for thousands of years (and is new to "Star Trek" canon with this season). And along the way, she has lost her ability to adhere to Starfleet propriety. As she explains when she first assists the Enterprise crew, she's just bored, and wants some excitement in her life again. 

Pelia's exact age is not made explicit in "Strange New Worlds," and it's entirely possible she has visited any number of Federation worlds in her lifetime. Hopefully, the "Strange" writers will eventually pair her with a noted celebrity from history; the temptation to say she once married Constantine would be too delicious to pass up. No such announcements have yet been made, however. 

Lieutenant Pelia

Lieutenant Pelia stands out from other "Star Trek" characters in her utter lack of formality. Sure, Captain Pike (Anson Mount) might be a little flip, and Samuel Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) might leave crumbs on the table during staff meetings, but they all adhere to a strict protocol when engaging with complex space problems. Pelia, on the other hand, doesn't seem to step to the line during a crisis. She merely calmly solves it. She's not interested in the rules, a strange place for a Starfleet officer — and an engineer — to be. Previously, Starfleet engineers were obsessed with machines and technicals. Montgomery Scott ( James Doohan ) treated the Enterprise like a prized hot rod, bristling when people insulted it. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) was impressed with the capabilities of the Enterprise-D, and breathed everything technical, beyond the point of social awkwardness. Miles O'Brien (Colm Meany) was perpetually exhausted, always repairing the usual machines aboard Deep Space Nine. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) had little patience for people but became very excited when solving problems creatively. 

Pelia, meanwhile, seems to be so skilled at engineering that she merely fixes the problems without having to be passionate or even thinking about it very much. Her capability as an engineer, at least as audiences have seen so far, is so far beyond that she'd rather fix an engine than ask permission. 

There are few "just get it done" characters like that in Starfleet's chain-of-command-obsessed world. When audiences do meet a "just get it done," character, however, they tend to be gruff and no-nonsense. Like Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes). In both Ro's and Pelia's cases, however, they exist to challenge Starfleet's status quo.

The long-lived listener

Pelia is like a few other "Star Trek" characters, however, in one key regard. After all, being long-lived gives Pelia a perspective on humanity that a fellow human couldn't possibly possess. 

One might immediately draw a parallel between Pelia and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) who served as a bartender on the Enterprise-D on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Guinan was an El-Aurian, a species that also lives for multiple centuries. Guinan served on a ship in the 24th century but looked more or less the same when she was hobnobbing with Mark Twain some 450 years prior. Confusingly, Guinan looked like a young woman (and was played by Ito Aghayere) when she found a job on 21st-century Earth. But then, her bar was called "10 Forward," a name that didn't exist until a bar was built on deck ten, forward, on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. It seems there were some time-travel shenanigans somewhere in Guinan's life. 

Guinan's most notable feature, of course, is that she listens well and gives sage advice. Like Pelia, her longevity has given her an apparent appreciation for the short-lived people she lives among. "Star Trek," as one sees, has a minor tradition of outsiders who look at humanity with compassion, interest, and bemusement. Our species, it seems, has foibles and idiosyncrasies that would make an immortal chuckle. Pelia seems to chuckle a lot.

Picard Season 2: Guinan's return could solve a decades-long Star Trek mystery

Whoopi Goldberg has implied she's back for more than one episode.

star trek what species is guinan

Remember when Guinan threatened to bust-out some magic space powers in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2? If we're very lucky, Whoopi Goldberg's return in Picard Season 2 could finally lay a very strange Trekky mystery to rest. In a recently resurfaced interview, Goldberg seems to imply her tenure on Picard Season 2 will be more than just a one-off. This suggests Guinan could be part of a larger story arc.

So, if we're going to get Guinan for a few episodes in Picard , it's time to dig into everything we don't know about her. Here's what Goldberg said about her Trek comeback and how it could lead to more answers about Guinan's mysterious past in the larger canon of Trek.

Possible spoilers ahead. Engage!

