The second episode of Star Trek: Picard is “Maps and Legends,” an appropriate moniker as it serves mostly as a guide and bridge to connect the first and third episodes of the new series, thus helping to form a dynamic three-part introduction to this new era of Trek.

As a standalone episode, it is absolutely fine. As a piece of the greater whole? It is something much more.

“Maps and Legends,” as with “Remembrance” before it, expertly connects to past Trek lore with direct links and outcomes related to such standout episodes as “The Measure of a Man” and “All Good Things,” as well as a number of Borg-related episodes in both The Next Generation and Voyager.

In opening with a flashback to First Contact Day on 2385 — the holiday also referenced in “Children of Mars” — we learn a little more about the synths who went “rogue” and destroyed the Utopia Planitia shipyards on Mars, an event which led to the Federation’s decision to withdraw from Romulan relief efforts.

This act of fate was literally an act of F8 (Alex Diehl), one of the synths who helped drop the Mars planetary defense shield, killing his co-workers (and destroying himself) in the process. (“Hell yeah.”)

The scene has an air of terrifying inevitably of what the world might become when armies of ‘plastic people’ are used as a workforce — a clear callback to Guinan’s ‘disposable people’ comment in “The Measure of a Man” — and also a nice set-up for what Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) Romulan attendant Laris (Orla Brady) reveals in the next scene.

Apparently an extra-classified, double-secret, covert division of the Tal Shiar, called the Zhat Vash, has been operating for thousands of years in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, infiltrating governments from the Gorn Hegemony to the Klingon Empire… and even the Federation itself, all because they have an unrelenting “hate, fear and pure loathing” for synthetic life forms.

If you thought the Tal Shiar was bad, wait until you meet the Zhat Vash, a term alluding to the dead in the Romulan language — or more poetically, the only reliable keeper of secrets.

The complex scene is deftly edited as the conversation bounces back-and-forth between Chateau Picard in France and an investigation of Dahj’s apartment in Boston, where she was attacked and nearly captured in the opening moments of last week’s premiere. For anyone that has ever wanted a 24th century CSI spinoff, this scene is for you!

While it adequately introduces the idea of the Zhat Vash, it is also a bit superfluous and heavy-handed with its forensic molecular reconstruction, saturated antileptons and thick annotations.

Picard and Laris’ investigation ultimately leads to the discovery that Soji Asha (Isa Briones), the synthetic twin of the deceased Dahj, is working off world — aboard a captured Borg cube under Romulan control. She spends her time canoodling clandestinely with Narek (Harry Treadaway). smitten with the mysterious Romulan introduced at the end of “Remembrance,” before heading off to work with the derelict ship’s surviving XB’s… ex-Borgs.

At this point, exactly what is happening on the cube — er, “the artifact” — remains a massive and compelling mystery. Aboard the c, seemingly abandoned by the Collective at least 14 years prior to this episode, Narek describes the scene poetically as one you might find in a graveyard, where some residents “have come to feed on the dead; some are ghosts. And a few, like you Dr. Asha, pin their hopes on resurrection.”

Per that comment, Soji and a number of other researchers are working to “reclaim” many of the nameless drones still entombed deep in the bowels of the massive ship, but she does it with an earnest care that does not go unnoticed — and she hates the use of the “nameless” moniker some other workers give to the recovered drones.

Soji has said that that Romulans are profiting from “the exploitation of Borg technology,” and it is clear that Borg technology comes with a dangerous side, as she and all the workers are reminded as they enter the “grey zone” before each shift that “if your gradient badge starts to blink green… run.” (Note to self: can’t wait for that!)

Of course, Picard knows nothing about Soji’s specific location or what is happening on that cube, he only knows he needs to get back into space and locate — and protect — Data’s surviving “daughter.”

Written by the one-two literary power punch of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon and Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the episode’s emotional gut-punch comes in back-to-back scenes in which Picard realizes he can no longer hide from the realities of the passage time.

