WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 5, "Imposters".
The return of Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5, "Imposters" raises further questions about the whereabouts of Thomas Riker (Jonathan Frakes), William Riker's doppelganger. Tom Riker was the result of a freak transporter accident that cloned a young Lieutenant Will Riker prior to serving aboard the USS Enterprise-D. After deciding to continue his Starfleet career, under the name Thomas Riker, Will's doppelganger eventually grew disillusioned with Starfleet and joined the Maquis, hijacking the USS Defiant to launch an attack on secret Cardassian shipyards.
Interestingly, in Ro Laren's final Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Preemptive Strike", it was Will Riker who made no attempt to apprehend Ro when she joined the Maquis. There's an implication, therefore, that Will Riker did have sympathies with Star Trek's Maquis traitors. Those sympathies were more pronounced in Thomas, who was sent to a Cardassian prison for his actions while in command of the stolen Defiant. If Ro Laren was able to join Starfleet Intelligence after serving time for her Maquis crimes, then surely Thomas Riker could have had a similar opportunity.
