Star Trek: How was the Enterprise-D actually destroyed?

Warning, there are spoilers for the ninth episode of “Star Trek: Picard” season 3!

• At the end of the ninth episode of “Star Trek: Picard” season 3, Picard and his crew return to the Enterprise-D.
• The legendary spaceship with the carpeted floor was last seen in the film “Star Trek: Generations”.
• In the movie, the spaceship was destroyed in battle with a Klingon Bird of Prey. Thankfully, Geordi was able to repair the ship.

Star Trek Picard: Watch Now❯

In “Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, a special highlight for fans of the “Star Trek” universe happens at the end: The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D is back in action! Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) tinkered with the spaceship after it was destroyed and made it operational again.

This was planned as a surprise for his old crew members from “Starship Enterprise – The Next Century”, but in view of the acute Borg threat, the starship has to be seized earlier than planned.

Star Trek Picard: Why does the crew have to go back to the USS Enterprise?

The USS Enterprise-D is an old starship, it was put into service about 38 years before the third season of “Star Trek: Picard”. It was destroyed around 30 years before the current events. The crew around Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) experienced all the adventures of the series “The Next Century” on board the Enterprise-D. The ship is then destroyed in the first feature film starring the crew, Generations.

However, the saucer section can be salvaged and will eventually be displayed at the Starfleet Museum. There Geordi works on the ship, as it turns out in the ninth episode of “Star Trek: Picard” season 3. With a new warp core and new components, he can make the ship operational again.

Because the ship is antiquated, it lacks the technology found in newer Starfleet ships that allows all ships to be piloted in a consistent manner. This modern technology was the undoing of the new spaceships in the assimilation of the Borg.

Star Trek – Generations: How the Enterprise-D was destroyed

In the movie “Star Trek: Generations” the crew of the Enterprise-D must defeat the dangerous Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) from turning a sun into a supernova. It comes to a fight against a Klingon Bird of Prey. The renegade Klingons had joined Soran.

The battle suffers significant damage and the Enterprise is forced to evacuate and detach the propulsion section as the warp core threatens to explode. The saucer section detaches, but explosive pressure from the propulsion section damages the saucer section and forces an emergency landing with further damage.

For the following films from “Star Trek: First Contact” to “Star Trek: Nemesis”, Picard and Co. then travel through space aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E. Finally, in “Star Trek: Picard” Season 3 we even see the Enterprise-F.

The final episode of the series will be available to stream on April 21, 2023 on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+. The latter streaming service will also inspire us this year with further “Star Trek” releases. “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” starts in June 2023.

Star Trek Picard: Watch Now❯