As we gear up for the first half of Star Trek: Picard season 1’s two-part finale later this week, let’s look back at the major revelations that came out in last week’s episode, 1×08 “Broken Pieces.” After many weeks of teasing the bigger picture, that chapter saw the whole truth come out about the Romulan/Starfleet conspiracy that has turned the fate of the galaxy around and seen hatred for synthetics surge.
And one of the biggest repercussions of these revelations is that they retcon a classic episode of The Next Generation. Essentially, we and the characters learn that Commodore Oh, the fierce Starfleet Security boss who’s had no time for Picard all season, is really a half-Romulan/Vulcan mole for the Zhat Vash. It’s also established that it was not Bruce Maddox’s creation of Soji and Dahj that started the terrorist cell’s plans. It was the creation of Data at the hands of Noonien Soong, decades prior.
What this means is that Oh was in command way back during the time of TNG season 2’s “Measure of a Man.” This pivotal episode was the first time Maddox encountered Data. To refresh your memory, it saw Maddox attempt to prove that Data was merely the property of Starfleet so that he might take him apart and build a race of Datas. Picard, however, successfully proved his friend’s sentience and autonomy.
We’re now left to wonder if Oh was behind Maddox’s bid, making him an unwitting pawn in the Zhat Vash’s schemes. Obviously, they would have wanted Data dismantled, too, though no doubt Maddox would have been prevented from continuing his work. What actually happened was that the cyberneticist developed a great respect for Data and eventually created Soji and Dahj from his neurons. So the Zhat Vash essentially brought their own worst fears to life.
Don’t miss Star Trek: Picard 1×09 “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1” this Thursday on CBS All Access.
