Star Trek's Lt. Commander La Forge's Fatherhood Timeline Explained
One of LeVar Burton's most famous roles is that of Commander Geordi LaForge. Appearing first in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," LaForge went on to appear in films such as "Star Trek: First Contact" and "Star Trek: Nemesis," the latter film marking the character's last onscreen appearance until Burton reprised the character on the Paramount+ series "Picard."
The series also revealed that Geordi has two daughters, Alandra LaForge and Sidney LaForge, the former character played by LeVar Burton's real-life daughter Mica Burton, while Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut plays the latter character. Upon this revelation, fans have been speculating when Geordi became a father, and whether he already had children during his previous appearances in "Star Trek: First Contact," or even earlier.
In an interview with IndieWire, Burton spoke about the timeline of Geordi's fatherhood, noting that it happened after "Star Trek: Nemesis." He noted that the events of the latter film, as well as "Star Trek: Insurrection," led to Geordi deciding to move away from traveling. This is what gave him the opportunity to put down roots long enough to find a partner, get married, and start a family.
"Star Trek: Nemesis" revolves around the crew trying to stop Shinzon (Tom Hardy) a Romulan-created clone of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) ultimately sacrifices himself to save Picard, though he lives on thanks to downloading his memories into another android. It's quite likely that Data's near-death motivated Geordi to step down from space missions.
LaForge's daughters had been mentioned before Picard
While the revelation of Geordi LaForge's daughters was a new wrinkle to the character on "Star Trek: Picard," this was not the first time they've been mentioned in the history of "Star Trek." Showrunner Terry Matalas, a fan of the franchise from before he took the reins of "Picard," dug back through the history to the mention of the LaForge family in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," drawing the names Alandra and Sidney from there.
The series finale of "The Next Generation," titled "All Good Things...," focuses on Picard as he mentally jumps through three points in time; the show's present, the past when he was about to take the Enterprise out for its first mission as captain, and 25 years in the future, where he's now living in a vineyard.
It is in this vineyard that Geordi LaForge comes to visit Picard, revealing details about the universe's future in the process. Geordi also mentions his own daughters during the conversation, in one of the moments where Picard's mind is in the future, and says their names are Alandra and Sidney.
While this particular future becomes an alternate future thanks to Picard's efforts during the episode to save humanity from a threat traveling backward through time, Matalas and the "Star Trek: Picard" writing team noted the mention, drawing another connection between "The Next Generation" and "Picard" in the process.