History Recap / StarTrekPicardS1E04AbsoluteCandor

* WhatTheHellHero: After Elnor decapitates Tenqem and they are beamed up, Picard tears into him for it and makes it clear that, so long as Elnor is bound to him, Picard will tell him "when to fight and when to refrain."
-->'''Picard:''' That man did ''not'' deserve to die!\\

From orbit, Raffi picks up signs that Romulans are passing the news of Picard's arrival. Picard is ready to head shipside, but the security systems around the planet (installed by the aforementioned Fenris Rangers) only allow beaming every half-hour. So Picard tries once again to make friends with the local Romulans... as well as tear down the "Romulans Only" sign. He is then approached by an ex-Romulan Senator named Tenqem Adrev, clearly a member of the Romulan Rebirth movement, who accuses Picard and Starfleet of trying to undermine Romulan independence. Picard protests the accusations, but Adrev isn't really interested in a debate; he's interested in a SwordFight. Picard [[SheatheYourSword refuses]]. Adrev also isn't interested in a fair fight, but Picard doesn't get skewered; instead, Elnor appears, drawing his own blade. "Please, my friend. Choose to live." When Adrev and his companions don't, Elnor swiftly beheads Adrev. ("I regret your choice.") He then declares that he has, in fact, chosen to take up Picard's cause in the Qowat Milat fashion, and declares himself Picard's qalankhkai. Picard then addresses the crowd in general and Elnor in particular, apologizing for failing his (former) Romulan friends.

* HalfTruth: The Qowat Milat will indeed pledge to support a cause that they deem "worthy." However, what is omitted until near the end of the episode is that the only causes that they deem worthy are ''lost'' ones.

From orbit, Raffi picks up signs that Romulans are passing the news of Picard's arrival. Picard is ready to head shipside, but the security systems around the planet (installed by the aforementioned Fenris Rangers) only allow beaming every half-hour. So Picard tries once again to make friends with the local Romulans... as well as tear down the "Romulans Only" sign. He is then approached by an ex-Romulan Senator named Tenqem Adrev, clearly a member of the Romulan Rebirth movement, who accuses Picard and Starfleet of trying to undermine Romulan independence. Picard protests the accusations, but Adrev isn't really interested in a debate; he's interested in a SwordFight. Picard [[SheatheYourSword refuses]]. Adrev also isn't interested in a fair fight, but Picard doesn't get skewered; instead, Elnor appears, drawing his own blade. "Please, my friend. Choose to live." When Adrev and his companions don't, Elnor takes care of them. ("I regret your choice.") He then declares that he has, in fact, chosen to take up Picard's cause in the Qowat Milat fashion, and declares himself Picard's qalankhkai. Picard then addresses the crowd in general and Elnor in particular, apologizing for failing his (former) Romulan friends.

-->'''Rios:''' ''¡Chasumadre!''

* TransitionTrack: We hear Soji's dialogue in the lounge before the scene cuts away from a close-up of her staring silently at Narek while standing next to Ramdha's biobed.

Picard beams down to the surface of Vashti. In the flashback, the Romulans were eager to meet him; now, fourteen years later, they show little besides veiled hostility. (The "Romulans Only" sign at the Romulan Social Club doesn't help.) He visits the nunnery of the Qowat Milat to beg them for help. Elnor, now grown up, treats him with nothing but contempt, remembering only the ParentalAbandonment that Picard showed him. However, Zani, the head of the warrior nuns, urges Picard to make his case to Elnor. He can never join the Qowat Milat on account of having a penis (or whatever Romulans have), but he is trained in their ways; Zani also wants him (Elnor) to see some of the galaxy instead of being stuck on Vashti.

Picard is in the holodeck, where the Emergency Hospitality Hologram has re-created his study at Chateau Picard. His solitude is interrupted by everyone on the ship: Raffi charges in and demands to know why "Go to Freecloud" suddenly turned into "Have a SideQuest on Vashti," Rios hates the fucking EHH, and Dr. Jurati is just bored. Musiker directly questions Picard's state of mind, while Rios brings up more practical concerns: the Qiris sector, formerly a part of the Romulan Neutral Zone, has become a WretchedHive, with only VigilanteMilitia organizations like the Fenris Rangers providing any sort of order; Vashti in particular is now under the "protection" of the warlord Kar Kantar, who rules the sector with a 23rd-century Romulan Bird-of-Prey (see ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]]'': "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror Balance of Terror]]"). Besides, Vashti is rife with the "[[FantasticRacism Romulan Rebirth]]" movement. But Picard is convinced that the services of a Qowat Milat warrior nun is his best shot; besides, he knows that he is unlikely to have a chance to pass this way again, and Dahj's death has him thinking of Elnor. If the Qowat Milat don't want to help, they'll say so: they practice the Way of [[TitleDrop Absolute Candor]] (read: BrutalHonesty).

