There were endless moments in season 3 that would have been solved by reaching out to the progressive Borg collective from the season 2 finale. Not to mention that a few character arcs and character development moments that just seem suspiciously absent in season 3. So, is the entirety of season 2 not cannon or am I missing something?
They acknowledge it briefly. Captain Shaw grumbled, “Forget all that weird shit on the Stargazer, the real Borg are still out there.”
Picard Season 3 was explicitly being pitched as a TNG reunion season. They knew a lot of viewers would be jumping in mid-show, so it intentionally doesn’t rely heavily on the canon of the first two seasons to enjoy.
I liked the first two seasons for what they were, but honestly I get it. Picard’s premise of, “Legacy and new characters getting into adventures away from Starfleet” would have been tricky to balance with a full TNG cast reunion. Leaning into TNG Season 8 vibes made sense.
Picard also mentioned having recently learned more about his family.
Thank you. This makes a lot of sense. I mean, in-universe it's nuts, but out here in the real world - artistic license for a better show is a-okay in my book. Besides, it's the reason I muscled through season 2 to start with.