By the end of the episode, Badgey’s intelligence becomes unbound by the confines of the computer servers holding his electronic consciousness, as he manages to upload himself into a subspace relay. His mind stretches into every single computer in the quadrant, allowing him access to the near infinite knowledge contained therein. He can explode every at once, kill anyone he thinks of. His thoughts become folded into the very fabric of space-time. In a terrifying shot, Badgey’s pointed delta-shaped head emerges, thousands of lightyears across, from the heart of the Milky Way galaxy. Badgey transforms himself into a god.
Luckily, Badgey’s newfound ability to perceive all of reality at once — to see the birth of time and the ultimate death of the universe, to perceive the subtle divine strands that connect all conscious beings — are beautiful to him. The instant Badgey becomes a wrathful deity, he also becomes benevolent.
Very occasionally, “Star Trek” will encounter characters who scrape up against the infinite. There is a raft of gods throughout the franchise that have declared themselves to be infinitely powerful, or at least powerful enough to destroy the galaxy with a thought. One might immediately think of Trelane (William Campbell), the impish war-mongering child god from the “Original Series” episode “The Squire of Gothos” (January 12, 1967), of Charlie X from “Charlie” (September 15, 1966), or of Q (John De Lancie) a recurring trickster god from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” The closest analog to Badgey is probably Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) from the “TOS” episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before” (September 22, 1966), who begins life as a human but ultimately evolves into an ambitious, destructive deity.
Badgey, it seems, might be more powerful than them all.