Star Trek Picard’s final episode gave birth to a new generation of Starfleet. Despite being a final goodbye to the Next Generation Crew, season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas had also planned to tell the story of the birth of the Enterprise-G, it’s captain and her crew. But in doing so the series explored some major moments and themes from the wider TNG era, both revisiting and expanding on Star Trek lore.
Since the closing moments of the series, in particular the launch of the Enterprise G led by a pirate, a spy and a thief, the finale gave rise to a massive fan campaign to continue the story with Captain Seven of Nine heading up Matalas’ Star Trek Legacy. Unfortunately due tot he writers strike, nothing can even be pitched regarding the show, but with such a title and already having two of the Next Next Generation on the bridge, we have to wonder what other legacies could be explored following the stellar third season of Picard….
The Founders
Despite being a Next Generation reunion, and the TNG crew only ever making one reference to the Dominion War in Star Trek Insurrection, the inclusion of the Changelings from the long burning Dominion War on Deep Space Nine was a pleasant surprise. Though tortured and altered in a bid to turn them into a weapon after Vadic and her companions were held in a lab at Daystrom Station after becoming prisoners of war, her faction was an offshoot of the Founders we’d seen leading the charge against the Federation.
The last we saw of the non-genetically altered Founders was seeing Odo leave behind his life on DS9 to rejoin his people and deliver the cure to Section 31’s deadly virus, which Vadic was used to help create. In a new era of peace and cooperation, what would the Founders place be in the early 25th century? Would they ignore what Vadic’s faction had done to the Federation? Or return to make amends?
With Salome Jens – the leading Changling – having long retired and Rene Auberjonois passing away in 2019, the Legacy of the Dominion could be passed to Auberjonois’ son Remy who bears a striking resemblance to his father and would make a good of carrying that legacy for his father and for Deep Space Nine.
Naomi Wildman
Although Seven’s primary connection when it came to younger members of Voyagers crew fell to Icheb, particularly when looking back in Picard’s first season, one of the stronger connections was to the first child of Voyager, Naomi Wildman. In an alternate reality, Naomi was a Lieutenant trained and raised on Voyager in the late 23rd century and always saw Seven as a role model for her planned future in Starfleet.
Of course, Seven’s life took a turn when she was initially rejected from Starfleet and the time between Voyagers return to Earth and Seven finally finding her purpose as Captain of the Enterprise leaves an unknown void. Unlike the LaForge’s and Jack, Naomi would have years of experience behind her if she had joined Starfleet and with that time jump would technically have more experience and backing than Seven would have even in the Captains Chair.
If a legacy could be revisited from Voyager, it’d be interesting to see Naomi as a seasoned science officer now grown up and advising her former tutor.
Elnor
In the third season of Picard the bulk of the shows original cast were cast aside to give a generation it’s final journey. Even in the second season the first Romulan in Starfleet was cast aside with the dead and revived at the end plot-line. While Naomi was a prodigy under Seven of Nine, Elnor was hastily written as a prodigy of her first officer Raffi.
That plotline felt very thin on the ground and a bit out of nowhere. Now that Raffi’s found balance through Worf’s new zen-like mentality, it’d be a good time to pass that down to a conflicted assassin turned officer in Elnor….
The Jurati
Over the years the cast of the Next Generation tangled with Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians as well as dozens of other civilisations – but none were more prominent and connected to the show than The Borg, which made it fitting that their final act together seemingly brought an end to the cybernetic overlords. Having defeated a cornered and crippled Queen who was struggling to survive, it’s up in the air whether the Borg have a future in Star Trek beyond Season 3 of Picard. But they’re not the only Borg out there…
Thanks to some timey wimey shenanigans, the Queen of an alternate reality went back in time and merged with Agnes Jurati, using her as host for a new Borg Queen. But in the battle of the minds, Jurati won and while she was assimilated, created a new faction of Borg that assimilated by consent to create a creative and welcoming hive mind, not drones with a totalitarian purpose.
At the end of Season 2 of Picard (technically, at the beginning!) that faction of the Borg – The Jurati – came in peace to help Starfleet and offer themselves as allies. But then what? Sure, the Jurati made no intervention as the Borg assimilated the first fleet. But after the organic assimilation and the Queen’s slow burning plan, the younger officers like Crash LaForge have a new understanding of what those like Hugh, Picard and Seven experienced. How would they react to Queen Jurati and her Borg? Are they more welcome? Are they more feared?
It’s a story worth telling and a huge game changer for the future of Starfleet and the Federation. Especially now we have an ex-Borg as Captain of the Enterprise….
Q. No not that one, the other one.
Some of Picard’s final episodes were obvious and predictable. But it didn’t matter as it was a fitting end. But one final cameo from John De Lancie as he welcomes Jack Crusher to the Enterprise to tell him Picards trial was over and it was his turn next was…. well, wonderful.
