I always wondered if Lt JG Picard got to glimpse the Captain's life in the same way that the Captain glimpsed his. Poor guy got reverse Christmas Caroled.
I didn't think that was a switch as much as an alternate reality Q created solely for Picard to make a point. Like the warp bubble that Crusher got trapped in once.
Maybe RealHeartPicard was able to have a full life that PicardPrime (with kung fu grip) couldn't have. He could have gotten married, had a bunch of cute kids, saved his brother and nephew and celebrated an old fashioned Joyeux Noël, with everyone dressed in natural fabrics and big hair ribbons. No Blazin' Bev, but still, it could have been the best outcome.
I don't remember, did they ever explain why the Borg didn't take over in that timeline? I know Q could have made the whole thing up, but assuming he didn't, it seems like Picard's leadership is what stopped the Borg from taking over (based on what happened to the Riker-led Enterprise from Parallels). Did they make any mention of Wolf 359 or anything like that?
Totally glossed over, but then you gotta remember that Q alerted the Borg of the Federation's presence in the Alpha Quadrant from all the way in the Delta. That would result in a delay of X years before their arrival. Without Q's warning, however, Starfleet would be woefully unprepared and result in a variation of strung out Riker.
Thank you! Yeah, I guess there could be lots of butterfly effect reasons that Starfleet wasn't overrun by Borg. Thanks for the answer! My searches for, "TNG Tapestry Borg," were not helpful.