Summary
- Raffi Muskier's determination led her down a dark path but she was right - the Romulan Zhat Vash orchestrated the Mars attack of 2385.
- Raffi, once a Starfleet officer, abandoned the organization after being accused of stalking Admiral Janeway.
- Raffi was proven right in uncovering a Starfleet conspiracy orchestrated by Commodore Oh and the Zhat Vash.
Star Trek: Picard's Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) is one of modern Star Trek's most interesting characters, but many have forgotten that Raffi once stalked Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Captain Janeway led the USS Voyager on an unplanned seven-year mission through the unexplored Delta Quadrant, eventually bringing the ship home in one piece. Janeway went on to become one of Starfleet's most celebrated Admirals, and continued to lead missions in Star Trek: Prodigy. Prodigy season 2 ended with the devastating attack on Mars by rogue synths, which was first described in Star Trek:Picard season 1.
Star Trek: Picard season 1 picked up fourteen years after the Mars attack, with Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Raffi still dealing with the ramifications of it. Prior to the attack on Mars, Starfleet had been engaged in a massive project to relocate the Romulan population, as their star was about to go supernova. Admiral Picard led these evacuation efforts, with Lt. Commander Raffi Musiker at his side. When the synths turned on Mars, they killed nearly 100,000 people and destroyed around 20,000 ships. Due to this devastating loss, Starfleet called off the Romulan relocation project, which led Admiral Picard to resign in protest. Raffi struggled in the wake of Picard's resignation, eventually abandoning Starfleet herself.
Why Star Trek: Picard’s Raffi Stalked Admiral Janeway
Raffi grew paranoid and fell into addiction after Admiral Picard resigned from Starfleet.
Before Lt. Commander Raffi Musiker left Starfleet, she became convinced that the Romulan intelligence agency known as the Tal Shiar was behind the Mars attack. This belief eventually led Raffi to stalk Admiral Janeway, possibly in an attempt to get someone to listen to her theories. Although she initially tried to go through the proper channels, Raffi could offer no evidence to support her beliefs, and Starfleet denied her requests for more resources. From that point forward, Raffi grew paranoid and erratic, as she continued to pursue her theories without authorization.
Raffi disobeyed twenty-seven direct orders and committed thirteen offensives worthy of a court-martial. Musiker developed a substance abuse problem, came to work intoxicated, and hacked into the Starfleet database. The last straw for Starfleet Command, however, was when Raffi began stalking Admiral Janeway. Starfleet then ordered Raffi to undergo therapy and attend a rehabilitation program, but after a year, she chose to leave Starfleet anyway. When Jean-Luc Picard sought Raffi out in Star Trek:Picard season 1, the former Starfleet officer lived alone in a small, isolated house in the vicinity of Vasquez Rocks, and described her life after leaving Starfleet as "one long slide into humiliation."
Raffi Was Right About A Starfleet Conspiracy
Raffi's determination to find the truth led her down a dark path, but in the end, she was right all along.
Ironically, Raffi's seemingly crazy conspiracy theories turned out to be right. The attack on Mars was orchestrated by Commodore Oh AKA General Nedar (Tamlyn Tomita), the Zhat Vash's leader who had infiltrated Starfleet. The Zhat Vash were a secret Romulan cabal of Tal Shiar operatives who existed for thousands of years. The main goal of the Zhat Vash was to eliminate all synthetic life in order to prevent extinction of organic life at the hands of artificial intelligence. Oh climbed high enough within Starfleet to become director of Starfleet Security, which gave her the necessary clearance to orchestrate the Mars attack.
The creation of synthetic life had been banned after the Mars attack, but this ban was lifted when the Zhat Vash was revealed to have been the true perpetrators.
Raffi Musiker accompanied Jean-Luc Picard on his adventures in Star Trek: Picard season 1, which unveiled the full extent of the Zhat Vash's involvement in the Mars attacks. Raffi later returned to Starfleet with the rank of Commander and was assigned to the USS Excelsior. In Star Trek: Picard season 3, Raffi was working with Starfleet Intelligence, where she put her investigative skills to good use. When a Starfleet recruitment center was destroyed on M'Talas Prime, Raffi again became determined to uncover the truth, and she was eventually proven right yet again. In Star Trek: Picard season 3's finale, Raffi joined the USS Enterprise-G as the First Officer to Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), having come a long way since she stalked Admiral Janeway.