At home, Picard is greeted by his former medical officer on the Stargazer, Maurice Benayoun (the affable David Paymer), who seems to be the good captain’s primary-care physician on Earth. Picard’s excitement in seeing his old friend quickly fades as he realizes this house call was necessary to deliver bad news: he did not pass his interstellar service certification because, as Dr. Benayoun cryptically alludes, he has an abnormality in his parietal lobe caused “by one of a number of related syndromes.”

Although kept interestingly vague in the script, it would seem that Picard’s Irumodic syndrome, which was first revealed as a potentiality in “All Good Things,” has finally started to emerge. “I was told a long time ago it might present a problem eventually.”

The prognosis is bad. “They all end the same way… some sooner than others,” says his friend, trying to steer the topic towards an old mission from their Stargazer days. But Picard doesn’t have time for old war stories, he’s focused on the here-and-now, imploring Benayoun to authorize him for travel regardless. The doctor relents, saying, “You really want to go back out in the cold… knowing? I don’t know what kind of trouble you are planning to get in to, but maybe if you’re lucky, it will kill you first.”

(Note to Star Trek novel readers: did this episode just erase Dr. Carter Greyhorse from the Stargazer’s crew roster? Discuss in the comments below!)

With his certification in hand, Picard heads to Starfleet Headquarters to request to be reinstated — even willing to be demoted back to the rank of captain — for one last mission to solve the mystery of Maddox’s creations. Picard states his case to Starfleet’s commander in chief Admiral Kirsten Clancy (Ann Magnuson), who quietly seethes before finally erupting into one of the most emotionally charged throw-downs between a superior and a subordinate in Trek history.

“Sheer fucking hubris!” is the admiral’s explosive response to Picard. She, of course, is angry that Jean-Luc went public in his live interview a few days prior (as seen in “Remembrance”) in which he blamed Starfleet for their decision to abandon plans to help Romulus in the face of destruction.

Clancy defends herself well initially, citing the complications of dealing with 14 Federation members threatening to pull out of the great alliance if Starfleet continued to assist the Romulans after the losses at Mars. Eventually, though, her arguments get personal as she fumes that Picard is “suffering from the pitiable delusions of a once great man, desperate to matter,” before kicking the former Enterprise captain out of her office for good.

Picard is taken aback by the entire exchange in which he tells her that being ignored is not a good choice for the admiral — “You are in peril,” he warns her. It’s an important moment of foreshadowing of what is in store for us in the coming episodes.

The powerful writing in each of those two scenes is matched only by the performance of Stewart and the direction once again of Hanelle Culpepper, who includes a beautiful reflective shot of Picard staring into a clock as time literally ticks away as he must decide his next move.

After a meeting at his home with Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill), in which she confirms that Dahj was created about three years prior — seemingly by the now-vanished Bruce Maddox — he decides that that next move is to put together his own ship and crew to find Soji.

Laris hates the idea, protesting that only she and and Zhaban (Jamie McShane) — both former members of the Romulan Tal Shiar service — can protect him. “She’s not wrong,” Zhaban halfheartedly agrees. “You can’t go without us!” Laris is not amused and storms out, leaving Picard to explain to Zhaban that he needs the two of them to remain in Le Barre.

In a second chill-inducing homage to “All Good Things,” the amazing finale of The Next Generation, Zhaban knows he’ll need a crew, and suggest that Picard reach out to his former shipmates, like Riker, Worf, and La Forge — which should put to rest any comic-reader fan theories that Geordi was killed during the synth attacks on Mars. (Notably, there’s no mention of a certain red-head during this conversation.)

But Picard knows he can’t do it. “They will put themselves at risk out of loyalty to me. And I do not want to have to go through that again!” It’s another powerful connection to Trek’s past orchestrated by Chabon’s writing team.

Ultimately, they agree that instead Picard needs someone who both hates him, and has nothing to lose: cue the first appearance of Raffi Musiker (a compelling Michelle Hurd), who we meet as Picard arrives at her remote desert home.

