Star Trek: Picard Kills Off Voyager's [SPOILER]
SPOILERS ahead for Star Trek: Picard's fifth episode, "Stardust City Rag."
A member of the Star Trek: Voyager crew met a grisly end in the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard, "Stardust City Rag," as the young ex-Borg Icheb was murdered. Introduced in Voyager season 6, Icheb was one of a handful of adolescent Borg drones who were stranded alone on an otherwise dead Borg vessel, inaccurately believing the Borg collective would be looking for them. Realizing they had been left for dead, four of the five drones returned to Voyager where their individuality was restored.
Of the four former drones, Icheb was by far the most prominent, and became something of a foster child to Seven of Nine. Icheb was granted entry into Starfleet Academy once Voyager re-established partial communication with Starfleet Command, and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him. It turns out that future was pretty short-lived.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view. Start nowA few years after Starfleet withdrew from their mission to save the Romulan Empire from an impending supernova, disparate forces came together in an effort to help the Romulans however they could. One of these groups was the Fenris Rangers, a group Seven eventually joined. During shore leave from the USS Coleman, Icheb worked with the Rangers and Seven, but little did either of them realize there was a mercenary in their midst. An arms dealer named Bejazal was secretly hunting down former Borg drones to harvest them for parts and then sell them on the galactic black market. Icheb was lured into a trap, and Bejazal's people slowly tore him apart while fully awake. By the time Seven arrived and dispatched Bejazal's associates, the damage had been done - Icheb was dying. Seven mercifully shot him through the heart, tearfully telling him she considered him her child.
Icheb's death is Seven's primary motivation throughout "Stardust City Rag." She manipulates Picard and his crew to get her to the pleasure hub Freecloud because she knows that's where she can find Bejazal. With Bejazal herself at the end of Seven's phaser, Picard does his best classic The Next Generation speech about how vengeance is not justice, how people like Seven have to be above settling scores through murder. Seven stands down and returns to the La Sirena with Picard, the latter believing he had helped the former find a better way. However, once Picard and his crew depart Freecloud, Seven returns to hunt down Bejazal. She wanted to help Picard preserve his sense of hope, but she wasn't leaving without exacting her revenge for what was essentially the death of her son. The last we see of Seven, she's wielding dual phasers as she blasts her way out of Freecloud.
Seven may have avenged Icheb, but her story isn't over yet. Fans know Seven will be returning later this season on Star Trek: Picard, but in what capacity remains to be seen. Will she have a change of heart and join Picard's crew now that she has no personal mission? Will she meet Hugh, the ex-Borg overseeing the artifact, who was essentially a trial run for her character? Fans will have to wait and see what the back half of Star Trek: Picard has in store for Seven of Nine, but this is definitely a farewell to poor Icheb.
Source: screenrant.com