Star Trek Picard: Will Android Picard Be The Big Season 1 Finale Twist?

The Star Trek: Picard‘s Season 1 finale will be dropping soon, and everything in the seasonal storyline thus far is pointing to possible massive change to the Star Trek franchise. Spoilers Follow: With Jean-Luc Picard dying of a brain ailment, just as he discovered a hidden world of next-generation synthetics, seems almost too good to be coincidence. That theory seemed downright confirmed by the reveal in the first half of the finale, “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1“. Doctor Altan Inigo Soong has been secretly developing a “Golem” android body, which can conceivably house a human mind through a revolutionary new form of mind-transfer.

Of course, the Golem was a minor plot point amidst the much bigger storyline of the synthetic race turning against organic beings, in a major war that’s about to be fought. But unless the Star Trek: Picard finale has set up some big false expectations, it seems that Jean-Luc Picard could end up getting second life in a synthetic body. This would be a way for the franchise to move forward with the aging character in a conceivable way – and possibly a sign that Patrick Stewart will be recast as Jean-Luc Picard.

Setting aside the (major) issue of how “Android Picard” would be portrayed onscreen (and who would play him), this development seems like the perfect sort of twist that could set the storyline of Star Trek: Picard season 2 in motion. Right now, the next generation of synthetics developed in secret by Altan Soong and Bruce Maddox are ready to exterminate the organics; they do not trust the diplomatic efforts of Jean-Luc Picard because he is flesh and blood, but his credibility would certainly change if he was remade into a synthetic being himself. Android Picard is the bridge-gap that could both show the synths a new path to co-existing with organics, while also showing Starfleet (and other powers) that synthetics aren’t the threat they’ve been labeled as.

It’s been revealed that the machine “gods” that destroyed organic life in the ancient universe exist outside the known universe, waiting on future synths to answer the call to join them. That seems like the endgame Picard has been building to all along, with Jean-Luc Picard finding a new surrogate crew/family to shepherd. It also gives the character a much, much, longer lease on life, which could be very advantageous for the larger Star Trek franchise. For instance: with Star Trek: Discovery having opened the door to the distant future, wouldn’t it be crazy if Android Picard was still active and present in that timeline?

Star Trek: Picard is now streaming on CBS All Access. New episodes are released every Thursday. Star Trek: Discovery will return for season 3 later this year.

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