The series Star Trek: The Next Generation may have ended in 1994, but its legacy is still going strong. The show Picard continued the story of the fan-favorite Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, following his stint as Captain of the Enterprise. Characters from Next Generation have appeared in the new show, such as William Riker and Deanna Troi, and the next season of the show is set to feature the return of John de Lancie's Q, an almost infinitely powerful and chaotic being. In Next Generation, Q took an interest in studying human behavior and toying with Jean-Luc in particular.
With the expected reappearance of Q, IDW has released a reprint of a 1990 comic featuring Q and Jean-Luc called "The Gift." The issue -- originally Star Trek: The Next Generation Annual 1990 by de Lancie, Michael Jan Friedman, Gordon Purcell, Pablo Marcos, and Juliana Ferriter -- began with the crew of the Enterprise having a party while Jean-Luc brooded over an old family photo. Several issues arose, both internal and external, heralding Q's arrival. Q took Jean-Luc back in time to Earth, when his father was still alive. The two make a wager that an older Jean-Luc could convince his parents he was their child while Q wore the guise of a time-appropriate Jean-Luc.
For a time the two appeared evenly matched until they came to Jean-Luc's brother who died as a child. Q, who does not comprehend human emotions, related the story accurately -- to the horror of the Picard family who begged Q to stop. Jean-Luc was supposed to be watching his younger brother Claude while their parents were out. Not wanting to deal with the annoying behavior of a smaller sibling, Jean-Luc gave Claude a model boat and left him to his own devices. When Jean-Luc went looking for Claude, he was nowhere to be found. Later on that evening, some townspeople found Claude with a broken neck. The guilt was something that haunted Jean-Luc for the rest of his life, always blaming himself for the loss of his brother.
Since the older-looking Jean-Luc cried along with his parents while Q retold the tragic tale, the Picards knew which person was their real son. Jean-Luc won the bet and Q gave him the reward of a timeline where his little brother never died. Instead of a joyous life, Jean-Luc found that Claude grew into a bigoted zealot who hated alien races. Eventually, he would have taken over Starfleet and turned the exploratory organization into a massive army who tried to wipe out all other life forms.
When Jean-Luc confronted his brother, Claude tried to murder Jean-Luc instead of hearing out his dream of peace among the worlds. At that point, Jean-Luc conceded to Q that maybe it was better that his brother had died instead of becoming the evil killing force he would have grown into. Q restored the proper timeline and took Jean-Luc back to the Enterprise, just as if he had never left. Before departing, Q said that his gift to Jean-Luc was to free him of his past and the guilt that came along with it.
Although the "The Gift" is not canon, it established a framework that was used later in the television show. In later episodes of Next Generation, Jean-Luc's family story was revealed to be a bit different. He only had an older brother named Robert who tended the family vineyards back on Earth and did not care for technology, causing a strain in their relationship. Robert and his family, including a son who Picard was close to, later dies in a fire.
In the episode "Tapestry," Jean-Luc Picard died due to a problem with his artificial heart. Before he faded away, Q appeared to offer Jean-Luc a chance to correct a past mistake and live a longer life. Jean-Luc traveled back to his days in the Starfleet Academy where he stood up for a friend and was stabbed by an enemy, resulting in him needing an artificial heart. This time he stayed quiet and did not get injured. As his new life unfolded, he found his life much quieter and he did not rise in ranks. Not standing up for his friend had made him more timid and affected the overall quality of his life. Jean-Luc realized it was better to live his life with the artificial heart and Q brought him back to life. Be it on television or comic book, Q always presents an interesting dilemma to Jean-Luc Picard, which is ultimately Q's greatest gift.
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