History Recap / StarTrekPicardS1E08BrokenPieces

* FearlessFool: Invoked by a Centurion when Narissa asks if the Borg frighten him.
-->'''Centurion''': I'd be a fool if they didn't.

* KarmicDeath: The Romulan Centurion who came up with the idea to kill the Borg in stasis by blowing them out into space gets his neck snapped by the xBs.

* NeckSnap: Narissa's Centurion guard has his neck snapped by the xBs once Seven rallies them.

* SplitEdit: The RadioVoice of Narissa's lackey reporting to her the location of "the freak" is still heard after a HardCut from Narissa standing in Ramdha's room to Elnor sitting in Hugh's office.

* AbsenteeActor: Series regular Harry Treadaway doesn't appear in this episode.

-->'''Adm. Clancy:''' Admiral Picard, with all due respect, and at long last, will you please [[PrecisionFStrike shut the fuck up]]?

Elnor is indeed there, planning to face his BolivianArmyEnding. He fights hand-to-hand with the Romulan assailants until he's overpowered (and only because he was weakened by a flashbang), but help comes from an unexpected source: [[TheCavalry Seven of Nine]], striding in with a phaser flashing. "Where's Hugh?" she asks, "What is happening on this Cube?", but all Elnor can do is [[TheGlomp hug her in relief]].

Picard and Soji beam up to ''La Sirena'', and the ship sets course for Deep Space 12. Captain Rios has a clear reaction when Soji comes aboard. He consigns himself to his quarters and refuses to come out. Both he and Raffi are not quite happy to see Picard, since it was the latter's idea to bring Dr. Jurati aboard, and they believe she killed Bruce Maddox. Now he's done it again, with an even ''more'' MysteriousWaif, and they're both a little skeptical. Raffi asks if Picard [[ArmorPiercingQuestion really knows Soji at all]], and isn't exactly surprised when he can't answer.

Picard pages Adm. Clancy to tell her what he has discovered. He's triumphant that his hunches were right and calls on her to send a squadron of starships to rendezvous with him at [=DS12=]. He's so excited, in fact, that he won't let her get a word in edgewise -- including the ones where she ''agrees'' with him, and will send the starships, but can't tell him because he [[WontTakeYesForAnAnswer won't stop talking]]. "Admiral Picard, [[WithDueRespect with all due respect]], and at long last, ''shut the fuck up!''" She orders him to hide out at [=DS12=] until TheCavalry arrives. Picard just gives a triumphant FistPump, glad that the galaxy is finally going his way.

Raffi goes to hunt down Rios and tell him they were right about Jurati killing Maddox, but can't find him: Every time she runs into him, it's actually one of the Emergency Whatever Holograms. We've met the Hospitality one (American accent), the Medical one (English accent) and the Tactical one (Spanish accent). We've also met the Emergency Navigational Hologram (Irish), "Enoch," whom Raffi meets for the first time (to her exasperation), and she later runs into "Ian," the Engineering one ([[MythologyGag Scottish]] accent). They all look like Rios because he selected the self-scan option, so they imprinted on his personality when he bought the ship, and all know some things about his personality and history. They refer to Soji as "Jana" and explain that Rios is perturbed by something that happened aboard the ''ibn Majid'' -- you know, the super-secret cover-up that resulted in him washing out of Starfleet? All of this culminates in Raffi gathering all five members of the Standard Emergency Hologram suite, the five [[TitleDrop broken pieces]] of Rios' BackStory, to try and put them together. The Tactical holo puts forward the final detail: that ''ibn Majid'' Capt. Vandermeer AteHisGun.

Picard and Soji share a meal, and they talk about Data. Picard admits -- twenty years late -- that he loved Data, but also mentions that his ability to express emotion was limited: something the two of them had in common. Soji, looking at it from her father's point of view, comments that Data must have loved him too.

Dr. Jurati wakes up. Picard tells her that they are en route to Deep Space 12, where she will surrender to Starfleet for the murder of Bruce Maddox. She agrees. He asks why she did it, and Jurati explains the forced mind-meld Oh performed on her, and the visions of the apocalypse she received; a psychic block prevents her from speaking about the images in detail. This second-hand Admonition has given her a better understanding of the Zhat Vash methods: they believe that there's a "threshold" beyond which synthetic life should not be allowed to cross. Data, back in the day, did not cross that threshold; But a RidiculouslyHumanRobot like Soji officially meets their definition of an ApocalypseMaiden. It's Soji herself, entering the conversation, who gives the name: "Seb-Cheneb, the Destroyer." However, despite her fear, Jurati's curiosity takes over, and she soon realizes that Soji does not deserve to be harmed.

