Star Trek: Picard Makes A Huge Change To The Galaxy

Star Trek: Picard has made a huge change to the galaxy by eliminating the Romulan Neutral Zone, which had existed for over 200 years. The Romulans have returned to prominence in the new CBS All-Access series charting the twilight years of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). In fact, the last two decades of the Starfleet legend's life have been inextricably tied to the Romulans and the tragedy of the supernova that destroyed their homeworld. The aftermath of the Romulan supernova has now literally redrawn the map of Star Trek's galaxy by abolishing the Neutral Zone.

The concept of the Neutral Zone was introduced in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Balance of Terror", which was also the first appearance of the Romulans. The Neutral Zone was a vast region of space separating the Alpha Quadrant, where the United Federation of Planets is based, and the Beta Quadrant, which was the domain of the Romulan Star Empire. The Neutral Zone was established in the aftermath of the first war between Earth and Romulus in 2160 with the edict that any violation by either side would constitute an act of war. After the no man's land was agreed upon, the Federation had no contact with the Romulans for over a century until "Balance of Terror", when a cloaked Romulan warbird destroyed Starfleet outposts along the Neutral Zone before it was destroyed by Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) U.S.S. Enterprise. Despite several skirmishes between Starfleet and the Romulans, the Neutral Zone remained in effect for another century - until the cataclysm caused by the Romulan supernova in the 2380s.

Star Trek: Picard is set in 2399, over a decade after the supernova destroyed Romulus and caused the collapse of the Neutral Zone. In the aftermath, the surviving Romulan people were scattered across the Beta Quadrant (after the Federation reneged on the rescue mission Admiral Picard promised to lead). As a result, the Romulan Star Empire was no more, replaced by a decentralized and far less powerful Romulan Free State. Further, when the Neutral Zone fell, it instigated a wave of lawlessness as Romulan pirates and warlords sought to take advantage of the situation. To help protect the innocent, a vigilante outfit called the Fenris Rangers arose and soon counted Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) among its ranks, acknowledging that the end of the Neutral Zone has forced a new order on the galaxy.

The Neutral Zone was the cause of tension and drama in many Star Trek episodes and movies involving the Romulans, especially when violating it became a necessity. In TOS, Kirk and Spock purposely took the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone during their successful gambit to steal a Romulan cloaking device in "The Enterprise Incident". In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard's U.S.S. Enterprise-D was introduced to the Borg when the cybernetic race literally made Federation outposts along the Neutral Zone vanish. And in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the Romulans were aware that not even the Neutral Zone would have kept them safe if the Federation was conquered by the Dominion. Ironically, in Star Trek: Nemesis, Praetor Shinzon (Tom Hardy) teased Picard with the abolishment of the Neutral Zone, which happened anyway a few years after Shinzon's death thanks to the supernova.

In real-world terms, the collapse of the Neutral Zone is akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall or if the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea were to vanish. There's no denying the end of the Romulan Neutral Zone alters the balance of power in the galaxy and, in Star Trek: Picard, Federation-based vessels now freely enter and leave the Beta Quadrant. But instead of facing the Romulan Star Empire's military might, interlopers must now take their chances amidst the lawlessness of the Romulan space. The wall between the Alpha and Beta Quadrant coming down is historic but the Star Trek galaxy isn't necessarily a safer place without the Neutral Zone in Star Trek: Picard's era.

Star Trek: Picardstreams Thursdays on CBS All-Access and Fridays internationally on Amazon Prime Video.

Source: screenrant.com