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Datalore (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"Datalore" is the 13th episode of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
.
's "brother," Lore, who is in league with the entity that destroyed the colony on his home world.
41242.4, the USS Enterprise stops by the planet Omicron Theta while on her way to Starbase
Armus IX for computer maintenance. The site of a vanished farming colony, the planet was where the Tripoli originally found the android Data. On the planet, an away team finds that what was reported as farmland now looks like barren rock with no trace of life in the soil. Amid other indicators that something terrible has happened to the colony, the team also finds the lab in which Dr. Noonien Soong, a formerly prominent robotics designer, built Data. Data finds various android parts and takes them back to the Enterprise.
As the course to Armus is resumed, Data's "brother" is reactivated in sickbay. Referring to himself as "Lore", he first tells others that Data was built first and he himself is the more perfect model. Later, in private, he tells Data that it was actually the reverse order, and that colonists became envious of his own perfection. He also explains that a crystalline space entity capable of stripping away all life force from a world was responsible for the colony's demise. Lore then incapacitates Data, revealing that he plans to offer the ship's crew to the Crystalline entity. When a signal transmission is detected from Data's quarters, Wesley arrives to investigate. He finds Lore (now impersonating Data) who explains that he had to incapacitate his brother after being attacked. Wesley is doubtful, but pretends to accept the explanation.
Soon after, the same crystalline entity that had attacked the colony approaches the ship. Lore, still pretending to be Data, enters the bridge as the object hovers before the Enterprise and explains that he used a shut off switch to incapacitate his brother, causing Beverly
to be suspicious, since Data was careful about who knew of his off switch. Lore then explains that he can communicate with the crystalline entity and suggests that Picard show a demonstration of force by beaming an object toward the crystal and then destroying it with a phaser
.
Lore's attempts to imitate Data are imperfect, arousing Picard's suspicion. Although Picard sends a security detachment to tail him, Lore disables Worf and evades pursuit. Meanwhile, the suspicious Beverly and Wesley reactivate the unconscious android and discover it is, indeed, Data. The three race to the cargo hold to find Lore telling the entity that the shields will drop momentarily when the transporter is activated. When Lore discovers them, he threatens Wesley with his phaser and orders Dr. Crusher to leave. Although she complies, he shoots at her anyway but fails to kill her. Data quickly rushes Lore and a brawl ensues. Data manages to knock Lore onto the transporter pad, and Wesley activates it and sends Lore into space. With Lore gone, the crystalline entity flies away.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
.
Overview
The Enterprise crew discover and reassemble DataData (Star Trek)
Lieutenant Commander Data is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe portrayed by actor Brent Spiner. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek...
's "brother," Lore, who is in league with the entity that destroyed the colony on his home world.
Plot
On stardateStardate
A stardate is a date in the fictional system of time measurement developed for Star Trek, commonly heard at the beginning of a voiceover log entry such as "Captain's log, stardate 41153.7...
41242.4, the USS Enterprise stops by the planet Omicron Theta while on her way to Starbase
Starbase
A starbase is a facility, often in space, used in science fiction works such as Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Firefly. Typically they act as drydocks, battle stations or trading outposts.- Star Trek :...
Armus IX for computer maintenance. The site of a vanished farming colony, the planet was where the Tripoli originally found the android Data. On the planet, an away team finds that what was reported as farmland now looks like barren rock with no trace of life in the soil. Amid other indicators that something terrible has happened to the colony, the team also finds the lab in which Dr. Noonien Soong, a formerly prominent robotics designer, built Data. Data finds various android parts and takes them back to the Enterprise.
As the course to Armus is resumed, Data's "brother" is reactivated in sickbay. Referring to himself as "Lore", he first tells others that Data was built first and he himself is the more perfect model. Later, in private, he tells Data that it was actually the reverse order, and that colonists became envious of his own perfection. He also explains that a crystalline space entity capable of stripping away all life force from a world was responsible for the colony's demise. Lore then incapacitates Data, revealing that he plans to offer the ship's crew to the Crystalline entity. When a signal transmission is detected from Data's quarters, Wesley arrives to investigate. He finds Lore (now impersonating Data) who explains that he had to incapacitate his brother after being attacked. Wesley is doubtful, but pretends to accept the explanation.
Soon after, the same crystalline entity that had attacked the colony approaches the ship. Lore, still pretending to be Data, enters the bridge as the object hovers before the Enterprise and explains that he used a shut off switch to incapacitate his brother, causing Beverly
Beverly Crusher
Commander Beverly Crusher, M.D. , played by actress Gates McFadden, is a fictional character on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its subsequent spinoff films...
to be suspicious, since Data was careful about who knew of his off switch. Lore then explains that he can communicate with the crystalline entity and suggests that Picard show a demonstration of force by beaming an object toward the crystal and then destroying it with a phaser
Weapons of Star Trek
The Star Trek fictional universe contains a very large number of weapons. As with most science fiction franchises, the series focuses primarily on energy weapons...
.
Lore's attempts to imitate Data are imperfect, arousing Picard's suspicion. Although Picard sends a security detachment to tail him, Lore disables Worf and evades pursuit. Meanwhile, the suspicious Beverly and Wesley reactivate the unconscious android and discover it is, indeed, Data. The three race to the cargo hold to find Lore telling the entity that the shields will drop momentarily when the transporter is activated. When Lore discovers them, he threatens Wesley with his phaser and orders Dr. Crusher to leave. Although she complies, he shoots at her anyway but fails to kill her. Data quickly rushes Lore and a brawl ensues. Data manages to knock Lore onto the transporter pad, and Wesley activates it and sends Lore into space. With Lore gone, the crystalline entity flies away.
External links
- Datalore reviewed by Wil WheatonWil WheatonRichard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
(Wesley CrusherWesley CrusherWesley Crusher is a character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is Beverly Crusher's son and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton, the character was a regular for the first four seasons. Afterwards, the character appeared sporadically. The character also appeared briefly in...
) - Datalore rewatch by Keith R.A. DeCandido