Fan Favorite Star Trek Character’s Comeback Finally Revealed By Picard Showrunner

Star Trek: Legacy remains a pie-in-the-sky idea, but Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas has revealed how Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) would return if Legacy happens. Shaw was Captain of the USS Titan-A in Star Trek: Picard season 3, but Liam heroically sacrificed himself to stop the Borg.

Yet both Matalas and Stashwick have been clear that Shaw would somehow be resurrected in Star Trek: Picard's proposed continuation, Star Trek: Legacy. For the last two years, fans have speculated about exactly which sci-fi means Star Trek: Legacy would utilize to bring Shaw back.

TrekMovie reported from Terry Matalas and Todd Stashwick's Star Trek: Picard panel at STLV: Trek to Vegas, where Star Trek: Picard season 3's showrunner dropped the bombshell of how Liam Shaw would return in Star Trek: Legacy. Matalas revealed Shaw's comeback after denying a fan theory that Liam would be resurrected by Borg nanites. Read Terry and Todd's quotes below:

Terry Matalas: “I will say, since we’re so far away from the possibility of Legacy, that he wasn’t going to come back to life with Borg nanites… He was going to be the Emergency Engineering Hologram who did not want to turn off and was really pissed off that the Titan was turned into the Enterprise, and would refuse to call it the Enterprise, until late.”

Todd Stashwick: “We call it the Shawlogram.”

 

What Liam Shaw's Potential Return As A Hologram In Star Trek: Legacy Means

Liam Shaw returning in Star Trek: Legacy as the USS Enterprise-G's Emergency Engineering Hologram makes perfect sense. Shaw may have been a starship captain in Star Trek: Picard season 3, but the "dips*it from Chicago" began his Starfleet career as a "grease monkey" engineer.

Introducing an EEH in the form of Liam Shaw is a logical twist in Star Trek: Legacy, and a wiser solution than time travel or other sci-fi means that could be used to resurrect Shaw. The EEH would be both Shaw and not Shaw, which would make for compelling interactions with Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and the USS Enterprise-G's crew.

Audiences disliked Captain Liam Shaw at the start of Star Trek: Picard season 3 for daring to disrespect Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Fans did a 180 and began to love Shaw after Liam revealed he was a survivor of the Borg's invasion at Wolf-359, thanks to Todd Stashwick delivering a searing and unforgettable monologue.

Our Take On Liam Shaw's Potential Return If Star Trek: Legacy Happens

Liam Shaw returning as the USS Enterprise's Emergency Engineering Hologram is probably the best way to bring Shaw back, which honors and wouldn't diminish Liam's heroic sacrifice in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Terry Matalas' concept that Shaw's EEH is bitter that the USS Titan-A became the USS Enterprise-G also perfectly fits Liam's ornery character.

Star Trek: Legacy remains a project with no further development at Paramount+, but there are hopes that the new Paramount & Skydance regime headed by CEO David Ellison could potentially green-light Star Trek: Legacy. Todd Stashwick seems ready to become the 'Shawlogram' if Star Trek: Picard season 3's spinoff does become a go-project.