Descent (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"Descent" comprises the 152nd and 153rd episodes of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
, a two-part story where part one is a cliffhanger ending to season 6 and part two begins season 7.
who, under the leadership of Data
's evil twin brother Lore, have begun a new offensive against the Federation
.
, Albert Einstein
, and Stephen Hawking
. Answering a question from Newton, Data explains that the game is an experiment for understanding "how three of history's greatest minds would interact" in such a setting. Just as Hawking wins another hand, a red alert is issued and Data suspends the program.
The Enterprise
responds to a distress call from a Starfleet outpost. On arrival, they send down an away team consisting of Riker, Worf, Data and another security guard. They find the entire crew of the outpost dead. Suddenly they are attacked by a group of Borg
. During the course of the fire fight, Riker observes that the Borg are not acting like the Borg they have encountered previously. For starters, each of them is armed with energy weapons and refer to each other as individuals. In fact, these Borg appear to be fighting more like guerrilla warriors. While fighting a drone, Data
feels an emotion
—anger
—resulting in his breaking the neck of the drone he was fighting.
At the same time, in orbit, an unidentified ship fires on the Enterprise, causing the crew to return fire. On the surface, during the firefight, one borg begins talking to himself about the nature of the away team members, when he sees and mentions Data, he appears to signal a withdraw. The alien ship beams up the remaining Borg from the outpost and flees with the Enterprise in pursuit. Suddenly the ship enters some kind of vortex and disappears without a trace. Back on the outpost, Riker asks Data what happened, but Data cannot explain it; he just felt angry.
Admiral Alynna Nechayev arrives to take command of the situation. She reprimands Picard for not destroying the Borg when he had the chance ("I, Borg") and orders him to do so if another opportunity should present itself. Meanwhile, Data is trying to understand what caused his behavior on the outpost. He tries to experience emotion again through simulations of the event, but does not succeed.
The Borg ship reappears and attacks another outpost. Again, the Enterprise is the nearest ship, which makes Picard suspicious, given that there are now several Starfleet vessels patrolling the area. The Borg ship reenters the vortex and disappears when the Enterprise intercepts; however, this time the Enterprise is caught in its wake and follows. Once on the other side, the Borg attack, beaming drones on to the bridge. After a brief fire fight, one drone is killed and another wounded, but the distraction allows the Borg ship to escape, which again is unusual Borg behavior in that they always reclaim their drones, whether alive or dead.
The crew discover that the vortex they entered is a form of conduit allowing them to travel from one star system to another almost instantaneously. However they have yet to work out how it is activated which means, for the moment, they are unable to return to Federation space. Data is sent to speak with the Borg whom the Enterprise has captured in an attempt to gather intelligence, but the drone is able to manipulate Data into releasing him, and escapes the ship in a shuttlecraft. Before the Enterprise can catch the shuttle it disappears into a conduit. However, the crew is able to learn how the conduits are activated and gives chase. They track the shuttlecraft to a planet. An away team finds no trace of Data or the Borg and something in the planet's atmosphere is blocking their sensors, so Picard decides to conduct a ground search utilising nearly the whole crew of the Enterprise. Only a skeleton crew remains on board under the command of Dr. Crusher
.
During their search of the planet, Picard
, Troi
, a security officer and La Forge
discover a building. Upon entering, they are surrounded by Borg. The security officer panics, prepares to fire, and then is instantly killed by one of the unseen borg surrounding him. Lore, Data's brother, appears and is mistaken for Data by Picard. When Troi guesses Lore's true identity, Lore taunts Picard. Then Data appears, announces that "The sons of Soong have joined together, and together we will destroy the Federation!", as the episode ends.
. Lore plans to lead these breakaway Borg to destroy all organic life; they believe that Lore and Data are perfect life forms. Picard, Troi, and La Forge are taken captive. Geordi's VISOR
allows him to see a carrier wave
being beamed from Lore to Data and they hypothesize that this is the source of Data's emotions and Lore's control over Data. For this reason Lore orders Geordi's VISOR removed. In orbit, the Borg ship is detected and Beverly orders the away teams on the planet to be beamed back aboard. However there isn't enough time to get them all, so Riker orders Crusher to leave and come back only when it's safe to do so. Rather than leave the system, Beverly orders the crew to take the ship into the sun. Using the technology developed by Dr. Reyga, they modify the shields to allow them to get closer to the sun than the Borg can go. They use the ship's phasers to trigger an eruption on the sun's surface which engulfs the Borg ship, destroying it.
On the planet, Lore orders Data to perform an experiment on Geordi's brain - an irreversible procedure with a "60% chance" of being lethal. Geordi tries pleading with Data, who ignores him and continues setting up the process. In their prison cell, the away team constructs a device which they believe will reactivate Data's moral
subroutine
s, in the hopes that he will question his unethical actions
, as well as the intentions of his brother.
