Star Trek: Picard season 2, Jean-Luc and his friends were thrust into an alternate reality created by Q (John de Lancie) where the United Federation of Planets never existed.
In Star Trek: Picard season 2's rebooted reality, a sinister version of the Federation called the Confederation rose to power and conquered the galaxy. To reset reality on its proper course, Picard and his crew time traveled to 2024 Los Angeles to find the focal point that Q changed, which turned out to be Jean-Luc's astronaut ancestor, Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell). Our heroes also made new enemies, including Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner), as well as new allies like Tallinn (Orla Brady). Jean-Luc emerged victorious in Star Trek: Picard season 2, but he also walked away changed from the answers about himself he - and the audience - learned about the former Captain of the Enterprise.
Why Picard Chose To Never Marry And Remain Alone
The central question Star Trek: Picard season 2 essentially existed to answer was why Jean-Luc Picard remained single all of his life. Captain Picard did have a few romantic liaisons in TNG and the feature films, but unlike his Number One, Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Jean-Luc never settled down and started a family. The answer turned out to be a trauma buried deep in Picard's subconscious: When Jean-Luc was a young boy, his mother, Yvette Picard (Madeline Wise), succumbed to her mental illness and committed suicide. Jean-Luc blamed himself and this became the source of his lifelong decision to remain single.
It turns out all of Q's time-altering machinations in Star Trek: Picard season 2 were aimed toward the singular result of forcing Jean-Luc to face his buried trauma. The Confederation reality was Q's way of showing Picard an extreme outcome of what he would be like if he never learned to love. As incredibly convoluted as it was, Q's plan ultimately worked and Picard came away from season 2 freed of his lifelong guilt, and ready to give a romance with Laris (Orla Brady) a try.
Can Q Die?
The Q Continuum are immortal beings but Star Trek: Picard season 2 proved that a Q can, indeed die. Although Q chose to refer to his mortality as "moving on" to a new plane of existence, the Q as he has been since he debuted in Star Trek: The Next Generation's premiere is apparently no more. Q was dying throughout Picard season 2, and this resulted in him losing his powers while he was in 2024. But before he died, Q had enough energy at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 2 to return Jean-Luc and his friends to their 25th-century starting point in the restored Prime Timeline and resurrect Elnor (Evan Evagora) as well.
How Did Picard Meet Guinan? (And Can Guinan Age?)
Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) is Jean-Luc Picard's oldest friend and confidante, and Star Trek: Picard season 2 revealed just how far back Picard and Guinan really go. Picard season 2 established that Guinan and Jean-Luc met at her bar, Ten Forward, in 2024 Los Angeles. The younger Guinan (Ito Aghayere) was a very different person back then who was fed up with humanity's cruelty and prepared to leave Earth until Picard helped her gain a different perspective.
Star Trek: Picard season 2 seemingly contradicted and retconned the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter, "Time's Arrow," that established Guinan knowing Picard in 19th century San Francisco. However, this is explained away by the fact that Q changed the timeline so that Star Trek: The Next Generation never happened. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Picard season 2 revealed that an El Aurian can choose to age, which explains Whoopi Goldberg's older appearance as Guinan. Similarly, Q decided to age to match the older Jean-Luc.
Who Was The First Picard In Space?
In Star Trek: Nemesis, Captain Picard told Shinzon (Tom Hardy) that he was the first Picard ever to leave the solar system. But Jean-Luc was not the first member of his family to go to space. That honor goes to Jean-Luc's ancestor, astronaut Renée Picard, who commanded NASA's Europa Mission in 2024. Stopping Renée's spaceflight to Jupiter was the key to Q changing the timeline, which would directly lead to the Confederation. Protecting Renée, who was both a genius and who suffered from mental illness, from Q and his agent, Adam Soong, became Jean-Luc and his friends' mission in 2024 Los Angeles.
What Were The Supervisors From TOS "Assignment: Earth?"
Star Trek: Picard season 2 unexpectedly answered a 54-year-old open question from TOS episode, "Assignment: Earth." In that Star Trek classic, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) met Gary Seven (Robert Lansing), a human charged by alien powers to be a Supervisor and protect humanity. Star Trek: Picard season 2 revealed that Tallinn was a Romulan who was also a Supervisor, and that she and Gary Seven are agents of the Travelers, tying the mythologies of TOS and TNG together.
What Happened To Wesley Crusher?
Speaking of the Travelers, Star Trek: Picard season 2 climaxed with the surprise return of Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who is also a Traveler, one of the intergalactic beings who traverses time and space. Wesley's last previous canonical appearance was a brief cameo in Star Trek: Nemesis. Prior to that, Wesley left the USS Enterprise-D to explore the galaxy with the Traveler (Eric Menyuk) in TNG season 7. In Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale, Wesley appeared in 2024 Los Angeles to recruit Kore Soong (Isa Briones) into the Travelers. This sets up the potential for Wesley and Kore to reappear elsewhere in the other Star Trek series on Paramount+.
Can The Borg Be Defeated?
Star Trek: Picard season 2 brought back the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) but with a twist: this alternate reality incarnation of the Borg Queen was a broken shell of herself who suffered the complete annihilation of the Collective by the Confederation. The Borg have been the Federation's greatest foes since they were introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but Star Trek: Picard season 2 showed that the Borg was beaten by the utter ruthlessness of the Confederation.
While Starfleet will never adopt the tactics (or the results) of the Confederation, the fact that the Borg Queen merged with Dr. Agnes Jurati (Allison Pill) signals a new future for the Borg and the Federation. "Agnes Borgrati's" Collective, which entered the Prime Timeline from the deleted Confederation reality, are now allies of the Federation and will possibly share technology and tactics. This sets up the potential defeat of the Prime Timeline's Borg and the Borg Queen at some point in Star Trek's future.
Does Seven of Nine Starfleet?
When Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) ed Star Trek: Picard season 1, it was revealed that she never ed Starfleet because of the fear and prejudice she encountered as a reclaimed Borg. iral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) nearly resigned out of protest before Seven opted to leave Earth and the Fenris Rangers. Seven doubted she could ever be Starfleet material until Star Trek: Picard season 2 gave her a series of pivotal realizations.
Seven learned that as President Annika Hansen, she was the leader of the Confederation in the alternate reality. Although she was horrified by her alt-self, Seven also realized that she has innate qualities as a leader. At the end of Star Trek: Picard season 2, iral Picard gave Seven a field commission and placed her in command of the USS Stargazer. This opened the door for Seven of Nine to finally become a Starfleet Officer. Indeed, she becomes Commander Seven Hansen of the USS Titan-A in Star Trek: Picard season 3, proving that Seven of Nine is Starfleet to the core.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres February 16, 2023, on Paramount+.