Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan perplexed Star Trek: The Next Generation’s writers at first until they realized the key was her friendship with Picard.

Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan joined the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in season 2, but it took some time for the writers to figure out this mysterious new bartender character. Guinan was added to TNG’s cast after Whoopi Goldberg herself reached out to production requesting a role on the show. Goldberg had been a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series, and wanted to play a part in the Star Trek universe. Although TNG got off to a bit of a rocky start in its first two seasons, hints of the show’s eventual greatness began shining through during season 2.

When Guinan made her debut in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s season 2 premiere, very little was revealed about her character. It was hinted that she had known Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) for a long time, but this was not confirmed until much later. Throughout TNG’s run, Guinan became a source of advice and a listening ear for many of the crew members aboard the ship. Captain Picard, in particular, often discussed important issues with Guinan, and she helped him see things like no one else could.

Star Trek: TNG’s Writers Didn’t Understand Guinan

Guinan was an enigma to everyone, it seemed, including TNG’s writers.

According to screenwriter Ronald D. Moore, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s writers did not initially understand Guinan as a character, either. In The Center Seat: 55 Years Of Star Trek by Peter Holmstrom, a companion book to the documentary series of the same name, Moore spoke about Guinan’s role on TNG. Read his quote below:

Guinan was a strange, mysterious character that none of us really understood what the hell she was. In the second season, there had been a scene when she and Q kind of made finger puppets at each other and you sort of went, ‘Okay, so Q’s worried about her? So she’s like a super-being of some kind of way or something?’ But that never really got explained. She can see things and sense things at the convenience of the story.

Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, hints were dropped about Guinan and her past connection with Captain Picard, but most of her development came in later seasons. Before Star Trek began exploring Guinan’s history, she was established as one of the few people Picard felt comfortable going to for advice. In TNG season 2, episode 9, “The Measure of a Man,” for example, Guinan has an important conversation with Picard, helping him see the real issue at the heart of Lt. Commander Data’s (Brent Spiner) trial. Data, too, sometimes sought out advice from Guinan, as did the young Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton).

Picard Relationship Was Star Trek: TNG’s Key To Guinan

Picard & Guinan were close friends, who played chess and accompanied one another on holodeck adventures.

Captain Picard personally requested that Guinan come aboard the USS Enterprise-D, and Guinan once described their relationship as “beyond friendship and beyond family.” In The Center Seat, Ronald D. Moore reveals more information about Guinan, and her relationship with Jean-Luc Picard helped to shape her character. Read his quote below:

When we started really getting into Next Gen in the later years, what we said was it’s really about her relationship with Picard. Yes, she’s the bartender. Yes, she listens to all their problems and gives insight to people for various issues, but she has some backstory with Picard and it’s a personal relationship with him that drives the character forward. It’s the only reason she’s on the ship. It’s the only reason that she really matters in the show. Then you would just find moments here and there where maybe she could help us with the plot. Like in ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise,’ she was key.

Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard kept himself closed off from his crew members, rarely appearing uncertain or emotional before them. As Guinan was not technically a member of his crew, however, he felt more comfortable talking to her about both Starfleet-related and personal matters. It also helped that they had known one another for a long time, although they did not always meet in order, thanks to Picard’s occasional time traveling. When Captain Picard and several Enterprise crew members traveled to 1893 San Francisco in the TNG two-part episode “Time’s Arrow,” they encountered the Guinan of that era, although she had no knowledge of them yet.

What Star Trek: Picard Revealed About Guinan & Jean-Luc’s Relationship

Guinan returned in Picard season 2, in two different timelines.

In the 24th century of Star Trek: Picard season 2, Admiral Picard still seeks advice from his old friend, who now runs a bar at 10 Forward Avenue in Los Angeles. Picard talks to Guinan about the lack of long-term romantic relationships in his life, and she chastises him for saying that it’s too late for him to find love. After Q (John de Lancie) alters the timeline into the dark Confederation reality, Picard and his friends travel back in time to 21st-century Los Angeles to restore the proper course of history. In 2024 LA, they encounter a younger version of Guinan (Ito Aghayere) who, due to the changes in the timeline, has never met Picard.

In 2024, Guinan is still running the bar at 10 Forward Avenue in LA, but she has become disillusioned with humanity and is ready to leave Earth behind. Although Picard initially believes Guinan to be the so-called Watcher he is looking for, she helps lead him to the real Watcher, Tallinn (Orla Brady). Guinan also summons Q, and reveals a bit more about the complex history between her people and the Q Continuum. Although Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard have revealed more information about Guinan and her species, her full backstory will likely remain a mystery.