Following the announcement ofStar Trek: Picard,fans speculated about what awaitedthe legendary captain—as well as his adventures post-Star Trek: Nemesis. YetPicard’s early seasons would eschew the classicThe Next Generationformula and crew, and it was not until the show’s final episodes that it delivered what many fans had hoped for all along: aTNGreunion.
During Stewart’s nearly two-decade absence, those eager for a fix of moreTNGcould find it in novels and comics. The events depicted within these stories have since been overwritten, but they sated a need for further voyages — and even occasionally influenced plots found in contemporaryStar Trek.
10A Focus On Exploration
According toThe Next Generation’sopening credits, the show’s mission is to go “where no one has gone before.” However, this element was notably absent from much ofStar Trek: Picard, which instead privileged an examination of its characters' various traumas.
The post-Nemesisnovels (often referred to as the Relaunch novels) chose to continue theTNGmandate. From Riker and Troi’sexploration of the Beta Quadrantaboard theUSS Titanto Picard and Worf’s involvement in a joint Federation-Romulan expedition to the Gamma Quadrant,the post-TNGnovels embraced the classicStar Trekethos.
9The Riker-Troi Family
Star Trek: Nemesisopens with the wedding of William T. Riker and Deanna Troi. By the time ofPicard’s episode “Nepenthe,” the marriage had resulted in two children; the eldest, Thad, then died after contracting a silicon-based virus. The loss resulted in Riker’s departure from active Starfleet service.
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The Relaunch novels revealed that Troi’s pregnancy inTNG’s “The Child” had damaged her reproductive system. However, following intervention by the alien Caeliar, she gives birth to a daughter, Natasha, named after deceasedEnterprise-Dcrewmate Tasha Yar. Riker, meanwhile, is promoted to a Starfleet Rear Admiral.
8Ro Laren
Since her first appearance inTNG’s"Ensign Ro",Michelle Forbes' Bajoran renegadehas become one ofStar Trek’s most memorable recurring characters. Ro’s surprise return in Picard brought closure for a fan-favorite whose rule-breaking nature provided a template for subsequent characters, includingDiscovery’s Michael Burnham.
In the Relaunch novels, Ro transfers to Deep Space Nine as the station’s security officer, where she clashes with fellow Bajoran Kira due to their different religious beliefs. Ro later takes command of DS9 and, touchingly, finds an unexpected romance with Quark, Deep Space Nine’s crooked bartender.
7Deep Space Nine
Many characters fromTNGwould find their way to Deep Space Nine, including Worf, O’Brien, and Riker’s transporter-created “brother” Thomas. The station’s subsequent appearance inLower Decks, as well as references inPicard, suggest that the station continued to prosper well into the 25th century.
However, DS9 was less lucky in the post-TNGnovels. Theoriginal Cardassian stationwas destroyed in a terrorist bombing in 2383. Although it was replaced by a newFrontier-class Federation starbase, the second Deep Space Nine would also be destroyed just a couple of years after completion.
6Worf
The first Klingon to enter Starfleet and noted lover of prune juice is theStar Trekfranchise’s most prolific character, having appeared in, as ofPicard’s final season, 279 episodes and 4 movies.Picardalludes to Worf’s involvement in the retirement ofthe Enterprise-Eand shows him working for Starfleet Intelligence.
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The Worf of the post-TNGnovels serves as first officer aboard theEnterprise-E. Despite his dislike for the paperwork involved in the role, as well as his own self-doubt, Worf proves himself as Picard’s right-hand man, playing a part in bringing the killers of the Federation President to justice.
5Beverly Crusher & Jean-Luc Picard
Beverly Crusher’s on-again-off-again romance with Picard was teased throughoutThe Next Generation. Some fans even contend that Picard might have been intended asthe real father of Beverly’s son, Wesley. However, it took until the introduction of the estranged Jack Crusher inPicard’s final season for a Crusher–Picard child to be confirmed.
The post-TNGnovels formalized the relationship, with the couple marrying in 2380 and having a child, Rene. Crusher left theEnterprise-Efor a brief period to serve as chief medical officer aboard the second Deep Space Nine, but later returned to her husband’s starship.
4Control
Viewers ofStar Trek: Discovery’s second season will recall the threat posed by Control, an artificial intelligence created byStarfleet’s nefarious Section 31which subsequently went rogue. Control took over Leland, a Section 31 operative, before being defeated by a joint USS Discovery and USS Enterprise effort in 2258.
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The arc drew inspiration from the post-TNGnovels, particularly David Mack’sControl(2017). However, the events ofControltake place in 2386, and featureDeep Space Nine’s Doctor Bashir teaming up with a resurrectedData and Lalto expose the out-of-control AI.
3The Borg Invasion
TheStar Trek: Destinynovels celebrated the entireTrekfranchise, bringing together Picard, Riker, andDS9’s Ezri Dax to counter a massive Borg invasion in 2381. Federation victory would come at a cost, including the loss of Pluto itself. The arc also provided an origin story for the Borg that incorporated elements fromStar Trek: Enterprise.
Although the Borg have mademultiple appearances inStar Trek: Picard, fans are yet to witness an attack on the scale depicted within the Relaunch novels.
2The Typhon Pact
Following the final defeat of the Borg in theStar Trek: Destinynovels, a new threat emerged: the Typhon Pact. An alliance of aliens historically hostile towards the Federation andthe Klingon Empire, the Typhon Pact included classic civilizations such as the Romulans, Gorn, Breen, and the Tholians, as well as lesser known powers including the Kinshaya and the Tzenkethi.
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Various interspecies alliances have appeared in contemporaryStar Trek, such asDiscovery’s Emerald Chain, while the Romulans continued to cause trouble for Starfleet inPicard’s first season. However, on-screenTrekhas yet to team these powers up in any meaningful way.
1The Temporal Apocalypse
Perhaps inevitably, it proved impossible to reconcile the events depicted in the post-TNGnovels withStarTrek: Picard.The final trilogy of novels (Coda) sees Picard learn that the timeline of the novels was created after theEnterprise-Etraveled back in time inStar Trek: First Contact.
The existence of this new timeline endangers the stability of the “true” timeline ofStar Trek: Picard.In order to prevent every possible timeline from being consumed by the Devidians (fromTNG’s “Time’s Arrow”), Picard is forced to erase his own divergent timeline. This act of self-sacrifice tidies upStar Trek’s canon — at the cost of erasing two decades of storytelling.
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