Star Trek Reveals Origin of Synthetic Race, Secret History of The Romulans

Star Trek: Picard is coming to the end of season 1, and episode 8 “Broken Pieces” proves to be titled quite ironically. In fact, the episode finally puts together all of the various pieces the Picard series, setting the stage for a very exciting two-part finale to come. But while the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard was greatly concerned with moving things forward, like every episode in the series it also looked back to a key piece of Star Trek history. This time, the pivotal flashback scene was an origin story, revealing the secret history and practices fo the Romulan Zhat Vash sect!

Warning: Star Trek: Picard SPOILERS Follow!

The opening of “Broken Pieces” is set AIA “The Grief Planet,” 14 years ago. We see Narissa Rizzo and her fellow Zhat Vash recruits, being taken to some kind of ceremonial ring by Commodore Oh. This ultimate test of Zhat Vash agents has them go through a process known as “The Admonition” the sharing of a secret warning from an alien race 200-300,000 years ago, which was discovered by Ancient Romulans. It was a warning so terrible that broke the minds of nearly everyone who ever witnessed it.

That warning told of how this mysterious dead race first created synthetic life in the universe. However, that synthetic life continued to evolve until it reached a divisive line in the evolutionary process – one compared to the Cochrane warp drive moment that resulted in Earth’s First Contact with The Vulcans. However, in this case, the evolution of synthetic life resulted in attracting a great destroyer, who wiped out this ancient civilization. The ancient Romulans who discovered this dire warning then created the Zhat Vash, and tasked them with one purpose: eliminate all synthetic life, in order to prevent the Destroyer from appearing again.

This reveal of a new alien race and its horrific history with synthetics, is a major turn that helps pull together the various storylines of Picard. We now know the answers to questions ranging from why the Zhat Vash are after Soji, to who was responsible for the Synthetic Uprising on Mars, and even how Captain Rios’ tragic history plays a major part in Soji and the Zhat Vash’s stories.

We may never know who this ancient alien race is (they’re kind of incidental to the story), but Star Trek: Picard has managed to establish some interesting new mythos for both the Romulan race and the Synthetic race, which could keep paying dividends for years to come in the franchise.

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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