Star Trek: 10 WORST Things Captain Picard Has Ever Done

In the wake of the Mars attack, Starfleet made the decision to immediately halt the Romulan rescue mission. Their entire rescue armada of Wallenberg-class ships had been destroyed, with Starfleet going from one of the greatest powers in the Quadrant to one that was now seriously resource depleted. Admiral Jellico informed Picard that the mission needed to be scrubbed. As it transpired, Jellico went to Picard first, out of courtesy

Despite their less than friendly history, there was no malice in Jellico’s orders, as was clearly shown when he addressed the rest of the Admiralty, Janeway included. That’s where Picard’s fatal flaw became truly apparent. When informed of the mission’s ending, Janeway immediately set about establishing a pilot program, using the Protostar experiment, to make sure that the quadrant knew that Starfleet was still about exploration and advancement. In contrast, when informed of that same order, Picard immediately threatened his resignation in protest. To his very great surprise, it was accepted

This was something he hadn’t dreamed of, as he couldn’t envision a situation where he wasn’t a member of Starfleet. In the heat of the moment, tempers flare. However, when cooler heads prevailed, he very easily could have returned to service and worked with Starfleet, rather than against them. For better or worse, he chose not to.