In Picard Season 2 Patrick Stewart Explains Jean-Mother Luc's Reveal

Patrick Stewart talks into the major Star Trek: Picard season 2 revelations concerning Jean-mother Luc's Yvette and her mental illness battles.

Of course, whether fans wanted or needed to know more about Picard's origins and the reasons for his closed-off demeanor is a debatable issue. Nonetheless, Picard's second season concentrated primarily on a pivotal childhood trauma for the one-time captain, particularly his mother Yvette's strange disappearance. By the end of the season, the program had disclosed the terrible reality about Yvette's mental condition, as well as the fact that the young Picard had indirectly assisted his mother in killing herself, a memory he would conceal for the rest of his life. But, because to Q's involvement, Jean-Luc was eventually able to confront the truth about his own background and learn to open up, a growth experience that enabled him to set aside his prejudices and accept the assistance of Borg Queen Agnes Jurati in protecting the galaxy from an unknown threat.

Of course, whether any of this makes sense on a plot level is something that fans will have to discuss among themselves. In any case, Picard season 2 was an emotional roller coaster for the normally emotionless Picard, as he hurtled through the past both figuratively through memory and practically through time travel. Picard actor Stewart discussed this fresh perspective on his iconic character with Variety recently, focusing on the show's revelation of his horrific history and how his suppressed memories of his mother's suicide impacted his whole attitude. Stewart stated, "

"That was actually something that had been in my head for quite a long time. I knew that there had been some kind of trauma. There had been hints and suggestions. So these might have only been in the writers’ room, you know, where people would talk about this kind of thing then. But to have the opportunity to have revealed the actual truth of what his childhood was like and how he had distorted the story in order to protect himself — I was brought up in a somewhat violent background, too, and I know how important it is to find reasons why things are happening. And sometimes to take responsibility for why they’re happening, too."

In his first season as Enterprise captain on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jean-Luc Picard went through a lot of stress. He was notably absorbed into the Borg and transformed into the malevolent Locutus before being freed. Picard's consciousness later combined with an extraterrestrial archive, which downloaded the experiences of a long-dead man into his brain, forcing him to live through a full lifetime in the blink of an eye. Picard was held captive by the Cardassians and subjected to terrible mind-control torture, but was able to avoid being broken owing to his own strong sense of self in another iconic TNG narrative.

If Star Trek: The Next Generation taught us anything about Jean-Luc Picard, it's that he has an almost superhuman sense of self, making him nearly hard to break. And it appears like Star Trek: Picard season 2 has revealed Picard's secret strength: his capacity to store painful memories like his mother's suicide and never deal with them on a conscious level. On the one hand, one could argue that this gives us more insight into Picard and a better knowledge of what shaped him into the man he is. On the other side, the childhood trauma narrative feels a little shallow and was only employed in Star Trek: Picard season 2 to give a character who functioned better as an unapproachable mystery an unnecessary feeling of "depth." Picard will never be the same after what happened in Season 2 of Picard.

Source: Variety