Spoilers Things you wish season 2 had answered.

[Mogh]

Personally, season 2 left me rather unfulfilled. There were high spots, low spots, some good characterisation and some bad.

But mostly, a little too much either unanswered, unexplained or that didn't just seem to add up.

Now one can always do a variety of contortions to come up with an in-universe explanation ("oh, maybe Saavik has reconstructive surgery after a fire on the Grissom"), but ideally, the show should rarely necessitate it.

Here's the list of things I wish had been answered or clarified. What's yours?

1. Why was Q, from a species of omnipotent beings, dying?
2. Why was Q dying alone, if he has a kid? And a female companion? What happened to them?
3. How did Data paint a woman identical to one of the genetic products of his creator's distant ancestors, which in turn was a reference point for building Soji and her twin?
4. Where did Jurati and her Borg hide for, for 400 years? How do they relate to other Borg we've seen?
5. Why was Rios allowed to stay back for no more than a "but I really want to" speech, when the crew of the Enterprise-E were going to be exiled to a remote volcanic island in First Contact? Picard had no idea it would be a predestination paradox. Surely every bit the risk they were seeking to avoid?
6. Why was Rios so content to stay after a brief encounter with a woman? He'd got as far as being a Starfleet captain in his career. How was he suddenly a misfit, and didn't his sense of duty to his ship and crew factor in?
7. How was Adam Soong able to pronounce "a safe galaxy is a human galaxy", given it was a very long time before humans developed warp drive?
8. Why did Q try to aid Soong in killing Picard? By that point his powers had failed. If the idea was to teach Picard a lesson - surely this could very well have killed Picard?
9. Had Tallinn already procreated before her untimely death? Presumably she is an ancestor of Laris?
10. Why did Q bring back Elnor? Surely there are a dozen other closer people to Picard who might have been further up the queue?
11. Why did the Borg need Federation membership just to stay put? Is it just for their faction, or do they now represent the whole of the Borg?
12. By the time Picard did get back to the 25th century, surely he'd now be asking Guinan just how many more times he might be due to meet her in the past?
13. Why did Janeway give up on Seven and when did Starfleet basically become racist? Surely at the time in question, even if this had occurred, Picard would have intervened as someone else who'd been assimilated and come through? (not to mention Janeway herself or Tuvok).
14. How did Jurati turn the Borg Queen? She's assimilated "countless billions". What was different here? Surely not just her personality?
15. A big coincidence that Guinan's 21st century bar was an apt name for the forward deck of a ship she was on three centuries later. How did that happen?
16. How did humanity manage to conquer every other Alpha Quadrant power and the Borg by the end of the 24th century, in the other timeline? What on earth did they do, alone? Isn't that basically a sign that peace is weak, given the Federation has almost lost several wars against the other powers and couldn't even begin to take on the Borg in a straight fight?
17. If the Travellers hire the agents, does that mean Wesley's new crew intentionally abducted Gary Seven and others as children? Why would Wes have stayed involved?
18. Why did Picard's mother have a French accent in his memory?

 

[locborg]

Dear TrekBBS member,

it has come to our attention that you asked many questions with regards to the storytelling of an Alex Kurtzman related Star Trek TV show.

We would very kindly ask you to refrain from asking similar questions in the future.

Nevertheless we want address this issue in a most transparent matter. The answer to all of your questions is: very bad writing.

Kind regards

Paramount+ Damage Control Unit 42

 

[Mogh]

Dear TrekBBS member,

it has come to our attention that you asked many questions with regards to the storytelling of an Alex Kurtzman related Star Trek TV show.

We would very kindly ask you to refrain from asking similar questions in the future.

Nevertheless we want address this issue in a most transparent matter. The answer to all of your questions is: very bad writing.

Kind regards

Paramount+ Damage Control Unit 42

This post made me realise how badly we need reaction emojis on TrekBBS

Bravo.

