Whoopi Goldberg’s heartwarming return to the world of Star Trek is a treat for TNG fans

Guinan, portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg, is one of the more beloved characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation. She is an El-Aurian, who works as a bartender in the Ten-Forward lounge on USS Enterprise-D known for her wisdom. Her recurring role in The Next Generation (1987- 1994), and the movies Star Trek Generations (1994) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) made her a fan favorite. She returned to the Star Trek world, in Picard Season 2.

While appearing on ABC’s The View in 2020, Patrick Stewart who plays the celebrated role of Jean-Luc Picard, invited Whoopi Goldberg to appear in Picard Season 2. Whoopi Goldberg was visibly emotional about it and recalled how being on Star Trek was ‘one of the great experiences.’

In Star Trek: Picard Season 2, the audience will meet a young Guinan (played by Ito Aghayere) in 2024 Los Angeles. Goldberg appears as Guinan in episode 1 titled ‘The Star Gazer’ and episode 10 titled ‘Farewell’. She helps Picard and his group fix the timeline.

Who is Guinan in Star Trek?

Guinan belongs to a race called El-Aurians, who are known for their listening ability. In the 23rd century, her home world is destroyed by the Borg and Guinan becomes a refugee on board SS Lakul.

In Generations, her ship gets caught in the Nexus energy ribbon in 2293, where along with the other refugees, she would experience the idyllic state of happiness in the extra-dimensional realm. Later when Captain Picard would enter the Nexus in 2371, he would come upon the echo of Guinan, who would help him leave the realm.

In The Next Generation, she would form a deep friendship with Captain Jean-Luc Picard aboard the USS Enterprise-D. She would often counsel the crew members and share her wisdom with them.

In Picard Season 2, Q (played by John de Lancie) alters the timeline, which sends Picard and his friends into a world where the Federation is evil and known as the Confederation. To fix the timeline, the group travels to 2024 Los Angeles in search of the ‘watcher’.

Picard would assume that Guinan is the watcher and goes to meet her at her bar. She leads him to Tallinn (played by Orla Brady), the watcher. Guinan and Picard go on a suprising adventure together that ends with them spilling the beans about time travel to an FBI agent.

Guinan would summon Q to know the reason behind altering the timeline for Picard and his friends. Q tells her that all humans are stuck in the past, which she takes as a hint for the group to fix the timeline. She would confess to the FBI officer that she is not from Earth and helps him understand that his actions could help Picard fix problems in the timeline. Guinan and Picard part ways with a promise of meeting in the future.

At the end of the season, older Guinan will share information about Cristobal Rios (played by Santiago Cabrera), who had decided to stay back in the 21st Century. After Picard and friends left, she kept in touch with Rios and his family.

In the two episodes that Goldberg appears in, Picard and Guinan will showcase their decade-old friendship. Having known him for a long time, Guinan would nudge him to find himself. She would tell him,

"Your answers are not in the stars. And they never have been."

Star Trek is available on Paramount +

ALSO READ: ⁠I just discovered the real reason Synthetics went rogue in Star Trek: Picard

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