SilverWook said:
The way Picard's brother and nephew were killed off still seems incredibly random and cruel to me. (Who the heck dies in a barn fire in the 24th century?) The episode Family has been essentially ruined for me thanks to Generations.
It wasn't that random. They wanted to reinforce/introduce Picard's need for children to carry on the family name. As long as his nephew was around he didn't have to carry that burden.
I still hated it though.