SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 - It’s been over 20 years since fans have watched a Starfleet crew spar against the Borg Queen, but Deadline.com has confirmed that the character is now back in the Star Trek universe. Annie Wersching, known for her villainous turns on shows like Timeless and The Vampire Diaries, has been cast as the Queen for Star Trek: Picard season two. She takes the reins of the collective from Alice Krige and Susanna Thompson, who shared the throne in Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Voyager, respectively.

Wersching is a Trek veteran, having appeared on Star Trek: Enterprise’s first season in the episode “Oasis”. She portrayed a young survivor of a transport vessel crash, and Deep Space Nine’s René Auberjonois played her father. When Auberjonois died in 2019, Wersching offered a touching tribute on Twitter.

Soon after Wersching’s casting news broke, an image from the first season two teaser in April started making the rounds on social media, showing a subtle hint that now makes more sense. It features a Queen of Hearts dissolving and morphing into the letter “Q.”  

The longer teaser trailer, released in June, hinted at time travel and highlighted the return of John de Lancie’s Q, but precious few clues have been forthcoming for the plot of Picard’s sophomore season. The announcement of the Borg Queen’s return lends some weight to fan theories that Q’s meddling in history has altered Starfleet’s past interactions with the Borg, which could account for Annika Hansen’s seemingly assimilation-free existence in the trailer. 

However history or alt-history plays out, no doubt fans will be anxiously waiting to see if the Queen can finally succeed in her plan to bring order to chaos. Star Trek: Picard season two will debut on Paramount+ in 2022, and season one is available for streaming now.