WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3, "Seventeen Seconds."
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where his characterization became even more rich and fascinating, solidifying his position as Star Trek's greatest Klingon.
Worf's last canonical appearance before Picard season 3 was in Star Trek: Nemesis, the final TNG film that was released in 2002. After sitting out the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard, Worf made his triumphant return at the end of the season 3 episode "Disengage," saving Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) from a Ferengi gangster named Sneed (Aaron Stanford). Worf's appearance in that episode was brief but memorable, and the Worf of old would make a more robust, satisfying appearance in the next episode, "Seventeen Seconds."
Worf's Picard Comeback After 20 Years Is Everything We Wanted
Worf's much-anticipated comeback is essentially perfect. After brutally dispatching Sneed and his henchmen, "Seventeen Seconds" finds Worf preparing chamomile tea and listening to Gilbert & Sullivan - a hilarious nod to Star Trek: Insurrection - while he trains with his new sword called a Kur'leth. Worf its to a dazed and confused Raffi that he's aligned with Starfleet Intelligence and has recently been working on his legendary anger issues, claiming to now be a pacifist. The fact that he's a self-proclaimed pacifist who still occasionally beheads people is classic Worf.
Worf has an immediately satisfying rapport with Raffi, who finds his newfound worldview somewhat annoying. As Worf himself notes, Raffi has a lot in common with the Worf of old, driven by rage and with a deeply fractured personal life. Their nascent partnership figures to not only be amusing, but action-packed, giving Star Trek: Picard season 3's B-story on M'talas Prime a much-needed spark of excitement.
Picard Made Worf (& Raffi) Crucial To Season 3
Near the end of "Seventeen Seconds," it becomes clear how Worf and Raffi will figure into the overarching plot of the season and connect with the events on the USS Titan-A. While interrogating a man named Titus Rikka (Thomas Dekker) they assume to be human in regard to his connection to the attack on the Starfleet recruitment center in Star Trek: Picard season 3's premiere, Rikka begins convulsing, presumably from drugs. However, Titus Rikka is a Changeling, and Worf reveals that a rogue faction of the Dominion's Founders is seeking vengeance against the Federation after the fallout from the Dominion War.
Worf was the only member of the TNG cast to play a significant role in the war against the Changelings, as depicted during his time on DS9. His knowledge of the species and their tactics will likely prove crucial to Star Trek: Picard season 3's plot, which is just beginning to reveal its full scope. No matter where the road may lead with the greater Changeling threat, it's unequivocally great to see Worf back in action.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.