 

[Dr Helen Noel]

4. Where did Jurati and her Borg hide for, for 400 years? How do they relate to other Borg we've seen?

Same place the Romulans from the Prime timeline in the 2009 movie hid for 25 years.

6. Why was Rios so content to stay after a brief encounter with a woman? He'd got as far as being a Starfleet captain in his career. How was he suddenly a misfit, and didn't his sense of duty to his ship and crew factor in?

I theorized about this in the Rios thread. My thoughts are that Rios is suffering from a concussion and wasn't thinking straight. I also think Rios wanted Picard to treat him like a father in that moment and tell Rios that he can't leave, but Picard didn't seem to care much (so much for learning to love). Rios then decided that he can't find a father figure for himself but he can be the father he would have wanted for Ricardo.

My question:
19. How did Guinan know what happened to Rios? The Guinan that speaks to Picard at the end is from the original timeline. Rios stayed in the other timeline. Is the Rios in the picture a different Rios from a different timeline? What happened to our Rios?

 

[Charles Phipps]

Why was Q, from a species of omnipotent beings, dying?

Q doesn't seem to know himself and is intrigued by the prospect.

Why was Q dying alone, if he has a kid? And a female companion? What happened to them?

I mean, the obvious answer is Q drove them away given he has Q's personality.

How did Data paint a woman identical to one of the genetic products of his creator's distant ancestors, which in turn was a reference point for building Soji and her twin?

1. We could assume that it was programmed in like so many other Easter Eggs of the Soong family that either has very strong genetics or is engaged in cloning.
2. They're just played by the same actors.

Where did Jurati and her Borg hide for, for 400 years? How do they relate to other Borg we've seen?

They may not have hid but have been suppressed by the Borg Queen and only recently taken over.

Why was Rios allowed to stay back for no more than a "but I really want to" speech, when the crew of the Enterprise-E were going to be exiled to a remote volcanic island in First Contact? Picard had no idea it would be a predestination paradox. Surely every bit the risk they were seeking to avoid?

Picard EXPLICITLY says it's a Predestination Paradox given that he says he grew up with the bullet holes in his chateau from their recent fight. Also, it's not like he could stun him and make him go. He has no ship and only the whims of Q.

Why was Rios so content to stay after a brief encounter with a woman? He'd got as far as being a Starfleet
captain in his career. How was he suddenly a misfit, and didn't his sense of duty to his ship and crew factor in?

My theory is Rios wants to make sure she and her son don't die in a nuclear holocaust. Also, not everyone has the insane Kirk-like love of being a starship captain.

How was Adam Soong able to pronounce "a safe galaxy is a human galaxy", given it was a very long time before humans developed warp drive?

He knows aliens exist thanks to the Borg Queen and undoubtedly used his vast amount of wealth and resources to
promote space travel.

Why did Q try to aid Soong in killing Picard? By that point his powers had failed. If the idea was to teach Picard a lesson - surely this could very well have killed Picard?

Since it's a predestination paradox, Q knows how Earth's history turns out and that he was probably involved in this from the very beginning. He may not know WHY he was involved but he knows he was involved.

Had Tallinn already procreated before her untimely death? Presumably she is an ancestor of Laris?

Possibly. It's also possible she's Laris' great-great-great aunt.

Why did Q bring back Elnor? Surely there are a dozen other closer people to Picard who might have been further up the queue?

Picard views him as a surrogate son and he died because of Q's shenanigans. If Picard is to be grateful, probably best not to kill one of his associates.

Why did the Borg need Federation membership just to stay put? Is it just for their faction, or do they now represent the whole of the Borg?

Jurati wants to make friendship with the Federation and other races.

By the time Picard did get back to the 25th century, surely he'd now be asking Guinan just how many more times he might be due to meet her in the past?

I mean, Guinan probably couldn't tell him without screwing with reality.

Why did Janeway give up on Seven and when did Starfleet basically become racist? Surely at the time in question, even if this had occurred, Picard would have intervened as someone else who'd been assimilated and come
through? (not to mention Janeway herself or Tuvok).

