Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has a reunion with Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) in Star Trek: Picard season 2 but why is the El Aurian bartender on Earth? Guinan has been a pivotal part of Picard's life ever since she joined Star Trek: The Next Generation in season 2. It quickly became clear that the USS Enterprise-D's Captain and the proprietor of Ten Forward have a unique and special bond, though the details of their connection have not been defined. It's fitting that Guinan joins Star Trek: Picard season 2, with Whoopi Goldberg, who has a Star Trek history, reprising her iconic role.
Star Trek: Picard season 2 also brings Q (John de Lancie) back to torment the retired Starfleet Admiral, who is Q's favorite human to place "on trial." In Star Trek: Picard season 2, Q warps reality once again, disrupting the timeline so that the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet have become authoritarian regimes. Yet Star Trek: Picard season 2 also involves time travel and "the road not taken," which disrupts the lives of not just Jean-Luc but his entire motley crew aboard La Sirena, including Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), Lt. Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), and Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill). Star Trek: Picard's trailer shows Jean-Luc sent back in time to Los Angeles in 2024, but the Starfleet legend knew exactly where to find Guinan in that time period.
It's not too surprising that Guinan is on Earth in the early 21st century since she'd already visited the third rock from the sun in the 19th century. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5/6 two-parter "Time's Arrow," Picard and the Enterprise crew traveled back to San Francisco in 1893 to stop aliens from the future. There, Picard met Guinan, as well as literary luminaries like Mark Twain (Jerry Hardin) and a young Jack London (Michael Aron). It's conceivable Guinan, who seems ageless, remained in California for the next 130 years and eventually migrated to Los Angeles by 2024 if she never left Earth after "Time's Arrow." The next known sighting of Guinan wouldn't be until 2293 when she was aboard the El Aurian ship that was hit by the Nexus at the start of Star Trek Generations.
It's possible, however, that the Guinan in Star Trek: Picard season 2 is also from the future, like Jean-Luc. The actors from Star Trek: The Next Generation have unavoidably aged and thus, Guinan also appears older, despite the fact that the El Aurian is extremely long-lived, at the very least, if not actually immortal. So it could be that Star Trek: Picard's Guinan is also part of Q's gambit to alter the Federation's timeline rather being than the same Guinan from "Time's Arrow" who chronologically remained on Earth. Q and Guinan share a mutual disdain so Guinan, who has unique talents that have never been quantified, could be the disruptor in Q's master plan. Regardless, Jean-Luc obviously knew Guinan ran a bar in 21st century Los Angeles.
Guinan's role in Star Trek: Picard season 2 may be relatively minor and she may only appear in the reunion scene with Jean-Luc, as opposed to being in multiple episodes. Yet, as ever, Guinan's help is vital to Picard's journey, and her intriguing counsel that, "your answers are not in the stars and they never have been" could speak volumes about Jean-Luc's destiny. The wisdom his old friend Guinan imparts appears to be quite the revelation for Jean-Luc, who has dedicated his entire life to exploring (and saving) the galaxy. More than a mere fan-service cameo to reunite Patrick Stewart and Whoopi Goldberg on-screen, Guinan's role in Star Trek: Picard could be pivotal to his saving the entire timeline, starting with their long-awaited reunion on Earth.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 premieres Thursday, March 3, 2022, on Paramount+.