The Fall Of Yuyat Beta In Star Trek Picard: Countdown #2
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
The Romulan governor of Yuyat Beta has incarcerated Admiral Picard and Commander Musiker after they protested the Romulan’s enslavement of the Yuyat Beta native population. The governor finds Picard’s condemnations juvenile and has her own plans to get evacuated from Yuyat Beta. However, these are sidetracked when the enslaved Yuyatis attack the governor’s palace. They free Picard and Musiker and evacuate them from the palace. The two Starfleet officers are taken to the vintners who ran the vineyard plantation. These two Romulans explain what’s happening to Yuyat Beta and their part in it. Meanwhile, the governor contacts the Verity and weaves a tale to get her people and herself evacuated from Yuyat Beta.
Star Trek Picard: Countdown #2 finds Jean-Luc Picard once again at odds with the Romulans, this time over their enslavement of the Yuyati population. Picard and Musiker are at odds with two of the oldest and most pervasive flaws of sentient life: bigotry and greed.
After the arrogant monologuing of the Yuyat Beta governor at the beginning of the comic, it is quite gratifying to watch the Yuyatis rally against the Romulans. They don’t seem super keen on taking Romulan prisoners either.
As always, Picard is stalwart and quick-thinking in all of the chaos, and Musiker’s more relaxed nature provides a bit of humor here and there. The Romulan Yuyat Beta governor makes a great antagonist, as she is intelligent but lacks any sense of a moral compass.
Angel Hernandez once again provides great visuals for this comic. Picard looks stunningly like Patrick Stewart, but there is plenty of stylism in the comic too. Joana Lafuente’s color art is vibrant and gives plenty of pop to the book.
Star Trek Picard: Countdown #2 finds Picard and Musiker at odds with the Romulans in an exciting and thoughtful adventure that finds the Starfleet officers fighting against the base bigotry of the colonizers. It’s an enjoyable read with solid artwork and it earns a recommendation. Feel free to check it out.
Star Trek Picard: Countdown #2 comes to us from writers Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson, artist Angel Hernandez, color artist Joana Lafuente, letterer Neil Uyetake, and cover artist Sara Pitre-Durocher.
Final Score: 7.5/10
