Star Trek: All Good Things - Reality Vs Fiction
2. William T. Riker
What Happens In The Episode: Admiral William T. Riker progressed up the ranks a little faster in Picard's version of the future, which is perhaps fitting if indeed it was all a dream. Once he got the big promotion, he became a little too used to sitting behind a desk at Starfleet HQ, requiring an impassioned plea from his old commander to shake him from his doldrums. Unfortunately, there are elements of this future that can't be true.
What Really Happened: For one, he couldn't command the Enterprise-D, as this ship is destroyed on Viridian III barely a year after the 'modern' events of All Good Things. He is promoted, yet he never makes it past captain. At least, he doesn't move further than this by the events of Nepenthe.
In a bittersweet take on his story, he is spared the death of his Imzadi, with Deanna Troi surviving whatever caused her death in All Good Things. However, this comes at a cost, with their son Thad succumbing to a virus that would have been curable, were it not for the ban on synthetic life. He at least, to date, is the only member of the crew of the Enterprise shown in service in Starfleet, having returned to active duty to captain the USS Zheng-He, arriving just in the nick of time to protect his former commander.