I suspect that Q as such is going to fade; like most failed apocalyptic movements, though, it will spawn more enduring descendants — conspiratorial movements less boldly explosively but also less falsifiable.
The Q conspiracy was organic, crowdsourced, and grafted together from a host of seemingly incompatible pathologies. But it struck several chords familiar to anyone who’s studied apocalyptic movements.
First, it confirmed the believer’s conviction that the powerful are terrible, growing worse, and determined to persecute and destroy the innocent and the good.
Second, it promised that the dark days would not be meaningless — that there was a grand plan to right these wrongs underway, if only believers could endure.
Third, it promised rare insights into the future; not hidden secrets but promises from a coming deliverer, accessible to anyone “willing to see” and interpret the signs and symbols.
Fourth, it promised a final conflict between the faithful believers and the forces of evil and certain victory, no matter how long the odds.
And finally, it promised that the world would finally see, and be forced to accept that the believers were right all along. The word “apocalypse” is often used as a synonym for destruction and cataclysm, but it’s ultimately about hidden truths being revealed.
If you’re picking through the ruins of Q boards and chats and sobbing, terrified tiktoks, it may be useful to see it through this frame. It’s not about losing an election or even losing power.
It’s the moment of truth for an apocalyptic movement, the one discussed in When Prophecy Fails. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails)
Some people will sigh and shrug and walk away. Others will be shaken and their lives will always be an echo of the day the prophecied moment came and went. Others will learn to find meaning and narrative in different ways. Others will double down.
To be clear, this aspect of Q isn’t its totality. It was also a massive grifty ebook pipeline and a monetization game for post-pizzagate YouTubers cons. But overlooking the way groups sustain meaning and hope from apocalypse and visions of war? It leaves Q only half-understood.
There‘s some really good writing about this aspect of Q (and similar movements) coming out.
https://thebulwark.com/when-the-qanon-apocalypse-doesnt-come/ is a great piece by @tlecaque, and the upcoming episode of @CRightcast (next monday!) is about the broader role of apocalyptic narratives in the christian right.