Who plays the Borg queen in ‘Star Trek: Picard’ season 3?

A major, timeless villain made her big return in Star Trek: Picard season three, returning to a story that began all the way back in 1990.

More than 30 years after her race first entered the Star Trek story, the Borg queen has officially returned. She made an appearance in episode 10 of Picard‘s third season — fitting, considering the Borg first entered the Star Trek story in season three of Next Generation — and created ties back to a story three decades in the making.

The re-emergence of the Borg queen dazzled longtime Trekkies, many of whom assumed the character was dead after Data and Jean-Luc Picard bested her in 1996’s First Contact. Picard’s connection to the Borg came back around in the show’s delightful season three finale, polishing off the Star Trek series with a fitting tie-back. The official conclusion to Star Trek: Picard has fan chatter at an all-time high, as viewers react to the Borg queen’s return and stew on Picard‘s big ending.

Who played the Borg queen in Picard?

The first Borg queen, who debuted in 1996’s First Contact, was a challenging character to cast. The team behind the second Star Trek series wanted to ensure that she was equally sexually appealing and dangerous, and not just any actress would suit the part. So, the stunning Alice Krige was tapped for the role and absolutely smashed it out of the park. She balanced the Borg queen’s terrifying power and purpose against a clear sex appeal and is still considered — to this day — one of the franchise’s all-time sexiest villains.

Krige made a return to the role she played all the way back in 1996 for Picard’s series finale. She stepped back into the (likely very uncomfortable) Borg queen getup for the first time in years and promptly blew audiences away. She’s returned to the role several times in the past — first for a Las Vegas Star Trek attraction, and later for Star Trek: Voyager — and she even lent her voice to the role for Star Trek: Lower Decks. Her big return in Picard likely came as a surprise to plenty of fans, but Krige once again flawlessly encapsulated the role and delivered a stunning performance to polish off the Star Trek series for good.