Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 3 - "Seventeen Seconds"In a true shocker, Star Trek: Voyager. After several clues were doled out in Star Trek: Picard season 3's first two episodes, the curtain dropped as the shapeshifting rulers of the Dominion are now officially back.
The Changelings, also known as the Founders, are the leaders of the Dominion and control the Gamma Quadrant. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the shapeshifting Founders, along with their lackeys the Vorta, and their shock troops, the Jem'Hadar, allied with Cardassia to wage war on the United Federation of Planets. After nearly capitulating, the Federation won the Dominion War by introducing a virus into the liquid-based Changelings' Great Link. Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) returned to his people with the cure to the disease after the Dominion's official surrender. But Star Trek: Picard season 3 now makes it clear that the Changelings are back with malevolent intentions for the Federation.
Why DS9's Changeling Villains Are Back In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
According to Worf (Michael Dorn), who fought the Founders during DS9's Dominion War, he was ed by "a man of great honor" in the Great Link (obviously referring to Odo) who warned that a faction of the Founders refused to accept defeat and splintered off from the Link. Worf and Raffi Musiker's (Michelle Hurd) interrogation of Titus Rikka (Thomas Dekker) revealed the presumed human was actually a Changeling, and he was responsible for the theft of weapons from Daystrom Station, including Captain Vadic's (Amanda Plummer) portal-making device. Worse, the portal weapon was just a diversion from the theft of an even deadlier, yet-unknown weapon. Worf believes it will all lead to an attack on Starfleet, possibly focused on the Federation's Frontier Day celebration.
The Changelings' master plan in Star Trek: Picard season 3 is quickly coming into focus. Obviously, these rogue Founders want to bring down the Federation as revenge for losing the Dominion War 25+ years prior. Indeed, the Changelings have infiltrated Starfleet, with at least one shapeshifter posing as Ensign Foster (Chad Lindberg) on the USS Titan-A. Foster also sabotaged the Titan to allow Captain Vadic's Shrike to follow the Starfleet ship throughout the Ryton Nebula. DS9 previously showed how devastating a Changeling infiltration of Starfleet could be, but Star Trek: Picard season 3 has drastically escalated the crisis.
Picard's Cast (Besides Worf) Have Never Faced DS9's Changelings
One of the most exciting aspects of the Changelings' return is that most of Star Trek: Picard's cast have never faced the shapeshifting adversaries. iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-E didn't appear in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to fight the Dominion War, and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was still in the Delta Quadrant on Star Trek: Voyager. Obviously, the Dominion is a known threat, albeit one that was presumably neutralized and remains in the Gamma Quadrant, but only Worf has hands-on experience with the Changelings from DS9.
The Changelings are essentially a new enemy for the reunited cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's villains' liquid-based form to appear more gelatinous, which perhaps indicates that this is indeed a different version of the Changelings planning to end the Federation.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 is streaming on Paramount+.