Over on TrekMovie , an interview that Goldberg gave to SFX Magazine suggests she'll be doing more than just a guest-spot in Season 2 of Picard . Here's what she said:

"From time to time, I talk to Patrick [Stewart] about Star Trek. Hopefully, I will be joining their cast for a little while next year. I’m very excited about that."

star trek what species is guinan

TrekMovie seems to think that Goldberg saying "hopefully" is likely due to her careful handling an NDA she's signed. That's because it seems like writer Michael Chabon has kind of already confirmed he's ready to write material for Picard and Guinan. TrekMovie points out, that Chabon told The Hollywood Reporter last March to : "I’ve gone back to rewatch some of the more key Guinan episodes from Next Gen , the major Picard and Guinan moments. She’s such an amazing actor; I can’t wait."

Is Guinan really back for Picard Season 2? This is the big question! Back when Picard debuted in January 2020, Stewart publicly invited Goldberg back to the role of Guinan on The View . The actor evoked the name of Alex Kurtzman ( Picard's executive producer) and invited Goldberg back to Trek on the air. Goldberg accepted this offer but since then, there's been no official announcement from CBS. Obviously, when this first went down there was no COVID-19 pandemic, and shooting schedules for various shows — including Picard Season 2 — were far more ambitious. Goldberg recently appeared in a major role as Mother Abigail on the new version of The Stand, which airs on CBS All Access, the same streaming service that airs all the new Star Trek shows. So the character's return certainly seems likely.

star trek what species is guinan

Picard and Guinan in "Q, Who"

The greatest Guinan mystery — Although this wasn't established until the film Star Trek Generations , Guinan belongs to an alien species called the El-Aurians, who can live for several centuries. In the TNG episode "Time's Arrow," Data traveled back in time to the ninteenth century, only to discover Guinan living on Earth. Guinan had not time-traveled — she was also alive back in that time. In Generations , we learned Guinan was rescued by the Enterprise-B in the late 23rd Century, roughly 70 years before she became the bartender on the Enterprise-D under Picard.

In "Q, Who" when the crew first met the Borg, the enigmatic Q implied he had a history with Guinan, and told Picard: "This creature is not what she appears to be. She's an imp..and where she goes, trouble always follows."

Q later implied that Guinan's name wasn't always "Guinan," and she also owned up to "dealings" with Q at some point two centuries prior. None of this was ever picked-up again on an episode of The Next Generation . This means, in theory, Picard Season 2, could provide some kind of solution.

star trek what species is guinan

Guinan and Chekov on the Enterprise-B in Generations.

What it means for Picard Season 2 — Chabon has already demonstrated a unique ability to combine disparate elements of Trek canon into a new, unified backstory. For the Short Treks episode "Q&A," Chabon depicted Spock's first day on the Enterprise , and reconciled Spock's out-of-character behavior from "The Cage" into a kind of prequel story that explains his personality back then. Could Chabon do something similar with this mysterious link between Q and Guinan?

Relevantly, Guinan and the El-Aurians had their home planet destroyed by the Borg sometime before the events of Star Trek: Generations but, after Guinan's time on Earth in the 19th Century. For fans, this fact is just one of several continuity gaps about the Borg in Trek canon. In "Q, Who" Picard and the crew had never heard of the Borg. But in Generations , we learned that people from Kirk's time were well- aware of El-Aurian refugees. What story did these people give Starfleet back then? Did they not mention the Borg for like 70s years?

This also connects to the backstory of Seven of Nine, too, a regular on Star Trek: Picard . In Voyager , we learned that Seven's human parents attempted to study the Borg well-before the USS Enterprise "met" the Borg in "Q, Who?" So, this means there was all sorts of info about the Borg running around the galaxy before Picard and the gang found out about them. Could Picard Season 2 fix all of that, too?

It seems likely! If you're going to bring back Guinan, and she's going to be in the same show as Seven of Nine, it feels like a conversation about the Borg is bound to happen. And when it does, we know we can count on Guinan to provide some really stiff drinks.

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is rumored to start filming in January 2021.

star trek what species is guinan

ScreenRant

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

  • 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+.

Cast LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Showrunner Gene Roddenberry

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

Star Trek: Picard: Season Two; Paramount+ Gives First Look at Return of Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

by Regina Avalos, January 22, 2022

Star Trek: Picard TV Show on Paramount+: canceled or renewed?

