The dizzying alternate Picard timeline on Paramount+ will not be an infinite one.

After cast members suggested that the latest Patrick Stewart-led Star Trek series would soon conclude, Paramount made the news official on Tuesday: Picard will end after its third season. As part of its conclusion, the series will ramp up appearances of familiar faces from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Tuesday’s announcement confirmed that actors LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, and Gates McFadden would appear in the series during its third season. Previous Picard guest stars and TNG castmates included Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner. This massive TNG reunion has so far only been teased with names and audio. Each revealed third-season actor mutters bits of dialogue in a brief teaser trailer that ends with Picard and Riker facing off in an apparent duel.

This news arrives before the conclusion of Picard season two, which is six episodes into its once-a-week 10-episode run, slated to conclude on Paramount+ in the United States on May 5. Picard‘s second and third seasons were filmed consecutively, and production on the third season concluded roughly one month ago—at which time major series players like Jeri Ryan claimed  that the show was “always intended to be 3 [seasons] and done.” Tuesday’s official announcement leaves zero room for doubt on that front.

Paramount isn’t ready to confirm exactly when the third season will pick up, though its Paramount+ streaming service isn’t leaving fans wanting for content. On the same day that Picard‘s second season ends, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will debut as a prequel to The Original Series, and the new show spins off three reimagined TOS characters’s debuts in ST: Discovery‘s second season. And Paramount’s bullish attitude about expanding Trek’s reach, particularly via Paramount+, could still open the door for any Picard cast member to grab a figurative replicator and keep their own Trek story going.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1845939