From orbit, Raffi picks up signs that Romulans are passing the news of Picard's arrival. Picard is ready to head shipside, but the security systems around the planet (installed by the aforementioned Fenris Rangers) only allow beaming every half-hour. So Picard tries once again to make friends with the local Romulans... as well as tearing down the "Romulans Only" sign. He is then approached by an ex-Romulan Senator named Tenqem Adrev, clearly a member of the Romulan Rebirth movement, who accuses Picard and Starfleet of trying to undermine Romulan independence. Picard protests the accusations, but Adrev isn't really interested in a debate; he's interested in a SwordFight. Picard [[SheatheYourSword refuses]]. Adrev also isn't interested in a fair fight, but Picard doesn't get skewered; instead, Elnor appears, drawing his own blade. "Please, my friend. Choose to live." When Adrev and his companions don't, Elnor takes care of them. ("I regret your choice.") He then declares that he has, in fact, chosen to take up Picard's cause in the Qowat Milat fashion, and declares himself Picard's qalankhkai. Picard then addresses the crowd in general and Elnor in particular, apologizing for failing his (former) Romulan friends.

There's another conversation between Narissa and Narek about the latter's (lack of) progress with Soji. The only new bit of information dropped is that the two believe that Soji is not the LastOfHerKind: there are more, and the Zhat Vash want all of them dead. Since Narek buttering Soji up is really the only way they can get the location of the other synths, he's allowed to proceed.

** Rios demonstrates his topnotch starship piloting skills during his DavidVersusGoliath battle with Kar Kantar.

* ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: There are several Romulans at North Station who carry a sword. A tan qalanq, which is an AbsurdlySharpBlade, is the main weapon of the Qowat Milat.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[MasterSwordsman Elnor]] and his [[AbsurdlySharpBlade tan qalanq]] arrive just in time to rescue Picard from Tenqem. The thug becomes [[OffWithHisHead headless]] when he ignores Elnor's warning to back down.

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: The Qiris sector warlord Kar Kantar has a ''TOS''-era Romulan Bird-of-Prey. It's not particularly dangerous on its own, as Rios notes it has an outdated targeting system and is less maneuverable than ''La Sirena''. However, fighting it is complicated by the fact that they also have to avoid Vashti's [[DeadlyForceField planetary defense system]] at the same time, and the Bird-of-Prey is fast enough that they can't simply warp away without disabling it.

* BullyingADragon: Picard knows the locals are armed and none-too-fond of him, but he nevertheless deliberately rips off a "Romulans Only" sign and steps on it to make his displeasure of the [[FantasticRacism current divisions]] known.

* CannotSpitItOut: This leads to an IronicEpisodeTitle. Picard, building on his long-standing character traits from ''TNG'', is unable to confess his guilt to Elnor or his true motives for wanting him to come. Instead, he simply tells him he needs a good fighter, which, while true, is far from the whole story. [[PoorCommunicationKills This nearly causes Elnor to refuse to join him, but he ultimately reconsiders.]]

* ChekhovsClassroom: Rios and Raffi brief Picard and Jurati on the geopolitical developments in the Qiris sector they're about to visit, including a mention by name of a petty Romulan warlord called Kar Kantar who is terrorizing the region with an antique Romulan Bird-of-Prey. Sure enough, before the episode is up, Kantar's Bird-of-Prey shows up to attack the protagonists. The same conversation also mentions the [[VigilanteMilitia Fenris Rangers]], one of whom (Seven of Nine) comes to help ''La Sirena'' fight off Kantar.
* ChekhovsSkill: Picard teaches boy Elnor how to swordfight, showing he has the skill when Tenqem challenges him--he simply [[SheatheYourSword refuses to use it.]]