Raffi enters Rios' quarters and gets him to open up about his classified experiences on the ''ibn Majid''. Rios says he used to pretend that Vandermeer was his father, calling him "Pops" in his head. Rios explains that while patrolling the Vayt sector, the ''ibn Majid'' picked up a small ship of unknown origin with two passengers, and alerted Starfleet of a first contact. They beamed the two beings aboard -- the ambassador, Beautiful Flower, and his young aide, Jana. After dinner, Vandermeer slew them both: he had received a "black flag directive" straight from Starfleet Security, and if Vandermeer disobeyed, Starfleet would destroy the ''ibn Majid'' with all hands. After Vandermeer was DrivenToSuicide, Rios helped with the cover-up. Six months later, Rios was discharged from Starfleet, officially for post-traumatic dysphoria. He shows her a drawing of Jana, who looks exactly like Soji; Raffi realizes they were synths.

Soji brings Dr. Jurati out of sickbay, and the five crewmembers of the ''La Sirena'' sit down to assemble their puzzle pieces into a coherent story. Rios orders a cup of peppermint ice cream and a plate of French fries for Soji. Musiker explains what she has learned: Some two to three hundred thousand years earlier, eight suns were brought together by artificial means, with a planet in the center: Aia, the Grief World, placed in a location so blatantly artificial that nobody could miss it. The Romulans took the Admonition seriously, creating the Zhat Vash. When Noonian Soong started creating his androids, the Zhat Vash sent Oh, a half-Vulcan/half-Romulan, to be TheMole in Starfleet, and she eventually rose to head of Starfleet Security, all the while with one mandate: Stop the Federation's research on synthetic lifeforms. To that end, Oh engineered the attack on Mars, resulting in the BanOnAI. In 2390, the ''ibn Majid'' made contact with a pair of emissaries: Beautiful Flower and Jana. Soji knows of Jana, but wonders how; Rios replies it was the same reason he knew she liked to dip French fries in peppermint ice cream. They had come from the world Maddox had fled to after the ban, which the Zhat Vash have been looking for ever since... a world, Soji realizes, she has just taught them to identify.

Soji storms onto the bridge and begins to hack ''La Sirena'' so that it will take them to her home planet. Fortunately, Rios had installed a fail-safe and uses it to stop her from doing so. However, where force didn't work, persuasion does: Soji formally requests Captain Rios take her home, and he agrees. She plots a course that uses a Borg transwarp conduit to save time. She looks at Kestra's compass as the ship plunges in.

* AlienBlood: Green blood is visible when several Zhat Vash initiates tear open their own faces, bash their heads with rocks or shoot themselves with a disruptor.

* BlindedByTheLight: Elnor is momentarily stunned by a flashbang grenade, which severely disorientates him and he's noticeably slower when he confronts Narissa's minions in this episode than in his previous action scenes. His SuperReflexes are his chief advantage in combat, so when they're BroughtDownToNormal, he struggles because he's outnumbered and his foes are able to bind his hands.

* CanonImmigrant: According to the non-canon ''Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard'', the first assignment for the newly-minted Ensign Picard was on the USS ''Reliant'', a ''Miranda''-class ship like [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan the one Khan hijacked and destroyed]]. In this episode, a conversation between Picard and Rios establishes that Picard once stood watch on a ship called ''Reliant''.

** The tracker Jurati swallowed was made from viridium, the same substance as the tracker Spock placed on Kirk's back to keep tabs on him prior to his arrest in ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''.

* ContrivedCoincidence: When Raffi recruited Captain Rios, he was just someone she happened to know with a spaceship. But in this episode, it turns out he had actually met Soji's siblings nine years ago, and the reason he was kicked out of Starfleet was because their assassination was part of a Zhat Vash conspiracy. Yet Raffi knew nothing about any of this when she hired him, so it's just a huge coincidence.

* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Seven of Nine explains to Elnor that becoming the Borg Queen -- which would mean she would have absolute power over the Artifact itself and all of its drones -- is addictive, and she may not want to give up that power after she gets rid of the Romulans.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Narissa seems to be genuinely fond of Ramdha, whom she addresses as "Auntie," and who is a fellow Zhat Vash.

* FailedASpotCheck: It takes nearly a minute for Raffi to figure out she's talking to one of the holographic versions of Rios, despite his hair, dress, and demeanor being vastly different from the genuine article even when seen from the back.

