Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 9 - "Vox"The Borg origin and destiny of Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) have been revealed in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9, "Vox." Counselor Deanna Troi's (Marina Sirtis) Betazoid powers unlocked what was behind the red door in Jack's mind: a terrifying Borg Cube. As Troi immediately feared, it confirms that the Borg are innately part of Jack since his birth, thanks to his father, iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). In fact, Jack Crusher is Vox of Borg.
Jack Crusher, what was happening to him, and why Vadic (Amanda Plummer) and the Changelings wanted to capture him, was one of Star Trek: Picard season 3's biggest mysteries. Jack's waking nightmares, the mysterious voice in his head, and his glowing red eyes led some fans to speculate Crusher was linked to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Pah-wraiths. But the truth is intimately tied to Jack's father, Jean-Luc Picard, who was assimilated and turned into Locutus of Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation. As Picard lamented to Jack's mother, Dr. Beverly Crusher, "He inherited the best of you and the worst of me."
Jack Crusher's Borg Origin In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
When Picard was turned into Locutus, the Borg both rewrote his DNA and implanted organic Borg DNA into his brain. This went undetected by Starfleet, and when symptoms manifested, Jean-Luc was misdiagnosed with Irumodic Syndrome. But Picard's organic Borg DNA was genetically ed on to Jack, his biological son. Jack began manifesting nightmares as a child, but the Borg's genetic material took until Crusher reached adulthood to fully manifest, which has given Jack unique powers tied to his Borg origin.
Jack was a lonely boy raised away from his father and Starfleet by his mother, Beverly, and the young Crusher sought connection. This manifested in his visions, like red vines that reminded him of the Crimson Arboretum on Raritan IV; the branches represented the connections Jack desired i.e. the lure of the Borg Collective's hive mind. Jack, who said he's "not Starfleet material," also had a distrust of governments and societies who "live like shattered glass," feeling that they would be better off if they could all function with one mind and a singular purpose. This stream of "cybernetic authoritarianism" that was always in Jack was his innate Borg programming speaking to him all his life.
Jack Crusher's Borg Powers In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
Unlike Locutus, who was intended as a spokesman for the Borg - a transceiver - Jack's Borg genes make him a transmitter. Jack is an evolution of Locutus with powers that are more formidable. As Star Trek: Picard season 3 has shown, Jack can control others by entering their minds. But the key to Jack's ability is the fact that the Locutus DNA contained in Jean-Luc Picard's mind was stolen from his corpse by Changelings and implanted into the architecture of every Starfleet ship's transporter. Anyone under a certain age of development (25 for humans) who used a transporter was secretly genetically altered with Borg DNA and can be controlled by Jack.
After Jack confronted the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) and was unable to kill her because of his programming, she fully assimilated her "son." Jack's powers as "Vox", the voice of the Borg, were then amplified and transmitted to the Starfleet armada celebrating Frontier Day on Earth. Thus, Vox activated the dormant Borg genes in every youthful Starfleet Officer in the fleet and simultaneously assimilated them into Borg drones. From there, all of Starfleet that was networked into Fleet Formation fell under Borg control.
Jack Crusher's Borg Destiny In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
Jack Crusher was always at the heart of the unholy alliance between the Borg and the rogue Changelings who broke from the Great Link after their defeat in the Dominion War. For her part, the Borg Queen was severely weakened from her encounter against an alternate future iral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) in Star Trek: Voyager's finale. In this remarkably insidious, forward-thinking scheme that took a generation to implement, Jack was the Borg Queen's way of ensuring "vindication for both our species," the Borg and the Changelings. By assimilating Starfleet and defeating the United Federation of Planets, their greatest enemy, the Borg and the Changelings have imposed what both their races desire most: order.
Jack is indeed the biological son of Jean-Luc Picard and Dr. Beverly Crusher, but as much as he wanted to deny it, the young Crusher is also the son of Locutus and the Borg Queen, who pondered Latin names for Jack like Regenerati (Rebirth) or Puer Dei (Child of God) before she chose to name him Vox. Now that he is assimilated, Jack is Vox of Borg, and he has fulfilled the part of his destiny Jack was sired for: to bring about the defeat and the assimilation of Starfleet. Becoming the Borg's transmitter is why Jack had to be retrieved by Vadic, although ultimately, Crusher willingly turned himself over to the Borg Queen. What happens to Jack next, and whether he and Starfleet can be reclaimed, are questions Star Trek: Picard season 3's finale will answer.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3's finale streams Thursday, April 20, on Paramount+.