Seven’s Borg background barred her entry into Starfleet, but with the Collective gone, she’s now the ideal figure to lead Star Trek’s next generation.
The promotion of Commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) means that she’ll be the perfect Captain for Star Trek: Picard’s post-Borg future. Since the USS Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant at the end of Star Trek: Voyager, Seven struggled to be accepted into Starfleet. Despite the support of Starfleet legends like Admirals Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), her journey to Captain of the Enterprise was fraught with difficulty. With her new promotion, Seven can not just lead the USS Enterprise-G but inspire the youth of Starfleet in Picard’s proposed spinoff, Star Trek: Legacy.
The Star Trek: Picard season 3 finale also brought another key element of Seven of Nine’s story to an end by severing her connection to the Borg Collective. In defeating the desperate final scheme of the Borg Queen (Alice Krige), Admiral Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D destroyed the last remaining original Borg in the Star Trek universe. While the destruction of the Borg may have eased the concerns of some of Seven’s more vocal critics, her former connection to the Borg actually makes her the ideal candidate to lead a starship crew following the events of Frontier Day.
Why Seven Of Nine Is The Perfect Captain For Starfleet’s Post-Borg Future
In recommending Seven of Nine for promotion, her former commanding officer, the late Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) reflects on her disregard for protocol and procedure. Of Seven’s approach to Starfleet’s rule book, Shaw said that “the rules she breaks…maybe they were broken to begin with”. It’s a moving tribute to the former Borg Seven’s individuality and her determination to never again become an unquestioning drone. These qualities make her a vital addition to Starfleet command, following their embracing of the “Borg-like” Fleet Formation Mode during Frontier Day.
Following the assimilation of the entire Starfleet armada, every officer under the age of 25 has now experienced what it’s like to be part of the Borg Collective. Many of these young officers may struggle to reconcile the death and destruction they enacted while part of the Collective, and will need wise counsel. As a former Borg drone who found her way back to humanity, Captain Seven of Nine is the ideal guiding light for these young Starfleet officers who are dealing with the fallout from Frontier Day. There is no one better than Captain Seven of Nine to serve as an example Star Trek: Picard’s next generation can move beyond being assimilated by the Borg.
Frontier Day Proved Seven’s Borg History No Longer Matters
Besides notable exceptions like Captain Shaw and Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), there were few vocal objections to Jean-Luc Picard remaining in Starfleet after his assimilation. Seven wasn’t as lucky, and her initial application to Starfleet was rejected, despite Admiral Janeway’s objections. It’s likely that the specter of Wolf 359 led many senior officers to see Seven as a security risk while the Borg Collective was still around. Now that the Borg have been destroyed, that perceived threat is no longer an issue, but this isn’t the only way that Frontier Day negated Seven’s Borg history as a barrier to her Starfleet career.
Frontier Day’s Fleet Formation disastrously turned Starfleet into the Borg even before they were assimilated. Every starship joined into one unthinking and unquestioning armada. Starfleet’s latest innovation actively stamped out individuality, locking out gifted pilots, or genius military strategists from carrying out the individual actions that have often saved countless lives across Star Trek’s history. As someone who has walked away from the Borg Collective, and who isn’t afraid to speak truth to power, Captain Seven of Nine is the perfect person to ensure the debacle of the Borg-like Fleet Formation is never repeated in Star Trek: Picard’s future, which will hopefully be chronicled in Star Trek: Legacy.