Seven was semi-interested in joining Starfleet and Janeway became an Admiral because Seven didn't push it. Janeway as an Admiral clearly could pave the way for Icheb to become part of Starfleet, which he did and served with distinction until his death (he made it to full Lieutenant after all unlike poor Ensign Kim). As for Starfleet being suspicious of Seven, Janeway was asked about the MAQUIS being a threat when she reestablished communication in VOY.
Starfleet is a lot more suspicious than people give it credit for.

How did Jurati turn the Borg Queen? She's assimilated "countless billions". What was different here? Surely not just her personality?

The Borg Queen is a single entity in a Collective of Two. So they're pretty even in terms of intelligence and power at this point in time. Also, speeches have magical powers in Star Trek.

A big coincidence that Guinan's 21st century bar was an apt name for the forward deck of a ship she was on three centuries later. How did that happen?

Alternative theory: Guinan saw the bar was on the forward deck of a ship and thought it would be cute to name it after her old bar.

How did humanity manage to conquer every other Alpha Quadrant power and the Borg by the end of the 24th century, in the other timeline? What on earth did they do, alone? Isn't that basically a sign that peace is weak, given the Federation has almost lost several wars against the other powers and couldn't even begin to take on the Borg in a straight fight?

The Confederation is more cosmopolitan than the Mirror Universe given that they employ migrant Romulans and makes ample use of transhumanist tech like android bodies as well as slave androids. Presumably they're also almost all Augments too. Despite this, there's explosions on EARTH, the environment is destroyed, and Vulcan is in revolt.

It lasted a century longer than the Mirror Universe Empire but is clearly unstable.

Presumably, they also benefited from the Romulan Supernova destroying their biggest rivals in the Alpha Quadrant, no Dominion War (Bajor not being a Federation outpost means no wormhole), and The Klingons destroying themselves with the destruction of Praxis. If you think about it, most Federation enemies have required their existence to survive.

As for the Borg? Well, the Borg prone to screwing themselves over as Jurati points out. In addition to Borg-destroying weapons that the Confederacy might have come up with, they might have also been mostly annihilated by Species 7485.

If the Travellers hire the agents, does that mean Wesley's new crew intentionally abducted Gary Seven and others as children? Why would Wes have stayed involved?

They didn't abduct Gary Seven. Gary was descended from humans taken from their world like the Red Angel Religious Commune. Possibly to save them from a disaster.

Why did Picard's mother have a French accent in his memory?

Memory is not reliable?

 

[Charles Phipps]

Same place the Romulans from the Prime timeline in the 2009 movie hid for 25 years.

Klingon prison?

I theorized about this in the Rios thread. My thoughts are that Rios is suffering from a concussion and wasn't thinking straight. I also think Rios wanted Picard to treat him like a father in that moment and tell Rios that he can't leave, but Picard didn't seem to care much (so much for learning to love). Rios then decided that he can't find a father figure for himself but he can be the father he would have wanted for Ricardo.

I was going with the idea he's Kyle Reese. He knows WW3 is in a few years and thinks he'll be leaving them to die. Because he intervenes, the boy grows up to fix the environment after WW3.

Also Rios is just a hopeless romantic who makes poorly thought out but dashing decisions.

How did Guinan know what happened to Rios? The Guinan that speaks to Picard at the end is from the original timeline. Rios stayed in the other timeline. Is the Rios in the picture a different Rios from a different timeline? What happened to our Rios?

There's only one timeline. The Confederacy is a bubble that exists for a brief moment from when Picard and company are transported from the Stargazer to the past before disappearing like the "Destroyed Earth" created by Daniels taking Archer out of the timeline and thus fucking over the Federation.

And if that makes no sense, neither does time travel in Star Trek.

Edit:

As for why did Guinan not recognize Picard? I have the insane theory that the one in Time's Arrow is a time traveling Guinan from after 2024 but before the 24th century. Which makes as much sense as anything else.

