History Recap / StarTrekPicardS2E02Penance

** Despite the vastly different timeline, Picard is still in a synthetic body. According to Q, this time around, Gul Dukat was [[NoodleIncident somehow responsible]] for it.

Picard questions Q on what he's seeing, and discovers that he's in a MirrorUniverse... except better and/or worse than the one we're familar with, because unlike what befell the Terran Empire by the end of the 24th century, this Terran Confederation is thriving, and Gen. Jean-Luc Picard is a big reason why. It's Eradication Day in the year 2400, and Picard will have a part to play.

We catch up with our crew: Elnor in a band of Romulans executing terrorist attacks in Japan, and Raffi as a police chief sent to capture him; Col. Rios of ''La Sirena'' helping Gen. Sisko besiege Vulcan; Dr. Agnes Jurati working for the federal government, and Annika Hansen, the never-assimilated still-human Seven of Nine once was, as Madam President. The only refugees from the Prime Timeline, they gather at the Presidential Palace, where Pres. Hansen and Gen. Picard are set to cap off Eradication Day by murdering one of Jurati's most prized specimens: the Borg Queen, imprisoned against her will. They decipher Q's cryptic hints and determine that the timelines diverged during 2024, and that they must conduct a slingshot time-travel maneuver...which they will need the Borg Queen to do, as her greater computing power will make her an excellent WetwareCPU. The Borg Queen, who is aware she's in an alternate timeline and doesn't like it, agrees to help; she also informs them that they will want to make contact with someone in 2024 Los Angeles called "The Watcher." Now all the crew needs to do is 1. Navigate the social and political conventions of a timeline they've never been to before; 2. steal the Borg Queen out of the most secure place ''in'' that timeline; 3. travel back in time; 4. find the Watcher, who is somehow connected to the PointOfDivergence; 5. SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong; and 6. make it back to the PrimeTimeline, in 2400, before the season ends.

We catch up with our crew: Elnor in a band of Romulans executing terrorist attacks in Japan, and Raffi as a police chief sent to capture him; Col. Rios of ''La Sirena'' helping Gen. Sisko besiege Vulcan; Dr. Agnes Jurati working for the federal government, and Annika Hansen, the never-assimilated still-human Seven of Nine once was, as Madam President. The only refugees from the Prime Timeline, they gather at the Presidential Palace, where Pres. Hansen and Gen. Picard are set to cap off Eradication Day by murdering one of Jurati's most prized specimens: the Borg Queen, imprisoned against her will. They decipher Q's cryptic hints and determine that the timelines diverged during 2024, and that they must conduct a slingshot time-travel maneuver...which they will need the Borg Queen to do, as her greater computing power will make her an excellent WetwareCPU. The Borg Queen, who is aware she's in an alternate timeline and doesn't like it, agrees to help; she also informs them that they will want to make contact with someone in 2024 Los Angeles called "The Watcher." Now all the crew needs to do is 1. Navigate the social and political conventions of a timeline they've never been to before; 2. steal the Borg Queen out of the most secure place ''in'' that timeline; 3. travel back in time; 4. find the Watcher, who is somehow connected to the PointOfDivergence; 5. SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong; and 6. make it back to their own time, in their own timeline, before the season ends.

* AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome:
** The Confederation of Earth is more successful than even the Terran Empire, conquering and/or exterminating the Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans, and Borg. (By the 24th century in the MirrorUniverse, the Terrans have been conquered by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance and their Empire is defunct.)
** The Vulcans must have correspondingly been much stronger in the Confederation universe, as they're the only empire left still standing against the humans. Despite being the closest civilization to Earth.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: The Confederation of Earth is one to the Terran Empire in the original MirrorUniverse. Like the Empire, the Confederation is xenophobic and fascist, subjugating or destroys alien races to promote a human-dominated galaxy. However, whereas the Terran Empire was only loosely held together by this ideal and plagued by constant in-fighting between their vicious (bordering on psychotic) members, the Confederation is less prone to treachery and backstabbing, with its citizens fiercely patriotic and loyal to the point of ultranationalism. The Confederation is also more successful than the Empire, having successfully conquered the Klingons and the Cardassians, whose mirror counterparts, the former presumably looking to avenge their decimated homeworld, teamed up, conquered the Empire, and subjugated the Terrans. The Borg Queen also puts the point of divergence that caused this alternate timeline as in the early 21st century, while the Empire dates back much older.

* NoNameGiven: The crew never find out the Marshal's name, which is how he confirms Seven isn't his wife.

We catch up with our crew: Elnor in a band of Romulans executing terrorist attacks in Japan, and Raffi as a police chief sent to capture him; Col. Rios of ''La Sirena'' helping Gen. Sisko besiege Vulcan; Dr. Agnes Jurati working for the federal government, and Annika Hansen, the never-assimilated still-human Seven of Nine once was, as Madam President. The only refugees from the Prime Timeline, they gather at the Presidential Palace, where Pres. Hansen and Gen. Picard are set to cap off Eradication Day by murdering one of Jurati's most prized specimens: the Borg Queen, imprisoned against her will. They decipher Q's cryptic hints and determine that the timelines diverged during 2024, and that they must conduct a slingshot time-travel maneuver...which they will need the Borg Queen to do, as her greater computing power will make her an excellent WetwareCPU. The Borg Queen, who is aware she's in an alternate timeline and doesn't like it, agrees to help; she also informs them that they will want to make contact with someone in 2024 Los Angeles called "The Watcher." Now all the crew needs to do is 1. Navigate the social and political conventions of a timeline they've never been to before; 2. steal the Borg Queen out of the most secure place ''in'' that timeline; 3. travel back in time; 4. find the Watcher, 5. SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, and 6. make it back to their own time, in their own timeline, before the season ends.