* {{Flashback}}: A flashback to fourteen years ago shows Oh inducting new members into the Zhat Vash, giving context to the insane Romulans she showed to Jurati through a mind meld.
* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: Aia, the Grief World, is home to a device called the Admonition containing the memories of a long dead civilization which was laid waste by androids. The civilization felt this message was of such importance that they [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens artificially created an octonary star system]] just so that other spacefaring civilizations would find it.

* GoneMadFromTheRevelation: Of the Zhat Vash recruits we see witnessing the Admonition, only Narissa and Ramdha survive, the others going mad ''and'' committing suicide.

* {{Matriarchy}}: The Zhat Vash is led by women, and it would seem only women are allowed contact with the Admonition. Their foremothers were the first ones to visit the octonary star system, which indicates that the precursor of the Zhat Vash was also matriarchal.

* NervesOfSteel: Narissa is shown the horrors in the Admonition and barely reacts beyond a tear, compared to all the others going mad or killing themselves.

** Elnor has met Seven of Nine only once, and when he sees her again, he hugs her tightly and buries his head against her shoulder. He's so grateful to be in the presence of a friendly face again after being trapped alone on the Artifact for ''days'' and struggling to avoid being captured by the Romulans, not to mention he's upset over Hugh's death. Seven is a bit uncomfortable with the sudden close contact, but she recognizes that Elnor is very sensitive and is in need of emotional support, so she tolerates it.

* OhCrap: Narissa knows she's in ''deep'' trouble when she realizes that a dozen or so xBs are about to attack her.

** Rios and Picard discuss their Starfleet careers, and it turns out they were only two degrees of separation apart: Rios' old captain, Captain Vandermeer, served under Picard's old Academy classmate [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E14Tapestry Marta Batanides]], who introduced them once.
** Everyone on board are connected to the Synths in one way or another. There's Picard's friendship with Data, whose DNA is in Soji and the other synths. Jurati's work helped lead to their creation. Rios himself had met two of Soji's siblings nine years ago. Raffi found evidence of a conspiracy directly linked to the Synths. Even Elnor, who is not only linked via Picard, but became a refugee and an orphan as a direct result of the Zhat Vash's actions.

** Averted when Raffi decides INeedAFreakingDrink. Turns out she's not only [[NailedToTheWagon cut off her access to the replicator's alcohol menu]], but also her ability to override that cut-off.

* TheReveal: The secret of the Zhat Vash is the knowledge of a past civilization that was destroyed when it created artificial life. They believe any species which does the same will meet that end, and they will do anything to stop it.

* ShoutOut: During his briefing with Clancy, Picard cites ''Literature/DonQuixote'' after Clancy admits he was right.

* SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers: Picard's discussion with Rios while en route to the Transwarp Conduit terminus, ending it with the comment that Fear is ultimately the "Great Destroyer."
* SingleTear: This is Narissa's reaction to the Admonition, combined with quiet horror at the things it showed her.

* SplitEdit: The RadioVoice of Narissa's lackey reporting to her the location of "the freak" is still heard after a HardCut which changes from the scene where Narissa is standing in Ramdha's room to Elnor sitting in Hugh's office.

** The final shot of the episode is a cloaked ship following ''La Sirena'' into the transwarp conduit -- possibly Narek reacquiring them.

* WithMyHandsTied: Elnor has a clever method to free his bound hands and disarm an assailant. When a female guard attempts to stab him with his own sword, he moves in such a way that not only does she end up slicing the zip ties which were keeping him restrained, but he also knocks the tan qalanq out of her grasp so she can't attack him with it again. He then proceeds to strike her and another soldier until they become unconscious.
* WontTakeYesForAnAnswer: Picard keeps talking over Clancy, trying to convince her to send him a squadron that she's already planning to send. She finally tells him to "shut the fuck up" so she can confirm she will help.

* InternalHomage: Soji taking over ''La Sirena'' and (almost) locking Rios out recalls [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E3Brothers Data commandeering the ''Enterprise''-D]] many years earlier.

* InternalHomage: Soji taking over *La Sirena* and (almost) locking Rios out recalls [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E3Brothers Data commandeering the *Enterprise*-D]] many years earlier.

* RealityEnsues:
** Picard dramatically sits down in the captain's chair, brings up the interface, pauses for a moment, then admits he has no idea how it actually works and gets back up.
** Once the truth about Maddox's death comes out, Jurati knows that she'll face charges for his murder and decides to turn herself in.

--->'''Rios:''' I told all of Starfleet that Captain Vandermeer killed himself for no fucking reason.