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Edo god

The Edo God

Geordi inspects Edo god

Geordi La Forge inspecting the Edo God from the viewpoint of the Enterprise

The Edo God was a group of powerful inter-dimensional lifeforms that claimed the star cluster around the Rubicun star system and the Strnad solar system as theirs. One of their manifestations was a structure in orbit of Rubicun III, worshiped by the Edo, to whom they had revealed their presence and accepted their worship, as it did not consider this harmful to the Edo's development at that time. The lifeform considered the Edo its "children" and protected them from outside influence or threat.

The structure was partially detected by a starship's sensors, and was generally invisible. The structure was discovered by the USS Enterprise-D in 2364, while in orbit of the planet for possible shore leave. It appeared only when Data asked the object to reveal itself; even then, the structure appeared transparent, and sensors read it as "not entirely real". As Data surmised later, once they belonged to this dimension but evolved considerably; they occupied several dimensions, being in several places at once.

A spherical entity from the structure passed through the Enterprise and a voice inquired why the ship visited the planet and why Picard had left his own lifeforms in the Strnad colony. After demanding to not interfere with its "children", the sphere then stuck on Data's forehead, exchanging information with him. During that session, it had the ability to block communication with the Enterprise away team.

When Picard brought Rivan aboard the Enterprise from the planet, she recognized the structure as God, since it had appeared to the Edo in the past. The structure then started a collision course with the Enterprise as a voice demanded that Rivan be returned. It returned to its previous orbit after Rivan was transported back to Rubicun III.

While Wesley Crusher was held in protected custody awaiting execution, Picard worried about how they would react if he interfered with the Edo laws and violated their own Prime Directive. When Picard tried to leave the planet with Wesley, the entity blocked the transporter. It was convinced by a passionate speech from Picard (plus a profound, semi-rhetorical question from Riker: "Since when has justice ever been as simple as a rule book?").

Picard then inquired whether the beings would prefer to have the Strnad colonists removed, to which the structure replied with merely a full illumination before vanishing. Picard accepted this as an affirmative. (TNG: "Justice")

The Edo god was voiced by an unknown actor. For more information on the studio model, see TNG studio models.
In the book, Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, Maurice Hurley described the Edo's God as a "machine-god", indicating that the entity is likely an artificial intelligence.
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