Did Star Trek already reveal the outcome of Star Trek: Picard season 2's Borg-Federation peace tease? Star Trek: Picard has touched upon many crucial themes in its sophomore season - the importance of transporter accuracy, how Picard drinking coffee should be a massive red flag, and why you should NEVER fall in love with a beautiful stranger from the past. Before all that, however, Star Trek: Picard broached the tricky subject of peace between the Federation and the Borg. In season 2's premiere, Captain Rios' USS Stargazer received a subspace message requesting entry to the Federation, later revealed to have been Borg-ian in origin.
The meeting went as badly as you'd expect, quickly devolving into a firefight before Jean-Luc Picard ultimately initiated the Stargazer's self-destruct sequence. Outcome notwithstanding, the Borg were acting rather unlike themselves in the buildup to the battle - even giving Picard's team enough time to plan a course of action. Although the Borg Queen forced herself aboard, she didn't initiate the hostilities, and even when phasers were fired, the Queen only stunned her Starfleet opponents. Star Trek: Picard suggests the Borg really were looking for a truce, and when Jean-Luc returns to that moment later in the season, he may choose a less aggressive course of action.
As Team Picard fixes the timeline and plays Q's game, the possibility of a future relationship between Federation and Borg - one that doesn't involve blowing each other up every few seasons - hangs heavy in the air. Curiously, Star Trek might've already proved Borg peace does become a reality. The Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1 episode "Temporal Edict" (which takes place between Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard) ends on a flashforward to an unspecified point in the far future. The scene depicts a Starfleet classroom with students of all species (including the Ferengi!) all of whom honor Miles O'Brien as the most important figure in Starfleet history. More importantly for our purposes, the scene also features a young Borg child among the students...
An assimilated Borg tot enrolled in the Starfleet education system is a sure sign that, whenever this scene takes place, the Federation and Borg Collective find common ground sooner or later. Could Star Trek: Picard represent the very beginning of that process? If Admiral Picard returns to the Stargazer in his native timeline and successfully brokers friendly relations between former foes, that might spark a path toward the Collective sending students to Starfleet Academy.
Annoyingly, there are caveats. First and foremost, the Borg child in Star Trek: Lower Decks might've been removed from the Collective, just like Seven of Nine, Hugh or Jean-Luc Picard himself. This seems unlikely, however, since the student retains his trademark eye implant and pasty complexion. Even in Star Trek: Picard's era, surgery can remove more or less all external Borg implants. By Star Trek: Lower Decks' future timeline, those procedures should be even more advanced, which suggests a Borg who looks like a Borg is probably still a Borg. You could also argue that the comedic tone of Star Trek: Lower Decks allows for more continuity bending than your regular Trek TV series. In other words, Miles O'Brien isn't really Starfleet's most important figure *gasp*. Nevertheless, the animated series is still canon, giving no reason the flashforward should be discounted.
Whatever direction Star Trek: Picard season 2's Borg storyline takes, the visual of a young drone sitting alongside other Starfleet students - animated or otherwise - proves Jean-Luc can give peace a chance.
Star Trek: Picard continues Thursdays on Paramount+.