WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 2, "Penance," streaming now on Paramount+.
While the Borg Collective and its sinister Queen appeared to be destroyed at the end of Star Trek: Voyager, the techno-organic civilization resurfaced as advanced and deadly as ever in the Star Trek: Picard Season 2 premiere. Emerging from a subspace anomaly, the Queen petitioned Jean-Luc Picard for entry into the Federation before boarding the USS Stargazer and accessing the ship's systems. When Picard attempted to destroy the Queen -- and prevent her from gaining control over Starfleet's entire armada -- by triggering the Stargazer's self-destruct function, he awoke in a dark, altered timeline orchestrated by a more ominous Q. Unfortunately for Picard, he'll need to team up with the Queen to make things right.
All the major characters onboard the Stargazer the moment it exploded awakened in the bodies of their Q-Verse counterparts, horrified to learn the Federation had replaced by the brutal Confederation of Earth that was eradicating and enslaving all extraterrestrial species that lay in the path of its galactic conquest. Among those transported to the Q-Verse was the Borg Queen, who found herself in captivity and scheduled to be publicly executed by Picard to officially mark the eradication of the Borg Collective from this alternate reality. But Picard quickly realized the Borg Queen was his best chance at stopping Q and this dark reflection of Starfleet.
Given the Borg Collective's unique perception of time, the Queen was not only well aware of the changes to the timeline but able to precisely calculate when exactly Q initiated the divergence by altering history. Before being carted away for her planned execution, she revealed the change was orchestrated in Los Angeles in the year 2024. The crew begrudgingly admitted they'd need to rescue the Queen and use her keen mathematical intellect to pinpoint how exactly to travel back to the 21st century; she could calculate the proper trajectory for them to slingshot themselves around the sun and launch themselves into the time stream.
For Picard and Seven of Nine, the idea of sparing the Borg Queen -- let alone working with her -- was practically unthinkable. Seven lost her entire family and nearly her humanity when she was assimilated by the Borg as a young girl. Similarly, being assimilated by the Borg and used by them to attack Starfleet was the most traumatic event in Picard's life, haunting the normally unflappable admiral for decades. When initially confronted by the Borg at the start of Picard Season 2, Picard was tentatively open to hearing their treatise while Seven favored destroying them outright, making this necessary alliance with the Queen a particularly tense proposition.
While the Borg Queen and Picard share a common goal, this doesn't necessarily mean that the Queen can be trusted. After being transported away from her execution by Chris Rios and Agnes Jurati, there was an unsettling smugness on the Queen's face when she realized she had eluded destruction and was now interfaced directly with Rios' starship. No one on the ship is safe if the Queen emerges from her restraints and decides to take matters into her own hands -- literally since the Borg are able to assimilate a target merely by coming into physical contact with them.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is about forgiving one's past -- an idea made quite literal by the resurgence of the Borg and Q's tampering with history. Picard and Seven both have unresolved trauma with the Borg Queen, but techno-organic autocrat is needed to help them save the day this time. The three are working together for now, but it could be simply a matter of time before old tensions flare up and old wounds are reopened, with reality hanging in the balance.
Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Picard releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.
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