10 Most Annoying Unanswered Questions In Star Trek

8. Project Phoenix

Terry Matalas knew exactly what he was doing when he included this little gem in Star Trek: Picard's third season episode The Bounty. As Worf, Raffi, and Riker make their way through Daystrom Station, they happen to pass a unit containing the body of James T. Kirk. While that could have been Cetacean Observation enough, the fine print reads: Project Phoenix.

When pressed on why this was included, Matalas was blunt, claiming Kirk's death in Generations wasn't handled in a satisfying way, though pressed that including Kirk's body was not a sign that Kirk himself would return in Picard (which indeed he didn't).

As it stands, this is a dangling thread left open. Why retrieve Kirk's body? Why store it on Daystrom? Why even tease the thought of a revivification? As there are currently no plans for Star Trek: Legacy (that we are aware of) this seems like a throwaway gag that blasted the hivemind thoughts into overdrive. Why, for canon's sake, is any of this a thing?

Then again, if OTOY's 765874 Unification is, in fact, canon, Kirk may very well be up and walking. Consider that hornet's nest well and truly kicked.