** Narek informs Soji that Romulan passenger lists aren't made public, unlike Terran ones.

* CoverIdentityAnomaly: Narek points out there's no record of Soji being on the shuttle she thinks she arrived on. He later reveals to his sister he did this deliberately, to [[TomatoInTheMirror plant a seed of doubt in Soji's mind]] and get her to investigate her origins on her own, rather than risk activating her like Narissa did with Dahj.

* CurbStompBattle: Elnor dispatches three Romulan thugs who attack Picard in two seconds flat, knocking out two of them and decapitating Tenqem.

* DisappearedDad: Picard, whom Elnor had looked up to as a surrogate father, had abandoned him when he was still a child. Fourteen years later, Picard returns, and their first interaction is him brushing off Elnor's gift of freshly baked bread, and later, he requests Elnor's help as a bodyguard, which only serve to increase the young man's irritation.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In the flashback, Picard's clothing is very similar to a Panama suit, which gives the scene an uncomfortable colonial subtext [[note]]Picard is French and lives in a beautiful chateau in La Barre, and France was once a colonial power[[/note]], with him as the Federation equivalent of a privileged WhiteSavior, and the Romulan refugees (especially the young Elnor) represent the underprivileged people of color that he helps. Although Romulans have a variety of skin tones, the three characters Picard interacts with the most on Vashti are Elnor, Zani and Tenqem, who are all portrayed by non-white actors. Moreover, the Romulans as a species were inspired by the Chinese Communists, so in general, it can be said that they possess vaguely Asian attributes. (A more explicit example is Elnor, who is a martial arts expert equipped with an [[KatanasAreJustBetter Asian-style sword]], and along with his WarriorMonk robe and SamuraiPonytail, he looks like he belongs in the {{Wuxia}} genre. [[note]]The [[https://www.instagram.com/p/B8UbxCCBHQ0/ Asian influence]] on Elnor was not lost on Evan Evagora.[[/note]]) The refugees who live at North Station revere Picard as their savior, while Elnor {{Hero Worship}}s him and is eager to learn about Terran literature and fencing from him. By the end of the episode, Elnor chooses to leave his own people to serve as a bodyguard to Picard, and he becomes the TokenNonHuman among the crew. Subverted in the present time by the townspeople who are [[BrokenPedestal furious at Picard]] for giving up on them.

* FantasticRacism: Some Romulan-owned businesses on Vashti feature "Romulans Only" signs, and the planet is the hotbed for the Romulan Rebirth movement.

* HalfTruth: The Qowat Milat will indeed pledge to support a cause that they deem "worthy." However, what is omitted until near the end of the episode is that the only causes they deem worthy are ''lost'' ones.

* HeroicVow: Those who are part of the Qowat Milat swear these when they deem a cause is worthy enough to join. Elnor swears one to Picard, and makes it clear that anyone who tries to harm him will die by Elnor's blade.
* HypocriticalHumor: Jurati thinks the Way of Absolute Candor sounds annoying, mere minutes after she bothers Rios with her incessant rambling about the vast emptiness of outer space, the activities she has done to kill time, and paper books.

* LivingIsMoreThanSurviving: Picard is frank about the fact that Elnor could very well be killed if he joins the mission, but Zani says he's going to die eventually anyway, and she'd rather have him ''live'' before that happens.

* NoodleIncident: Rios doesn't elaborate beyond "It's a long story" when Jurati observes that the only holo programs he has on-board are Klingon operas.

* PardonMyKlingon: Young Elnor exchanges some choice Romulan words with the shopkeeper he steals from.

* ParentalSubstitute: Because Elnor was raised by the all-female Qowat Milat sect, Picard was the sole significant male figure in his life, so naturally the boy looked up to the older man as a surrogate father. Zani along with the other nuns of her order are surrogate mothers to Elnor; she tells Picard that the boy is loved by them.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tenqem ([[RichesToRags a former Romulan senator]]) gives one to Picard, claiming that Picard and the Federation made big promises only to renege on them, and now he believes the Federation exploited their desperation in a time of crisis to scatter and break the Romulan people to make them less of a threat.
* RichesToRags: Picard is challenged to a duel by Tenqem, who claims he used to be a Romulan Senator, which would have placed him in the uppermost class of Romulan society before the fall. However, like the other refugees relocated to the planet, he's now living at subsistence level. He's obviously quite bitter about his loss in status.

