Star Trek: Picard's Borg Twist Theory Sets Up Season 3's Best TNG Story
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 9 - "Hide & Seek"
The latest Borg twist in Star Trek: Picard season 2 sets up season 3’s best reason for the Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion. Picard season 2, episode 9, “Hide and Seek,” sees Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) and the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) reach an agreement that suggests a more positive future for the Borg Collective. Yet beyond improving the Borg Collective's prospects, this more positive future for the Borg could also set up the storyline that reunites the Next Generation cast in Picard season 3.
In sharing a consciousness, Agnes and the Borg Queen have agreed to build a more hopeful future for the Borg. Rather than assimilating other species, they will instead use their technology to save the “lives that need saving.” It’s clear now that the Borg, who sought peace with the Federation, resulted from Jurati’s new vision for the Collective. As a result, this more positive view of the Borg may open the door to the Next Generation cast’s perfect farewell.
If Picard season 3 were to explore the ramifications of peace with the Borg, it would give the TNG crew their version of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. That film brought the adventures of the original Enterprise crew to an end by having them aid the peace process between the Klingons and the Federation. The teaser trailer for Picard season 3 sees Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) talk of legacy, and Star Trek VI gives the original Enterprise crew their own lasting legacy – putting aside their prejudice against the Klingons for the greater good. In this way, doing something similar with Picard season 3’s TNG reunion would provide the crew with the perfect ending that Star Trek: Nemesis failed to.
In Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 1, “The Stargazer,” Picard and the crew of the Stargazer come face to face with a new style of Borg. When the new Borg Queen beams aboard, they claim to want peace. After the events of season 2, episode 9, “Hide and Seek,” it’s now clear that this new style of Borg is the result of Jurati and the Borg Queen becoming one. When the Stargazer crew explains to the Borg Queen that the Collective loses in every possible reality, she posits a new style of Borg – one that uses their technology for good.
When faced with this more evolved and peaceful Borg Collective, Picard, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), and the crew of the Stargazer eventually reacted in fear. In a repeat of Q’s Borg Test in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Q Who,” Starfleet responded with violence and, more devastatingly, self-destruction. Having been sent back to 2024 to invertedly create the new Collective, the La Sirena crew are nearer than ever to reaching the understanding of the Borg that was teased by Guinan way back in “Q Who.” This new understanding will consequently pave the way for the Borg to join the Federation. Given that there’s only one episode left of Picard season 2, and both seasons 2 and 3 were shot back-to-back, it makes sense for that storyline to play out across the next season.
Peace with this new Borg Collective would provide a satisfying ending to Jean-Luc Picard’s story and the TNG spin-off's final season. Given Jean-Luc’s ordeal at the hands of the Borg in “The Best of Both Worlds,” it’s unsurprising that the Borg has played a big part in the narrative over the course of Picard seasons 1 and 2. Picard Season 1 explored how the Federation had ostracized those individuals who had survived Borg's conversion, with the xB (ex-Borg) described by Hugh as the most despised person in the galaxy. Picard season 2 has explored this further by removing Seven’s Borg implants, which have allowed her to live a life free of the fear and distrust that previously afflicted her life. In “Hide and Seek,” she reveals that prejudice against the Borg denied her entry to Starfleet, despite the protestations of Admiral Janeway - meaning potential peace with the Borg is rich thematic material for Picard season 3.
Peace with the Borg would also provide a fitting link between Picard and Kirk’s Starfleet legacies. James T. Kirk lost his son to the Klingons but was able to put aside his prejudice to expose a conspiracy to block the Klingon’s entry into the Federation. Following his assimilation, Jean-Luc Picard’s issues with the Borg have provided a strong emotional core to TNG episodes like “I, Borg” and the classic movie Star Trek: First Contact. To bring that prejudice to a close by having Picard negotiate peace with the Collective would be an emotionally satisfying end for the character.
If Picard season 3 were to revisit The Undiscovered Country with the Borg Collective instead of the Klingon Empire, it would give the TNG crew a much more fitting end than in Star Trek: Nemesis. The final TNG movie attempted to give Jean-Luc Picard his own Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan moment. Aside from Data’s heroic sacrifice, the other crew members of the Enterprise-E were short-changed, but a remake of The Undiscovered Country would redress this balance.
Despite The Undiscovered Country’s focus on Kirk and McCoy being framed for a political assassination, the entire Enterprise crew get their moments to shine. Spock has been the Federation’s architect of the Klingon peace plan and has even come to embrace his more human side. Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, and Scotty all get their moments, too, with Captain Sulu being the only Starfleet vessel on Kirk and McCoy’s side. If Picard season 3 were to have a similar conspiracy against the Borg, Jean-Luc would need all of his old friends to help him expose it.
Will Riker is a reserve Captain and could, like Sulu, be the only Starfleet Captain to stick his neck out for Picard if negotiations go awry. Worf could be representing the Klingon Empire, much like his grandfather did in The Undiscovered Country, recruited by Picard to aid the peace process on another front. Beverley Crusher, who aided Picard’s conversion from Locutus, could also play a key role in negotiations with the Collective. Each member of the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew would have a role to play in overseeing Borg’s entry into the Federation, meaning such a storyline would ensure Star Trek: Picard’s legacy on future Star Trek series while giving each character a much more satisfying end than they had in the deeply flawed Star Trek: Nemesis.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.