Captain Picard Should Have Died When He Was A Child

Not because he was a child. Just while he was a child.

Music: Fuzzball Parade by Kevin MacLeod

[bmjord]

The artificial heart was affected in the same way as Picard's clothes, it transformed into a child sized version of itself.

[TheMightyPatapon]

Well, that did it. You ruined TNG for me. My immersion is thoroughly broken.

[ricdavid]

"Boy, I sure hope somebody got fired for THAT blunder!"

[faintsignal]

I've got faith of the artificial heart.

[thedavecorp]

THE VULCAN SCIENCE ACADEMY HAS RULED you should sit back and enjoy the show.

[Moonbeam]

When it comes to hearts, you just have to have faith. This is what Star Trek has taught me.

[dembones]

Maybe he had severe cardiomegaly but the heart, being a 24th century smart organ, was able to recognize it was now magically in a smaller body and regulate itself appropriately? He looked to have been in his early teens (edit - 15 as it turns out) so the chest size between then and as an adult wouldn't have been insurmountably extreme. Might gain a few inches height between 15 and 18-21 but depth is pretty much locked in by that point.

Real answer being they forgot he had one, of course.

[michaelchallis]

I’m still trying to work out how Guinan is the same age as the other three.

[quinnmcgovern]

Obviously, when they were planning the episode they referred back to the lore and after years spent researching Start Trek in the desert, they knew that the transporters could break down the artificial heart to its base elements and find a new place to put them in Picard's body, leaving room for his natural child heart, and then when he is old again reassemble the heart from its components as needed. The real super important question from the episode is what happed to the difference between child and old Picard's mass and then how did Picard get it back when he became old again?

[PHDiaz-vvyo]

I assisted on an aortic transection when I was a med student post RTC. Bled like a bastard. And that’s how I’m picturing Picard’s chest cavity now

[phil]

The Heisenberg compensator clearly compensated for any plot inconsistency

[pauldzim]

Yes, EVERY OTHER EPISODE in Star Trek makes PERFECT SENSE, with ABSOLUTELY NO PLOT HOLES, except for this one thing

[unadomandaperte]

One could say that child Picard still had an artificial heart. The reason being is that the transporter did not take the crew back through time but it transformed them into "genetically plausible versions of themselves". Like their clothes and jewelry, all were transformed molecularly.

[Stephen_The_Waxing_Lyricist]

You're pleading for answers in vein. Aorta schedule a counselling session with Troi for you, but my hearts just not in it.

[transjoyous]

"Surely by the 24th century, they would have found a biological method to replace stabbified hearts."

"No, by the 24th century, no one will care."

[hello-vercingetorix]

It made him a whole new kid body based on his genes then a whole new adult body based on his most recent known-good stored pattern. The original adult body (heart and all) was destroyed. The kid body was also destroyed

[badvertised]

Funny you should mention it, originally this episode was supposed to be a body horror story about child Picard fighting for life after he materializes with a giant artificial heart poking out of his chest squirting blood everywhere. But then David Cronenberg backed out of directing the episode, there were a couple of minor revisions to the script, and now we've got "Riker's my number one dad!"

[batgurrl]

This episode Rascals is on TONIGHT on the basic cable station Heroes and Icons which shows all 5 original series 6 nights a week. PERFECT timing. I will view it totally differently now👏😂😂

[Dargonhuman]

My headcanon is the artificial heart was either replaced or modified by the Borg when he was Locutus to be able to adapt to the other physiological changes assimilation caused or they were just straight up like, "You're using _that_ old thing still? Bro, we'll hook you up with a much better and more reliable model."
The other option is there were still Borg nanoprobes in his blood that made the necessary microadjustments instantly to keep him alive.

[TightPantsJack]

The 24th century tech inside his artificial heart adjusted itself to accommodate the sudden change in its wearer's physiology.