Either that or she actually doesn't remember one adventure in her centuries of life, no matter how strange.

 

[FederationHistorian]

How did humanity manage to conquer every other Alpha Quadrant power and the Borg by the end of the 24th century, in the other timeline? What on earth did they do, alone? Isn't that basically a sign that peace is weak, given the Federation has almost lost several wars against the other powers and couldn't even begin to take on the Borg in a straight fight?

- No backstabbing and survival of the fittest mentality like in the mirror universe.

- Probably let the Vulcans and Andorians and Tellarites fight among themselves first and annexed prewarp civilizations and small powers like the Suliban Cabal, Tandar, and Denobula instead. Meaning a eugenics war of sorts occurs with the latter planets, which is in the Confederation’s favour.

- They actually go along with Georgiou’s crazy plans to hydrobomb Qonos and blowing up novas with antimatter torpedoes.

- No Kirk from the prime timeline to influence reform within the Confederation that will cause it to fall apart.

 

[Charles Phipps]

- No backstabbing and survival of the fittest mentality like in the mirror universe.

- Probably let the Vulcans and Andorians and Tellarites fight among themselves first and annexed prewarp civilizations and small powers like the Suliban Cabal, Tandar, and Denobula instead. Meaning a eugenics war of sorts occurs with the latter planets, which is in the Confederation’s favour.

- They actually go along with Georgiou’s crazy plans to hydrobomb Qonos and blowing up novas with antimatter torpedoes.

- No Kirk from the prime timeline to influence reform within the Confederation that will cause it to fall apart.

The Confederacy feels closer to RL authoritarian governments than the Mirror Universe's overthetop parody.

Mind you "MIrror, Mirror" is more believable than people give it credit for since a bunch of explorers going out into the galaxy to steal from, conquer, enslave, or trade with (or some combination thereof) is nothing that hasn't been done before. Indeed, the idea of exploration divorced from that is something that is one of the more surprising elements of Star Trek's premise.

Oddly, I'd argue the Klingon-Federation War probably didn't happen in this timeline, though.

Why?

+ T'Kuvma chose the Federation as an enemy because it came in peace. The Confederation DOES NOT and oddly that means by Klingon standards, are at least not engaged in deception and subversion. By Klingon standards, the Confederation is at least comprehensible and worthy as an opponent.

+ No Georgiou in this timeline.

 

[The Wormhole]

They really should have elaborated on the "Q dying alone" thing. I mean, I guess we can infer the rest of the Continuum, or at least his wife and son are already dead, but saying something a bit more than nothing would have been nice.

 

[Charles Phipps]

They really should have elaborated on the "Q dying alone" thing. I mean, I guess we can infer the rest of the Continuum, or at least his wife and son are already dead, but saying something a bit more than nothing would have been nice.

I mean his wife left Q by VOY's end.

 

[Elias Vaughn]

1. Why did Janeway give up on Seven and when did Starfleet basically become racist?

Starfleet being racist was basically the entire season one backstory.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Starfleet being racist was basically the entire season one backstory.

Since when has the Admiralty not been a bunch of jerks who make horrible decisions?

 

[Mogh]

I mean his wife left Q by VOY's end.

Sure, but that's a long way from dead. And being irked at the kid doesn't mean she'd necessarily let him die alone.

Starfleet being racist was basically the entire season one backstory.

Not necessarily. It's clear they've prohibited artificial life, but then they're prohibited genetically modified life for some time - I see that more as a scientific edict than a racial one.

The reluctance to commit fully to Romulan assistance was deeply troubling but again could read as realpolitik rather than straight-out racism.

 

[Charles Phipps]

The reluctance to commit fully to Romulan assistance was deeply troubling but again could read as realpolitik rather than straight-out racism.

This inspired a thread: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/season-1-the-morality-of-the-federations-decision.311318/

 

[gweeps]

Aside from the overall plotting and pacing of the season, the only real gripe I have is we don't know why Q de Lancie was dying.

