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Star Trek Gives A New Reason For Romulans To Hate Picard and Starfleet
The latest episode of Star Trek: Picard gives the Romulans a compelling new reason to hate Picard and Starfleet. The Romulans, who are one of the most important races in Star Trek lore, play a key role in Picard and factor heavily into Picard's post-Next Generation history and the setup for the new series.
Early on, Star Trek: Picard established that years ago, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) turned his back on Starfleet because it decided not to help the Romulans in their hour of need. When the star orbited by Romulus threatened to go supernova, a rescue plan was put in place, but Starfleet's commitment to this plan was shaken when androids destroyed their rescue fleet. The rescue effort was thus called off, and Picard was furious that Starfleet went back on its promise to help evacuate the endangered Romulans. Later, it was stated that Picard told Starfleet that he would resign if they didn't follow through with his plan. Much to his surprise and disappointment, Picard's resignation was accepted.
The fourth episode of Star Trek: Picard provides insight into how the Romulans felt about what happened and goes into a bit more detail about how Picard responded to Starfleet's decision. As pointed out by Raffi (Michelle Hurd) in the previous episode, Picard reacted to Starfleet backing out of the rescue mission by choosing to do nothing at all. A argument on the planet Vashti with a former Romulan senator (Evan Parke) forces Picard to face the reality of what he did -- or in this case, didn't do.
The senator angrily reminds Picard of how they were led to believe that Picard and Starfleet wanted to help them. In flashbacks, Picard was shown assuring the Romulans that they would do everything they could. So when he never returned and never followed through on his promises, they felt betrayed and abandoned by Picard. In a way, the hatred directed at Picard is justified. Though Picard did try to help them, just as the senator claims, Picard gave up after attempts to persuade Starfleet failed. It's true that Picard didn't look for another way to save them, as indicated by his conversation with Raffi in episode 3, who thought that they could try a different tactic.
The Romulans' point of view on what happened is an interesting - yet not unexpected - take on the failed rescue mission, and it remains to be seen what effect their view of him will have on Star Trek: Picard's plot going forward, considering the guilt Picard already harbors regarding the incident. This internal conflict over the Romulans only adds to the amount of problems currently faced by Picard, who is determined to do whatever it takes to find Data's daughter and save her from a secret group of Romulan villains, completely unaware that he may have a spy amongst his crew.