Picard questions Q on what he's seeing, and discovers that he's in an [[AlternateContinuity Alternate Timeline]] similar to the Mirror Universe... except better and/or worse, because unlike what befell the Terran Empire by the end of the 24th century, this Terran Confederation is thriving, and Gen. Jean-Luc Picard is a big reason why. It's Eradication Day in the year 2400, and Picard will have a part to play.

* WritersCannotDoMath: The Borg Queen states than Annika Hansen was assimilated in 2350. Annika was six years old when she was assimilated, which occurred eighteen years prior to [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E25S4E01Scorpion Captain Janeway’s alliance with the Borg in 2374]]. That would mean that she was born c. 2350, and assimilated in 2356.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: The Confederation of Earth is one to the Terran Empire in the original MirrorUniverse. Like the Empire, the Confederation is xenophobic and fascist, subjugating or destroys alien races to promote a human-dominated galaxy. However, whereas the Terran Empire was only loosely held together by this ideal and plagued by constant infighting between their vicious (bordering on psychotic) members, the Confederation is less prone to treachery and backstabbing, with its citizens fiercely patriotic and loyal to the point of ultranationalism. The Confederation is also more successful than the Empire, having successfully conquered the Klingons and the Cardassians, whose mirror counterparts, the former presumably looking to avenge their decimated homeworld, teamed up, conquered the Empire, and subjugated the Terrans. The Borg Queen also puts the point of divergence that caused this alternate timeline as in the early 21st century, while the Empire dates back much older.

* {{Irony}}: On ''Deep Space Nine'', Q complained about Sisko hitting him when Picard never would[[note]]Though as Sisko notes, he's not Picard.[[/note]]. This time, Q ''hits Picard''.

* {{Irony}}: On ''Deep Space Nine'', Q complained about Sisko hitting him where Picard never would[[note]]Though as Sisko notes, he's not Picard[[/note]]. This time, Q ''hits Picard''.

** The Vulcans must have correspondingly been much stronger in the Confederation universe, as they're the only empire left still standing against the Humans.

Picard questions Q on what he's seeing, and discovers that he's in an AlternateContinuity similar to the Mirror Universe... except better and/or worse, because unlike what befell the Terran Empire by the end of the 24th century, this Terran Confederation is thriving, and Gen. Jean-Luc Picard is a big reason why. It's Eradication Day in the year 2400, and Picard will have a part to play.

We catch up with our crew: Elnor in a band of Romulans executing terrorist attacks in Japan, and Raffi as a police chief sent to capture him; Col. Rios of ''La Sirena'' helping Gen. Sisko besiege Vulcan; Dr. Agnes Jurati working for the federal government, and Annika Hansen, the never-assimilated still-human Seven of Nine once was, as Madam President. The only refugees from the Prime Timeline, they gather at the Presidential Palace, where Pres. Hansen and Gen. Picard are set to cap off Eradication Day by murdering one of Jurati's most prized specimens: the Borg Queen, imprisoned against her will. They decipher Q's cryptic hints and determine that the timelines diverged during 2024, and that they must conduct a slingshot time-travel maneuver...which they will need the Borg Queen to do, as her greater computing power will make her an excellent WetwareCPU. The Borg Queen, who is aware she's in an Alternate Continuity and doesn't like it, agrees to help; she also informs them that they will want to make contact with someone in 2024 Los Angeles called "The Watcher." Now all the crew needs to do is 1. Navigate the social and political conventions of a timeline they've never been to before; 2. steal the Borg Queen out of the most secure place in the galaxy; 3. travel back in time; 4. find the Watcher, 5. SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, and 6. make it back to their own time before the season ends.

We catch up with our crew: Elnor in a band of Romulans executing terrorist attacks in Japan, and Raffi as a police chief sent to capture him; Capt. Rios of ''La Sirena'' helping Gen. Sisko besiege Vulcan; Dr. Agnes Jurati working for the federal government, and Annika Hansen, the never-assimilated still-human Seven of Nine once was, as Madam President. The only refugees from the Prime Timeline, they gather at the Presidential Palace, where Pres. Hansen is to cap off Eradication Day by murdering one of Jurati's most prized specimens: the Borg Queen, imprisoned against her will. They decipher Q's cryptic hints and determine that the timelines diverged during 2024, and that they must conduct a slingshot time-travel maneuver... which they will need the Borg Queen to do, as her greater computing power will make her an excellent WetwareCPU. The Borg Queen, who is aware she's in an Alternate Continuity and doesn't like it, agrees to help; she also informs them that they will want to make contact with someone in 2024 Los Angeles called "The Watcher." Now all the crew needs to do is 1. Navigate the social and political conventions of a dimension they've never been to before; 2. steal the Borg Queen out of the most secure place in the galaxy; 3. travel back in time; 4. Find the Watcher, 5. SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, and 6. make it back to their own time before the season ends.

ThePlan mostly works: Raffi takes Elnor to Security and the two of them disable the NoWarpingZone around the Presidential Palace, allowing Rios to beam them, and the Borg Queen, up... But they are almost immediately pursued by The Magistrate, Hansen's right-hand man (and husband), who beams aboard ''La Sirena'' and holds them at gunpoint.

ThePlan mostly works: Raffi takes Elnor to Security and the two of them disable the NoWarpingZone around the Presidential Palace, allowing Rios to beam them, and the Borg Queen, up... But they are almost immediately pursued by The Magistrate, Hansen's right-hand man (and husband), who holds them at gunpoint.