* SafeZoneHopeSpot: Rather than a refuge so the Romulans can rebuild their society, the planet Vashti now lies in a region of space with no effective law enforcement where petty warlords hold sway.
* SamusIsAGirl: The crew don't know who exactly is in the unregistered fighter. Most default to "he" when talking about the pilot. So they are very surprised when the beamed aboard pilot turns out to be the very female Seven of Nine.
* SarcasmMode: Raffi ''always'' speaks her mind, so Picard finds it redundant when she says she's going to be honest with him.

** The planet Vashti shares its name with the Persian queen from the ''Literature/BookOfEsther'' who disobeyed her drunk husband's command to "show her beauty" (i.e. appear naked) in front of him and his male guests at a banquet. Feminists interpret Vashti's defiance to be heroic because she stands up for herself despite knowing she'll be punished for going against her culture's patriarchal and misogynist values, which parallels the all-female Qowat Milat sect's refusal to bow down to the oppression of the [[SecretPolice Tal Shiar]], who strictly enforces conformity in Romulan society and eliminates any CulturalRebel.

* SingleTear: As a boy, Elnor sheds a single tear shortly before Picard beams away when the latter is recalled by Starfleet because he's hurt that his father figure didn't spend as much time with him as he had promised.
* SkewedPriorities: Raffi tells Picard he needs to focus on their mission rather than take a nostalgic trip to Vashti, although it turns out Picard does have a good reason for doing so, as he wants a fighter who can handle whoever they come up against.

* SwordAndFist: Elnor is victorious against three ruffians by mixing unarmed combat with his swordsmanship. He causes the first man to fall over by roughly pushing the latter down with his hand and then launching himself into the air from the guy's back. As Elnor performs a side flip, he hits the second hooligan with a flying kick to the face, and then he chops off Tenqem's head with his [[AbsurdlySharpBlade tan qalanq]].

** Raffi transports Seven of Nine to ''La Sirena'' just before the latter's ship explodes when it hits Vashti's security net.
* TeleportInterdiction: The ability to use the transporter to beam down to (or to beam up from) Vashti is extremely limited. Picard has to receive clearance from Central Station before he can teleport to the planet, which is protected by an impenetrable shield. The transporter signal can only pass through the DeadlyForceField when there's an open spot in the network, which occurs every 30 minutes, and the gap only lasts for a minute each time.

* WhamShot: The mysterious pilot is beamed aboard and it's none other than [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Seven of Nine]].
* WhatTheHellHero: After Elnor decapitates Tenqem and they are beamed up, Picard tears into him for it and makes it clear that so long as Elnor is bound to him, Picard will tell him "when to fight and when to refrain."

As per usual for this show, TheTeaser is a {{Flashback}}. It's the evacuation of the Romulan Star System -- which the Federation clearly halted partway through, as Picard is visiting refugees on the planet Vashti and discussing the ongoing efforts with them. He is the guest of the Qowat Milat, a Romulan sect of warrior nuns, and he spends quality time with a boy named Elnor, a HeartwarmingOrphan whom the sisters adopted despite his gender. Picard and Elnor are bonding over ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' when the admiral gets paged about the First Contact Day Synth Attacks, and he leaves abruptly to (try to) do something about it.

Picard is in the holodeck, where the Emergency Hospitality Hologram has re-created his study at Chateau Picard. His solitude is interrupted by everyone on the ship: Raffi charges in demanding to know why "Go to Freecloud" suddenly turned into "Have a SideQuest on Vashti," and Rios hates the fucking EHH, and Dr. Jurati is just bored. Musiker directly questions Picard's state of mind, while Rios brings up more practical concerns: the Qiris sector, formerly a part of the Romulan Neutral Zone, has become a WretchedHive, with only VigilanteMilitia organizations like the Fenris Rangers providing any sort of order; Vashti in particular is now under the "protection" of the warlord Kar Kantar, who rules the sector with a 23rd-century Romulan Bird-of-Prey (see ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]]'': "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror Balance of Terror]]"). Besides, Vashti is rife with the "[[FantasticRacism Romulan Rebirth]]" movement. But Picard is convinced that the services of a Qowat Milat warrior nun is his best shot; besides, he knows he is unlikely to have a chance to pass this way again, and Dahj's death has him thinking of Elnor. If the Qowat Milat don't want to help, they'll say so: they practice the Way of [[TitleDrop Absolute Candor]], which this wiki already named BrutalHonesty.

