What event made Picard leave Starfleet?

[Krandor]

Of course. But in this context, it doesnt fit dramatically. There has to be more to it than just Romulus was destroyed in terms of Picards role and why he leaves Starfleet.

Right. Romulus May be the catalyst of events but is unlikely by itself to be the reason. Has to be other things set in motion by that event.

 

[picardjean-luc]

What if it was his idea to work with Spock to use Red Matter to try to save Romulus. Of course, the plan failed, Spock “died”, Romulus got destroyed. Oh, as for his historic armada? Half of it got destroyed by the massive shockwave, including ships carrying/commanded by our TNG cast, Riker, Geordi, Crusher, Troi, Worf, B-4, all gone...How’s that for a reason for him to leave Starfleet and space?

I hope that won't be happening. Even if just one of them died in the mission (say Beverly), it would've been so devastating to Picard (esp. he was married to her at the time as hinted in "All Good Things."

Losing all of the beloved TNG cast except Picard in the mission would've been very tragic and would've upset many TNG fans . I do agree it would've brought Picard onto the brink and led to his Starfleet retirement.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

Maybe we got the issue with the rescue armada wrong and it's starfleets reaction to fanatical elements of the romulan fleet deciding to attack or subjugate either an unalignet planet or even a federation member, after the destruction of Romulus destabilized the entire region, instead of an rescue effort to evacuate the population of Romulus?

Edit: Edited to get more to the point.

 

[rhllot]

Section 31 destroys Romulus, the Federation helps the Romulans. the Romulans join the federation. picard discovers the truth and knows that saying it could destroy the federation

 

[picardjean-luc]

Maybe we got the issue with the rescue armada wrong and it's starfleets reaction to fanatical elements of the romulan fleet deciding to attack or subjugate either an unalignet planet or even a federation member, after the destruction of Romulus destabilized the entire region, instead of an rescue effort to evacuate the population of Romulus?

Edit: Edited to get more to the point.

Sounds like a plausible scenario to me. Much less depressing than seeing the entire TNG crew except Picard perished during the rescue attempt

 

[rahullak]

It has to be something that serves the Picard story somehow. If it is too convoluted or requiring lot of backstory and explanations, it wouldn't serve the "present" in the Picard story. I'd expect a maximum of 1 episode spent on explaining why Picard left Starfleet. Don't know if interspersing multiple flashbacks across episodes would do the trick.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Sisko’s backstory lasted 3m30 and 40 words.

 

[Qonundrum]

Sisko’s backstory lasted 3m30 and 40 words.

But relied on an already known plot point, which arguably took 90 or 135 minutes to tell. But none of that is ntirely necessary to know as "Emissary" smartly took the key elements from TBOBW and crafted them into the premiere in a way that doesn't demand a viewer catch up and memorize on TNG's three Borg stories up to that point.

I do wonder how Picard's series will fare in the premiere and if or how it expands on that in subsequent episodes. If the story's that honed, it'll be a slam-dunk win. Everyone loved Picard.