Star Trek: Picard claims to pass the torch but what does that mean?

Star Trek: Picard may set up the next generation of characters but what does that mean?

Star Trek: Picard will not only close out the series with season three but maybe Patrick Stewart and his iconic character Jean-Luc Picard. We’ve already said goodbye for good to Data (again) and the folks behind Picard are hinting that Data may not be the only one we say goodbye to forever after the series ends.

Terry Matalas, the showrunner of Picard, sat down with SFX Magazine to talk about the future of Star Trek after Picard, and in the interview, he alluded to the next generation of stories and characters, but not all of them are going to make it out of season three.

As Matalas goes on to say;

"I think there are ways of seeing these characters again, in a kind of Next, Next Generation story. Not all these characters—I’m not gonna say they all necessarily make it out safely of season 3. But I will say that in science fiction, there are always ways of seeing people again. So of course, who wouldn’t want to do this forever?"

But he also makes it a point to address that this is about starting the next generation of characters as well, and who will be involved in that.

"…This season is very much a passing of the torch to the next generation. So it will really be up to the fans to decide if they want to see more. Star Trek has always been up to the fans. The fans brought back the original series characters into feature films and conventions and kept it alive, it will have to be the same here. So we’ll see."

Who could Picard be passing the torch to after the series ends?

Picard had a future class of characters in season one with Soji Asha, Agnes Jurati, and Elnor; a crop of young, interesting characters that Trek could’ve used to build up a future spinoff. Sounds like a good idea right? Well, they’re all gone now.

None of them will be back, with Isa Briones (Soji), Alison Pill (Agnes), and Evan Evagora (Elnor) all confirming they’re not coming back for the third season. Now, maybe that’s a misdirection from the trio, but it seems like the franchise is trying to distance itself from the first two very poorly received seasons of Picard.

So if the younger cast members of Picard aren’t coming back, who? Well, maybe Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) but no one is really clamoring for more from them.

With the rumors that the season will revolve around Picard having an unknown son, perhaps that may be where the series goes. After all, most of the cast has kids that could be brought in. William Riker and Deanna Troi have a daughter, Worf has a son in Alexander Rozchenko, and Geordi La Forge will also have two daughters in season three of Picard.

Not to mention if they bring back Soji, whose basically the daughter of Data when you break it all down, you could literally have a crew of characters who are second-generation Trek. Picard and Crusher’s son, the La Forge sisters, Alexander, Riker, and Deanna’s daughter Kestra. That’s not all though, because you could also bring back Crusher’s first child, Wesley, as well as Data’s first daughter Lal.

I know Lal is “dead” but it’s Star Trek and she’s a robot, so just have Wesley do some timey-wimey bull-nonsense and you can fix that issue pretty dang fast.