Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 1 - "The Star Gazer"
New revelations about Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: Picard season 2's premiere make starting changes to his origin story. Although Picard faced down another attack by the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) and Q (John de Lancie) altered the timeline to show Jean-Luc "the very end of the road not taken," Star Trek: Picard season 2's premiere is primarily concerned with examining the choices Jean-Luc has made throughout his long and eventful life. "The Star Gazer" drops new details that retcon Jean-Luc's past and hint at greater answers still to come.
Jean-Luc Picard's history is well-known. He was born on July 13, 2305, in La Barre, France to Maurice Picard and Yvette Gessard-Picard. Jean-Luc had an older brother, Robert (Jeremy Kemp), who married and had a son. Robert resented Jean-Luc, who joined Starfleet Academy and took to the stars while Robert tended to the Picard family vineyard. Of course, Jean-Luc's Starfleet career is legendary; he was Captain of the USS Stargazer before Picard commanded the USS Enterprise-D and E for decades, saving the galaxy numerous times in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the TNG movies. Picard was promoted to Admiral and led the United Federation of Planets' aborted mission to save the Romulans from their sun going supernova. In Star Trek: Picard season 1, Jean-Luc led a new, motley crew to save the galaxy once more.
One of Star Trek: Picard season 2's missions is to delve into Jean-Luc's history and answer the major questions about the man that TNG never did. This involves exploring the key choices Picard made as to why he never married or had a family and dedicated his entire life to Starfleet instead. While major details are yet to come, some of the answers Star Trek: Picard's season 2 premiere gives are shocking and already change what we know about Jean-Luc Picard.
Star Trek: Picard's flashbacks to Jean-Luc's childhood reveal that Yvette Picard (Madeline Wise) was British (which explains Jean-Luc's accent) and was in an abusive relationship with her husband, which young Jean-Luc knew about. He even possibly witnessed their domestic violence. Robert was nowhere to be found in the flashbacks, but Yvette clearly favored Jean-Luc and taught him to "look up." Because Picard was so close to his mother, perhaps his life in outer space was Jean-Luc's way of honoring Yvette's wishes that he always "look up."
The Picards' domestic violence gives context to what fueled Jean-Luc's desire to explore the stars. The frightful memories of his parents fighting inform why Picard disliked coming home to France and stayed away in outer space for most of his life. Without knowing the details, Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) inferred that Picard spent his life "running" from this heretofore unrevealed childhood trauma.
Picard has had a handful of brief romantic encounters in TNG, including Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), who oddly isn't mentioned in Star Trek: Picard. However, Laris (Orla Brady), whose husband Zhaban (Jamie McShane) died offscreen in the year-and-a-half time jump between Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2, has a romantic interest in Jean-Luc. The feeling is mutual yet Picard didn't act on them.
Related: Star Trek: Picard Season 1's Biggest Unanswered Questions
The revelation of Yvette Picard's abuse by his father adds a new dimension to why Jean-Luc has always avoided and never wanted a permanent romantic relationship. It's now possible that Jean-Luc equates having a family of his own with the terrible memories he's repressed his entire life. Strangely, this is a subject Picard never broached with Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis).
In Star Trek: Picard season 2, Admiral Picard has returned to Starfleet as the new Chancellor of Starfleet Academy. Jean-Luc is, sadly, the last of the Picards and he spoke about his ancestors, who were fellow explorers. One of Picard's ancestors captained the second ship behind Jacques Cartier. A great-great cousin, Rene Picard, was an early explorer of the solar system. They join another known Picard ancestor mentioned in TNG, Javier Maribona-Picard explored the area that became New Mexico in the 17th century. All of these new details feel like just the beginning and there are likely more revelations still to come in Star Trek: Picard season 2 that will further retcon Jean-Luc's history.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.