(Photo: Nicole Wilder/Paramount+ ©2022 ViacomCBS. All Rights Reserved.)

Star Trek: Picard returns for its second season next month, and now viewers are being given their first look at the return of Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan on the Paramount+ series. Goldberg appeared alongside Sir Patrick Stewart and the rest of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast in 29 episodes of the 1987-94 sci-fi TV show.

A sequel series, Star Trek: Picard stars Stewart, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway, Brent Spiner, and Evan Evagora. John de Lancie is also returning as TNG’s Q for season two.

Paramount+ revealed more about the upcoming season of Star Trek: Picard in a press release.

“Paramount+, the streaming service from ViacomCBS, today revealed the official trailer for season two of its hit original series STAR TREK: PICARD. Season two of STAR TREK: PICARD will premiere on Thursday, March 3 , exclusively for Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S. Following the premiere, new episodes of the 10-episode-long second season will drop weekly on Thursdays. In addition, the trailer unveils a first look at Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg, reprising her beloved role as Guinan from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Season two of STAR TREK: 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. STAR TREK: PICARD features Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and follows this iconic character into the next chapter of his life. The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. For season two, Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Terry Matalas, Patrick Stewart, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Doug Aarniokoski and Dylan Massin serve as executive producers. Akiva Goldsman and Terry Matalas serve as co-showrunners for season two. STAR TREK: PICARD season two cast members include Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Orla Brady, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera and Brent Spiner. This season’s cast also includes Annie Wersching and special guest stars Whoopi Goldberg and John de Lancie.”

Check out the trailer and new poster for Star Trek: Picard season two below.

Star Trek: Picard TV Show on Paramount+: canceled or renewed?

(Photo: James Minchin/Paramount+)

Picard has already been renewed for a third season and episodes are currently being filmed. A premiere date will be announced at a later time.

What do you think? Are you excited about the return of the Star Trek: Picard series on Paramount+? Are you looking forward to seeing Q and Guinan again? Check out our status sheets to track new TV series pickups, renewals, and cancellations. You can find lists of cancelled shows here .

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Excited beyond belief, also, welcome back Q…

Let’s hope the time travel approach doesn’t send this crew into oblivion (pun intended).

Please let this be better than the first season because that was so terribly done.

wpdiscuz

Screen Rant

I forgot 2 famous picard traits debuted in this star trek: tng episode.

Two of the things that Captain Jean-Luc Picard became best known for are introduced in the same episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

  • Picard's love for Earl Grey tea started in TNG's "Contagion" episode, becoming his go-to order.
  • "Contagion" also established Picard's interest in archeology, a hobby he carried throughout TNG.
  • Both tea and archeology were iconic elements of Picard, introduced in the same episode of TNG.

Two things best associated with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) debuted in the same episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation . For seven seasons of TNG , Captain Picard led the USS Enterprise-D in its quest to explore the galaxy, and Jean-Luc became one of Star Trek's most beloved captains. Picard kept his crew members at a distance, rarely allowing anyone to get too close. With his rhetorical skills, Picard preferred a more diplomatic approach to conflicts, rather than the more brash tactics of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner).

Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation , more information was filled in about Jean-Luc Picard's background and interests. Picard's love of Shakespeare was established early in TNG season 1, as was his complicated history with Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and her family. TNG season 2, episode 11, "Contagion" introduced two more elements that became important additions to Picard's character. In "Contagion," the Enterprise answers a distress call from its sister ship, the USS Yamato, only to witness the destruction of the Yamato minutes later. Prior to its destruction, the Yamato had reported numerous ship malfunctions, and the Enterprise soon begins experiencing similar issues.

Best Star Trek: TNG Episode From Each Of The Show’s 7 Seasons

Picard orders "tea, earl grey, hot" for the first time in star trek: tng's "contagion", by the time of star trek: picard season 1, jean-luc has switched to "tea, earl grey, decaf.".

Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation' s "Contagion," everyone on the USS Enterprise-D is on high alert not only because of the malfunctions across the ship, but also because the Yamato and the Enterprise both breached the Federation/Romulan Neutral Zone. As the Sub-commander of a nearby Romulan ship grows increasingly suspicious, Picard and his crew work to uncover the cause of the malfunctions. After witnessing the destruction of the Yamato, Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) struggles to confront the death of that many people and he opens up to Picard. As Picard offers Wes advice, he orders "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" from the replicator.

Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) eventually finds a solution to the ship's malfunctions. Effectively, he turns the entire ship off and back on again.

Due to the continuing glitches across the ship, the replicator provides Captain Picard with a potted plant rather than the tea he requested. Although the replicator did not provide PIcard's drink of choice this time, "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" would become the captain's most common order. Over the course of TNG , Picard requested the drink dozens of times, always ordering it in the same way. "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" soon became one of the catchphrases associated with Picard, and has spawned many pieces of tie-in merchandise such as t-shirts and mugs.

Star Trek: TNG's "Contagion" Establishes Picard's Interest In Archeology

In star trek: lower decks, picard funds the archeological adventures of petra aberdeen (georgia king)..

As the USS Enterprise-D investigates the destruction of the Yamato, they visit the planet Iconia, the former home of a highly advanced civilization. The Iconians were once believed to be a myth, but Picard had studied their culture when he was attending Starfleet Academy. In his conversation with the captain, Wesley Crusher asks Picard about the Iconians, and Picard reveals that archeology has been a hobby of his "since my Academy days." Later, Picard chooses to lead the away team to Iconia himself, likely in part, because he wants to see the remnants of the Iconian civilization firsthand.

On Iconia, Picard and his crew discovered an advanced transportation technology known as an Iconian gateway. Only two gateways were known to exist, the one in TNG's "Contagion" and one found by the Jem'Hadar in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4, episode 23, "To the Death."

Jean-Luc's interest in archeology would become another recurring element throughout TNG , and it helped the captain on numerous occasions. Picard's love of archeology also led Jean-Luc to get caught up in several adventures outside of his usual Starfleet missions. For example, in TNG season 3, episode 19, "Captain's Holiday," Picard meets an archeologist (and profiteer) named Vash (Jennifer Hetrick) . Despite her questionable ethics, Picard finds himself intrigued by Vash and her archeological adventures, and the two share a brief romance. Jean-Luc Picard's love of archeology and Earl Grey tea have become iconic elements of the character, and they were both introduced in the same episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Star Trek: The Next Generation is available to stream on Paramount+.

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  3. The Untold Truth Of Star Trek's Guinan

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  6. Star Trek TNG: Guinan's 10 Wisest Life Lessons, Ranked

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VIDEO

  1. Star Trek INtakes: Guinan Sees Into Wesley's Future

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  5. Star Trek: 10 Biggest Mysteries About Guinan

  6. Star Trek Nemesis

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, perhaps her whole species, is able to understand the 'correct' state of the universe. ... 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 ...

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

    Guinan is an El-Aurian. Her species was wiped out by the Borg. Those two facts are pretty well established, what isn't is why she appears to have "magical powers" when she encounters Q. ... 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 ...

  5. 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 ...

  6. El-Aurian

    El-Aurians were a spacefaring humanoid species originating from the El-Aurian system. A long-lived race of "listeners", they possessed perceptive abilities that extended beyond the normal space-time continuum. The El-Aurians were a widely traveled people who spread themselves across many parts of the galaxy and beyond. At least one El-Aurian, Guinan, visited Earth in 1893, before Humans had ...

  7. 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 ...

  8. star trek

    30. It is not certain if Guinan and Q waged a war together, all we know is that they knew each other from before. Star Trek memory alpha wiki: Guinan had "some dealings" with Q sometime during the 22nd century and indeed other members of the Q Continuum, some of whom she said "were almost respectable".

  9. 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.

  10. 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 ...

  11. Guinan

    Guinan is a member of the El-Aurian species. She was born sometime after the 1600s on the planet El-Auria and lived in the city of Lauresse. During her early one-hundreds, she migrated away from home to travel around the galaxy, paying her way by using her listening skills as a bartender as she lacked the patience to earn psychiatric degrees on all the worlds she visited and was uninterested ...

