Picard season 2 revives the Borg Queen to right the Star Trek timeline

Star Trek’s creators aren’t afraid to indulge or avoid nostalgia. Instead, they channel it by using reboots and references to recreate the characters that audiences love and appreciate. PicardThe second season has its own entertainment, with characters on the U.S.S. calling. Sulu (or, in an episode to follow), paying homage to one the lighter Trek films. Also, this season marks the return to the Borg Queen.

[Ed. note: This piece contains some light spoilers for the end of Picard season 2 episode 1.]

The Borg Queen was the first antagonist to appear in Trek lore. Star Trek: First ContactIt was her commanding of the Borg that took control of Earth. Fans were adamant that she was not mentioned by the Borg, and because of this, the notion of one queen kind of undercut the terror of the Borg’s hive mind, which made them so formidable, many objected. The Borg Queen did assimilate another day. She returned to the series for more episodes. VoyagerAnd Lower decks.

The second season of Picard she’s back once again. In the final moments of the season opener, “The Star Gazer,” the Queen boards the ship that Picard is on with his crew. “We wish … for peace,” she metes out in the usual mechanical tone, “but first … we require […] power.” Then she releases her tendrils, assimilating some 90% of the ships in Starfleet and stunning crew members.

Image by Paramount Plus

Seven of Nine (Jeri) is more than happy with this, as her traumatizing history with Borg has been a major part of her life. PicardAnd Deep Space NineShe was left with Borg technology permanently implanted in her skull.

“I think this sort of stunned, furious disbelief that, you know, she’s hearing from Picard, who’s shared something of her experience [being assimilated, …]To hear his words Oh you know what, maybe it’s not so bad” Ryan tells Polygon. “It’s just an unbelievable thing for her to be wrapping your head around that this is actually what they’re contemplating.”

With Q also shows up to goof on Picard (and throw him through some serious time loops), it seems safe to say that the Borg Queen isn’t through wreaking havoc on our Starfleet heroes.

And yet, when co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman sat down and found storylines that paired together, he found Seven’s wasn’t with the Borg Queen at all. With a season focused on connection and intimacy (or lack thereof), Goldsman found inspiration in how the Borg Queen existed as “quite binary; she’s either connected to all or totally disconnected.” To answer that, the writers found Agnes Jurati to be the most logical and interesting companion for her.

Seven only managed to interact with the Borg Queen in the three episodes that were screened for critics.

“Seven is working on her relationship with Raffi,” Goldsman says. “Although there are clearly feelings and encounters that are driven by feelings with Seven and the Borg Queen, and Picard in the Borg Queen — we know those stories. We’ve told those stories. We could retell them with a sort of darker, more graphic grammar because we’re streaming. But otherwise, it’s the same story.

“So the hope here is to let Seven deal with some real-time relationship issues.”

Star Trek: PicardSeason 2 of Paramount Plus is currently airing. New episodes drop every Thursday.