Star Trek: 10 Biggest Mysteries About Guinan
8. What Was In The Nexus For Guinan?
In 2293, Guinan is one of forty-seven refugees saved from the exploding SS Lakul. The USS Enterprise 1701-B arrives in time to save their lives, though it comes at a great cost. While onboard the ship, they had experienced the joy that was being inside the Nexus, an energy ribbon that served as a portal to another realm, one that made joy something tangible.
Guinan never described what she saw in there on-screen. However, the novel Star Trek: Stargazer Oblivion actually tells the reader what it is she experienced. The refugees on those ships were escaping the Borg, who had come to assimilate their entire way of life. Their homeworld had been destroyed.
In the assault, Guinan had lost her youngest daughter. In the Nexus, they were able to reunite, albeit briefly. When she was beamed away by Scotty, she felt as though she had lost her daughter all over again. In the novel, Picard is able to remind her that joy is something she could feel, which helps to rouse her from the state of depression she had fallen into.
This is why, in Star Trek: Generations, when Picard comes to talk to her about Soran, she is able to understand the man's motives - and his danger - so clearly.