Meanwhile, Riker
and Worf
encounter Hugh, who tells them that Lore is the leader of this Borg group. He says that at one time Lore's help was necessary, but that he has since destroyed many Borg through brutal experimentation. Hugh's group are "rebel" Borg, wanting to remove Lore from power.
The away team manages to reactivate Data's ethical programming just as Data is about to start the irreversible part of the experiment. Geordi pleads with Data, asking him to check his conscience. Data falters, claims that there are anomalies in the experiment and postpones it.
Lore begins to doubt Data's devotion, and attempts to strengthen control by threatening to remove the emotions he has provided. Data appears to have been cowed, but Lore remains suspicious, and orders Data to prove his loyalty... by killing Picard. Data refuses, as the rebooting of his morality subroutines is complete. Two Borg seize Data and Lore is about to execute
his "own, dear brother", when Riker and Worf arrive, accompanied by Hugh and some of his rebel Borg. Battle commences and in the ensuing confusion, Lore flees, pursued by Data. In their ensuing confrontation, Lore attempts to talk Data into escaping with him. Unswayed, Data shoots him with a phaser
then deactivates him.
In the aftermath, Hugh appears to have become leader of the Borg group.
The Enterprise is seen returning to Federation space. Data reports that Lore has been disassembled and he now intends to destroy the emotion chip, as it is "too dangerous", citing the harm he has inflicted under its influence. However Geordi intervenes, and advises him to keep the chip until he is ready. (The chip would eventually be implanted into Data during the course of the film Star Trek Generations.)
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...
, a two-part story where part one is a cliffhanger ending to season 6 and part two begins season 7.
Overview
The crew of the Enterprise discover a group of rogue BorgBorg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
who, under the leadership of Data
Data (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 evil twin brother Lore, have begun a new offensive against the Federation
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
.
Part I
On the holodeck, Lt. Commander Data plays a game of poker with holographic representations of Sir Isaac NewtonIsaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, and Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
. Answering a question from Newton, Data explains that the game is an experiment for understanding "how three of history's greatest minds would interact" in such a setting. Just as Hawking wins another hand, a red alert is issued and Data suspends the program.
The Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
responds to a distress call from a Starfleet outpost. On arrival, they send down an away team consisting of Riker, Worf, Data and another security guard. They find the entire crew of the outpost dead. Suddenly they are attacked by a group of Borg
Borg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
. During the course of the fire fight, Riker observes that the Borg are not acting like the Borg they have encountered previously. For starters, each of them is armed with energy weapons and refer to each other as individuals. In fact, these Borg appear to be fighting more like guerrilla warriors. While fighting a drone, Data
Data (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...
feels an emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
—anger
Anger
Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....
—resulting in his breaking the neck of the drone he was fighting.
At the same time, in orbit, an unidentified ship fires on the Enterprise, causing the crew to return fire. On the surface, during the firefight, one borg begins talking to himself about the nature of the away team members, when he sees and mentions Data, he appears to signal a withdraw. The alien ship beams up the remaining Borg from the outpost and flees with the Enterprise in pursuit. Suddenly the ship enters some kind of vortex and disappears without a trace. Back on the outpost, Riker asks Data what happened, but Data cannot explain it; he just felt angry.
Admiral Alynna Nechayev arrives to take command of the situation. She reprimands Picard for not destroying the Borg when he had the chance ("I, Borg") and orders him to do so if another opportunity should present itself. Meanwhile, Data is trying to understand what caused his behavior on the outpost. He tries to experience emotion again through simulations of the event, but does not succeed.
The Borg ship reappears and attacks another outpost. Again, the Enterprise is the nearest ship, which makes Picard suspicious, given that there are now several Starfleet vessels patrolling the area. The Borg ship reenters the vortex and disappears when the Enterprise intercepts; however, this time the Enterprise is caught in its wake and follows. Once on the other side, the Borg attack, beaming drones on to the bridge. After a brief fire fight, one drone is killed and another wounded, but the distraction allows the Borg ship to escape, which again is unusual Borg behavior in that they always reclaim their drones, whether alive or dead.
The crew discover that the vortex they entered is a form of conduit allowing them to travel from one star system to another almost instantaneously. However they have yet to work out how it is activated which means, for the moment, they are unable to return to Federation space. Data is sent to speak with the Borg whom the Enterprise has captured in an attempt to gather intelligence, but the drone is able to manipulate Data into releasing him, and escapes the ship in a shuttlecraft. Before the Enterprise can catch the shuttle it disappears into a conduit. However, the crew is able to learn how the conduits are activated and gives chase. They track the shuttlecraft to a planet. An away team finds no trace of Data or the Borg and something in the planet's atmosphere is blocking their sensors, so Picard decides to conduct a ground search utilising nearly the whole crew of the Enterprise. Only a skeleton crew remains on board under the command of Dr. Crusher
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...
