Picard Season 3 Episode 9 Dropped A Borg Bombshell

Contains spoilers for "Star Trek: Picard" Season 3, Episode 9 — "Võx"

Blasts from the past. It's a central theme throughout "Star Trek: Picard," and Season 3 definitely sends the message home. Fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" have seen the return of much of the show's original cast, the return of popular recurring characters like Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) and Professor James Moriarty (Daniel Davis), and the return of a few well-known storylines, including the Borg. The Borg and Borg cube have underlined "Star Trek: Picard" since Season 1, and the villainous Borg return in Season 3, Episode 9, "Võx," for one of Season 3's biggest bombshells.

Much of Season 3 has been spent protecting Jack (Ed Speleers) while trying to figure out why he is hearing voices and controlling others with his mind. The answer is finally revealed during a counseling session with Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), who enters Jack's mind and opens a red door that reveals a Borg cube. The team realizes that Jack is essentially part Borg, having received altered DNA from his father, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). The altered DNA makes Jack an organic transmitter that is being used to help attack Starfleet during the Frontier Day celebration. And this big reveal all began with a storyline from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" that is actually referenced early on in Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard."

Many fans remember villains like Q (John de Lancie) and Data's evil brother Lore (Brent Spiner), but others may recall the big moment when Jean-Luc Picard is taken by the Borg and assimilated beginning in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 3, Episode 26 "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1" and continuing in Season 4, Episode 1, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2." The storyline follows Picard's transformation into Locutus of Borg, who helps the Borg in the battle of Wolf 359. It's the mentioning of that battle that helps to foreshadow the Borg's return. In "Star Trek: Picard" Season 3, Episode 4, "No Win Scenario," Picard is talking to Jack in the holodeck bar when Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) starts telling them about his days as an engineer on the U.S.S. Constance, which was attacked during that battle.

While fans don't see Picard in full Locutus form during "Star Trek: Picard" Season 3, Episode 9, "Võx," they do hear his voice exclaiming, "I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile ..." This moment and the Borg have become mainstays in "Star Trek," but it wasn't always something that Patrick Stewart agreed with. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he wasn't too sure about the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" storyline. "I originally said 'no' to doing it ... I remember questioning whether that storyline was a good one to follow, " he said, adding that he later enjoyed the character, despite the extensive costume.