Penance

Whisked into an alternate timeline by Q in the midst of a crisis involving the Borg, Picard is understandably annoyed at his old nemesis’ presence. Q’s cryptic answers do little to tell Picard why he is now in a timeline where Earth is the center of a Confederation that values human life above all others. The polluted Earth is kept habitable only by a system of solar shields, and Picard’s chateau is now a museum of trophies of a life spent conquering and destroying other species. Q will leave Picard in this reality to atone for some unspecified sin, plunging Picard in the deep end since “General” Picard is soon to make a public appearance on Eradication Day, a holiday celebrating the Confederation’s conquests. Picard is not alone in this timeline, however: Seven awakens in ornate surroundings, free of Borg implants since she was never assimilated. As the President of the Confederation, she too is expected to speak on Eradication Day. She contacts Rios, who is very surprised to find himself commanding an all-out assault on Vulcan space. Raffi and Elnor find themselves in the middle of an uprising, one where Raffi has to take Elnor “prisoner” to keep up appearances (and keep him alive), and Agnes is a cyberneticist in a facility that is keeping one of the Confederation’s worst enemies – the Borg Queen herself, who seems very aware of the changes to the timeline – alive in containment until her public execution. Everyone converges on Earth for Eradication Day, which is to be capped off by a public execution of the Borg Queen. Before the ceremony, the Queen calculates that a single change made in 2024, in Los Angeles, changed the timeline, and that a Watcher at that point in history could help restore history. She also agrees to help them travel back in time, but first, everyone involved has to participate in the ceremony, in reality buying time for Raffi and Elnor to lower the security countermeasures enough for all of them to beam up to La Sirena. But snatching the President of the Confederation, her top General, and public enemy #1 away in front of a huge crowd can’t be accomplished easily…and won’t be accomplished without a high price.

teleplay by Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas and Christopher Monfette
story by Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas and Christopher Monfette
directed by Doug Aarniokoski
music by Jeff Russo
additional music by Sam Lucas

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Michelle Hurd (Commander Raffi Musiker), Evan Evagora (Cadet Elnor), Isa Briones (Dr. Soji Asha), Santiago Cabrera (Captain Cristobal Rios), John de Lancie (Q), Annie Wersching (Borg Queen), Jon Jon Briones (First Magistrate), Patton Oswalt (Spot-73), Toni Belafonte (Zilah), Alex Diehl (Harvey), Paula Andrea Placido (Palace Guard), Hanna-Lee Sakakibara (Romulan Rebel)

Notes: Kirk time-traveling via a slingshot around the sun in a purloined Klingon ship (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986) is identified as a “crude” means of time travel, but likely the only one available. Since the divergence in time is as “early” in Star Trek’s future history as 2024, which son of Sarek’s witnessed his execution is left nebulous, though the hostility between Earth and Vulcan in the altered timeline makes Spock’s very birth unlikely, so it was probably Sybok. Tuvok is mentioned as a leader in the Vulcan war effort on a display screen, but not in dialogue. Annie Wersching’s (1977-2023) first television role was in an early episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, Oasis (2002). Aside from a couple of final appearances in her recurring role on The Rookie, her appearance as the Borg Queen during this season of Star Trek: Picard was her final acting role before she died of cancer in January 2023. Actor Jon Jon Briones is the father of series regular Isa Briones.