Could Professor Moriarty be back to stop Lore In Star Trek: Picard?

Will Professor Moriarty be a villain or a savior in season three of Star Trek: Picard? 

Since learning that Daniel Davis is back as Professor Moriarty in what is supposed to be the final season of Star Trek: Picard, fans have been wondering what brings the character back and how big of an impact his appearance will have on Admiral Picard and the crew from the Enterprise.

Moriarty only appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in his last episode, he was led to believe he’d escaped the holodeck and the Enterprise. So fans have wondered if he’ll learn he was duped, and he’s back to seek his revenge. But Daniel Davis confirmed in a Cameo video that he filmed his scenes in one day as well as echoing Jonathan Frakes’ comments about this not being the professor from the Enterprise. All of his scenes being filmed in one day would seem to remove the possibilty of him being a villain for the entirety of season three. So why could he be back?

Professor Moriarty could be returning as a hero this time.

While it may sound implausible, the supposition is that the professor could be back because he is the only one who can match wits with Lore like he did with Data. The Popcast Channel posted a review with this idea, and it does sound reasonable.  If Lore is up to his old tricks again, who better to outwit him than an age-old trickster himself?

In the trailer, we do see the professor with a weapon, but there could be so many reasons for that. Trailers give us just enough information to get us interested and start asking questions, much like this post is doing now. So while it may sound weird to think of Professor Moriarty as a hero, it’s certainly possible. On Star Trek, anything is possible.

What do you think? Is the professor back for good or evil?