Tһe Borg Fіnаlly Kіlled Pісаrd In Stаr Trek, But Jeаn-Luс Got Hіs Revenge

Thanks to Star Trek Picard season 3's retcon, the Borg killed Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), but the former Captain of the Enterprise got his revenge. The Borg assimilated Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation's classic episode, "The Best of Both Worlds." Since then, Picard has been mortal enemies with the cybernetic aliens. The Borg Queen (Alice Krige) lost a face-to-face battle with Picard in Star Trek: First Contact, and Jean-Luc foiled her plan to assimilate Earth.

Star Trek: Picard season 1 revealed that Admiral Picard was dying of Irumodic Syndrome, a rare brain disease. Picard ultimately succumbed to Irumodic Syndrome at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1, although he was swiftly resurrected by Dr. Altan Inigo Soong (Brent Spiner) and Dr. Agnes Jurati (Allison Pill).

However, Star Trek: Picard season 3 retconned that Jean-Luc Picard never actually had Irumodic Syndrome. Instead, Picard died thanks to a long-range scheme by the Borg Queen that began when she turned Jean-Luc into Locutus of Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Borg Killed Jean-Luc In Star Trek: Picard Season 1, Thanks To Season 3's Retcon

It Wasn't Irumodic Syndrome That Killed Picard

Star Trek: Picard season 3's retcon revealed that Admiral Jean-Luc Picard's death in season 1 was because of organic Borg implants left in his brain from when he was Locutus. This Borg technology went undetected for over 30 years by Starfleet Medical and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), who ultimately solved the mystery in Star Trek: Picard season 3. The debilitating effects of Picard's Borg brain disorder was identical to the symptoms of Irumodic Syndrome.

Admiral Picard's death in Star Trek: Picard season 1 effectively means the Borg succeeded in killing one of their greatest enemies. Jean-Luc wouldn't learn the truth for another two years after his resurrection. The second part of the Borg's plan to destroy Picard was another forward-thinking plot, as Jean-Luc passed his hidden Borg DNA to his son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). Jack was meant to be Locutus' successor when the Borg Queen assimilated him and turned Jack into Vox of Borg.

Jean-Luc’s Resurrection Turned Him Into A Borg (Sort Of)

Picard Is Now Synthetic Like A Borg

Immediately after Admiral Picard's death in Star Trek: Picard season 1, Dr. Altan Inigo Soong transferred Jean-Luc's consciousness into a new synthetic body. Soong had originally built a 'golem' synthetic form to prolong his own life. However, Altan gifted his golem to Picard. However, Jean-Luc's resurrection in a synthetic body didn't give the Starfleet legend any special abilities. Picard's golem body will simply age the way Jean-Luc naturally would, and he will eventually die (but not at the Borg's hands).

The irony of Admiral Picard gaining a synthetic body is that, in a way, Jean-Luc ended up becoming an ersatz Borg. At the end of Star Trek: Picard season 3, the Borg Queen nearly succeeded in her quest to evolve the Borg by assimilating every Starfleet Officer under the age of 25. Jean-Luc Picard stopped the Borg's final plan to destroy the United Federation of Planets by meeting the Borg Queen in his permanent artificial body, and saving his assimilated son, Jack Crusher.

Jean-Luc Got His Revenge On The Borg In Star Trek: Picard Season 3

Picard Got Even With The Borg At Last (With Janeway's Help)

Admiral Picard in a synthetic body exacting his ultimate revenge on the Borg in Star Trek: Picard season 3 was poetic justice. When Picard led the reunited crew of the USS Enterprise-D into the Borg Cube hiding in the eye of Jupiter, Jean-Luc found the emaciated Borg Queen a shell of herself, and the Collective nearly dead. Picard and the Enterprise-D destroyed the Borg Cube and their Queen, paying them back for all of the damage they inflicted on the Federation - and for killing Jean-Luc in Star Trek: Picard season 1.

However, the final defeat of the Borg can be considered a long-form team effort by Admiral Picard and Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Janeway also became the Borg Queen's rival in Star Trek: Voyager. In Star Trek: Voyager's series finale, "Endgame," Admiral Janeway from an alternate future timeline infected the Borg with a neurolytic pathogen. Over 20 years later, the Borg Queen and the Collective were decimated by Janeway's pathogen. Admiral Picard simply finished the job on the Borg in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

Picard Season 3 Is The End Of Jean-Luc Vs. The Borg (Finally)

The Borg Threat That Began In TNG Is Over

The final irony of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard concluding his decades-long war with the Borg with a victory is that Picard gets to continue to live thanks to his synthetic body, while his cyborg enemies are now extinct. The Borg did succeed in killing Jean-Luc in Star Trek: Picard season 1, and the Picard paid the Borg back, with interest, by putting an end to the original Collective that has threatened the Federation since Star Trek: The Next Generation.