Of course, Q’s dead. He gave his last breath for Picard in a heart wrenching bunch of scenes in season 2. The Q we saw reminded Jack not to think in linear terms. When we put it all together, it tells a fascinating story that adds layers to why Q did what he did in Season 2. But as much as Q protected Picards legacy, he also had one of his own. And thats where things get interesting….
In Season 2 we learned the Q were dying. And our lovably antagonist was the face of that. But Q didn’t just appear in The Next Generation. Aside from getting a punch in the face on DS9, he also took a fancy to Kathryn Janeway after she found an exiled Q seeking asylum. His interest in Janeway resulted in meeting Q’s wife, Q, who he’d have a son with, Q, played by John De Lancies own son Keegan.
No one does Q like John De Lancie. And with one click of his fingers, he aged up Q perfectly. We also don’t know what happens to the Q after the Q we know and love gave his final gift to Picard at the cost of his life. But if Terry Metalas’ plans for a Legacy show happen, how fitting would it be for Keegan DeLancie to return to the screen and carry on his fathers legacy?
About the author
Resistance Is Optional: Sunday 8th February
We've trialled, we've tested and we're ready for nonsense! This weekend we're inviting the fleet to come together and just enjoy talking Trek, general life, throw questions at Admin and generally misbehave in our Discord server while we run a live first run on the server. For those who've never used Discord before, we're migrating what we can from our social platforms to the Discord server in the coming weeks and months due to it's versatility as a desktop app, web-based client or mobile app; having multiple methods of communication from voice chats, to hosted events, to simple forum and live forum style discussions and of course – aside from them occasionally promoting their Nitro features – it’s ad and payment free with privacy controls to suit you. Also it lets us run video and voice chat - both of […]
“There is no greater enemy than one’s own fears”; ‘Vox In Exelso’, Starfleet Academy S1E4
When an existential crisis threatens to wipe out a beloved but infamous Star Trek species, a cadet is forced to confront his past and strained relationship with his family. As he pursues an unexpected method of coping, Nahla races against time to save this species from extinction.... Writers: Gaia Violo & Eric Anthony Glover Director: Doug Aarniokoski Ever since Discovery took the jump to the future, there were questions that were left unanswered. A few hundred yeas of changing cultures and political landscapes combined with the galaxy-devastating effect of the Burn gave us a familiar surrounding that had undergone massive change. We found out what happened to the Federation. We found out the Orions took advantage of the power vacuum. We even got to meet an isolationist Earth and see the reunification of Vulcan and Romulus. But for a […]
Revenge Of The Nerds; ‘Vitus Reflux’, Starfleet Academy S1E3
Proving yourself at Starfleet Academy always seemed to come down to competitive rivalry. Whether it was Sisko failing to win over Solok, Finnegan's constant pranks on Kirk, or Georgiou drinking everyone under the table, even the most professional stand up Captains have spent their youth in a knife fight with a Nausican. Vitrus Reflux get it all out the way as cadets Lythe and Raymi get locked into a battle of the ego's while the War College next door pops up to assert their dominance! Writers: Alex Taub & Kiley RossetterDirector: Doug Aarniokoski As the more militaristic war college use their current standing as the primary source of Starfleet for the past hundred-plys years to prove the revival of the Academy is a failed experiment, tensions begin to bubble over through mixed physical training leading to conflicts, a war of words and […]
[Q2&A] Positively Positive.
Last week Starfleet Academy debuted and something odd happened. If you're a regular to any Trek news or discussion site, you noticed a spike. Even our usually sleepy Facebook profile went from a handful of likes to over 2,000, am good chunk of which got deleted. It wasn't a normal spike, certainly not normal for a debut show, not normal to be everywhere and – to be frank – not normal in terms of comments. It was a mix of disturbing and sad. Disturbing for the high amount of bigoted and sexist memes and commentary that seemed to mock murdered US citizens. For a subculture of fandom that grew up praising – to the point of gloating – that Star Trek was about intellectualism and inclusion, it certainly showed that as a fandom, and a united international culture, we've taken more […]
[Retro Review] Where No Man Has Gone Before….
