The second episode of Picard on CBS All Access dropped a few truth-bombs about Captain Jean-Luc
Picard's health, some secret Romulan shenanigans, and just exactly what happened during the
great synthetic revolt that shattered the Federation.
Here are a few things you may not have noticed, between the lines.
"Maps and Legends" begins on that fateful day in 2385 when the synthetic workers stationed
at the Utopia Planitia shipyards on Mars rose up against their flesh and blood coworkers,
killing them and destroying the site so entirely that it's still burning 14 years later.
But before the day starts going very, very badly, we get several shots of business as
usual in the shipyards, complete with a close-up of what kind of looks like an Argo-type shuttlecraft.
The Argo was first seen in Star Trek: Nemesis, when Picard, Worf, and Data fly the shuttlecraft
from the Enterprise-E to the surface of the planet Kolarus III, where they recover the
android B-4, who we've already seen in Picard's first episode.
The shuttlecraft calls back to an extremely significant event in the lore of Picard, tying
into the show's central mystery of Data's involvement in the creation of Dahj and Soji.
April 5th is a very significant day in Star Trek history.
Established in 2063, it commemorates both the first successful human warp flight, and
the first inter-species contact between humans and Vulcans, as shown in Star Trek: First
Contact.
First Contact Day has long been established as an annual holiday in the world of Star
Trek.
In Star Trek: Voyager, we even got to see a First Contact Day celebration, complete
with warp engine creator Zefram Cochrane's favorite food, and the ship's Vulcan science
officer reciting the Vulcans' initial greeting to the people of Earth.
"Live long and prosper."
Captain Janeway also mentioned that as a child, she always got the day off from school.
In 2385, though, the workers at Utopia Planitia complain that they still have to work on the
holiday, which they're not happy about.
Having the attack on Mars take place on April 5th marks a sharp parallel to the day's original
theme of interspecies cooperation and trust.
Following the attack, the Federation would abandon their attempt to save the Romulan
people, and would also ban synthetics entirely.
When Picard's doctor comes to visit him in "Maps and Legends", he brings with him the
somber news that he suspects that a small defect in Picard's parietal lobe may have
triggered one of several related neurological syndromes.
The two of them talk about the defect itself as though the knowledge of it is old news,
which it is the defect was first discovered by Dr. Beverly Crusher in the Next Generation
series finale, "All Good Things..."
That episode saw Picard skipping through time, including one thread in the distant future,
when he learns that he will eventually develop Irumodic Syndrome, a degenerative neurological
condition that can cause confusion, hallucinations, and paranoia.
Picard has Crusher scan him in his "present" timeline for possible warning signs, and while
she finds no traces of the syndrome, she does notice a small defect in the parietal lobe
which could but won't necessarily eventually lead to Irumodic Syndrome.
While neither Picard nor his doctor mention Irumodic Syndrome by name in "Maps and Legends,"
it's clear that this is what Picard is worried about.
In "All Good Things...," we see that the future, older Picard is often second-guessed and discounted
due to his diagnosis, leading to him going against the orders of Starfleet and calling
in favors to obtain a ship and carry out his mission a plotline that seems like it may
be rearing its head once again.
When Picard steps into the lobby of Starfleet Headquarters, a voice can be heard over the
intercom paging a certain Admiral.
"Admiral Gurney, please report to conference room A."
Although it's easy to dismiss the line as simple background chatter, the name "Gurney"
has some surprising significance.
In the 1984 science fiction film Dune, Patrick Stewart played a character named Gurney Halleck,
a skilled musician and a formidable warrior.
Although Gurney Halleck's specific character traits are likely not particularly relevant
to Picard, the name over the pager is almost assuredly a sly tip of the hat to Stewart's
previous character.
Making the reference even more amusing?
"I never really cared for science fiction."
When Picard meets with Dr. Jurati, he comes upon her paging through Isaac Asimov's The
Complete Robot, a collection of science fiction short stories about, what else, robots.
Asimov's fiction often explored ideas of sentience and morality in robots, which was also one
of the main philosophical quandaries of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and is shaping
up to be a central question of Picard.
It feels additionally significant that The Complete Robot makes an appearance in an episode
that opens with a scene of robots violently acting out against their creators.
All three of the actions shown by F-8 in the opening sequence are expressly prohibited
by Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics: a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction,
allow a human being to come to harm; a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings
except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; and a robot must protect its
own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Looks like F-8 didn't get the memo.
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