Summary
- Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg, is a centuries-old El-Aurian who provides wisdom and listens to Captain Picard on the USS Enterprise-D.
- Guinan is a valuable asset to the Enterprise crew and has appeared in different Star Trek eras, including 19th-century San Francisco and 21st-century Los Angeles.
- Guinan's deep connection with Picard goes beyond friendship, offering advice and unique insights to help him navigate challenges in different time periods.
Since her introduction on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) has popped up in different eras throughout Star Trek's timeline. As an El-Aurian, Guinan comes from an extremely long-lived race of listeners and enjoys sharing her wisdom with those around her. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) personally requested Guinan's presence on the USS Enterprise-D, and she took on the role of bartender in Ten Forward. A long-time friend of Captain Picard, Guinan spent her time on TNG offering a listening ear to the Enterprise crew.
As a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series, Whoopi Goldberg reached out to TNG's producers, asking for a role on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry reworked the USS Enterprise-D's bartender character for Goldberg, and she joined TNG's cast in season 2. Guinan remained an enigma for most of TNG's run, with the show only dropping small hints about her past throughout the series. With her centuries of experience and knowledge, Guinan proved to be a valuable asset to the Enterprise-D, and she was one of the few people Captain Picard would go to for advice. Here are the Star Trek eras Guinan has appeared in.
5 19th Century San Francisco
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5, Episode 26 & Season 6, Episode 1 - "Time's Arrow"
When the severed head of Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) is found in a cave alongside 19th-century relics, the USS Enterprise-D's investigation leads to a temporal distortion that sends Data back to 1893 San Francisco. As Data works to find a way back home without disturbing the timeline, he encounters Guinan. This Guinan, however, has not yet met Data or the Enterprise crew, but she agrees to help after hearing the android's story. At this point in her history, Guinan was on Earth posing as a wealthy socialite known as Madame Guinan, as a means to hide from her father.
Guinan entertained the great minds of the time, including Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain (Jerry Hardin). Guinan later meets Captain Picard, Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) when they travel back in time to rescue Data. Picard stays behind to help an injured Guinan, until Samuel Clemens returns from his impromptu visit to the future to tend to Guinan's wounds.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 6, "Booby Trap," Guinan mentioned that she was attracted to bald men, because "a bald man was very kind to me once when I was hurting; took care of me." This could have been a reference to Picard in "Time's Arrow."
4 21st Century Los Angeles
Star Trek: Picard Season 2
In Star Trek: Picard season 2, Q (John de Lancie) sends Admiral Picard and his friends back in time to 21st-century Los Angeles, where Jean-Luc again runs into Guinan (Ito Aghayere). Working as a bartender at 10 Forward Avenue, Guinan has become disillusioned with humanity and is planning to leave Earth for good. Although she is initially weary of Picard, Guinan eventually helps him locate Supervisor Tallinn (Orla Brady) and tries to summon Q. Before Q arrives, Guinan and Picard are taken into custody by an FBI agent who believes them to be aliens.
Q does eventually contact Guinan, providing her with a hint that all humans are "trapped in the past." Guinan senses Q's fear of death, realizing that there is something wrong with him and his powers. She shares what Q told her with Picard, and says "she almost can't wait" to meet him properly. In the Picard season 2 finale, Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) decides to remain in the 21st century, and Guinan later befriends him and his family, as well as Jean-Luc's ancestor, Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell).
According to Star Trek: Picard season 2 co-showrunner Terry Matalas, Aghayere's Guinan doesn't recognize Picard because he traveled from a 24th century where the Federation didn't exist, and thus the events of "Time's Arrow" never happened.
3 23rd Century
Star Trek Generations
Sometime during the 23rd century, Guinan's homeworld was destroyed by the Borg, scattering the El-Aurians across the galaxy. In the opening scenes of Star Trek Generations, the USS Enterprise-B rescues 47 El-Aurian refugees who had been displayed by the Borg attack. Guinan was among these refugees, who had been traveling to Earth on the SS Lakul when the ship became trapped in an energy distortion known as the Nexus.
Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) assists an understandably traumatized Guinan after she is brought aboard the Enterprise. Although anyone would be traumatized after losing their entire planet, Guinan and the El-Aurian refugees were particularly affected by being pulled from the Nexus, which Guinan described as "like being inside joy." In 2371, Captain Picard encounters an echo of Guinan within the Nexus left over from the time she spent there.
2 24th Century
Star Trek: The Next Generation
From Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 1, "The Child" onward, Guinan was a fixture on the USS Enterprise-D. After taking on the position of Ten Forward bartender in 2365, Guinan provided a listening ear for any Enterprise crew member who needed one. She had a knack for pointing people in the right direction and helping them come to their own conclusions. In TNG's "The Measure of a Man," for example, when Data's rights were called into question, Guinan helped Picard see the trial and his own argument in a new light.
Guinan once described her relationship with Picard as "beyond friendship and beyond family," a sentiment the Enterprise Captain shared. Not only did Guinan offer Picard advice, but she also occasionally joined him for a game of chess or a holodeck adventure. Beverly Crusher and her son Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) both came to Guinan for insight, as did Geordi La Forge, Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn), and Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes). Even Data sought out Guinan for help in his journey to better understand human behavior, particularly humor.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Rascals," Guinan was transformed into a child alongside Picard, and she helped devise a plan to take the Enterprise back from a group of Ferengi.
1 25th Century Los Angeles
Star Trek: Picard Season 2
In 2401, Guinan continues to run the Ten Forward bar in Los Angeles, where Picard visited her in the premiere of Star Trek: Picard season 2. Guinan brings up Picard's inability to fully open his heart to someone, and when Jean-Luc argues that "that particular ship has sailed," she calls out his ridiculousness. Guinan points out Picard is the problem and she understands that there is something in his past that he has yet to overcome, something he has never ever discussed with her. This scene sets up Jean-Luc's Picard season 2 journey, as he confronts his childhood trauma.
Guinan remarks that she has allowed herself to look older because "humans don't like to be reminded of their mortality."
After Picard returns from the 21st century having restored the proper timeline, he visits Guinan again in Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale. Guinan reveals her past friendship with Cristóbal Rios and Renée Picard, sharing stories of the times they spent together. She and Picard then share a toast with Jean-Luc's new family — Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), Raffaela Musiker (Michelle Hurd), and Elnor (Evan Evagora).
Although Guinan does not appear in Star Trek: Picard season 3, she is referenced in dialogue. She continues to run 10 Forward Avenue, selling Starfleet starship models for Frontier Day and allowing Admiral Picard and the Enterprise-D crew to stay well past closing time. Guinan remains one of Star Trek's most fascinating recurring characters, and her nature as an El-Aurian leaves the door open for her to pop up in any Star Trek series.
