History Recap / StarTrekPicardS3E07Dominion

* VillainHasAPoint: Vadic rightly points out to Picard and Beverly that Starfleet technically never gave the morphogenic virus cure to the Founders; the Federation Council did after all vote ''against'' giving it to them, to avoid aiding their wartime enemy. It was Bashir and O'Brien who stole it from Section 31, used it to cure Odo, and it was then the Constable -- one of their own people -- who ultimately brought it home, albeit only after the Female Changeling agreed to surrender.

* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: The Titan was hiding from the fleet among the wreckages of previous battles powered down, but still have to rotate between them to stay under the radar.

** "Vox" and "The Last Generation" would confirm that the Changeling Tuvok was ''not'' talking in hyperbole when making this boast, as the revelation [[spoiler:that their benefactors were [[TheDreaded the Borg Collective]] and with everyone's knowledge of how horrific [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul the process of assimilation is to their victims]]...]] the survivors would genuinely see death "as a relief" compared to what their other fate would be.

* SelfServingMemory: Though Vadic is technically correct that the Federation refused to give the Great Link the cure to the plague and "one of [their] own" had to do so, she conveniently leaves out that said individual was Odo, and he only agreed to/was allowed to distribute it on the condition that the Female Changeling ended hostilities immediately and agreed to what was essentially an unconditional surrender.

-->'''Alamndra''': So, has Lore always been this arch?
-->'''Lore''': ...Did the tree move, or did the apple just fall far from it? When you're constantly subjected to these self-righteous, self-proclaimed "heroes" spewing their morality as if vomit were somehow virtuous, then sometimes, dear, a little bend, a little arch, a little antagonizing flare is required.

* TheWorfEffect: It's not a combat situation, but Tuvok's impersonation is used to show that no one is safe from being replaced by a Changeling with little to no warning to those around. Bear in mind that Tuvok was ''Voyager'''s chief of security and tactical officer and spent time undercover in the Maquis, and thus should have the most training of basically any ''Star Trek'' main cast member in being ProperlyParanoid, and even ''he'' got replaced by a Changeling imposter.

** "Vox" and "The Last Generation" would confirm that the Changeling Tuvok was ''not'' talking in hyperbole when making this boast, as the revelation that their benefactors were [[TheDreaded the Borg Collective]] and with everyone's knowledge of how horrific [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul the process of assimilation is to their victims]]... the survivors would genuinely see death "as a relief" compared to what their other fate would be.

** "Vox" and "The Last Generation" would confirm that the Changeling Tuvok was ''not'' talking in hyperbole when making this boast, as the revelation that their benefactors were [[TheDreaded the Borg Collective]] and with everyone's knowledge of how horrific [[CyberneticsEatTheSoul the process of assimilation is to their victims]]... the survivors would genuinely see death "as a relief" compared to what their other fate would be.

* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: The Titan spent time hiding among the wreckages of previous battles powered down

* UndyingLoyalty: Vadic admits she misjudged how firm and loyal Picard's associates would be to the old man.

** The late Ro Laren transferring most of the ''Titan'' crew to the ''Intrepid'' two episodes ago posthumously comes back to haunt Shaw and Team Picard. Once Lore lets Vadic and her team out of the traps the ''Titan'' set, they're able to bum rush and overpower the skeleton crew and easily seize control of the ship.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During the war, Section 31 used Daystrom Station to experiment on Changeling prisoners of war, giving them the ability to mimic those they shaepshift into down to the cellular level. Then said Changelings escaped, brought this gift back to their own kind, and used their further-justified hatred of the Federation to go rogue from the Great Link and bring down Starfleet once and for all. Really, between [[Series/StarTrekDiscovery Control]] and [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine the Changeling Virus]], you'd think someone at Starfleet should put more oversight on their black ops division.

* BeyondRedemption: Picard and Becerly conclude from their talk with Vadic that there's simply no way to end things peacefully. Vadic is driven solely by hatred and nothing they do will quell it.

* WhamLine: "Your physiology is not as complex or as special as you believe", which implies The Face ''isn't'' a Changeling like Vadic and her faction. (Or possibly is just a "normal" Changeling who isn't impressed by Vadic's aditional abilities.)

* VillainHasAPoint: Vadic rightly points out to Picard and Beverley that Starfleet technically never gave the morphogenic virus cure to the Founders; the Federation Council did after all vote ''against'' giving them it to avoid aiding their wartime enemy. It was Bashir and O'Brien who stole it from Section 31, used it to cure Odo, and it was then the Constable -- one of their own people -- who ultimately brought it home, albeit only after the Female Changeling agreed to surrender.

