That was the retcon. The destroyed outposts in the Season 1 finale were meant to be done by the Parasites, but that was later retconned when they introduced the Borg.
I was just watching an IGN interview with Matalas/Dorn/Frakes/Burton. They asked about everyone's favorite TNG episodes. Matalas gave some standard answers (BoBW, The Inner Light) but then listed...Preemptive Strike. You know, when Picard tries to take out the Maquis with Ro's help, but she betrays him. A weird choice to mention...wonder if it's indicating anything. Just saying.
Brent Spiner had an interview recently where he said this: “I haven’t really seen much of the show — they’ve kept it away from me because they know I’ll blow it” I now wonder if there have been alternate scenes filmed for the last few episodes so that the cast isn’t 100% about the ending until it airs.
I keep thinking that maybe Vadic is Tasha's daughter with the Romulan, maybe she didn't even die, we only have Sela's word on that. They've said that it has to do with a mistake in Picard's past (sending Tasha back in time?), and maybe the statue of Captain Garret was a foreshadowing. Perhaps we could see Tasha or Sela turn up at some point as well.
A deep-cut TOS/ENT reference, but I think Vadik is a Coridian. The planet mentioned in "Journey to Babel" and visited in "Shadows of P'Jem". Also I think her hooded henchmen address what we always thought was a continuity error in the later ENT episode "Demons". Specially when the Coridian representative attending the proto-Federation collation summit turns up and is more exotic than the human-like race we met. Something about their look seems familiar to that guy. A bit different than employing the usual suspects, with a long-term grudge against the Federation. Coridans supply dilithium, essential to it becoming a large sector spanning organisation, but also trade to multiple sides and were late in being invited to become a member probably. They'd see themselves as every bit as important as Andorians, Tellarites and the rest wouldn't they? Throw in some way the Federation might've neglected Coridian and you've got a threat from within.
The problem is that's pretty confusing for a casual. Its hard for someone to feel guilty about what someone else did in an alternative timeline that they have no recollection of - where can you go with it as an actor?
I like the conspiracy bugs and I'm open to their return, but don't see them showing up here. That would feel anticlimactic. I think Vadic is the mini bad before the big bad shows up. Folks complaining about a repetitive vengeance themed villain may have jumped the gun. There's a lot of clues in the first two episodes, and I have some theories I don't want to blurt out that I'm really confident about. Not all is as it seems. It's made rewatching these episodes a blast.
I would really hate it if they had Vadic end up being related to Rachel Garrett somehow. I don't know why I have this niggling feeling. Like "The Red Woman," and now "The Marked Woman." IDK, man. On the plus side, I'd love for the season to have its denouement during Frontier day, and then we'd get to see the various old ships in action again.
Come on, please provide at least a bread crumb for plebs like me who don't have the time to re-watch. I don't have any background info and I have no idea what has been rumored/denied on socials other than Spoiler it's apparently NOT the Invasion-Parasites but has something to do with the Dominion War. from the credits and trailers, my puzzle pieces so far are: DNA (Crusher/Picard son) AI (Moriatti) (just a cameo/redirect I'm guessing) Android (Lore/Spiner) Domionion War (Foundlings/Shape Shifters???) Vadik (Romulan?) Romulans???
Interesting... Spoiler I agree with you that the baddies this season are some how connected to the Dominion War. We know from what Matalas has stated, Worf is involved with the fallout from the War and his story (and Raffi's) is clearly connected to an attack against SF.
The official description for episode 3 says Spoiler Raffi and Worf uncover a nefarious plot from a vengeful enemy Starfleet has long since forgotten.
I don't know who the big bad is. But I will say there is some puzzlebox storytelling similar to Discovery season 1 here. Once you pick up on the misdirection, all the idiosyncrasies fall into place. Part of me just wants to scream it, but I want people to have as much fun figuring it out as I did.
Vadic seems to have symmetric scars on her cheeks. Which aliens had something on their cheeks that when removed makes them look Human? The Xindi humanoids perhaps? All Xindi had the same cheek things.
Seven becomes Captain of the Titan, but Starfleet installs Raffi as XO to keep tabs on her given her bad behavior.
Analysis: Fan Theories Make Canon Connections To ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3 Villains Possible Spoilers
If Bashir has gone to the dark side I don't know if I'd be thrilled or furious. How did Bok not end up on that list? There isn't a lot to go on right now beyond "They look different every time and vaporize weird" and "they want Jack Crusher" at the moment. I'll be watching episode 3 very closely for clues.