Star Trek: Picard Theory: Vadic Is The Face

Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard" is certainly giving former and current members of Starfleet a run for their money. This is because whereas earlier seasons dealt with robot rights and time travel, Season 3 instead has a mysterious villain that has loomed large and threatened Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), his allies, and the entirety of the Federation. Known as "The Face," this amorphous and undulating mass of vaguely humanoid features is typically seen giving orders to fan-favorite baddie Vadic (Amanda Plummer).

Unfortunately for everybody's beloved crew associated with the USS Enterprise, The Face's identity has remained obfuscated, which has caused plenty of fans to speculate on who or what this fearsome adversary truly is on only the barest of clues. However, since The Face is intrinsically connected to Vadic, some have begun to wonder if the two are actually one in the same. Considering Vadic's history with Starfleet and their clandestine and highly dubious science experiments, as well as the Changelings' fate at the hands of a potent engineered bio-weapon, the conversation about "Star Trek: Picard" and The Face's identity is starting to reach a fever pitch over on Reddit.

Starting the discussion, u/jruschme said that since most of "Star Trek: Picard" is over, now is the time to begin to wonder who The Face might actually be, and they laid out several theories and the reasoning behind them. Their theories include that The Face may be Locutus and the Borg, Lore (Brett Spinner) because of the android's contempt for humanity, or that Vadic is The Face and that the two are actually different aspects of the same character. They explained that they think Vadic's condition may result from the time spent at Section 31, the covert and often unethical branch of Starfleet. The only thing they aren't sure about is if The Face is just an extension of Vadic, or maybe that Vadic and The Face are a changeling persona, and the sadistic Section 31 scientist that conducted the experiments merged as one.

These theories immediately caused several others to latch onto the theory that The Face and Vadic might be identical. u/milbfan agreed that Vadic might be a component of The Face and wrote, "I'm starting to feel a little theme of duality here, just like with Data and Lore in the same gollum. Vadic and the scientist 'occupy' the same space. For the most part, Vadic is in control, but on occasion (to rest?) the scientist has limited sway on activities. It may explain why she seemingly 'gave up' so quickly on getting intel out of Riker or Troi on Picard."

Further extrapolating on the theory, u/TrillianSwan referenced a scene with Vadic when she takes over the USS Titan, specifically when she announces that she is the captain. They added that a basic reading of this line would simply be either smug or arrogant, though this wasn't the case with Amanda Plummer's rendition. They continued, "But Plummer didn't do that (because she's a genius). She got this weird confused look as she sank into the captain's chair, took one hand in the other and rubbed it as she stared at it and muttered, 'I am Vadic...' (like she was trying to remind or convince herself) and THEN looked up and finished the line with the normal bluster. That brilliant line reading fits very well with your theory."

This sound reasoning impressed u/jruschme of the first comment, who thinks this theory is perfect. However, they believe the roles might be reversed, and The Face is the human scientist that tortured the Changelings, which would make The Face's earlier comment about its disdain for the alien species make a bit more sense. Hopefully, whatever course "Star Trek: Picard" decides to chart for its final episodes will result in a fantastic send-off for Jean-Luc and his friends. It will be of great interest to many fans as to who The Face actually is and why the villain has such a deep hatred.