33 Years Later, Star Trek’s Most Important Picard Line Still Defines the Entire Franchise

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By Michelle Konopka Alonzo

Published 5 days ago

Michelle Konopka Alonzo is a writer and editor with an overwhelming mental encyclopedia of Harry Potter knowledge. She has been an avid consumer of movies, television, and books since she first learned how to read. Michelle loves rewatching her favorite comfort films,

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's declaration from Star Trek: The Next Generation — "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth, or historical truth, or personal truth," — perfectly encompasses the massive franchise's core values over 30 years later. Introduced when The Next Generation premiered in 1987, Patrick Stewart has portrayed the legendary character for almost 4 decades. After reprising the character in several films, Stewart put on his uniform once more to lead Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023).

"The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth, or historical truth, or personal truth," comes from Season 5, Episode 19, "The First Duty." In this 1992 episode of The Next Generation​​​. When Picard and his crew land on Earth for his commencement speech at Starfleet Academy, they learn that Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) has been injured in an accident; the accident also results in the death of another cadet, Joshua Albert.

Picard tries to investigate the accident, but Wesley refuses to explain what was going on directly before Albert's death. Picard quickly reminds Wesley that he must tell the truth if he is serious about joining Starfleet, and if he doesn't, there will be severe consequences.

Picard's stern talking to Wesley in "The First Duty" is one of the best quotes in Star Trek history because, aside from Stewart's delivery, it takes all the major themes of Roddenberry's creation and packages them into one concise statement. Between all the conflicts that occur within the massive sci-fi franchise, everything boils down to the most essential component of Starfleet: the nonstop exploration of space, and the willingness to interact with anything that appears in the same spirit of discovery.

This ideal of exploration continues even beyond the vastness of space. Characters take a genuine interest in one another and their differences, even if they don't always agree in some type of capacity.

Another major theme of Star Trek is the importance of logic and reasoning, and how thinking with the mind, when it comes to Starfleet and space exploration, is more rewarding than thinking with the heart. While it's too easy to think with emotion instead of rationalizing high-stress moments with intent, leading with the objective truth always yields better results, even if the truth leads to unwanted consequences.

This rears its head time and time again throughout The Next Generation and Star Trek as a whole. Still, no moment exemplifies the ideal more than Picard's lecture when Wesley becomes (naturally) unwilling to put himself in a negative light.

Picard's declaration about the importance of truth lends itself well to one more major Star Trek theme, which is utilizing peace and diplomacy over direct conflict. There are plenty of action-packed moments throughout the franchise, with the characters coming to blows several times, such as the dramatic and large-scale Dominion War.

Overall, however, the commanders in each series tend to try to avoid physical combat whenever possible, instead of regularly attempting negotiations. Escalating situations and ensuing consequences that are hard to return from, such as Picard's ultimatum to Wesley, are something done in this sci-fi franchise as a last resort.

Mentioning that the Star Trek franchise features a lot of characters is an incredible understatement, although Picard remains one of the most memorable and influential figures in sci-fi history. While many characters in Star Trek lack an origin story, Picard is not one of them. Born in France in July 2305, Picard's early childhood and career aspirations directly tie into his eventual command of the USS Enterprise.

As a young adult, it took Picard several tries to be admitted to the Starfleet Academy. Despite several academic and personal struggles while enrolled, Picard graduated in 2327 and quickly rose in the ranks. Picard's high level of determination, coupled with his passionate interests in archaeology and history, are two traits that stand out as some of the most influential.

Picard is one of the best characters to come out of Roddenberry's massive franchise, both as an individual and when compared to the other Star Trek captains. Throughout The Next Generation, Picard routinely proves himself as an extremely capable leader who is intelligent, patient, and diplomatic, arguably the most important characteristics of anyone in a high-tier position.

Whenever Picard and his crew run into a problem (which Star Trek fans know is the premise of almost every single episode), Picard attempts to empathize, rationalize, and negotiate with everyone's best interests in mind. In "The Measure of a Man" (Season 2, Episode 9), for instance, Picard successfully argues that Data (Brent Spiner) is a sentient being with rights, not just a machine.

In The Next Generation and his subsequent Star Trek appearances, Picard also proves himself to be a fantastic character, let alone captain, with his respectful nature, strong morals, and an overall honorable sense of justice and fairness. Since Picard thrives on pure exploration and research, he almost always approaches things methodically and analytically, rather than ruling with emotion.

At the same time, Picard is open to constructive criticism and feedback, both from alien species and his subordinates. In fact, Picard and Data frequently engage in these types of discussions throughout the series.

Of course, while Picard is a well-written character on paper alone, the Star Trek character owes his fame and fortune to Stewart's flawless ability to bring him to life on-screen. Picard is an expressive yet relatively stoic character, leading with a commanding voice that simultaneously comforts co-workers and TV audiences alike.

Stewart's Shakespearean background is evident in his portrayal of Picard, with the actor's natural ability standing out in almost every scene he's in, whether in The Next Generation or other installments. The believability is there, the credentials are solid, and overall, it's hard to imagine anyone else portraying the Star Trek captain.

It's no secret that the Star Trek franchise is huge, with enough installments, lore, and Reddit fan theories available to last a lifetime. To date, the franchise includes 12 TV series, 13 movies, dozens of spin-off novels, a comic book series, and an audiobook—not to mention a potential Broadway musical, which is reportedly in early development.

The Next Generation is the third Star Trek TV series to air chronologically, although for continuity purposes, the show flows best after watching the six Original Series movies. Out of every series and movie to grace screens over the years, The Next Generation remains one of the best of the bunch. The Next Generation features some of the franchise's strongest characters, who stand as massively influential figures both on-screen and in real-life popular culture.

Picard aside, the Star Trek series wouldn't be nearly the same without Data, as well as William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), the USS Enterprise's loyal First Officer. Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) is another memorable supporting character, despite appearing in fewer than 30 episodes. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) also remains an iconic character in his own right, thanks to his portrayal of Star Trek's hopeful ideals, his work ethic, and his representation of disabilities like blindness in an inspiring manner.

Special effects have evolved tremendously over time, something that is incredibly easy to spot and keep track of throughout the different Star Trek installments. The Next Generation may be decades old at this point, but its special effects and overall cinematography still hold up well.

Instead of relying purely on handcrafted models or budding CGI, the series mixed both to create seamless physical locations (like the USS Enterprise itself), standout space battles, and other planets in the solar system. These well-made special effects were made possible by Industrial Light & Magic, a visual effects company founded by none other than Star Wars creator George Lucas.

In general, The Next Generation is a must-watch Star Trek installment because it perfectly manages to build on The Original Series, while still managing to bring something new to the table. Instead of taking a completely different approach from its predecessor, Picard and his crew build on the existing lore left by Captain Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in a way that feels like a homage without becoming redundant.

With timeless themes of exploration and discovery at the forefront, rather than more action-packed sequences like The Original Series, The Next Generation is simply an excellent starting point for sci-fi enthusiasts who have never seen an episode, or forthose looking for a good rewatch.