Musiker served as Picard’s first officer during the prep phase of the Romulan evacuation plan — as revealed in the Star Trek: Picard — Countdown comics — but clearly whatever positive relationship they once had is long since over. She wants nothing to do with him, until Picard intones simply that “secret Romulan assassins are operating on Earth.”

The delivery of that line expertly shows again Stewart’s mastery in inhabiting Jean-Luc Picard — as was his earlier tongue-in-cheek line to Dr. Jurati about how he “just didn’t get” science fiction.

As for those secret Romulan assassins, it seems that they’re being led by the Chief of Starfleet Securty, Commodore Oh (frequent genre guest star Tamlyn Tomita). A Vulcan officer who keeps an IDIC and a tiny Kir’Shara on her desk, and the first ‘commodore’ seen since the days of the Original Series, has been errantly tipped off about Picard’s suspicions by Admiral Clancy, doing her due diligence to follow-up on some of the man’s claims — just in case he’s not entirely wrong.

Oh’s Zhat Vash compatriot is one Lieutenant Rizzo (the always-welcome Peyton List, affecting a British accent here), posing as a human officer in Starfleet Security’s ranks… but is really a Romulan agent, and Narek’s older sister. (Rizzo refers to Oh as her ‘ally,’ but it’s still unclear if Oh is also a secret Romulan, or just assisting in the Zhat Vash’s efforts on Earth.)

Rizzo has enlisted her brother as part of their plan, revealing that Narek’s true purpose on the Borg cube is to learn where “the nest” of Maddox synths can be located, by getting “the machine” — the still-oblivious Soji Asha —  to reveal her true point of origin.

When all is said and done, Oh and Rizzo’s villains could potentially be labeled as mustache-twirling or over-the-top — but as far as covert Romulan anti-synth operatives on Earth go, they certainly are interesting.

A few stray observations we picked up on subspace:

• Several Argo-styled shuttlecraft are seen in use at the Utopia Plantia facility on Mars, both on the surface and around the orbital stations.
   
• Just before F8 shoots himself, he takes out two Starfleet security officers wearing gold-shouldered versions of the mid-2380s duty uniform first revealed at Destination Star Trek Birmingham last fall.
   
• As he enters Starfleet Headquarters, Picard observes a hologram of famous starships called Enterprise in the building’s atrium: first, the (Discovery-styled) original Enterprise, followed by the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D.

• Soji’s new Trill friend aboard the Borg cube refers to the “Romulan Free State,” which may be the name of whatever loose government formed after Romulus’ destruction. A red version of the new Romulan logo can be seen on the walls in the surgical suite.
   
• It has been 5,843 days since an assimilation occurred on the cube — about 16 Earth years; the “nameless” drone Soji dissected had been in stasis for over 14 (Romulan) years.
   
• Picard’s Star Trek: Nemesis-era combadge is able to reach Raffi Musiker by first name reference only. Perhaps it has the 24th century equivalent of speed dial?

• The taxi that drops Picard off at Musiker’s cabin is a Discovery-styled shuttlecraft, a model apparently relegated to civilian use by this time period. A similar shuttle was in use as a futuristic school bus in “Children of Mars.”
   
• The 2399-era Starfleet uniforms have tiny embossed deltas on the colored shoulder areas, visible in close-up shots. (Because of course they do.)
   
• One of Rizzo’s rank pips keeps moving around during her holographic chat with Narek, not quite in alignment with the magnetic backing in Peyton List’s costume.

It remains to be seen how the movements of the Zhat Vash will intertwine with Picard’s motives — and with what exactly is happening on that fractured Borg cube — but the foundation for those mysteries and more have been laid out in “Maps and Legends,” which serves as a bridge to the next week’s “The End is the Beginning,” a neat close to the ‘first chapter’ of the Star Trek: Picard season.

As Dr. Benayoun says to his old friend, “For a relic, you are in excellent shape.” We couldn’t agree more.

Jim Moorhouse is the creator of TrekRanks.com and the TrekRanks Podcast. He can be found living and breathing Trek every day on Twitter at @EnterpriseExtra.