'Star Trek: Picard' Revolves Around Narek's Quest to Obliterate Synthetics

Narek (Harry Treadaway) is the kind of anti-hero who insists on maintaining high moral standards while doing his best to usher in the next apocalypse, and with it, the obliteration of an entire species. Star Trek: Picard chronicles his mind-boggling back-and-forth between trying to rationalize his romantic feelings for a sentient artificial being, Soji (Isa Briones), with his relentless quest to obliterate sentient artificial beings. So, which path does he end up taking? What happened to Narek?

The first episode of the show kicks off with a smooth start, capturing what Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) has been up to since leaving the USS Enterprise. Think winery in the sun-drenched countryside, rows and rows of bright green bush grapes, and a living room neatly decked out with invaluable memorabilia reminding him of his past life. 

The perfect harmony is only interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a slightly perturbed young woman, Dhaj, who happens to have a twin sister who goes by the nickname of "The Destroyer," aka Soji. With this turn of events, the narrative kicks into full gear, and next thing you know, sentient artificial beings and their organic counterparts will be at each other's throats trying to work out who should be the worst affected by what kind of an apocalypse. 

The version most favored by Narek and his sister, Narissa (Peyton List) involves the mass killing of artificial sentient beings. This would be achieved with spying, artful deceit, and a hefty bit of manipulation. According to The Observer, Narek and Narissa were raised with the idea that Synthetics are naturally inclined to create chaos. This is the prejudice they refer back to when they need to justify their evil master plan. 

"For their whole history, the Romulans thought the Synthetics would converge and destroy everything. It’s something which has been instilled in him since childhood [...] And then, confusingly and troublingly, being humans or Romulans or synthetics with feelings, it hasn’t proved quite as simple as that," Harry Treadaway, the actor playing Narek, told The Observer. 

As part of the plan, Narek ends up spying on the enemy, trying to get as close to Soji as humanly possible. That's where the troubles begin, as the experience overwrites his firmly-held presumptions about the innately destructive nature of sentient artificial beings. 

The episode titled "The Impossible Box" could potentially be interpreted as a grandiose tale about the transformative power of true love — if you manage to temporarily forget about the scene in which Narek tries to kill Soji with a fancy Rubik's Cube. 

Narek's struggle to choose between feelings and elaborate plans to carry out genocide reaches its climax in the final episode, "Et in Arcadia Ego." In it, Narek informs his sister that the apocalypse should be postponed until further notice, while the Romulan fleet should be instructed to perhaps reconsider their position on mass murder as well. Once again, the order of the world is restored — at least, until the premiere of Season 2. 

 Star Trek: Picard is available on CBS All Access now.