Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard‘s season 1 Finale
Here’s what happened to Narek (Harry Treadaway) at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1. The CBS All-Access series starring Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard wrapped in grand fashion with the Starfleet legend saving the galaxy once again. Leading by example, Jean-Luc showed Soji (Isa Briones) and her synthetic family on the planet Coppelius “the logic of sacrifice”, something Data’s (Brent Spiner) daughter struggled with when she was faced with her desire to kill Narek, her abusive ex-boyfriend.
However, in Star Trek: Picard‘s two-part season 1 finale, “Et in Arcadia Ego”, Narek also learned his own lesson about the logic of sacrifice. Previously, Narek followed La Sirena to Coppelius, was captured by the synthetics, and it appeared that the Romulan escaped his captivity by murdering Saga (Nikita Ramsey). However, it was Sutra, Soji’s sister and predecessor, who broke Narek out and killed Saga – all to convince her brethren that organics were dangerous and needed to be wiped out. Improbably, the Romulan Tal Shiar operative had a change of heart; he turned on his older sister Narissa (Peyton List) and her anti-synthetics death cult, the Zhat Vash. Surprisingly, Narek asked the ragtag crew of Picard’s conscripted starship, La Sirena, to help him destroy the beacon that Soji was using to summon an ancient army of synthetics to destroy all organic life in the galaxy. Narek, Cristobal Rios (Santiago Cabrera), Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), and Elnor (Evan Evagora) tried to plant a grenade at the beacon but the Romulan’s ill-conceived and desperate gambit failed.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
By the end of Star Trek: Picard‘s season 1 finale, Narek’s fate is left completely up in the air. After Soji caught and destroyed Narek’s grenade, the synthetics overwhelmed La Sirena’s crew. The Romulan secret agent was last seen being dragged away by Soji’s brothers and sisters, pleading in vain for her to listen to him – something Soji won’t do again after he tortured and tried to kill her aboard the Artifact. Afterward, Star Trek: Picard‘s season 1 finale episode’s ending was focused on Jean-Luc Picard’s death and resurrection in a synthetic body and Star Trek‘s final farewell to Data, closing out the golden android’s story at last. Picard then joined his crew, including Soji and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), as they left Coppelius and warped into the final frontier together. But what happened to Narek?
Star Trek: Picard‘s season 1 finale never addressed the fate of the Romulan spy and it’s a major unanswered question left hanging. In his Instagram Q&As, Star Trek: Picard season 1’s showrunner Michael Chabon addressed the Narek question and he indicated that the Tal Shiar secret agent was probably turned over to Federation authorities. After all, thanks to Picard, Coppelius opened diplomatic relations with the United Federation of Planets and is now under the protection of Starfleet. So, the most likely scenario that occurred during Picard’s death/rebirth and departure is that Starfleet landed on Coppelius and took Narek into custody. Still, this is all conjecture and, since it wasn’t shown in the aired episode, Chabon’s explanation doesn’t hold as official canon.
It’s logical that Narek is now Starfleet’s prisoner in Starbase somewhere, but Star Trek: Picard season 2 could reveal a different fate for Narek if he returns. After all, it’s possible Narek escaped captivity again; he may have fled back to the Artifact, which is crashed on Coppelius, and reunited with his aunt Ramdha (Rebecca Witsocky), who is his last living relative. It’s also possible Narek was killed and won’t return or he remains a prisoner of the synthetics. Narek has proven himself to be a survivor, however, so odds are the Romulan secret agent will be back in Star Trek: Picard season 2 – and he’s probably still pathetically pining for Soji and scheming how to win her back.
Star Trek: Picard is available to stream on CBS All-Access and internationally on Amazon Prime Video.