  12. Guinan

    Well over 600 years old now, Guinan hid out from her father on Earth in AD 1893 as a mature adult and had an imaginary Tarcassian razor beast as a childhood pet -- and still finds time to "talk" to him. She herself has been married at least twice and has "a lot" of children. One of her offspring "wouldn't listen to anybody" -- a rarity in a ...

  13. 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 ...

  14. Guinan (Star Trek)

    Guinan /ˈɡaɪnən/ is a recurring character in the Star Trek media franchise who has appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard and the films Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis. Portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg, Guinan is a bartender in the Ten-Forward lounge aboard the starship USS Enterprise-D. She was also played as a child by Isis Carmen ...

  15. Star Trek: Picard

    Stream all-new episodes of Star Trek: Picard on Thursdays, exclusively in the U.S. on Paramount+. When Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) calls on 21st-century Guinan (Ito Aghayere) to help him ...

  16. Listening to the Universe: The El-Aurians

    Guinan. One of the El-Aurians rescued by the Enterprise was a female named Guinan, who was around 500 Earth years old at the time. She had spent her earlier adult years traveling and had been away from her homeworld at the time of the Borg attack. Guinan even spent some time on Earth in the 1890s, hiding out from her father, living among the ...

  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. 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.

  19. Star Trek: Picard Reveals the History Between Q and Guinan

    With both Q and Guinan playing prominent roles in Star Trek: Picard Season 2, more of the history between the Q Continuum and the El-Aurian civilization has been unveiled. Season 2 sent Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of La Sirena back to Los Angeles 2024 to undo Q's tampering with human history in another bid to change the species' trajectory ...

  20. List of Star Trek aliens

    El-Aurians (referred to as a Race of Listeners by Dr. Tolian Soran, the El-Aurian antagonist in Star Trek Generations) are a humanoid race first introduced in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation with the character Guinan. The species was named in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Rivals."

  21. Strange New Worlds: Carol Kane's Lanthanite Just Set Up a New Star Trek

    Vulcans, Andorians, and Denobulans all live well into their hundreds, with some, such as Guinan's species the El-Aurians, living several centuries. Given the Enterprise crew's reaction to ...

  22. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2: What You Need to Know ...

    Carol Kane's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Character Is A Different, But Familiar, Kind Of Trek Alien. ... Guinan was an El-Aurian, a species that also lives for multiple centuries. Guinan served ...

  23. 'Picard' Season 2 theory: Guinan's return could solve a huge Star Trek

    The greatest Guinan mystery — Although this wasn't established until the film Star Trek Generations, Guinan belongs to an alien species called the El-Aurians, who can live for several centuries ...

  24. 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.

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

    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 ...

  26. Star Trek: Picard: Season Two; Paramount+ Gives ...

    Star Trek: Picard returns for its second season next month, and now viewers are being given their first look at the return of Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan on the Paramount+ series. Goldberg appeared ...

  27. Newbie Star Trek on Instagram: "Guinan and Picard fell in love?! Catch

    182 likes, 9 comments - newbiestartrek on March 8, 2024: "Guinan and Picard fell in love?! Catch the full podcast at NewbieStarTrek.com! Ask us a questio..."

  28. Rachel Garrett: Star Trek's Most Tragic Enterprise Captain Explained

    Captain Rachel Garrett (Tricia O'Neil) is Star Trek's most tragic Enterprise captain, but she has made a huge impact on Starfleet's future. Rachel Garrett became the first female captain of the starship Enterprise when she took command of the USS Enterprise-C in the early to mid 24th century. Following in the footsteps of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Garrett secured the peace that ...

  29. I Forgot 2 Famous Picard Traits Debuted In This Star Trek: TNG Episode

    Two things best associated with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) debuted in the same episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.For seven seasons of TNG, Captain Picard led the USS Enterprise-D in its quest to explore the galaxy, and Jean-Luc became one of Star Trek's most beloved captains.Picard kept his crew members at a distance, rarely allowing anyone to get too close.