Star Trek: Picard reaches its eighth episode this Thursday, which means we’ve only got three weeks left until the show’s first season wraps up. So far, the Next Generation sequel series has proven to be unafraid to go to some very dark places. Just last episode, for instance, beloved TNG character Hugh met his end. It’s not all that surprising, then, that the newly revealed title for the season finale appears to be hinting at another major death.
Episode 1×10 is called “Et in Arcadia Ego” and like many Trek titles over the years, the name is a classical reference. The Latin phrase is also the title of a famous painting by Italian Baroque artist Givannia Francesco Barbieri. Though it’s often referred to as “The Arcadia Shepherds” in English, the phrase literally translates to “I too was in Arcadia.” The “I” of the title refers to the figure of Death and Arcadia is a term used to describe a paradise or Utopian society. So, the painting, and its title, serve as a reminder that even a paradise is not immune to death and tragedy.
If you’re thinking that all sounds pretty ominous, you’re not alone. But how can we translate the meaning of the title more directly? Well, the Federation has always been depicted as a Utopia, with it even being specifically called a paradise in previous series. Deep Space Nine, for instance, got a lot of mileage out of exploring the less-perfect parts of the Federation. Picard‘s been all about this theme, too, so it seems likely that at least one of the captain’s crew is going to have an unfortunate encounter with Death in “Arcadia.”
As for who that could be, it’s very hard to tell, as Star Trek: Picard has proven that no one is off-limits. The promo for this week’s episode, “Broken Pieces,” teases that Seven of Nine is going to be re-assimilated into the Borg, for example, but we’ll just have to stay tuned every Thursday on CBS All Access to find out.
