Things I think Star Trek: Picard Got from Star Trek: Online

I’ve mentioned before that I think the writing for Star Trek: Online is absolutely spectacular – it is better than it has any right to be. I now prefer to think of it as a completely canon show, in my head 🙂

Anyhow, since STO ostensibly takes place at essentially the same time as Picard (2403 vs 2399), I thought that it would be fun to reflect on the ideas originating from STO’s Legacy of Romulus that they decided to use in the show. Obviously, I would prefer it if they used the entire plot of Legacy of Romulus, but then I guess a lot of people would know all the spoilers.

The first and most obvious idea I think Picard got from STO is the Tal Shiar’s ongoing classified program scavenging derelict Borg Cubes for their own mysterious purposes

D’deridex Class Cruiser approaching a derelict Borg Cube to scavenge it
The Tal Shiar is scavenging this cube which appears to have gone into a state of stasis, along with all its drones
The Tal Shiar seem to know way too much about Borg vessels for this to be a single opportunistic occurance

The second point which is maybe a bit less clear, is the involvement of Ancient Iconian technology, and even the references and hints that the Borg somehow got their hands on Iconian technology at some point (the gate in the Borg Queen’s chambers in Picard, vs the Iconian everything in STO).

The third is still only a maybe, but I think they might be building up Picard to also show that Sela has returned from exile in the wake of the destruction of the homeworld, to take advantage of that and try her hand at another Tal Shiar backed coup. It was maybe just on my mind because of STO, but when Hugh said “…now our queen is a Romulan.” I immediately felt like he was talking about Sela, and that would very much fit her character arc as depicted in STO.

Those were the main ones I’ve noticed, and some might come to me as the show goes on. I hope there will be a lot more elements from STO included.

Star Trek Online

You know I can’t say no to the shoulder pads

I’m literally late to the game here but it turns out the story and writing for Star Trek Online’s Legacy of Romulus is really really good. They explore some of the passionate and capricious tendencies of the Romulans, but in a very interesting and nuanced way. Plus, the Romulan perspective of the Sundering is pretty much exactly how I’ve always thought it should be – that it was a traumatic event but necessary to preserve their freedom and their emotions from the extremely restrictive (and quite frankly absurd) new Vulcan theocracy formed in the “Time of Awakening.”

I still don’t like MMOs, but this one is worth it for the Romulan storyline alone. It is super Star Trek-ey, and it seems like they really gave a lot of thoughtful consideration to the canon that came before, and then extrapolated to what exactly that would mean if explored in more detail.

D’Tan speaking truth
Mah Ship
“You guys I think… I think this is way too many stars. Is it just me? Is anybody else weirded out by this?? It is just. Too much.”