Star Trek Reveals the Origin of One Of Captain Picard's Best Quotes

Star Trek has revealed the origin – or at least one possible origin – of one of Jean-Luc Picard's most memorable quotes. SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard's Academy #5 by Sam Maggs, Ornella Greco, Charlie Kirchoff, and Jeff Eckleberry follow. "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness, that is life," is one of Picard's most memorable quotes. It's a line he delivers in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 episode "Peak Performance." In the episode, Picard and his usual first officer, Will Riker, are chosen to captain opposing ships in a Starfleet war game.

With Riker on the opposing side of the battle, Date is made Picard's new "Number One" for the duration of the mock battle. However, Data's confidence is shaken after losing a strategy game called Stratagema to a famous strategist, Sirna Kolrami. Believing something is wrong with him, Data removes himself from bridge duty while he tries to isolate the issue. That's when Picard finds him and gives him a stern talking to before delivering the notable quote, expressing the sentiment that sometimes you can do everything right and still not succeed, and that's not a moral failing.

Where does Picard's famous quote come from?

According to Star Trek: Picard's Academy #5, Picard didn't come up with that line himself. Instead, he remembered having heard it himself during his days at Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek: Picard's Academy has chronicled Picard's first experience with command duties during a training mission. He's struggled to maintain the confidence of his peers, especially his rival for the head of the class, a Betazoid named Resh. However, he has managed to make a couple of close friends, notably Marty Batanides and a brilliant El-Aurian with a knack for science named Doqtis "Doq" Ilum.

It is Doq who delivers that quote in Star Trek: Picard's Academy. The group's ship malfunctions and after a moment of panic, the crew calms down and begins piecing together a new plan that combines the best parts of Picard and Resh's previous failed ideas. The class wonders if they still have a chance of passing the test, and it's here that Doq delivers the line about failure and weakness, which Picard takes in and takes to heart.

Doq's message will have an influence on Picard going forward. Not only is that obvious by Picard quoting Doq decades later, but Picard in Picard's Academy has been obsessed with succeeding at the academy and graduating early. Perhaps this is the moment where he learns that sometimes you can do everything right and still not win.

Star Trek: Picard's Academy #5 is on sale now. Star Trek: Picard's Academy #6, the series' final issue, goes on sale on February 28th.

• Star Trek: Picard's Academy #5
• NOV231060
• (W) Sam Maggs (A) Greco Ornella (CA) Sweeney Boo
• Starfleet's Evasive Maneuvers exam has turned into an actual battle for survival as Jean-Luc and his classmates find themselves facing the very real threat of death by vacuum of space! They can't reach Starfleet, and enemy Romulans continue invading their ship. Can Picard and his crewmates outmaneuver the enemy in their first-ever ship-on-ship space battle, or will he, in his first role as acting captain, succumb to the chaos and shouting matches among his crew?
• In Shops: Jan 31, 2024
• SRP: $3.99