Picard beams down to the surface of Vashti. In the flashback, the Romulans were eager to meet him; now, fourteen years later, they show little besides veiled hostility. (The "Romulans Only" sign at the Romulan Social Club doesn't help.) He visits the nunnery of the Qowat Milat to beg them for help. Elnor, now grown up, treats him with nothing but contempt, remembering only the ParentalAbandonment Picard showed him. However, Zani, the head of the warrior nuns, urges Picard to make his case to Elnor. He can never join the Qowat Milat on account of penis-owning (or whatever Romulans have), but he is trained in their ways; Zani also wants him (Elnor) to see some of the galaxy instead of being stuck on Vashti.

Soji syncs up with Narek about Ramdha, who attempted suicide after her meeting with Soji. She has noticed Narek has no (visible) rank or badges of authority, and wonders whether he might be Tal Shiar. To distract her, Narek takes her to a corner of the Borg Cube, in Environmental Control, which has become a makeshift SockSlideRink. However, their fun (and smooching) is interrupted when Narek asks about how she came to the Artifact. According to her own reports, she was aboard the USS ''Ellison'', but the ship's passenger manifest shows no record of her ever being there. It's hard to tell whether Soji is more disturbed by the allegations that she's hiding something or the idea that she doesn't know her own past.

* RealityEnsues:
** Even in ships that can travel many times the speed of light, Dr. Jurati discovers that space is actually pretty boring between the times where the action happens.
** Elnor hasn't seen his father figure in fourteen years, and the old man only shows up after all this time to ask for his help on a mission. It's no surprise that Elnor is too pissed off at Picard to join him -- initially, at least.
** When Picard is confronted by hostile Romulans, he's unable to settle matters with his legendary diplomatic skills, a good speech or a display of badassery. Were it not for the intervention of a third party, he would have died there.

Picard is in the holodeck, where the Emergency Hospitality Hologram has re-created his study at Chateau Picard. His solitude is interrupted by everyone on the ship: Raffi charges in demanding to know why "Go to Freecloud" suddenly turned into "Have a SideQuest on Vashti," and Rios hates the fucking EHH, and Dr. Jurati is just bored. Musiker has by far the most reasonable concerns: the Qiris sector, formerly a part of the Romulan Neutral Zone, has become a WretchedHive, with only VigilanteMilitia organizations like the Fenris Rangers providing any sort of order; Vashti in particular is now under the "protection" of the warlord Kar Kantar, who rules the sector with a 23rd-century Romulan Bird-of-Prey (see ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]]'': "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror Balance of Terror]]"). Besides, Vashti is rife with the "[[FantasticRacism Romulan Rebirth]]" movement. But Picard is convinced that the services of a Qowat Milat warrior nun is his best shot; besides, he knows he is unlikely to have a chance to pass this way again, and Dahj's death has him thinking of Elnor. If the Qowat Milat don't want to help, they'll say so: they practice the Way of [[TitleDrop Absolute Candor]], which this wiki already named BrutalHonesty.

* WireFu: [[https://www.instagram.com/p/B825tIJAg5y/ This slow-motion video]] [[note]]it's the fourth entry in the set[[/note]] of a stunt rehearsal for this episode demonstrates that Evan Evagora's stunt double is aided by wirework when he does a side flip and a flying kick in order to depict Elnor's super-agility.

* TransitionTrack: We hear Soji's dialogue in the lounge before the scene cuts away from a close-up of her staring silently at Narek.

As per usual for this show, the opening scene is a {{Flashback}}. It's the evacuation of the Romulan Star System -- which the Federation clearly halted partway through, as Picard is visiting refugees on the planet Vashti and discussing the ongoing efforts with them. He is the guest of the Qowat Milat, a Romulan sect of warrior nuns, and he spends quality time with a boy named Elnor, a HeartwarmingOrphan whom the sisters adopted despite his gender. Picard and Elnor are bonding over ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' when the admiral gets paged about the First Contact Day Synth Attacks, and he leaves abruptly to (try to) do something about it.

* AccidentalMisnaming: Mr. Hospitality pronounces Zhaban as "Chee-ban."