During a search and rescue mission that takes the Enterprise through the Galactic Barrier, ships captain James 'R' Kirk has another problem. During the trip through the barrier, Kirks crewmate and long time friend Gary Mitchell takes a blast of weird energy that slowly transforms him into everyone's best friend, to a telekinetic megalomaniac proving that old parable about absolute power.... By this point, everyone knows the story of Star Trek's two pilots. The Cage was filmed, rejected and the show got a rare second chance. That second chance as Where No Man Has Gone Before. Same ship, different Captain and crew aside from a green blooded alien... This year marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, so it seems only fitting we should start, where the show began on screen with the pilot that saw the idea become a […]
Everything Whale Be Alright; ‘Beta Test’, Starfleet Academy S1E2 Review
Rebuilding after being torn down by 'The Burn', Starfleet and the Federation are getting back on mission, rekindling old alliances, developing new technologies and now ready to re-open Starfleet Academy to raise the next generation of explorers... Writers: Noga Landau & Jane Maggs Director: Alex Kurtzman Whether it's seeing hios potential, or just sheer guilt, Captain Ake is bending over backwards to integrate Caleb into the Academy. Trouble is, he's not putting in the same effort. Fighting against his own inflated ego and distracted with his quest to find his mother coming to a dead end. Spiralling following an argument with instructor Jet Reno, Caleb tries to run, but instead he runs into Tarima; a visiting Betazoid who can see right through his bravado. Following the Burn, Betazed isolated itself from the Federation and now their president has an […]
Related
A Fistful of Familiar Surroundings
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. President Forward During the Next Generation multiple set pieces were re-used and recycled from the set pieces built for the film franchise. From the obvious re-use of internal corridors, to smaller pieces such as Dr Crushers office being McCoy's, it's hard for a keen eye to ignore how much the productions shared between them. But as The Next Generation became the dominant forcer with ongoing production and full standing sets, eventually the turn tabled and by the final original cast instalment, it was the TNG stages that became the obvious redress solution. The most jarring of the films set re-uses was the office of the president. As Kirk and McCoy were charged with assassination, a political poop show begins and the Federation […]
A Fistful of New Beginnings
The coming of a new year always comes with a feeling of new beginnings. Whether it's hearing the bells at midnight or planning a list of new years resolutions to forget about by February, the changing of numbers and another year ahead can bring us a sense of starting over. To commemorate another year passing, and the beginning of a new Star Trek milestone, we're kicking off with our usual list looking at five times Star Trek itself was able to give itself a fresh start. GROWING THE BEARD Between the first and second seasons of The Next Generation, things changed. A lot. A lot of the Next Generation was just carrying over from the abandoned Phase II and Roddenberry's constant rewrites led to a very inconsistent start for the show. By the second season things has calmed down a […]
A Fistful of Forgotten Technology
Travelling the stars is a lot more fun when you have engineers who can turn rocks into replicators and scientists who come up with some crazy ideas on a whim and bring some brand new tech into creation to solve this weeks problem. But sometimes you have to wonder what happens to the inventions that didn't last the week.... Borg Again Once upon a time, Neelix died. Then Seven came along, casually unstuffed some Borg probes in him and suddenly he's back to life again. Mortal Coil is an episode that focuses on Neelix's belief and psychological after effects of being dead, even if just briefly, only to experience nothing but his revival. It's a common story throughout all genre's of TV. It's just this time there were nanoprobes to speed up the 'coming back to life' part. Seven's nanoprobes […]
A Fistful of Next Generations
When Paramount was up for sale, everything was on pause., Now things are a little different with new owners, a shake up and a new future ahead. Since the merger everyone with a keyboard has had their idea of what could come next in the Star Trek Universe to tempt Skydance into the next part of the legacy. So we figured.... why not look at a list of ideas too? The Archers Someone's getting their PR out there along with their pitch as the Archer idea seems to have been picked up everywhere with fans who once decried Enterprise clamouring for more Archer! Though Archer's story ended on Enterprise with the formal formation of the Federation, the history of the shows that came after confirmed the 'beta canon' of his next adventures as President of the Federation. With Enterprise ending […]
A Fistful of Sci Fi
Over the past few years we've been spoiled with a dazzling amount of Star Trek on our screens, but with shows coming to an end, the close of Season 3 of Strange New Worlds leaves us impatiently waiting for more! With a bit of time to go until we see season four, and the next live action show Starfleet Academy coming next year, we need some geeky joys to fill the gap! Taking a look around at recent sci fi releases, we've picked the top five from the year to keep us engaged before our return to the Star Trek Universe in 2026. Murderbot Based on the series of books by Martha Wells, Murderbot is stars Alexander Skarsgård as a refurbished security unit who's hacked his safety protocols to gain free will and horrible at hiding that fact. Assigned to […]
A Fistful of Vulcans
The first alien species to openly make contact with Earth and one of the core members of what would become the Federation, Vulcan's started with the original series Spock just to show the alien on the bridge. Now, nearly sixty years later, Leonard Nimoy's portrayal set the tone for decades of evolution. Despite being an easy mine for comedy, seen quite a bit in Strange New Worlds between the 'lets mess with Spock' episodes and now Four and a Half Vulcans bringing a full on comedic parody of Vulcan stereotypes, the nuance and layers thrown into the mix over time can be surprising and sometimes even heart-warming. So this time we're looking back at the episodes that go beyond the stereotypical logic and delve a little deeper into the culture of Vulcan. Sarek, The Next Generation Sarek was introduced as […]
