It seems there is a mystery for viewers. While Star Trek: Picard Season 3 has started strong, it’s given us many questions. First, who attacks Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and her son, Jack (Ed Speleers)? There is an interesting detail mentioned. It’s that their attackers change faces. So my obvious Star Trek nerd question is, Will The Dominion Return In Picard Season 3?
Season 3, episode one, leaves us on a good cliffhanger. The “Unknown vessel” has approached Picard and Riker onboard the SS Eleos. But who is this mysterious new enemy? We, as viewers, know that this ship belongs to Amanda Plummer’s “Captain Vadic”. She has been teased as this “Khan level” villain for the season. However, the second episode shed light on her forces. Jack mentions the attackers change faces. Therefore, it leads me to believe a species we’ve seen before is being teased.
The Changeling Face Of Evil
Changelings. There, I said it. However, could Changelings be involved in what is going on? We need to take into account what Jack says in episode one. During the impending attack, he says, “Each time they had different faces”. Therefore, this sounds like a familiar Star Trek species we might know. Additionally, this has been expanded in a preview clip for the upcoming episodes. Jack notes how it was Klingons, Fenris Rangers, and Starfleet officers. Either someone likes fancy dress, or this is the species we know.
Obviously, our season villain could just be employing people to hunt Doctor Crusher down. However, that is a bit of an odd choice in my mind. Also, we’ve already seen evidence that who we presume to be Vadic’s goons are using other species’ starships. Note that in episode one, the Eleos are attacked by Elachi starships. These ships are featured in Star Trek: Online and belong to the Elachi ships. However, the species that boards and goes head-to-head with Crusher are not Elachi. Looks like someone is hiding, then.
“Disengage”, the second episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 3, expands this theory. We get the extended conversation with Jack Crusher. However, the opening flashback also provides context for the Fenris Rangers. Whether these are the same Fenris Rangers who have come after Jack is unclear. However, they do appear to inform Vadic herself or someone related to her. Therefore, are these actually Fenris Rangers or people pretending to be them? Ahead of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 3, it’s unclear at this point.
A Dominion Connection & Conspiracy
With Michael Dorn reprising his role as Worf, we knew we’d be looking at some aspects of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Therefore, the Dominion War would need to be brought up somehow. However, it is an aspect of storytelling that the later iterations of Star Trek have somewhat ignored. We have seen the effects of the war, though. However, might we see something related to Worf and his fallout from the war? This has been teased by Showrunner Terry Matalas before.
Raffi (Michelle Hurd) and Worf seem to be investigating stolen technology. This tech that has been “nicked” by someone, likely Vadic, appears to be able to cripple Starfleet. Let’s wind back to Deep Space Nine. Under the Founders/Changelings, the Dominion practically fully infiltrated Starfleet to cripple them. Therefore, perhaps we are seeing something here as well. However, linking Changelings stealing tech and providing to Vadic while also considering Jack Crusher is a bit of a reach.
Let’s look at the “conspiracy” side of things. No, for once, we’re not going on about the parasites. This is looking at the conspiracy that Raffi and Worf are investigating. It has a strong possibility to do with Changelings. If we break apart the trailers for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, there are scenes with Starfleet Officers combating our main characters. Therefore, this also connects with the idea of some conspiracy and those who change faces. While the USS Titan-A is keeping Jack Crusher safe, perhaps there is even some among the crew who seek him out?
The End Result of The Dominion War
The Dominion War is over. Additionally, The Dominion is restricted to The Gamma Quadrant thanks to Odo. However, a storyline with Star Trek: Online explored the idea of a missing fleet returning. I don’t think that is the case right now. However, the evidence here makes us suspect that Changelings could be involved, especially when the trailer shows us Starfleet Officers trying to take down our main characters, like Captain Riker (Jonathan Frakes).
Ultimately it could be another species. We’ve seen others who can take on different forms. Also, hiring bounty hunters is somewhat alluded to in the third season’s second episode. It’s a good theory, but we will need more evidence. However, it remains confirmed and strong that the more we get about Worf, the more The Dominion aspect will likely be explored!
Additionally, while we’ve mentioned Vadic’s goons/henchmen, we know nothing about them. Their species of these mysterious creatures are rather odd. Some have compared them to Star Trek species from old. While others thought they could also be something drawn from Star Trek: Online. However, they could be Changelings themselves. For example, Beverly Crusher takes extreme measures to eliminate the boarding party. However, what if they are former Jem’Hadar? Hiding the faces makes sense, then?
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 airs on Paramount+ in the United States and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. However, the series will be available on Amazon’s Prime Video service for most international locations. For coverage of Star Trek: Picard Season 3, make sure to follow Trek Central!
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