Star Trek: Picard: Easter Eggs and References in Episode 2, “Maps and Legends”

A new episode of Star Trek: Picard debuted today on CBS All Access. Like the premiere episode, this one has plenty of Easter eggs and references to Star Trek: The Next Generation and other corners of the Star Trek universe. Here we’ve gathered up those nods with some background information about what they mean and where they come from. Keep reading to see what we noticed and why it matters.

The second episode of Star Trek: Picard is titled “Maps and Legends.” It’s the second of three episodes directed by Hannelle M. Culpepper.

Are you excited to see more Star Trek Easter eggs in Star Trek: Picard? Let us know in the comments.

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard become available to stream Thursdays on CBS All Access.

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First Contact Day

In “Maps and Legends,” we see a flashback to the attack on Mars and learn that it took place on First Contact Day. This is the holiday celebrating Earth’s first contact with extraterrestrial life. This took place in the year 2063 when the Vulcans landed on Earth after noticing Zefram Cochrane’s ship the Phoenix going to warp, as seen in the movie Star Trek: First Contact.

In the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Homestead,” the Voyager crew celebrated the holiday with special foods and music and a reenactment of the Vulcan’s greeting upon landing on Earth.

Synthetics

The “plastic people” who work on Mars are synthetics. They seem to be androids that are far less sophisticated than Data. They’re kept in storage at the plant where they work. One of the workers notes that they’re not people.

Una Matrixes

In the flashback scene, one of the workers says she wishes they’d kept using “una amino matrixes” in the food replicators. This may be a callback to the Star Trek: Short Treks episode “Q&A,” which was written by Star Trek: Picard showrunner Michael Chabon.

In “Q&A,” Spock and Number One become trapped in a turbolift and Number One fields a number of Spock’s questions. During that conversation, Number One says that the Enterprise’s food synthesizers use the una glucose matrix, a hybrid of two other, more common matrixes. Spock notes that the matrix has the same name as Number One, Una, perhaps hinting that she created the matrix.

It is possible that the una amino matrix is a food synthesizer matrix that is someone related to the una glucose matrix.

Tal Shiar

Laris and Zhaban are former agents of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan “secret police.” The Tal Shiar was the Romulan Star Empire’s intelligence agency. It had a reputation throughout the galaxy, but none feared the Tal Shiar more than citizens of the Romulan Empire.

Picard ran across the Tal Shiar on more than one occasion while in command of the Enterprise. The Tal Shiar was also a major concern once the Romulan Star Empire became involved in the Dominion War in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Klingon Empire

Laris mentions the Klingon Empire, one of the Federation’s earliest enemies in the galaxy. The Federation-Klingon War is chronicled in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. The tension between the two factions continues to exist during the era of Star Trek: The Original Series.

That all started to change following the destruction of the moon Praxis orbiting the Klingon homeworld Qo’noS, as seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. By the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Federation and the Klingon Empire had become allies.

Gorn Hegemony

Laris also mentions the Gorn Hegemony. The Gorn are a reptilian-humanoid species that were hostile to the Federation during the era of Star Trek: The Original Series.

The Gorn appears in the episode “Arena,” when the Enterprise crew discovers the Federation colony on the planet Cestus III destroyed. The episode has one of the show’s most iconic fight scenes, the battle between Captain Kirk and Gorn captain.

Stargazer

Picard is visited by a medical officer who served with about the USS Stargazer, Picard’s ship before the Enterprise. Picard was a bridge officer on the Stargazer but was forced to take command of the ship after its captain and the first officer died. Starfleet was so impressed by Picard’s actions while in command that they promoted him to captain and gave him command of the Stargazer.

Picard remained in that position for 22 years until the Stargazer was lost during the Battle of Maxia against the Ferengi. Picard faced a court-martial for losing the ship but was later absolved of the charges. The wreckage of the ship was discovered in the Next Generation episode “The Battle.”

Picard’s condition

Picard learns the abnormality in his parietal lobe is going to become a condition that will eventually kill him. He’s already suffering the vivid dreams that such a condition could cause.

He mentions being told about the abnormality a long time ago. He’s referring to Dr. Beverly Crusher discovering it during the Star Trek: The Next Generation series finale episode “All Good Things.”

