Warning! The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard's Season 1 finale. Read at your own risk!
Star Trek: Picard had several notable things worth mentioning in its final two episodes, though the most consequential one may be that the much-buzzed prophecy talked about all through Season 1 was true. As the prophecies the Tal Shiar saw were legit, Soji was "The Destroyer," or at least would've been had she allowed the beacon to bring the ancient synthetic species to the modern day. Thankfully, the Star Trek universe was spared, and Soji's decision saved everyone from a very messy battle that would've killed many.
Unfortunately, fans only saw a little bit of this species, which bore tentacles somewhat similar to something seen only briefly in Star Trek: Discovery. It was an interesting sight considering Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery dealt with thwarting a artificial being hell-bent on potentially destroying humanity. So, are these two events connected, and if so, does it mean we'll one day see a crossover between Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery?
Star Trek: Picard's Synthetic Armaggedon
The Tal Shiar's "admonition" told of an event 200 to 300 thousand years ago in which synthetic life advanced to a point where it threatened humanity. A machine was left behind as a warning from the survivors, which the Romulans found at some point much later. The machine projected imagery of unimaginable horrors the advanced Synthetics unleashed on organics, and while the visuals audiences saw were pretty generic, one description of the prophecy from another character referenced a being who beat a drum made from the skin of children.
The horrific prophecy drove many organics who viewed it to madness, suicide, or a willingness to do whatever it takes to prevent a Synth uprising. When a Synth viewed the prophecy, which is what happened in Star Trek: Picard's first part of the finale, a different message was seen. Per the episode, these ancient beings were somewhere lying in wait, and could be summoned by Synths of the future in order to protect them and extinguish all organic life once more.
These beings were only seen partially and briefly in Star Trek: Picard, as long black machine tentacles pushed out of a red portal. Soji closed the portal before any escaped, however, so it would appear the threat of Star Trek dealing with these life forms is over for now. Of course, should any other Synthetic being get a wise idea to bring them back, they're just a beacon call away apparently.
Star Trek: Discovery's Time Rift And Control
The mechanical tentacle seen in Star Trek: Picard looked very similar to one seen in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 when Captain Pike and Ash Tyler's shuttle was sucked into a time rift. The duo were attacked by a probe Pike launched, which had advanced 500 years in the rift and started rifling through the shuttle's available information. Later, that probe infected Synth commander Airiam, who later infected Section 31's artificial intelligence Control.
Ultimately the goal of this program was to obtain a massive ancient data dump of information known to the Discovery crew as the sphere. The program was relentless and, after the infected Control took hold of Section 31's Leland via nanites in his body, continued to pursue Discovery for the sphere's data. It was believed by that if Control obtained this data, he could use it to wipe out the universe in a mass extinction event.
Ultimately, it was believed that Control died in the finale of Star Trek: Discovery, but with the crew aware these beings could return to attempt to steal the sphere's data, they used the Discovery's unique technology to time travel 1000 years into the future. Their existence would be wiped from Starfleet records, in an effort to prevent other malicious A.I. from finding their location via technology.
Are These Two Stories Linked?
Back when Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 ended, many wondered if the show was introducing an origin story of sorts for the Borg. It's hilarious then that Star Trek: Picard Season 1 went out of its way to drive home the victim status of Borg drones, and show they are slaves with no say in what they do once assimilated. The Borgs clearly don't seem to be the source or aggressors of either story, but are the ancient advanced synthetics cut from the same cloth as the probe synth that caused so much trouble in Star Trek: Discovery?
Both non-organic life forms had a penchant for mass-extinction events specifically geared towards eliminating organic life forms. Honestly, that sounds par for the course for any sci-fi evil robot, but it's very suspicious how similar these goals are between the two. And, as I've mentioned a few times now, the similarity between those mechanical tentacles.
Of course, Star Trek: Discovery's non-organic was allegedly from the future, and Star Trek: Picard's apocalyptic non-organics are hundreds of thousands of years old. At least, that's what the characters thought in each respective series, though keep in mind both inorganics appeared through very bizarre methods. Pike and Ash were attacked through a time rift, and Soji nearly summoned these creatures from some beacon that created a portal. Is it possible one party or both were mistaken about the details of this species?
Could This Villain Lead To A Star Trek: Picard And Discovery Crossover?
My theory is that it's no coincidence that there are similarities between villains in Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery. I think there's some shared history, or even story between these two, and it may one day lead to a crossover event between at least these two shows. Hell, the Section 31 show may be included as well, considering they were most impacted by Control's sentience in Season 2 of Discovery.
I'm not exactly sure how these mysteries may tie together, but it's not hard to see a reality in which Jean-Luc Picard and Michael Burnham one day come face to face. The time travel capabilities of the Discovery ensure that, not to mention that starships have been known to jump between time and realities on their own. From what we've learned so far, this threat will take a lot to overcome, so it may take some of humanity's best from all eras to overcome.
Which, come to think of it, may be the reason why Alex Kurtzman is green-lighting new Star Trek shows left and right. Sure, all these shows will be great for Star Trek fans to enjoy for years to come, but having so many active Trek shows on at one time allows for crossover events in a way that past shows rarely capitalized on. I'd love to see some mega Star Trek crossover, which may be why I'm rooting so hard for these events to be connected.
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