'Star Trek: Picard' Trailer Breakdown: Every Hint About Where (And When) The New Season Will Boldly Go

The trailer for season 2 of Star Trek: Picard dropped yesterday, and there's some Q-filled alternative timeline action going on. This brisk trailer packs in a lot. In addition to our first glimpse of John de Lancie reprising his role as Q, everyone's favorite powerful, god-like entity, we get a confused Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), a de-Borged Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), and lots of other things to speculate about.

As Picard says right at the beginning: "What the hell is happening here?" A whole hell of a lot, Jean-Luc. Read on for a breakdown of the first Star Trek: Picard season 2 trailer.

“Mon Capitane, how I’ve missed you."

De Lancie's Q says the above to Picard with a mischievous grin. Picard is less than thrilled to see Q, and who could blame him; the entity has been a nuisance to Jean-Luc and the rest of the Federation since The Next Generation. He could also be miffed because Q said he looked old, which is very rude, even for a seemingly all-powerful being. (Speaking of, Q has aged a bit as well, so he's one to talk.)

Who's the Boss? Picard is.

We then see Picard, in uniform, at Starfleet Command. This is confusing at first because, in season 1, he was officially retired. He looks anything but retired here — he's very much in charge standing at that podium and addressing his colleagues. Is this a flashback? Or did Picard go back into service? Or is there something timey wimey going on?

Ranks and Privileges

A close-up of Q's favorite captain reveals that Picard is well above that rank in this image. The eight dots on his turtleneck suggest he's at least an admiral, which was his rank when he retired. Given his position behind the Very Important Podium, however, it's not a stretch to think he's Starfleet's head honcho. The Starfleet badge on his chest is also a different design from what we saw in the first season, which is another clue that multiversal things may be happening.

"Welcome my friend," Q says to Picard, "to the end of the road not taken." This is the first major clue that this timeline isn't the one we're familiar with, all but confirming that this version of Picard is not the one we saw in season 1.

The Road Not Taken Looks Very, Very Serious

Things are different for Raffi (Michelle Hurd) as well. We get a quick shot of her looking on the lam with Romulan warrior Elnor on what appears to be a set from Blade Runner.

Romulans! Worried!

We also get a quick shot of Laris (Orla Brady) Picard's Romulan friend and employee. She looks very shocked and concerned. About what, only Q knows.

Soji in the Hottest Space Fashions

Data's "child" Soji (Isa Briones) gets her own quick shot. We see her sporting a kickass caped pantsuit, a sci-fi fashion choice (see Tessa Thompson in Westworld) that I desperately hope makes it to our timeline. Soji (or maybe it's her sister, Dahj?) is looking serious by a fountain, as one does. A close-up shot also reveals two pins: one is two linked circles, an obvious reference to the necklace she and her sister wore in season 1. The second is a blue-filled circle — maybe it represents Earth, where she seems to be residing now?

Return of the Murder Doctor

We also get a close-up of that murderous doctor, Agnes (Alison Pill) looking more than a little bit murder-inclined.

“Time has been broken.”

That's what an unknown voice tells us, and it sure seems so! Rios (Santiago Cabrera) is apparently back in Starfleet (or some weird offshoot or version of it) and none too happy.

Hmm...

Or is he? His badge has a definite Starfleet shape, but looks more like a spearhead than other designs we've seen. It also has what looks like a cross in its center, suggesting that this Starfleet isn't our prime timeline's Starfleet and/or it's something else entirely.

“We can save the future, and I will get us home, together.”

That's what Picard promises, at least, before we get to arguably the most exciting part of the trailer: Seven of Nine. She wakes up startled in bed, her hand strategically placed over half her face.

What is That Thing?

Seven stumbles out of bed, clearly confused. As we follow her, we get a close-up image of an insignia: a crescent moon overlayed with a four-pointed star that doesn't not look like an upside down cross. What this references is pure speculation at this point — Rios' badge looks like a mashup of this badge and the Starfleet one we're used to. Maybe Seven is in the "past" (AKA our present), as the Picard poster highlighting current day Los Angeles suggests? If that's the case, this insignia may be the precursor of the one we see on Rios. Or maybe it's an alternative timeline take on the Borg insignia? That makes less sense, however, given what we see next.

Seven has no Borg hardware! Which means we should probably call her Annika Hansen instead, since in this timeline she's never been assimilated. Her confusion about being Borgless also shows that at least some of the Picard crew (Rios also seemed similarly confused) have memories of their old lives. Picard is promising to get them all back to the OG timeline, but will Seven/Annika want to go back? There, she will have to go through the pain and horror of being assimilated and living under Borg control for decades. It'd be understandable if she didn't want to do that — what will that mean, however, for Picard and the rest? It will be exciting to see it play out, though we'll have to wait, in this timeline at least, until next year to find out.

Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard will stream on Paramount+ sometime in 2022.