Starfleet must once again call on legendary Jean-Luc Picard after members of his former crew — Cristóbal Rios, Seven of Nine, Raffi Musiker, and Dr. Agnes Jurati — discover an anomaly in space that threatens the galaxy.

Patrick Stewart (Admiral Jean-Luc Picard)
Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati)
Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine)
Michelle Hurd (Commander Raffi Musiker)
Evan Evagora (Cadet Elnor)
Orla Brady (Laris)
Isa Briones (Dr. Soji Asha)
Santiago Cabrera (Captain Cristóbal Rios)

Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan)
John de Lancie (Q)

Madeline Wise (Yvette Picard)
Menik Gooneratne (Alien Emissary)
April Grace (Admiral Sally Whitley)
Rich Ceraulo Ko (Deltan)

Kay Bess (La Sirena Computer)
Alex Diehl (Harvey)
Dylan Von Halle (Young Jean-Luc Picard)
Richard Jin (Moshe)
Floyd Anthony Johns Jr. (Pirate #1)
Swati Kapila (Decorated Officer)
Geri-Nikole Love (Lieutenant Urtern)
Adele Pomerenke (Ensign Kemi)
Anushka Rani (Lieutenant Sing)

• The premiere opens with what appears to be a Borg attack on a Starfleet vessel commanded by Rios and Picard activating its self-destruct before jumping back 48 hours.
  
• In the time since the Season 1 finale, Laris's husband and Château Picard caretaker Zhaban has died; Picard is back in Starfleet and chancellor of Starfleet Academy; Raffi is back in Starfleet and teaches at Starfleet Academy; Elnor has become the first fully Romulan cadet of Starfleet Academy; Seven of Nine has La Sirena and is back with the Fenris Rangers with only the Rios Emmet hologram as crew; Soji and Dr. Jurati are traveling the galaxy with synthetics trying to establish diplomatic relations; Rios is now back in Starfleet and captain of the U.S.S. Stargazer NCC-82893.
  
• This is Guinan's first appearance since Star Trek: Nemesis.
  
• John de Lancie (Q) is credited as special guest during the end credits. It is his first on-screen appearance since the Voyager episode "Q2". He did appear in animation form in the Lower Decks episode "Veritas".
  
• The anomaly transmits "Help Us, Picard" in multiple languages along with the text of Article 15, which is the application to join the Federation. When Picard joins the Stargazer, a Borg vessel comes through the anomaly.
  
• The new U.S.S. Stargazer NCC-82893 is the first Sagan-class starship, and includes technology developed from the Borg Artifact research. The Borg use this technology as a conduit to begin assimilating the ship.
  
• Elnor and Raffi are assigned to the U.S.S. Excelsior NCC-42037, Excelsior II-class. It is part of the fleet that arrives to assist the Stargazer with the Borg anomaly.
  
• The fleet of 34 starships includes models designed for the video game Star Trek Online. A first in a Trek television series, the fleet also includes four Sovereign-class ships (though not the Enterprise-E).
  
• After the destruction of the Stargazer, Picard awakes in his château, but Laris is gone and has been replaced by an android named Harvey. Q appears to welcome him to the road not taken.
  
• The cast credits in the brand new title sequence were shuffled around a bit, and Jeri Ryan (Seven) and Orla Brady (Laris) are now regular cast members.
  
• This episode debuted simultaneously with the Discovery episode "Rosetta".