Journalistic and scholarly concerns about conspiracy theories often refer to the movement known as “QAnon.” But what is QAnon? This question is crucial because much of the public concern and scholarly research on conspiracy theories and misinformation is driven by this specific case. While it seems natural to label the Q community as a “conspiracy theory movement,” this label does not clarify much about the nature of the community on its own. The three chapters of this dissertation each represent a different approach to understanding QAnon as a conspiracy theory movement. In Chapter 2, I trace the origins of the “deep state” trope used by the Q movement. Following the path of the term reveals a mid-century activist movement connected not by a shared ideology but by a strategy for signaling possible cooperation despite ideological differences. Contrary to the view that conspiracy theorizing is a defensive rationalization, I highlight cases where it was used to open ranks and negotiate ideological boundaries, imagining an elusive enemy appearing in contradictory guises. Chapter 3 tests whether Q community beliefs are attributable to misinformation. Analyzing data from /qresearch/, the main online community of the Q movement, I find that users encounter fringe sources at a rate similar to mainstream social media users, undermining the misinformation explanation. I argue that the community does not significantly differentiate between fringe and mainstream sources. Increased importance assigned to fringe sources in 2023 reflects a lack of differentiation rather than a distinct preference. Chapter 4 addresses why /qresearch/ members consume news from sources they distrust. I argue that the community’s resilience is partly due to its interpretive institutions' ability to resolve disputes, challenging the idea that the community is held together by irrationally committed members. Instead, the community's cohesion is maintained by its ongoing practice of conspiracy theorizing, which provides a framework for managing internal disagreements and maintaining unity.