The Star Trek: Picard series finale aired on April 20, 2023, and included a teaser of what’s to come in the Star Trek franchise. The series returned to familiar territory by bringing back one of the franchise’s most iconic villains, the Borg Queen (Alice Krige). However, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) had to be especially careful with how they faced the threat due to the revelation in season 3, episode 9, “Vox,” that their son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), was connected to the Borg. The storyline showed how Picard’s past assimilation into the Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation came back to haunt him and his son.
Fortunately, in the season finale, “The Last Generation,” Crusher and Picard successfully rescue Jack and defeat the Borg once more. After the victory, the episode jumps ahead one year to explore what paths the characters are currently on in the Star Trek franchise, which has been picking up steam with shows like Star Trek: Discovery and Picard. It shows no signs of slowing down, with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek: Section 31 being confirmed recently. So it wasn’t surprising that the Picard finale teased some future stories.
The biggest development in the ending is the introduction of a new Enterprise—Enterprise-G—with a new crew: Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), Commander Raffie Musiker (Michelle Hurd), and Ensign Jack. This already sets up the perfect opportunity for Seven of Nine and Musiker to get their own spinoff series or film in the future. However, the post-credits scene teased that Jack may also be a big part of Star Trek‘s future.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 post-credits scene explained
The final scene of Star Trek: Picard season 3 takes place after the credits start rolling and features a very unexpected guest. The scene sees Jack settling into his new role as Ensign aboard the Enterprise-G and unpacking his belongings in his cabin, including a photo of his parents. Then he hears a voice from offscreen, which says, “Well, look at you. A chip off the old block.” The voice belongs to John de Lancie’s Q, who was introduced in The Next Generation and appeared in season 2 of Picard.
What made his return so unexpected was that he was believed to have died in season 2. Despite being an omnipotent god-like being and a longtime nemesis of Picard, Q found his power inexplicably fading in season 2 and eventually used the last of it to aid Picard and his crew. Jack references Q’s supposed farewell in season 2 by reminding him, “You told my father humanity’s trial is over.” Q responds, “It is. For him. But I’m here today because of you. You see, yours, Jack, has just begun.”
Not only did the scene tease Jack’s future in the franchise, but it was a nice reference to The Next Generation. In Stewart’s very first appearance as Picard in the first episode of The Next Generation, he meets Q. Hence, having Picard end with Jack right where Picard first began his journey was executive producer Terry Matalas’ clever way of signifying the passing of the torch from Picard to his son. Matalas also confirmed that Jack does have a very big future in the Star Trek franchise. Only time will tell which Trek project Jack will show up in next and whether Q will return to continue pestering him as he did his father.
(featured image: Paramount+)