In the episode, Q showed Picard flashes of his future where the abnormality manifests as irumodic syndrome, a neurological condition that clouds the mind and causes delusions and, eventually, death. After being diagnosed with it, Picard retired to his family’s vineyard, as he has in Star Trek: Picard.

Classic Star Trek Music

Jeff Russo likes to weave classic Star Trek music into his compositions for Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard. This episode is no different.

When Picard visits Starfleet headquarters, we can hear hints of Alexander Courage’s original Starfleet theme song. When Picard takes out his Starfleet combadge, we hear bits of Jerry Goldsmith’s theme for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which was later used as the opening theme for Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Starfleet Headquarters

Picard pays a visit to Starfleet headquarters, located in San Francisco. Starfleet Academy is also located in the vicinity.

Starfleet Headquarters was destroyed by the Breen during the Dominion War, along with the Golden Gate Bridge. Both have been rebuilt anew by the time Picard takes place.

Starfleet Uniforms

The visit to Starfleet headquarters offers fans a look at the new Starfleet uniforms of the era. Starfleet has returned to the brightly colored look of The Next Generation era, abandoning the grey-shoulders that were in use from Star Trek: First Contact and onward.

The uniforms are similar to those used in Star Trek Online.

Enterprise display.

As Picard enters Starfleet HQ, he notices a holographic display of the Enterprise hanging above the lobby. At first, it’s the original Enterprise, but that morphs into the Enterprise-D.

Demotion

In order to try to get Admiral Yancy onboard with his plan, Picard offers to have himself demoted to captain. Admiral James T. Kirk was demoted to captain after stealing the Enterprise to go on his Search for Spock in Star Trek III. The punishment would have been worse, but he saved Earth (and the whales) in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

In Star Trek Generations, Kirk advised Picard to never let them promote him out of being a ship’s captain. Picard did become an admiral, but by all accounts he remained on a ship rather than being forced into desk work like Kirk.

Assimlation

The Romulan reclamation site has a sign counting the days since the last time someone was assimilated. Assimilation is the process by which the Borg add new life, knowledge, and technology to the collective.

Picard was assimilated and turned into Locutus of Borg in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Best of Both Worlds.”

Andorians

There are lots of different kinds of aliens working on the Romulan reclamation site. Among them are Andorians, who were first introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series.

Andorians have blue skin and white hair. Their homeworld is the ice moon Andor. They’re one of the founding member species of the Federation.

I, Robot

When Dr. Jurati visits Picard, she picks up his copy of I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. I, Robot is one of the most seminal works of sci-fi ever written, establishing many of the tropes still used in sci-fi when dealing with robots and sentient artificial intelligence, including the “three rules of robotics.”

For Star Trek‘s purposes, Asimov’s concept of the positronic brain is more important. He imagined the positronic brain as being what powers robots and allows them to act autonomously. Star Trek borrowed the idea for Data, stating that Dr. Noonien Soong developed a positronic brain for his androids that no one else has ever been able to replicate.

Picard’s comment about not really being into sci-fi feels like an ironic metacommentary from Patrick Stewart, who was a Shakespearean actor who was more interested in traditional literary classics but has found himself cast as an icon of science fiction.

Earl Grey Tea

Picard once again pulls out his signature drink, earl grey tea. This time, he share tea with Dr. Jurati, who also prefers earl grey. This reinforces the good feelings Picard has had about her from the start.

Combadge

Picard dusts off his old Starfleet combadge. Shaped like the Starfleet insignia, the communication device appears to be the same design Picard was wearing when we last saw him in Star Trek: Nemesis.

IDIC

Commodore Oh has several items on her desk. Most notable is the Vulcan IDIC. The IDIC is the symbol for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. It celebrates the endless possibilities of the universe, which is a cornerstone of Vulcan philosophy.

The Enterprise Crew

Zhaban asks Picard why he doesn’t call on Riker, Worf, and La Forge to help him in his mission. These would be Will Riker, Worf, and Geordi La Forge, senior officers under Picard aboard the Enterprise. We know we’ll see Riker later in the series.

Rizzo’s disguise

We learn that Lt. Rizzo is a Romulan in human disguise. To mask her physical species, she’d have to have gone through surgical alterations. Surgically-applied disguises have been a staple of Star Trek since Star Trek: The Original Series when a Klingon was altered to appear human in “The Trouble with Tribbles.”