Star Trek Reveals the Origin of the Zhat Vash

As the season comes to a close, the eighth episode of Star Trek: Picard featured incredible revelations that set up the upcoming two-part finale. "Broken Pieces" provided the viewers with a key piece of Star Trek history, the origins of the Romulan Zhat Vash sect and its secret history.

This article contains SPOILERS for Episode 8 of Star Trek: Picard.

Opposite of its title, this episode puts together the pieces of the Zhat Vash's mission to purge the galaxy of synthetic life. In a flashback sequence set 14 years ago at Aia, Narissa Rizzo is seen along with Zhat Vash recruits being taken by Commodore Oh, who's apparently half-Romulan, half-Vulcan. The test for Zhat Vash agents is a process known as "The Admonition," a warning left behind by an ancient race years ago that tells the tale of what happened when they created synthetics of their own. It was incredibly terrible that it drove the others insane and suicidal.

The creation of this synthetic life attracted a great destroyer that wiped out this ancient civilization. Upon discovery, the Romulans created the Zhat Vash whose purpose is to eliminate all synthetic life, so the destroyer will never appear again.

This reveal explains why the Zhat Vash are after Soji, who is presumed to be the Destroyer. This episode could also open to tons of theories about the mysterious ancient race.

What are your thoughts on episode eight? Tell us in the comments below!

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard gets released every Thursday on CBS All Access.

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