Summary
Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) received a synthetic android body inStar Trek: Picard,but he had been at least partly synthetic since before hisStar Trek: The Next Generationdays. Set about twenty years after the events ofNemesisin theStar Trektimeline,Picardfinds Jean-Luc spending his retirement on his family’s vineyard before getting pulled into another adventure. Near the end ofPicardseason 1,Jean-Luc reveals that he has been diagnosed with a terminal brain abnormality(which is later revealed to be the result of residual Borg DNA left over from Picard’s time as Locutus).
Jean-Luc Picard officially died on the planet of Coppelius, but Dr. Altan Soong (Brent Spiner) and Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) were able to transfer his consciousness into anew android body inPicard. This gave Picard a second chance at life, allowing him to live out the rest of the years he would have if not for his brain condition. While this would seem to be a drastic change,Picard was not one hundred percent organic to begin with.Since his introduction inStar Trek: The Next Generation,Jean-Luc has had an artificial heart, courtesy of an angry Nausicaan.
7 Ways Star Trek Changed Jean-Luc From TNG To Picard Season 3
The Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: Picard has grown and changed quite a bit since his time as captain of the USS Enterprise-D on Star Trek: TNG.
How Jean-Luc Picard Was Synthetic Since His Star Trek: TNG Introduction
InStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 2, episode 17, “Samaritan Snare,“Captain Picard tells Ensign Wesley Crusher(Wil Wheaton) about a near-fatal injury he suffered as a young man. Soon after graduating from Starfleet Academy, Picard ended up in a bar brawl during which he was stabbed in the heart by a Nausicaan. After being rushed to emergency surgery,Picard received a new, synthetic heart. By the time he became Captain of the USS Enterprise-D, Picard had had an artificial heart longer than he had ever had a real one.
InTNGseason 6, episode 15, “Tapestry,” Jean-Luc gets the chance to redo the bar brawl that damaged his heart and learns how much that event shaped him.
From the moment audiences first met Captain Picard, he was not fully organic, but he changed even more throughoutStar Trek: The Next Generation. In the classicTNGtwo-part episode, “The Best of Both Worlds,” Jean-Luc is assimilated by the Borg and forced to be their mouthpiece, Locutus. As part of this assimilation,the Borg grafted several cybernetic attachments to Picard’s body,including a replacement arm. While Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) was able to repair most of the damage done to Picard’s body, organic Borg DNA remained inside of his brain for the rest of his human life.
Why It Doesn’t Matter That Star Trek: Picard Turned Jean-Luc Into An Android
Picard’s Android Body Does Not Alter His Star Trek Legacy.
Ultimately, it does not matter thatStar Trek: Picardgave Jean-Luc a synthetic android body. Although an android body could theoretically allow Picard to live indefinitely,the particular body he received will age and dieas Picard originally would have. Aside from the fact that he no longer has Borg DNA and presumably will not ever get sick, very little has changed about Picard in any way that matters. He does not appear to have enhanced strength or any other abilities androids often have, and his mind remains fully intact.
Jean-Luc’s synthetic body is indistinguishable from his human one, meaning it ultimately doesn’t change hisStar Trekstory.
The fact that Picard is an android has very little impact on his stories inStar Trek: Picardseasons 2 or 3 (aside from the Changeling/Borg plot involving his organic body).Jean-Luc remains the same man he would have beenin his human body. It’sData’s (Brent Spiner) new android bodythat steals the show in season 3, as he finally has the chance to experience organic human emotions. With the advances in medical and cybernetic technology inStar Trek: Picard,Jean-Luc’s synthetic body is indistinguishable from his human one, meaning it ultimately doesn’t change hisStar Trekstory.
