True there were never mention of Picard serving on board a Constitution Class Starship. We don't know if the Stargazer was the first starship he was assign too, or if it was another starship, or what class it was? But there still is the model of a Constitution setting on the pedestal in Picard ready room for the first nine and half episodes. Originally the Stargazer was going to be a Constitution. But cause a Constitution had set on the pedestal for the first 9 and half episodes and it no longer represent the Stargazer, but it still represent a starship, but which is not the Enterprise-A. Cause the Enterprise-A never had sideways nacelles, which the model does have.
Well, Utopia Planitia is where The Daystrom Institute is, & where Leah Brahms did her work in designing the Enterprise engines. So, the question is, how many Leahs does Geordi know well enough to marry, that have worked extensively enough at Utopia Planitia, such that they'd be made director of the institute there? I imagine Geordi lives there (On Mars) with her & their family, & made the trip back to Earth when he'd heard about Picard's illness... Which when you think about it is sort of equivalent to someone in our time taking a trip from Cleveland to Detroit. lol
Yeah, that was kind of my point too: I don't know how true this is, but I found this on Memory Alpha: Source here (last paragraph on page)
This is nice consistency, really. Note how winded he becomes when fighting the equally geriatric Soran just one movie before (in similar "hot and high" conditions)... I'd love for it to be the holo-version, just for the scifi touch. The biggest nail in the coffin of the idea that Picard held the Starfleet rank of Commander back when DeSeve knew him is that we have no proof whatsoever that DeSeve would have known him, or even of him! This in contrast with "Encounter at Farpoint", where Riker calling Troi "Lieutenant" is a very natural mistake (or even a deliberate choice) to make. We do. In "Relics", Picard is specific that the Stargazer was the first ship he served on. What we don't know is whether he served on other ships besides that one and the E-D and E-E. We know he was aboard a ship between the Stargazer and the E-D, as per the "Legacy" story of him meeting Yar for the first time, but whether as a passenger or a skipper, we don't know (him being a member of the crew but not skipper might be unlikely, considering him already holding the four-pip rank and having one starship command under his belt). What we also don't know is whether the Stargazer was Picard's first command. Perhaps Lieutenant Picard served aboard her with such distinction that he was rewarded with the command of USS Insignificant, after which he gained so much reputation and leverage that he became the next skipper of the Stargazer by his own request? By the same argument, the four-nacelled ship there is not the Stargazer, because it is subtly different from the real deal, too: the wrong surface detail, the wrong registry number. Timo Saloniemi
To further your #1 point, the more seasoned, middle-aged Kirk intended for Phase II also morphed into Picard, as the backstories are roughly similar, e.g. becoming a captain at a much younger age, being more reckless as a youth...
...This is also nicely in line with TAS "The Counter-Clock Incident", where mandatory retirement at 75 is a rule that is going to be reevaluated when a famous skipper feels young and wants another try at starship command. (Not that being in line with said episode would be much of a merit, though.) Also, Admiral Jameison in "Too Short a Season" thinks he would be commanding starships if not for his exotic ailment - at 80+. Timo Saloniemi
You're not suggesting Geordi murdered her husband, made it appear to be an accident, and then manipulated her emotionally during her grieving process to "get" her are you?
Or that she has two or more husbands. The issue of polygamy hasn't actually been commented on by our characters so far; jealousy certainly still exists, but that's not directly related to whether polygamy would be okay or no-no. And we have less than conclusive data on what sort of religions our heroes would follow, if any, and how these would affect the issue of having a significant other referred to as "wife", of being "married", etc. Regarding Data's Lucasian, I don't think there's explicit wording there today to preclude military officers in active service from holding said Chair. It's not even a full-time job as such, although most would naturally have side jobs relating closely to the subject matter of the Chair, and being a Starfleet officer probably doesn't qualify even in the 24th century. Data certainly seems like he could handle multiple simultaneous careers... Timo Saloniemi
Beverly does say to Geordi and Data; "I never thought I'd see either of you on a starship again!" Certainly the implication is that they've both left Starfleet altogether. What he said was; "The first vessel I ever served on as captain was called the Stargazer."
Maybe the Geordi in the mirror universe did just that. Too bad there was no interactions with that universe during the TNG era, so we'll never know. In DS9 I think there was like five mirror universe episodes, if not six. There was a custom, each time they paid a visit to the universe, a ferengi was killed. First Quark, then Rom, Nog, and at last Brunt. Plus one episode where Vedek Bareil's duplicate paid us a visit.
Ah, you're right; blindly relying on transcripts doesn't pay, it seems. (Unless they are from the great "Chrissie's" site, which was down when I checked.) To make that distinction would not be particularly logical unless Picard wanted to make clear that he had served aboard other ships in the previous stages of his career... Timo Saloniemi
I haven't seen it myself, but apparently the extended version of "The Measure of a Man" says that Picard served aboard a USS Reliant as an ensign.