Star Trek Brings Back One of Its Most Iconic Starships

Star Trek has officially brought back one of its most iconic starships: the USS Enterprise-D, which was made famous by Star Trek: The Next Generation!

The Enterprise-D (or at least a replica of its bridge) was teased early on during the production on Star Trek: Picard Season 3 – but the productions photos did raise more questions than they answered about the seasonal storyline. However, Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 9, "Võx" gave Star Trek: The Next Generation fans the thrill of a lifetime by making Picard and co.'s return to Enterprise-D a truly milestone moment in the franchise! 

(WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW!) 

Picard Season 3 Episode 9 made the major reveals that the Borg were secretly controlling the Changelings' plot to infiltrate Starfleet. Moreover, the weapons the Borg and Changelings were trying to mine from the Picard family DNA of Jean-Luc (Patrick Steward) and his son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) turns out to be worse than imaginable. Picard's DNA retained trace amounts of Borg code after his time as Locutus – code that mingled with his DNA and evolved into a whole new kind of Borg-human hybrid species – an evolution that finally came to fruition in the next generation of Picard's family tree: Jack. 

Long story short, this next generation of Borg is able to sneak their code inside the DNA of Starfleet's younger officers and assimilate them all in one fell swoop. To make matters worse, Starfleet's decision to convert their fleet into a Borg-style collective of synchronized ships quickly comes back to bite them, as the newly-assimilated Starfleet officers are able to immediately commandeer the entire bulk of Starfleet's fleet of ships, and control them with all the unified precision of a Borg collective. 

How Does The Enterprise-D Return? 

With every ship in Starfleet's new synchronized system left vulnerable, Picard and Co. need a ship they can use against the Borg. The Enterprise-D was lost in the Battle of Veridian III, fought between the Enterprise crew and the Duras Sisters' Klingon Bird of Prey – during the events of the film Star Trek: Generations. However, As it turns out, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) had to recover the lost Saucer section of the ship from the planet due to Starfleet's Prime Directive of non-interference and has been hard at work in secret for decades, gathering up parts and restoring the Enterprise-D like it was a classic car in his garage. The ship is ready to fly, and the Enterprise crew slips back into their old roles as though no time has passed at all. 

Needless to say, this moment in Star Trek: Picard Season 3 gave Star Trek: The Next Generation fans all the feels. Patrick Stewart (Picard), LeVar Burton (Geordi), Michael Dorn (Worf), Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker), Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), and Brent Spiner (Data), all looked like they were feeling the moment of returning to Enterprise-D bridge set – and that sheer wave of emotion and reverence rolled right off the screen. 

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 is now streaming on Paramount+.