* TranquilFury: Seven upon realizing "Tuvok" is a Changeling and that they've captured and possibly killed her old, dear friend from ''Voyager''.

* AuthorAppeal: Terry Matalas has [[https://collider.com/star-trek-picard-season-3-episode-7-spoiler-interview-showrunner-terry-matalas admitted]] that having gotten his ''Trek'' start as a PA on ''Voyager'', there was a personal appeal to bringing back Tim Russ/Tuvok.
* BadBoss: Vadic's superior is now resorting to [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing her]] over "conference" call for failing to find Jack. His dialogue also implies that he's ''not'' a Changeling or a Solid and he's a GreaterScopeVillain that hasn't been revealed yet.

The ''Shrike'' arrives at the ''Titan''[='s=] location. The ship is dead in the water, near the hulk of a Vulcan warship which is broadcasting logs: apparently, it engaged the ''Titan'' and both ships were crippled in the fight. Vadic decides that TrapIsTheOnlyOption and goes in. Jack and Sidney play bait, and up at the bridge, Shaw and Seven drop force fields to trap Vadic and her Changeling soldiers in the corridors... but not before Jack and Sidney manage to get themselves trapped as well. Vadic, captured, goes on her MotiveRant to Picard and Crusher: she and nine other Changelings were kept at Daystrom Station, where an EvilutionaryBiologist under the auspices of "Project Proteus" performed experiments on them. From these experiments she learned the new "keep my form, have fake blood, etc" tricks her people are using to fool Starfleet's TSA checks, and formed the RenegadeSplinterFaction to revenge themselves on the Federation. Picard and Crusher, though clearly torn about the choice, decide to execute their prisoner in cold blood and simplify the problem immensely.

** It's also the very first episode of the season that Creator/JonathanFrakes does not appear in.

Picard and Crusher discuss the current situation -- the ship is still at large but without allies; Worf and Raffi are PutOnABus to go do Intelligence stuff -- and ruminate on what they learned during the last episode. Their hypothesis is that the Changelings want to break into Frontier Day, meaning they'll need to pass Starfleet's DNA scanners. As such, they need Picard's DNA (from his corpse) and Jack's blood to make a super-fake Changeling Picard. Meanwhile, La Forge, who is still working on the new Soong golem, explains (and eventually demonstrates) to Picard that both Data and Lore's personalities are stored within, and battling for control of the golem. Lore implies that, per Altan Soong's genetic scans, something else is up with Picard's DNA, something that throws the old "Irumodic Syndrome" diagnosis into question, but won't say what. We get a potential answer belowdecks, where Jack and Sidney find themselves in a turbolift together. Their UnresolvedSexualTension is somewhat derailed by the implication that Jack's glowing red eyes allow him to read her mind. He visits Picard and admits that there's more to the story of his uniqueness, but won't admit what it is, instead suggesting that maybe it ''is'' time for him to give himself up -- especially since Starfleet has been playing from behind this whole time. Picard suggests he has an idea to turn those tables.

Down in Engineering, the whole plan goes awry: Lore emerges triumphant from the BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind and, hooked up to a computer, succeeds in taking over the whole ship. Vadic escapes, and her {{mook}}s are turned loose on Jack and Sidney. La Forge makes an impassioned plea to his friend, and Data takes the day, regaining control of the body and resetting the systems. Meanwhile, Jack uses his mind-reading powers to telepathically walk Sidney through the fight, allowing her to survive and take down her opponent. And Picard and Crusher, looking up files on Project Proteus, learns that the captive Changelings were injected with a very specific radioactive isotope, rendering them detectable.

* PutOnABus: Similarly to "No Win Scenario", Worf and Raffi do not appear in this episode. They're stated to have taken ''La Sirena'' to covertly follow up potential Starfleet Security leads on Riker's whereabouts.

* ShutUpKirk: Lore's unchanged opinion of Picard, Geordi, and the rest of the ''Enterprise''-D alums. He even lampshades the trope to Sidney as a necessity for dealing with Starfleet types.
-->'''Alamndra''': So, has Lore always been this arch?
-->'''Lore''': ...Did the tree move, or did the apple just fall far from it? When you're constantly subjected to these self-righteous, self-proclaimed "heroes" spewing their morality as if vomit were somehow virtuous, then sometimes, dear, a little bend, a little arch, a little antagonizing flare is required.