Star Trek Guide

Star Trek: How Voyager Set Up Seven Of Nine's Picard Twist

Fans were surprised to learn in Star Trek: Picard that Seven of Nine had left Starfleet, but her motivations for leaving were set up in Star Trek: Voyager. Seven of Nine made her debut on Voyager at the beginning of season 4 and quickly became a fan-favorite character. A former Borg drone that was rescued and rehabilitated by Voyager's crew, much of Seven's story revolved around reclaiming her humanity and attempting to fit in on Voyager. By the time the ship made it back to the Alpha Quadrant, Seven had become a member of the crew and seemed poised to officially join Starfleet.

When it was announced that Seven would be returning in Star Trek: Picard, fans rejoiced at the chance to see what had happened to the former Borg drone. Seven's storyline in Picard season 1, however, was not what many fans had been expecting. Picard revealed that sometime after Voyager's return, Seven had actually left Starfleet and the Federation behind, moving out to the Beta Quadrant to join a vigilante peace-keeping group called the Fenris Rangers. The Rangers patrol the former Neutral Zone between Federation and Romulan space, attempting to maintain law and order and protect the vulnerable from anyone who would want to exploit them. For some fans, a change like this for Seven seemed completely out of character.

Click the button below to start this article in quick view. Start now

Even in Voyager, however, Seven had the makings of the person she would become in Star Trek: Picard. The seeds of Seven's eventual move to a vigilante lifestyle were planted in her character development on Voyager. Even though she integrated into Voyager's crew, Seven always tended to have a different way of doing things than the Starfleet way. She had a strong moral compass and tended to have a binary idea of right and wrong. She also believed in decisive action to rectify wrongs, which sometimes lead her to go against Starfleet protocol and come into conflict with the crew, especially in her early days aboard Voyager. These traits all suggest that the life of a vigilante would be more appealing to Seven than life within a rigidly structured organization like Starfleet.

Since roughly 20 years have passed between the two series, Seven is also a different person in Picard. Even though Seven was a fully grown adult by the time Voyager rescued her, she had been taken and assimilated by the Borg as a child and had been robbed of much of her adolescence as a result. Her years on Voyager were when she began growing up again, at least emotionally and psychologically if not physically. When this is taken into account, the evolution of Seven's character in Picard could be seen as her having truly come into herself since audiences last saw her. This could have included realizing that she doesn't want to operate the same way as Starfleet or the Federation.

Of course, Seven's leaving Starfleet was also implied to have something to do with the Federation's ban on synthetic lifeforms, since her remaining Borg implants mean that she is likely subject to scrutiny because of the ban. Even if it had more to do with this than with her evolution as a character, her decision to join the Fenris Rangers is not as out of left field as people might think. Hopefully, Star Trek: Picard season 2 shows not only more of Seven of Nine's backstory but also her continued character development.

About The Author

Source: screenrant.com