What happened to Enterprise E? Vox episode of Star Trek: Picard season 3 explained - and when is finale out

The latest episode of Paramount+ series Star Trek: Picard saw the return of a classic starship
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The latest episode of Star Trek: Picard landed on Paramount+ this week and it has left many Trekkies with more questions than it answers. Vox is the ninth and penultimate episode of the season three, and dramatically set up events for the series finale which will air next week.

As Picard and his former crewmates once again found themselves in mortal danger, they just about escaped with their lives, but at a great personal cost. The episode featured major revelations and also saw the return of a classic Star Trek ship, the USS Enterprise-D.

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Since Star Trek first hit TV screens back in 1966 there have been several Enterprise models, and the Enterprise-D was last seen on screen almost 30 years ago. But with the return of the D model, fans were left puzzling what had happened to its successor, the Enterprise-E which has also been absent from the show for decades.

What happened in the Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode Vox?

In the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard season three, a major revelation about Jack Crusher has ramifications for his father. Deanna Troi explores Jack’s mind and discovers that he is not just the son of Jean-Luc, but also of Locutus of Borg - when Picard learns this he is crippled by guilt.  

The USS Enterprise has had several incarnations in Star TrekThe USS Enterprise has had several incarnations in Star Trek
The USS Enterprise has had several incarnations in Star Trek

On Frontier Day, new plans are announced for a command program that will link every ship in the Starfleet - but this system would be very vulnerable to infiltration. And that’s just what the Changelings have in mind, infecting the fleet with a Borg virus across the ships, and infecting the young crew.

As the Starfleet turns against itself, Captain Shaw dies protecting Picard and his crew, allowing them to escape in a shuttle. Now cut off from the compromised Starfleet, the gang are reunited with an old ship as it is revealed that the Enterprise-D is back.

What happened to the Enterprise-E?

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Jean-Luc Picard and his former crewmates made a hurried fled from the USS Titan as the Borg virus awoke young crew members causing chaos. Picard, William Riker, Deanna Troi, Geordi La Forge, Worf, Data, and Beverly Crusher narrowly escaped in a shuttle back to the Fleet Museum, where Geordi told the gang that he had been working on restoring the USS Enterprise-D and that it is now operational. 

The Enterprise-D is a starship that was captained by Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and several spin-offs. The ship was destroyed in the 1994 film Star Trek Generations. 

The Enterprise-D returned in Star Trek: PicardThe Enterprise-D returned in Star Trek: Picard
The Enterprise-D returned in Star Trek: Picard

The ship was succeeded by the Enterprise-E - it appeared in the Star Trek films First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis, where it was last seen awaiting extensive repairs on Earth. 

At the end of Vox, Geordi said that they clearly weren’t able to use the Enterprise-E, and the crew look accusingly at Worf who claims that what happened to the ship wasn’t his fault. But what did happen to the Enterprise-E?

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We don’t know for sure, because neither Geordi or Worf spell it out in the episode. However, promotional material released by Paramount+ before the season three premiere sheds some light on the subject.  

In a character profile, it was revealed that, following the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, Worf continued to serve on the Enterprise-E. It also stated that he gained the rank of captain during his time with the Starfleet, but it’s not clear if he ever captained the Enterprise.

The profile adds that Worf’s time on the Enterprise-E was brief and he left following ‘the incident above Kriilar Prime.’

So, while we don’t know exactly what happened to the Enterprise-E, we can guess that the reason that it’s not available to the crew now is because of whatever happened at Kriilar Prime. We may well learn more about the ship’s final mission in the Star Trek: Picard season 3 finale. 

When is the Star Trek: Picard season 3 finale release date?

The season three finale, The Last Generation, will land on Paramount+ on Thursday 20 April. All earlier episodes from Star Trek: Picard are available to watch on Paramount+ now.

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