10 Star Trek Assassinations That Changed Everything
4. The Romulan Senate
In Star Trek: Nemesis, a quip refers to the frequency of change in the Senate. Shinzon had been created as part of a plan to replace Jean-Luc Picard and have a Romulan operative deep in Starfleet, only to be chucked into the Reman mines when a new government came to power.
This led to a lifetime of torture for the clone, compacting his bitterness over time until he could only see revenge and seek the means to achieve it. He spent years working in secret, building his Scimitar ship, galvanising support amongst the Remans, before making his move.
The assassination of the entire Senate was his daring first blow in the revolution, placing him in the Praetor's seat, for a time. In that time, he reached out to Starfleet, inviting them to peace talks. Wouldn't you know it, the Enterprise-E just happened to be the closest ship to the border.
Shinzon's coup set the stage for the rise of the Remans, but also for much of the events of Star Trek: Picard. The death of Data only occurred in a successful attempt at destroying the Thalaron generator, which in turn leaves Data in that in-between limbo of dead and alive - ready to guide Picard back to life twenty years later.