But I guess it's... the show is called Picard so who cares, right?

 

[Charles Phipps]

Aside from the overall plotting and pacing of the season, the only real gripe I have is we don't know why Q de Lancie was dying.

But I guess it's... the show is called Picard so who cares, right?

Either that or it'll be addressed next season. It's also fairly clear Q doesn't know.

 

[JoaquinSlowly]

Here’s a thought, Q is a being who’s relationship with time has been portrayed as somewhat non-linear. As a being with quasi-omnipotence, we question how he’s dying, what if he’s only dying in the terms of being limited by the constraints of existence.

While the end of existence presumably won’t happen for a long time the Star Trek universe, it seems possible to me that Q’s death is simply the end of his life alongside the rest of reality. And because he’s not constrained by our perception of time, Q could have simply chosen to spend the end of his existence imparting a lesson to Picard at this time, and apparently helping ensure the existence of the Federation, and helping redeem/reform the Borg.

 

[Norad]

10. Why did Q bring back Elnor? Surely there are a dozen other closer people to Picard who might have been further up the queue?

Well, actually: does he? Raffi expresses her feeling that Q has brought Elnor back, but it is made very clear that Raffi doesn't have any clue about what happens when "the timeline gets restored".
So, let's take a closer look:
Episode 2 establishes it very clearly that Q did not physically take Picard, Seven et al. away from the Stargazer and place them somewhere else. Instead these are the bodies of their Confederate counterparts - only their minds are replaced with minds from Federation people. We don't know how exactly this is done, but from what we know, Q took a copy of the mind at one point and placed it into a different body.
We probably can assume that the way back (in Episode 10) is similar, which means Elnor's Federation body was always perfectly healthy on the Excelsior the whole time. And again, the same people from which Q took a mind copy, got an update on their mind - basically just some additional memories with their bodies unchanged. That would mean that Elnor never really was dead in the first place, since only his Confederate body died.

So, the actual big change at the return is that Q removes Rios' Federation body from the Stargazer, which is the one thing that is really different from the previous changes. So, this could be described as the one surprise.

But, there is the oddity that Raffi is somehow at the Stargazer, but not on the Excelsior. But no one adresses this in any way (unlike e.g. that it is recognized that Rios is not on the Stargazer anymore), so we really don't know what this means. Did Raffi just beam over to the Stargazer? Did Q indeed do a total different thing at the return instead of the mind-copy that started the journey? Are the protagonists in the end actually not in their Federation bodies, but stayed in their Confederation bodies and Q physically exchanged them this time?

Well, we will never know since the episode does not answer any of this and at this point I am actually just glad that the season ended and at least finished the most important story lines - even if it hasn't explained most of them. And hey, it brought us the information that Wesley Crusher is the next Doctor Who... or Doctor Who's boss.

 

[Dr Helen Noel]

Another question: Why was everyone ok with La Sirena's holograms being combined? Season 1 was about accepting synthetic life. While holograms were never banned, it seems odd that holograms wouldn't be reconsidered as lifeforms too. Picard became a synth and then just didn't care about other artificial lifeforms? Voyager's Doctor also pushed for rights for holograms. So why was it ok to combine five holograms into one when they each had distinctive personalities and abilities? How was Seven able to fly the ship with only one hologram?

 

[Jarvisimo]

Another question: Why was everyone ok with La Sirena's holograms being combined? Season 1 was about accepting synthetic life. While holograms were never banned, it seems odd that holograms wouldn't be reconsidered as lifeforms too. Picard became a synth and then just didn't care about other artificial lifeforms? Voyager's Doctor also pushed for rights for holograms. So why was it ok to combine five holograms into one when they each had distinctive personalities and abilities? How was Seven able to fly the ship with only one hologram?

I found this a horrible choice for someone whose best friend for a long time was a hologram. It was not a well thought out choice. But equally perhaps they chose for it?