Star Trek: Picard’s second episode, “Maps and Legends,” sees the storied captain continuing to investigate the mysterious android Dahj–and the people who hunted her. The story takes him back to Starfleet headquarters, while also showing us a new look at the Borg Cube teased at the end of Episode 1, “Remembrance.”
As with the premiere episode, Star Trek history is a big part of the story, and Episode 2 has plenty of references to Treks of the past. There are also quite a few Easter eggs to be found, and the show even takes an opportunity to get a bit meta and make a joke about Picard’s aversion to science fiction.
We’ve uncovered a host of tidbits and references you might have missed–check out the complete list below.
Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company.
1. First Contact Day
Episode 2 starts with a look back at the events that took place on Mars 14 years before the start of Star Trek: Picard. We know that synths destroyed Mars and the Utopia Planitia shipyard, an event mentioned in Episode 1 and also covered in the Short Treks episode “Children of Mars” on CBS All Access.
First Contact Day is also a reference to Star Trek: First Contact. In that movie, the Enterprise travels back in time to the first time humanity encountered alien life to stop the Borg from altering history. The Enterprise crew was successful, and even hundreds of years later, the first meeting between humans and Vulcans is still a holiday in the Federation.
2. The Tal Shiar
Though Romulus was destroyed, it seems one of the most powerful institutions of the Romulan Star Empire still exists: the Tal Shiar. The group is essentially an intelligence agency similar to Russia’s KGB during the Cold War–it plants spies throughout the galaxy and deals in deception and disinformation. It turns out that Picard’s friends Laris and Zhaban were former Tal Shiar agents, and that they think a subset of Tal Shiar is behind the attack on Dahj.
3. An M-113 Doll?
Keep your eyes open during the scene that finds Soji together in bed with Narek, and you might spot a small, blue-haired doll. The plush toy is a cute version of some sort of alien, and while we’re not sure, we suspect it might be the “Salt Vampire,” or M-113 creature, from the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “The Man Trap.” It’s tough to say for sure, so if you’ve got a better idea of what blue-maned monster is supposed to be represented with that toy, let us know in the comments.
4. A Friend From The Stargazer
Before he was captain of the Enterprise, Picard served on a ship called the Stargazer with a few other key figures, most notably Jack Crusher, the late husband of the Enterprise’s chief medical officer, Dr. Beverly Crusher. In Episode 2, we meet another member of that crew, Dr. Benayoun. Unfortunately, he’s got some bad news for Picard….
5. Irumodic Syndrome
Back in the series finale for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Picard experienced a version of his own future, in which he’d retired to his family vineyard on Earth in a similar turn of events to what’s at the start of Star Trek: Picard. In that timeline, Picard suffers from Irumodic Syndrome, a neurological disorder marked by the breakdown of his synaptic pathways. It essentially causes him to hallucinate and lose the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy, before eventually killing him. During the finale, Dr. Crusher notes that Picard has an abnormality in the structure of his parietal lobe that could eventually cause neurological disorders later in life.
While the future we see in the finale, “All Good Things,” didn’t come to pass, it seems the possibility for Picard suffering from a neurological disorder has. Though we don’t know the details, his meeting with Dr. Benayoun confirms the worst. Something is wrong with Picard’s parietal lobe, and it sounds like he has an unpleasant end waiting for him as the disease progresses.
6. Revisiting Starfleet Headquarters
The headquarters of Starfleet has long been located in San Francisco, and we see Picard visit the city in Episode 2, in hopes of getting Starfleet to reinstate him for his mission to find and protect Soji. It’s worth noting that the building used for Starfleet HQ is actually a real place–the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. It’s the place where Blizzard Entertainment’s BlizzCon convention and WonderCon are usually held.
7. A Musical Reminder
When Picard arrives at Starfleet, we’re treated to a quick musical cue that calls to mind the theme song of the original Star Trek series.
8. Remembering The Enterprise
As Picard enters Starfleet, he’s treated to a holographic image of his famous ship, the Enterprise-D. While he served aboard the ship for more than seven years, it was eventually destroyed during the events of the first post-Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Generations.
9. No Borg Assimilations
We learn more about “The Artifact,” the damaged Borg Cube Soji is working on, in Episode 2. As Soji enters a checkpoint between the safe section of the Artifact and the areas that are still active, a sign notes that it’s been nearly 6,000 days since the facility has seen an assimilation. On a Borg cube, the biggest hazard isn’t workplace accidents, but still-active Borg tech turning people into Borg drones. Even in its ruined state, that’s apparently still a big danger.
10. The Nameless
Soji’s role on the Artifact seems to be studying and working with former Borg drones that have been cut off from the Collective. Among the Romulans, at least some of these drones are known as The Nameless, because it’s not clear what species the drones come from. Several drones have been saved from the Borg Collective and restored after their assimilation, including Picard himself, as well as Hugh from TNG and Seven of Nine from Voyager (both of whom are slated to show up later in the series).
11. The Hermit Of La Barre
After Picard leaves Starfleet, a few of his former superiors discuss what he’s up to–with Vulcan Commodore Oh referring to Picard as the Hermit of La Barre. That’s a reference to Picard’s home village of La Barre, where he’s been hanging out for the last 14 years, and the place he was born.
12. Getting The Crew Back Together
Once Picard sets his mind to leaving Earth to find Soji, it’s Zhaban who mentions that the captain is going to need some help. Zhaban suggests he call the crew of the Enterprise–specifically, William Riker, Geordi La Forge, and Worf. Picard refuses to involve them (and probably endanger them), but we know that at least Riker will eventually show up during the course of Picard Season 1.
13. Agnes’s Asimov
The robots of the movie adaptation of Asimov’s “I, Robot” from 20th Century Fox.
When Dr. Agnes Jurati visits Picard at his home, she’s carrying a book with her: Isaac Asimov’s “The Complete Robot.” Asimov famously wrote stories about robots gaining self-awareness, which makes a lot of sense, given her life’s work as a cyberneticist who hoped to create artificial life similar to Data. Agnes wasn’t successful, but it seems learning about Dahj has got her thinking about her work once again.
14. Picard: Not A Sci-Fi Fan
Picard’s conversation with Agnes turns up a bit of meta-humor from the show’s writers. When Picard sees Agnes’s book, “The Complete Robot” by Isaac Asimov, he remarks that he was never a fan of science fiction–despite the fact Picard has become an icon of science fiction (along with actor Patrick Stewart).
