Here’s how to watch every Star Trek TNG Borg episode in order. Star Trek Picard loves the Borg as much as Riker loves Risa, and if you’ve seen the new episode you’ll be sure to want a refresher on the Borg’s history with Jean-Luc Picard in TNG.
The Borg are perhaps the most infamous villains in Star Trek history, and along with Q are Jean-Luc Picard’s personal nemeses. They were introduced in TNG as the Federation’s strongest adversaries, while they would go on to be explored in other Star Trek series (mainly Voyager) and Star Trek movies. However, the Borg are best known for their time on TNG which links into Star Trek Picard season 3 episode 9: so, here’s every Star Trek TNG Borg episode in order.
Star Trek TNG Borg episodes in order
- The Neutral Zone (season 1, episode 26)
- Q Who (season 2, episode 16)
- The Best of Both Worlds (season 3, episode 26; season 4, episode 1)
- I, Borg (season 5, episode 23)
- Descent (season 6, episode 26; season 7
episode 1)
The Neutral Zone (season 1, episode 26)
The Borg are never actually seen in The Neutral Zone, but their cybernetic fingerprints are all over the episode. The Enterprise-D is dispatched to look into attacks on the edge of Federation space, presumed to be by Romulans.
However, the Romulans have been experiencing the same attacks, and we later learn that it was the Borg who were ripping the outposts out of the ground with immense power. A small glimpse of things to come, right in the finale of the first season.
Q Who (season 2, episode 16)
Q Who is, without exaggeration, one of the best TNG episodes of all time. After Jean-Luc enrages Q with his arrogance, Q flings the Enterprise-D into early contact with the Borg.
This is the first time audiences saw the Borg and their fearsome cubes, and the villains have never been quite as terrifying since. After realising that the Enterprise-D was completely outmatched by the Borg, Picard finally begs Q for help, as he comes to terms with the knowledge that Starfleet is not quite as powerful as he previously believed.
The Best of Both Worlds (season 3, episode 26; season 4, episode 1)
Often believed to be the very pinnacle of TNG (as well as the first de facto TNG movie) The Best of Both Worlds is perhaps the single most influential Star Trek episode of all time.
The battle of Wolf 359, DS9, Voyager, Star Trek Picard, and First Contact each want to emulate it in their own ways, to varying degrees of success. It sees the introduction of Shelby as Earth is attacked by unimaginably powerful Borg forces, while Picard is abducted and assimilated in Locutus of Borg. It’s masterful in every conceivable way.
I, Borg (season 5, episode 23)
While this is a Borg episode in theory, it isn’t really a Borg episode in practice. I, Borg is hailed as one of the classic ‘ethical dilemma’ TNG episodes, where the Enterprise-D crew save an abandoned Borg drone and begin to socialise it, calling it Hugh.
Jean-Luc Picard has to decide whether to respect Hugh’s growing individuality, or use the drone to infect and destroy the Borg collective.
Descent (season 6, episode 26; season 7
episode 1)
The final outing of the Borg in TNG is in the two-parter Descent. A rogue faction of the Borg are being led by Lore, threatening the security of the Enterprise-D crew. The Borg are there to inject some menace, but really this one’s about Data and Lore – another plot point picked up in the new season of Star Trek Picard.
Bonus – Star Trek First Contact
Yes, this isn’t a TNG episode. I know. But, it’s a TNG Borg movie and that counts too, kind of. In First Contact, the Borg time-travel back to Earth in order to get in some early-bird assimilation. The crew of the Enterprise-D crew has to stop them.
The Borg after TNG
The story of the Borg continues primarily in Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Picard.
In Voyager, Janeway discovers the Borg in the Delta Quadrant and has to deal with them throughout her voyage. She eventually deals them a crippling blow, which almost destroys the entire Borg collective.
In Star Trek Picard, the Borg are being researched and in season 2 a new splinter group is established by Agnes Jurati. The story of the Borg will continue into the final episodes of Star Trek Picard.
That’s it on the Star Trek TNG Borg episodes. For more, check out our guide to the Star Trek Picard season 3 cast. Or, learn more about Star Trek characters like Captain Shaw, Ro Laren, and Tuvok, as well as the USS Titan. Alternatively take a look at what we know about Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2 release date.
