Star Trek Picard season 3 ending explained. This article contains spoilers for the Star Trek Picard season 3 episode 10. The Star Trek Picard season 3 finale has dropped, and naturally it requires a lot of dissection. So, let’s get into the Star Trek Picard season 3 ending explained
Star Trek Picard season 3 episode 10 wasn’t just the grand finale of the season, but also of the whole show. Like ‘All Good Things…’, ‘Endgame’, and ‘What We Leave Behind’, this episode brings the story of many beloved Star Trek characters to an end. More than that, it provides some major set-up for the Star Trek universe going forward, and even teases a new spin-off Star Trek series. So, here’s a detailed look at the Star Trek Picard season 3 ending explained.
Star Trek Picard season 3 ending explained
Star Trek Picard season 3 built up to a major twist involving the Borg. Led by the Borg Queen, who has managed to survive by absorbing the life force of her Borg drones, the Borg had hatched a new plan in conjunction with Vadic’s Changelings to assimilate Starfleet, Earth, and the Federation.
What was the Borg Queen’s plan?
This involved using Jack Crusher (who has inherited Borg DNA from his father thanks to Jean-Luc’s time as Locutus) as a transmitter to assimilate all Starfleet personnel under the age of 25, once he was plugged into the collective. The plan all came together on Frontier Day, which saw the fleet all gathered in one place and ripe for assimilation by Jack Crusher.
Once the fleet was assimilated it attacked Earth and would go on to set fire to the rest of the galaxy too, without concerns about assimilating Federation members. Instead, the Borg would focus on evolution rather than assimilation, as the newly assimilated drones would be able to reproduce. Gross.
However, thanks to the Enterprise-D and its reunited crew, Jack Crusher was disconnected from the collective, and the Borg were defeated once again with the Borg Queen – finally – coming to her end. This meant Starfleet could regain control of the fleet, and begin to repair.
Why was Vadic working with the Borg Queen?
When taunting Jean-Luc over the assimilation of his son, the Borg Queen revealed she had been working with Vadic as the pair were both fuelled by a mutual hatred of the Starfleet and the Federation. Presumably, the Borg Queen was the shapeshifting Changeling face that Vadic was communicating with somehow, but this is left unexplained. Perhaps the Borg assimilate a Changeling, allowing them access to some kind of mini-link.
What happens to the TNG characters?
The Star Trek Picard season 3 finale gives a conclusion to each main member of the TNG cast. First of all, Picard, Riker, and Seven (more on her later) get pardoned for their action aboard the USS Titan at the start of the season, in disobeying direct orders from Captain Shaw. Riker is reconciled with Troi, and the pair are once again a happy pair now that they have a mutual respect for each other’s experiences during the death of their son. Picard, meanwhile, is now stepping out of the role of Star Trek captain and Admiral, and into the role of a father, co-parenting his son alongside Beverly.
Meanwhile, Troi and Data are working together in order to help the android come to terms with his new emotions. Their therapy sessions tend to overrun, as Data has a lot to say after so long of feeling nothing. In the same vein of emotional discovery, Worf continues on his journey for inner peace emboldened by his time spent with Raffi. Geordi returns to his station at Starfleet museum, and brings the Enterprise-D back there with him. Beverly gets promoted to the rank of Admiral for her service and also returns to Starfleet Medical, running the place once again.
Their story ends (potentially temporarily, potential forever) with playing another game of poker. Just like in ‘All Good Things…’.
What happens to the other characters?
Seven of Nine, Raffi, Jack Crusher, and Sidney La Forge are the other Star Trek characters that the Picard finale has plans for. Thankfully, this one’s easy to explain because they’re all linked.
A year after the events at Frontier Day, Jack Crusher has been fast-tracked into Starfleet (probably through nepotism, as he says) and he’s about to be stationed aboard his first Star Trek starship. The name of that ship? The USS Enterprise, of course. But this is the Enterprise-G. The USS Titan has been given a new name and a new crew, and it now carries the name Enterprise and continues on the legacy.
The Star Trek captain of that ship is, of course, Seven of Nine. Her first officer? Raffi. At the helm? Sidney La Forge. And there’s Jack Crusher too, sitting in the Deanna Troi-seat at his captain’s side, as her close adviser.
Q’s return
As Jack Crusher is settling into his new quarters, he gets a visit from an old half-benevolent half-malevolent deity: Q. Jack says he thought Q was dead, and Q replies that Jack should stop thinking in such linear ways. He tells Picard’s son that the trial of humanity might not be over after all.
Setting up a new Legacy
Of course, this all points in one direction: Star Trek Legacy. Without any subtlety, the Star Trek Picard finale is a direct set-up for a new spin-off Star Trek series, focussing on the adventures of this new USS Enterprise-G with Seven of Nine in command and Picard’s son at her side. There’s been no official announcement of course, but one can’t be too far away, surely?
That’s it on the Star Trek Picard season 3 ending explained. For more on Star Trek, check out our guides to the Star Trek Legacy release date, Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2 release date and learn the five changes we think it needs to make to stay great.