.
During their search of the planet, Picard
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. 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 Nemesis...
, Troi
Deanna Troi
Commander Deanna Troi is a main character in the science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and related TV series and films, portrayed by actress Marina Sirtis. Troi is half-human, half-Betazoid and has the psionic ability to sense emotions. She serves as the ship's counselor...
, a security officer and La Forge
Geordi La Forge
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton...
discover a building. Upon entering, they are surrounded by Borg. The security officer panics, prepares to fire, and then is instantly killed by one of the unseen borg surrounding him. Lore, Data's brother, appears and is mistaken for Data by Picard. When Troi guesses Lore's true identity, Lore taunts Picard. Then Data appears, announces that "The sons of Soong have joined together, and together we will destroy the Federation!", as the episode ends.
Part II
Apparently Lore has found a way to give Data emotions, and turned Data against the FederationUnited Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
. Lore plans to lead these breakaway Borg to destroy all organic life; they believe that Lore and Data are perfect life forms. Picard, Troi, and La Forge are taken captive. Geordi's VISOR
Visor
A visor is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects....
allows him to see a carrier wave
Carrier wave
In telecommunications, a carrier wave or carrier is a waveform that is modulated with an input signal for the purpose of conveying information. This carrier wave is usually a much higher frequency than the input signal...
being beamed from Lore to Data and they hypothesize that this is the source of Data's emotions and Lore's control over Data. For this reason Lore orders Geordi's VISOR removed. In orbit, the Borg ship is detected and Beverly orders the away teams on the planet to be beamed back aboard. However there isn't enough time to get them all, so Riker orders Crusher to leave and come back only when it's safe to do so. Rather than leave the system, Beverly orders the crew to take the ship into the sun. Using the technology developed by Dr. Reyga, they modify the shields to allow them to get closer to the sun than the Borg can go. They use the ship's phasers to trigger an eruption on the sun's surface which engulfs the Borg ship, destroying it.
On the planet, Lore orders Data to perform an experiment on Geordi's brain - an irreversible procedure with a "60% chance" of being lethal. Geordi tries pleading with Data, who ignores him and continues setting up the process. In their prison cell, the away team constructs a device which they believe will reactivate Data's moral
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
subroutine
Subroutine
In computer science, a subroutine is a portion of code within a larger program that performs a specific task and is relatively independent of the remaining code....
s, in the hopes that he will question his unethical actions
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, as well as the intentions of his brother.
Meanwhile, Riker
William Riker
William Thomas Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe primarily appearing as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
and Worf
Worf
Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seasons four to seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appears in the films based on The Next Generation. Worf is the first Klingon main character to appear in Star Trek, and has appeared in more Star...
encounter Hugh, who tells them that Lore is the leader of this Borg group. He says that at one time Lore's help was necessary, but that he has since destroyed many Borg through brutal experimentation. Hugh's group are "rebel" Borg, wanting to remove Lore from power.
The away team manages to reactivate Data's ethical programming just as Data is about to start the irreversible part of the experiment. Geordi pleads with Data, asking him to check his conscience. Data falters, claims that there are anomalies in the experiment and postpones it.
Lore begins to doubt Data's devotion, and attempts to strengthen control by threatening to remove the emotions he has provided. Data appears to have been cowed, but Lore remains suspicious, and orders Data to prove his loyalty... by killing Picard. Data refuses, as the rebooting of his morality subroutines is complete. Two Borg seize Data and Lore is about to execute
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
his "own, dear brother", when Riker and Worf arrive, accompanied by Hugh and some of his rebel Borg. Battle commences and in the ensuing confusion, Lore flees, pursued by Data. In their ensuing confrontation, Lore attempts to talk Data into escaping with him. Unswayed, Data shoots him with a phaser
Phaser
Phaser may refer to:* Barber pole phaser is an analog synthesizer specially designed to create Shepard tones, an Auditory illusion.* Endosulfan, an organic compound* Phaser , in the Star Trek fictional universe...
then deactivates him.
In the aftermath, Hugh appears to have become leader of the Borg group.
The Enterprise is seen returning to Federation space. Data reports that Lore has been disassembled and he now intends to destroy the emotion chip, as it is "too dangerous", citing the harm he has inflicted under its influence. However Geordi intervenes, and advises him to keep the chip until he is ready. (The chip would eventually be implanted into Data during the course of the film Star Trek Generations.)
See also
- I, Borg, the fifth season episode where Hugh is first encountered.
- Suspicions, the sixth season episode where the metaphasic shields were first introduced.