Summary

• Star Trek: Picard season 3 sees Jean-Luc's story come full circle as he returns to the captain's chair on the Enterprise-D and confronts the Borg head-on.
• Picard has grown and changed over time, losing some faith in Starfleet and placing his trust in people instead.
• Picard's experiences in Star Trek: Picard season 2 allowed him to confront his childhood trauma and resolve to be more open and less detached.

By the conclusion of Star Trek: Picard season 3, iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has grown into a different man than he was at the beginning of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Fundamentally he remains the same Jean-Luc Picard, but age and time have changed the way he views the world. In TNG, Picard is the quintessential Starfleet captain, always striving to uphold the laws of the Federation and do the right thing. In Picard, Jean-Luc has lost some of his faith in Starfleet as an organization, instead choosing to place his trust in people.

Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2 give Jean-Luc the chance to work through his history with Starfleet and his childhood trauma before he reunites with his old USS Enterprise-D crew in Picard season 3. Picard season 3 sees Jean-Luc's story come full circle, as he returns to the captain's chair on the Enterprise-D and confronts the Borg head-on. Over the course of TNG's 7 seasons and 4 films, Picard encountered dangerous aliens who took over his mind, was assimilated by the Borg, and experienced numerous other potentially traumatic events. With everything he has been through, it's no surprise that Picard has grown and changed over time. Here are 7 ways Jean-Luc Picard changed from Star Trek: The Next Generation to Star Trek Picard season 3.

7 Picard Has A Synthetic Android Body That Ages

At the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1, Jean-Luc Picard dies due to an abnormality in his brain. (This abnormality will later be revealed to be dormant Borg DNA leftover from Picard's time as Loctus). Scientist Dr. Altan Soong (Brent Spiner) had been working on an artificial golem body, and he was able to transfer Picard's consciousness into this new organic android. This golem body resembles Picard's human body in every way (aside from the abnormality in his brain), and he will continue to age as normal. Although the golem body did give Picard a second chance at life, it does not make him immortal. Rather, Picard will get to live the remaining years he would have had if not for the Borg defect in his brain.

6 Picard Is A Retired Starfleet iral

The captain's chair always seemed to suit Picard, and he served as a Starfleet captain far longer than most officers do. Even so, he eventually did accept a promotion to iral. As iral, Picard oversaw the evacuation of the Romulans when their planet went supernova. After an attack on Mars, Starfleet halted the Romulan evacuation, which led Jean-Luc to part ways with Starfleet. He later reed Starfleet and served as the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy before retiring again after the events of Star Trek: Picard season 2. When Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) reaches out to Picard for help in Picard season 3, Jean-Luc recruits Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) to help him commandeer the USS Titan-A to rescue her. Jean-Luc Picard seems unable to rest for long, either as an active iral or a retired one, but he seems finally content by the end of Picard season 3.

5 Picard No Longer Commands The USS Enterprise

History re iral Picard with one less pip, and Jean-Luc will always be defined by his years as Captain of the USS Enterprise-D and the USS Enterprise-E. In Star Trek: Generations, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) tells Picard to remain captain of the Enterprise for as long as he can. By the time of Star Trek: Picard, however, Picard no longer commands the Enterprise, or any ship, for that matter. Over Picard's three seasons, he gets the chance to sit in the captain's chair again several times, even returning to his most well-known post on the Enterprise-D. After Picard commands the D in the battle with the Borg on Frontier Day, he steps away from the captain's chair for what will likely be the last time. The saga of ships named Enterprise will continue, though, as Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) takes over as captain of the rechristened USS Enterprise-G.

4 Picard's Feelings About His Enemies Have Changed

Over the course of Star Trek: Picard's three seasons, Jean-Luc encountered two of his greatest adversaries: the Borg and Q (John de Lancie). Throughout TNG and its subsequent movies, Picard justifiably hated the Borg. Picard's feelings toward the Borg may not have undergone a complete shift, but he is able to work with a contingent of the Borg after Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) becomes the Borg Queen. He even grants Jurati and her Borg Collective provisional hip in the Federation, something he never would have done for any Borg in the past. Picard also encounters the omnipotent being known as Q in Picard season 2. While Picard still views Q as an annoyance early in the season, he embraces later embraces him as a friend when Q states that he is dying.

3 Picard Is Now Open To A Romantic Partner

Jean-Luc Picard had a few brief romantic encounters over the course of TNG, but he mostly avoided forming close relationships with anyone. Picard always prioritized his career over romantic relationships or starting a family. Although Picard and Dr. Beverly Crusher danced around one another throughout the seven seasons of TNG, they never truly got together (although they did consummate their relationship sometime after Star Trek: Nemesis).

Beverly and Jean-Luc reconnect in Star Trek: Picard season 3, and while they may not resume a relationship, Picard seems more open to the idea of a romance. In Picard season 2, Laris (Orla Brady) itted that she had feelings for Jean-Luc. After confronting his past in Picard season 2, he finally its that he also has feelings for her. Their potential romance is derailed by the events of Picard season 3, but the possibility remains open for them to come together in future Star Trek projects.

2 Picard Has A Son

One of the biggest surprises of Star Trek: Picard was the reveal that Picard and Dr. Beverly Crusher had a son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). Dr. Crusher had her own reasons for not telling Jean-Luc about Jack, and Picard had always chosen to focus on his career anyway. After first meeting Jack, Picard struggles to connect with him and Jack remains distant. Eventually, the two spend more time together and slowly begin to get to know one another. Picard never aspired to be a family man, but he still wishes to connect with his now-adult son. By the end of Picard season 3, Jack Crusher ed Starfleet and landed a position on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-G. Jack even seems to have inherited one of his father's old nemeses, Q, as he appears to inform Jack that his trial is just beginning.

1 Picard Resolved His Childhood Trauma

Star Trek: Picard season 2 dives into Jean-Luc's childhood and the tragedy and trauma that led him to close himself off from relationships. Through Picard season 2, Jean-Luc has flashbacks to his time as a child with his mother, father, and brother at Château Picard. He was particularly close with his mother, Yvette (Madeline Wise), but had a somewhat turbulent relationship with his father, Maurice Picard (James Callis). As a child, Jean-Luc could not see the ways his mother suffered from mental illness and the ways his father tried to help her. One night, Yvette committed suicide after Jean-Luc let her out of her locked bedroom.

For years afterward, Picard would continue to blame himself for his mother's death. Jean-Luc then dedicated himself to ing Starfleet and closed himself off from most close relationships. While his traumatic childhood is something he will never truly get over, Jean-Luc Picard's experiences in Star Trek: Picard season 2 allowed him to confront the memories from his childhood and view them in a new light. By the end of the season, he resolves to be more open and less detached from the people around him.