The Ending Of Picard Season 2 Episode 4 Explained

As the second season of "Star Trek: Picard" unfolds, viewers are going further down the rabbit hole of time travel with the La Serena crew. Having fought their way out of a fascist alternate future and into the oddly familiar year of 2024, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his band of loyal space travelers have high hopes of getting closer to finding who or what they need to repair the timeline and restore the galaxy to its proper state.

In Episode 4, "Watcher," we see the desperate Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) attempt to locate the now-detained Rios (Santiago Cabrera). Picard embarks on a solo mission to speak to an old, or rather, new friend. Meanwhile, Jurati (Alison Pill) seems to be forming an unlikely alliance back on the ship with the Borg Queen herself (Annie Wersching). Not everything is going swimmingly for the Picard crew. In fact, nothing is. But they're making progress on their journey to hopefully save the entire galaxy, which is evident as the episode progresses.

Raffi and Seven of Nine are on a mission to locate Rios, who they learn has been taken by ICE officials and is being detained in a facility an hour from where they find themselves. Throughout the season, there has been a specific warning in place that they cannot change things or make any large impact on the past, as it can alter the future in unexpected ways. Well, so much for that.

After stealing a police car, Raffi and Seven of Nine take part in a high-speed police chase only to be transported out of the car right before being caught and in broad daylight. While they're doing that, Rios is spilling all kinds of juicy information regarding his true identity. The ICE officer doesn't take him seriously, it seems, but nevertheless, Rios tells all.

What sort of chaos could these three be causing for the future? There's no doubt that seeing two people vanish into thin air during a police chase and a person blatantly announcing he's from the future will profoundly affect the way events play out. It seems like they're most definitely changing things and making an impact in 2024.

After her daring connection with the Borg Queen, Jurati is filled with helpful information. There are, however, some bits that she isn't able to locate in her own mind. That is, until Picard points out that her subconscious keeps returning to the number 15, leading them to discover that whatever the event is that changes the future happens on April 15, 2024.

This doesn't rule out the Borg Queen, though. While Jurati is alone on La Serena frantically trying to help Seven of Nine and Raffi escape the LAPD, the Borg Queen strikes a chord with her. The two have something in common: loneliness. That, and the Borg Queen labels Jurati as cruel, which Jurati then proves when she makes a deal to become the Borg Queen's friend — or something along those lines — provided the Queen will help her save Raffi and Seven of Nine. She ultimately goes back on that deal. So, what does it all mean?

Even though she doesn't hold up her end of the bargain, Jurati and the Borg Queen seem to have more in common than they would have ever known had it not been for the assimilation. With Jurati being left on the ship alone so frequently, an alliance is almost inevitable, it seems. The question is, what kind of alliance? A Borg Queen can hardly be trusted, and she said herself, "Betrayal is just an anagram for believe me." 

So it seems that this friendship could be a little toxic from the start.

While everyone else is either detained, running from cops, or making frenemies, Picard is on his own mission to visit his good friend Guinan (Ito Aghayere), who in 2024, has a younger appearance. After a lot of back and forth, and Guinan determined to leave Earth, Picard confesses to her.

Turns out, there are several "watchers" whose duty it is to protect the destiny of certain individuals, Picard principally among them. Guinan then takes Picard to a park where he assumes he will meet this watcher. Instead, a small girl with pure white eyes approaches and threatens to harm Guinan before telling Picard to follow her. According to Guinan, this is normal, so Picard reluctantly follows. He is then taken on a brisk walk and passed off to another human with white eyes, and then another. These humans seem to be possessed by the watcher as they ensure Picard is not being followed.

At the end of the episode, Picard sees Laris (Orla Brady), who then transports him in a plume of purple smoke out of the park. The future Picard found himself in, mentions Laris' death but in 2024 she hasn't died yet. We're also briefly shown Q (John de Lancie) who, much to his own surprise, seems to be losing his powers. There are only three days left to save the fate of the galaxy and Picard has just been whisked away to an unknown location while the rest of the crew are in their own forms of chaos. 

This is fine. Everything is fine.