Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 5 - "Fly Me To The Moon"

Star Trek: Picard’s revelations about the Picard family history have widened a Star Trek: Nemesis plot hole. In Nemesis, Jean-Luc is questioned about his family’s history as explorers by his villainous clone Shinzon. Picard responds by telling Shinzon that he was “the first Picard to leave our solar system. It caused quite a stir in the family...

In Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 5 “Fly Me to the Moon,” it’s revealed by the Supervisor that Picard’s ancestor Renée is destined to embark on the Europa space mission, a beacon of hope for humanity that has been teased throughout the 2024 scenes so far. It’s her discovery on Jupiter’s moon Io that puts humankind on the course to the more open, fairer society of the future that Q has altered.

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Renée Picard's Europa mission to Jupiter’s moon doesn’t contradict Nemesis’ assertion that he was the first Picard to leave the solar system. It does, however, throw up several questions about why Jean-Luc never mentioned her in response to Shinzon’s question. He’s visibly shocked by the Supervisor’s revelation that she’s watching over one of his ancestors and is delighted to discover more about her. “She sounds remarkable,” he says, clearly moved. While Jean-Luc may not have known about this vitally important ancestor until his later life, her name lives on in the family. Picard’s nephew, who dreams of being an explorer like his Uncle Jean-Luc, is named René. This is surely no coincidence. René is tragically killed in Star Trek: Generations, which also contradicts Jean-Luc’s self-centered assertion about the family’s explorer credentials in Nemesis.

Star Trek: Generations Established Picard’s Explorer Ancestors

Star Trek Generations Picard Family Death

In an early scene in Generations, Picard experiences a family death. Discussing this with Counsellor Troi in the wake of the devastating news that his brother Robert and nephew René have perished in a fire, she recognizes his pride in his family history, which Picard concedes. He talks of family stories of the “Picard who fought at Trafalgar. The Picard who won the Nobel prize for chemistry. The Picards who settled the first Martian colony.

Renée Picard is conspicuous by her absence. Given that in Star Trek history, the Martian colonies are in 2103, it’s unlikely that she would be moving to Mars nearly eight decades after the events of Star Trek: Picard season 2. What else drives people to colonize another planet but exploration? Picard’s Martian settler ancestors chime with Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi update of America’s frontier myth. Adding Renée to the Picard family tree is in keeping with the hopeful future of space exploration that inspired Roddenberry's original vision.

Renée Picard Expands Jean-Luc’s Family Tradition

Renee Picard Patch

The introduction of Renée Picard as Jean-Luc’s great-great-aunt to Star Trek mythology further expands this family history of space exploration. The Supervisor recounts Renée’s life to Picard thus far - teaching herself to sail by age 10, learning Cantonese by age 11, and beginning university at 16. This is someone who very clearly has the inquisitive mind of an explorer.

Her work as a test pilot led to her being recruited by NASA for the upcoming Europa mission. However, Renée is experiencing a crisis of confidence, rooted in anxiety and depression as she’s doubtful that she has what it takes to join the mission. With Star Trek's Q, whose powers don't work, masquerading as a psychotherapist to erode Renée's self-confidence, it’s up to Picard and the crew of the La Sirena to ensure that she fulfills her destiny as an explorer. Despite Jean-Luc's namechecking of her as the first Picard in space in the Star Trek: Picard season 2 premiere, he seems unaware of the intricacies of Renée’s life in 2024. He's also ignorant of her significant importance to the future of mankind. Is this why he doesn't mention her to Shinzon?

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Star Trek: Nemesis Contradicted Picard’s Known Explorer History

A lively discussion between Picard and Shinzon

The simplest answer for Renée Picard not being mentioned in Nemesis is that Picard season 2 wouldn’t be written and broadcast for another two decades. However, that doesn’t explain the missing Martian colonists, first mentioned eight years earlier in Generations. The contradictory scene in Star Trek: Nemesis takes place in the Romulan Senate as Picard comes face to face with his clone. Shinzon explains the abandoned Romulan plot to replace Jean-Luc, and how he was eventually cast aside when a new government came to power. He was disappeared, sent to the Dilithium mines on Remus to die. However, he survived through sheer force of will, and the protection of the Reman slaves.

Shinzon is fascinated by Picard, and the stories of the great Enterprise captain. As he explains the motivations for his violent coup, he tries to find common ground with his progenitor. He tells Jean-Luc, “If you had lived my life and experienced the suffering of my people, you'd be standing where I am.” Jean-Luc refutes this suggestion, and Picard talks of his Federation responsibilities, and of the importance of keeping personal feelings at bay. In another attempt to gain Picard’s understanding, Shinzon asks about their past, and what it means to be human. Despite Shinzon’s repeated use of the question “Were we Picards always…” Jean-Luc’s answers are firmly rooted in his own story, and not that of his ancestors.

Why Picard Ignores His Ancestors’ Achievements In Nemesis

Renee Picard

There are several reasons that Picard doesn’t mention his ancestors’ explorer credentials when questioned by Shinzon. The most obvious is that he simply doesn’t trust him. Picard says as much when Shinzon claims to only want peace. The scene closes with Picard stating “Nothing would make me more proud than to take your hand in friendship. In time, when that trust has been earned.” Also, Picard is a Starfleet captain, who can sense a tactical advantage. Shinzon has already proved he knows a great deal about the crew of the Enterprise by this point, and Jean-Luc doesn’t want to give him another advantage through personal Picard family stories. By choosing only to mention that he was the first Picard to leave the solar system, causing family discord in the process, he is highlighting his own individuality and single-mindedness. In doing so, he is also rejecting Shinzon’s assertion that Jean-Luc would have followed the same violent course of action as he did.

The introduction of Renée adds a different dimension to the scene, however. The Martian colonists are easily explained away as Jean-Luc withholding information from Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis. His surprise, delight, and protectiveness over Renée in the Supervisor’s apartment suggest that much information has been withheld from him. Renée’s achievements beyond merely being the first in the line to go into space are an odd oversight for a man who, in Generations, prides himself on his knowledge of the Picard family history. In the previous episode, Picard told Agnes of the Chateau’s wartime history in the 1940s and the Picards' escape to the United Kingdom. How can he remember the Picards' English heritage but not the significance of the first Picard in space?

It's possible that the answer lies in Jean-Luc’s father’s determination that his son stay on Earth rather than explore the stars. Maybe Picard family history has conflated Renée’s mental health condition with her time as an astronaut. This would result in Maurice, an abusive and complicated patriarch, barring his family from space travel out of some misguided and ill-informed attempt to protect them from whatever fate befell her. Given how important and inspirational Renée’s story is, there has clearly been a decision not to hand it down through the generations along with the Nobel prizes and Martian colonies that Picard withheld in Star Trek: Nemesis. As Star Trek: Picard season 2 continues, viewers can expect to learn much more about the Picard family tree, and their connections with Star Trek history.

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Star Trek: Picard Season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.