Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) was the main villain of Star Trek: Picard season 1, but the damage she did to Starfleet was never dealt with or reconciled. Commodore Oh was revealed to be a Romulan mole; her real name was General Nedar, and the Vulcan/Romulan hybrid was a member of the android-hating Tal Shiar sect called the Zhat Vash. By Star Trek: Picard season 1's 2399 timeframe, Commodore Oh had been Chief of Starfleet Security for a decade, and her secret Romulan agenda changed the course of the galaxy.
By the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1, General Nedar dropped her Commodore Oh disguise to lead the Romulan fleet against the synthetics living on Coppelius. Nedar's goal was to annihilate the androids and to prevent them from contacting the other-dimensional artificial lifeforms who wanted to wipe out organic life in the galaxy. Nedar's fleet was intercepted by Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) piloting La Sirena, who was then backed up and rescued by Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) commanding the USS Zheng-He. Leading a fleet of Inquiry-class starships, Riker forced Nedar and the Romulans to stand down. But after Nedar fled, Star Trek: Picard never dealt with the ramifications of what she did during the time she posed as Commodore Oh.
Commodore Oh's Crimes Against Starfleet
General Nedar joined Starfleet in the mid-24th century soon after Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner) perfected the positronic android, Data. Artificial lifeforms like Data were deeply feared by the Zhat Vash. After Nedar adopted her disguise as the Vulcan Oh, she worked her way up the ranks of Starfleet, all the while secretly pursuing the Zhat Vash's goal of eliminating artificial lifeforms from the galaxy. Oh's greatest success was orchestrating the Mars Attack of 2385 by synthetics built by the Daystrom Institute. The devastating loss of life and property on Mars led the Federation to ban artificial lifeforms for the next 14 years. The synthetics ban Oh masterminded led to the death of Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Will Riker's son Thaddeus, who couldn't get treatment for mandaxic neurosclerosis.
As Chief of Starfleet Security, Commodore Oh continued to wage a covert war against synthetics. In 2390, Oh ordered Captain Alonzo Vandermeer to kill two synthetic ambassadors from Coppelius, which led Commander Cristobal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) to quit Starfleet. Oh also ran a secret Romulan hit squad out of Starfleet Headquarters using brother and sister Tal Shiar agents, Narek (Harry Treadaway) and Narissa (Peyton List). Like Oh, Narissa was a mole in Starfleet and posed as Lt. Rizzo. It was Narissa and her Zhat Vash shock troops who murdered Dahj (Isa Briones) under Oh's orders.
Why Picard Forgot All About Commodore Oh And The Zhat Vash
The disappearance of Commodore Oh and the Zhat Vash was a result of the creative changeover between Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2. Picard season 1's showrunner, Michael Chabon, created the Romulan concepts and backstories for Commodore Oh, the Zhat Vash, and their mythology. However, when Terry Matalas and Akiva Goldsman took the helm of Picard season 2, their focus was on bringing back Q (John de Lancie), Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching), and explaining the reason why Jean-Luc Picard decided to spend his life without a lasting romantic relationship.
Star Trek: Picard season 2 was set about a year and a half after the end of season 1, which allowed the new showrunners to wipe the slate clean from nearly everything Chabon based Picard season 1 on. By the end of Star Trek: Picard season 2, most of the original cast like Rios, Soji (Isa Briones), Elnor (Evan Evagora), and Dr. Agnes Jurati (Allison Pill) were written out of the series to enable the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation to reunite for season 3. At this point, Star Trek: Picard has moved well past the events of season 1, and Star Trek: Picard season 3 is unlikely to follow up on Commodore Oh and the damage she caused as Starfleet Chief of Security.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres February 16, 2023, on Paramount+.