Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 9 – “Vox”Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9 reveals not one, but two versions of the USS Enterprise and gives a long-awaited update about a third Enterprise. In “Vox,” Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation watch helplessly as Starfleet is assimilated on Frontier Day by the alliance of the Borg and the Changelings. Picard and his crew escape to the Fleet Museum on Athan Prime, where Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) has a big surprise waiting.
When promoting Star Trek: Picard season 3, Patrick Stewart hinted that “multiple Enterprises” would be seen. The USS Enterprise-F was debuted in the trailers and Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 6, “The Bounty,” showed two more Enterprises at the Fleet Museum: Captain James T. Kirk’s (William Shatner) USS Enterprise-A from the Star Trek: The Original Series movies and Captain Jonathan Archer’s (Scott Bakula) refitted NX-01 Enterprise from Star Trek: Enterprise. However, Picard season 3, episode 9, saved the best Enterprise surprises for last.
Related: Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 9 Ending Explained
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Brings Back TNG’s USS Enterprise-D
The USS Enterprise-D returns in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9! A sight for sore eyes, Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s flagship was destroyed in Star Trek Generations, but Geordi revealed that he lovely restored the D in the Fleet Museum’s Hangar Bay 12 over the past 20 years. The D’s saucer section was removed from Veridian III thanks to the Prime Directive while the new stardrive section’s engines and nacelles were ported over from the USS Syracuse. The Enterprise’s bridge is perfect as it was, with its bright lights and carpet contrasting the shadowy interior of the USS Titan-A. Nearly 30 years since it last flew, the Galaxy Class Enterprise-D is officially back.
The Enterprise-D is Picard and the TNG crew’s last best hope to save the galaxy from the Borg and the Changelings. The Borg were able to assimilate Starfleet because every ship in the armada is networked to assemble in Fleet Formation. But the old D is “analog,” in that the Enterprise is not wired into Starfleet’s current system. Armed with its battery of phasers and photon torpedoes, the Enterprise-D is still outmatched against the current Starfleet, much less a Borg Cube, but Captain Picard – who accepted a “field demotion” – leads the best, most experienced crew in the fleet.
Star Trek: Picard Finally Reveals The Enterprise-F – And It’s Captain
Before it turned into a disaster, Frontier Day’s celebration of 250 years of Starfleet was led by the Federation flagship, the USS Enterprise-F, which was commanded by Admiral Elizabeth Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy). Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “The Best of Both Worlds,” Commander Shelby was a tactical and Borg specialist who coveted Will Riker’s (Jonathan Frakes) position as First Officer of the USS Enterprise-D. Shelby returned in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Captain Shelby was also seen in Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Now an Admiral (and with her first name of Elizabeth finally revealed), Shelby was warned by Admiral Picard of the Borg and Changeling assimilation of Starfleet, but it was too late. The entire armada swiftly fell to the Borg-ified Starfleet Officers on every ship, including the Enterprise-F. Under Borg command, the F led Starfleet’s Fleet Formation, first to destroy the USS Excelsior, and then to target Spacedock and eliminate Earth’s planetary defenses. As for Admiral Shelby, the Enterprise-F’s bridge crew turned into Borg drones eliminated her, ironically proving Shelby’s folly in backing the very Borg-like system of Fleet Formation.
Related: Picard Answers A 27-Year-Old Star Trek: First Contact Question
What Happened To Star Trek: TNG Movies’ Enterprise-E Captained By Worf?
Along with the Enterprise-D and the Enterprise-F, Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9 dropped a surprising detail about the ship in the middle, the USS Enterprise-E. When Geordi lamented that it was too bad they couldn’t use the E and its superior weapons systems to fight the Borgified Starfleet, Captain Worf’s (Michael Dorn) friends accusingly glanced at him. “That was not my fault!” the Klingon amusingly defended himself.
The Sovereign Class USS Enterprise-E was introduced in Star Trek: First Contact and it was specifically designed to counter the Borg. Captain Picard commanded the Enterprise-E in Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis. Star Trek: Picard season 1’s backstory revealed that Picard left the Enterprise in the 2380s when he was promoted to Admiral and tasked to lead the Federation’s mission to save the Romulan people from its sun going supernova. @startreklogs Instagram post indicated the Enterprise-E had “many Captains,” but Star Trek: Picard season 3 confirms Worf succeeded Picard as Captain of the Enterprise. As for what actually happened to the Enterprise-E, that’s a Star Trek story for another time.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+
