Borg assimilated the entire Federation, with a badly damaged Enterprise one of the last Starfleet ships to have survived four years on the run.

While the Borg force – during this episode – appears to be only one cube, later episodes of Voyager (including "Unity" and "Unimatrix Zero, Part II") indicate that Humans were not only assimilated at Wolf 359 but were also taken back to Borg space (see Riley Frazier and Laura). Additionally, the Borg Queen herself states, in Star Trek: First Contact, that she was present on the cube and survived; she tells Picard not to think in such three-dimensional terms, suggesting that her method of escape may have been or involved time travel.

At the end of this episode, a conversation is held between Shelby and Rikerabout the future careers of both officers, with Shelby stating that Riker could soon have his choice of any ship in the fleet to captain. In actuality, Riker did not become a captain until over a decade later, in Star Trek Nemesis. Shelby, however, is possibly referenced as a captain in DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited", suggesting that she became a captain before Riker did. However, the Captain Shelby referenced in that episode could be simply another Starfleet officer with the same surname.

While not technically a sequel to this episode, the following episode to air, "Family", dealt with the repercussions of the events seen here, including the repairs to the Enterprise and Picard's personal trauma; the controversial arrangement not to end the storyline of Picard's kidnapping with this