Star Trek: Picard: how Data died, and his appearance in Picard explained

The death of Data explained, and what his appearances in Picard mean

in star trek how did data die

If you've been watching Star Trek : Picard, you may have a few questions about Data, the android who appears in Picard's dreams – and who may very well be the 'father' of new characters Dahj and Soji. Data was an important character in The Next Generation, which this new series is a direct continuation of, and he led an interesting life. So here's everything you need to know about Lieutenant Commander Data, including how he ultimately died in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis.

  • How to watch Star Trek: Picard
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  • Our Star Trek: Picard episode 1 recap

Who is Data?

Data was an android designed by Dr. Noonian Soong, a brilliant cyberneticist. Other androids exist in the greater Star Trek universe, but Data's positronic brain gave him a greater depth and nuance of personality – to the point where the Federation considered him sentient, with the same rights as any biological being. 

Data was unable to feel emotion, however, and struggled to understand the many idiosyncrasies of the human race. But he was still capable of loyalty, wisdom, friendship and sensitivity, which earned him many friends when he served aboard the Federation starship Enterprise.

How did Data join Starfleet?

A mysterious alien life-form known as the Crystalline Entity destroyed a colony on the planet Omicron Theta, and Data's deactivated body was discovered among the debris by the USS Tripoli. He was revived by the Federation, and was accepted into Starfleet Academy when it became apparent that he had achieved a level of sentience never before seen in a synthetic being. 

Data graduated, despite the social challenges of being the only android in the academy, and served as an ensign aboard the USS Trieste, before being assigned to the Enterprise-D in 2364 – which is where we meet him in The Next Generation.

How did Data die in Star Trek: Nemesis?

Nemesis was the last of the Next Generation movies. Released in 2002, it starred Tom Hardy as Shinzon, a clone of Picard who stages a violent coup and becomes leader of the Romulan Empire. At the end of the movie, Data sacrifices his own life to save Picard's, destroying Shinzon's ship in the process. Before he died, Data downloaded his memories into a prototype Soong-type android, B-4. But this model's positronic brain was not as advanced as Data's, meaning he had none of his brother's individuality or personality: just raw memories.

How can Data be in Star Trek: Picard?

Brent Spiner reprises his role as Data in Star Trek: Picard, only in dreams so far. Picard is still haunted by the loss of his friend, and the heroic sacrifice he made to save his life. So whenever you see Data in the new series, it's Picard experiencing a vision; an echo of the past. But who knows what the rest of the series has in store? Perhaps we'll see a return of the old Data at some point in this story – although that might cheapen his sacrifice in Star Trek: Nemesis somewhat.

Is Data still alive in Star Trek: Picard? 

Alas, the Data we knew from The Next Generation is gone forever. But a major plot point in season one of Picard is his memories – the ones he downloaded to B-4 – being used to create two 'daughters', Dahj and Soji. These android twins were designed by Dr. Bruce Maddox, a cyberneticist, using a process called fractal neuronic cloning. So while Lieutenant Commander Data of the USS Enterprise, lover of cats and Sherlock Holmes, is no more, his spirit lives on in them.

Star Trek: Picard is released every Thursday on CBS All Access in the US, and every Friday on Amazon Prime internationally. 

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How Did Data Die On Star Trek & How Did He Return?

Data onboard the Enterprise

The character of Data, played by Brent Spiner, is one of the most beloved in the "Star Trek" franchise. Fans adored the android and his constant confusion with the behavior of organic lifeforms. His plotlines spanned the gamut from hilarious to deeply philosophical, which is why it was so heartbreaking when he met his end with a heroic sacrifice in "Star Trek: Nemesis." Shockingly, the character appeared to return in "Star Trek: Picard," with Spiner returning for all three seasons. But the truth of Data's return is much more complicated than it seems.

As mentioned, Data's first demise came at the end of 2002's "Star Trek: Nemesis." With a Romulan praetor, Shinzon ( Tom Hardy ) about to unleash a doomsday weapon on the Enterprise, Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) boarded his ship, the Scimitar, to destroy the generator powering it. Meanwhile, because the transporters were damaged, Data physically leapt from the Enterprise to the Scimitar and made his way to the room where Picard and Shinzon were fighting, arriving just in time to find Shinzon impaled by a spiky beam from the ship's walls. Knowing that the destruction of the generator would blow up the Scimitar, Data pinned an emergency transporter to Picard's lapel and sent him back to the Enterprise, then fired at the generator, sacrificing himself.

For eighteen years, Data remained canonically deceased. Then, in 2020, Brent Spiner returned as the character for "Star Trek: Picard," but it took him all three seasons of the series to finally return to the physical world once more.

Data's Nemesis death was undone with a twisty Picard plot

Brent Spiner returned to "Star Trek" for all three seasons of "Star Trek: Picard," but Data's return was a complicated one. During the events of "Star Trek: Nemesis," the prototype android B-4 was discovered — the third of Noonian Soong's (Brent Spiner) prototypes along with Data's evil brother Lore — and Data copied his consciousness into its positronic net, though the transfer was unsuccessful. Some years after the events of that film, a catastrophic attack by unknown synthetic lifeforms caused the Federation to issue a total ban on synthetic life, as we learn in the pilot episode of "Picard." Unknown to anyone, Data's consciousness lived on in B-4, which was stored at the Daystrom Institute.

Picard died in the two-part finale of "Picard" Season 1, and his own consciousness was transferred to a synthetic body. In the process of being uploaded, Picard encountered Data's consciousness, which still survived inside the remains of B-4. Data asked his old friend to terminate the program and kill him for good, which Picard did. However, Noonian Soong's son, Altan (Brent Spiner) soon began work on a new android that would combine the traits of Data and Lore. The nefarious Section 31 confiscated the prototype and stored it at Daystrom Station. When Picard and his friends boarded the station in "Picard" Season 3, they found the prototype and discovered the Data and Lore sides of it were in conflict. Data ultimately defeated Lore, warring inside the positronic net, and was himself once more, but this time with the emotions he'd always wanted. He returned to the Enterprise to serve again.

Spiner may not return to the "Star Trek" universe again, but he and fans can both rest assured that Data lives on.

How is Data in 'Star Trek: Picard' if he died in 'Star Trek: Nemesis?'

In Picard season 3 episode 6, "The Bounty," Riker, Worf and Raffi Musiker's away mission reunites them with an old friend, but how?

Data returns in Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode 6, The Bounty.

  • How Data died in Star Trek: Nemesis
  • Data lived on in B-4
  • Another Data head?
  • Why is Data old now?

What can Data do now?

Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven't watched "Star Trek: Picard" episode 6, The Bounty .  

Even though Spock died saving the Enterprise in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," Star Trek used the restorative powers of the Genesis planet to bring him back. So when Data made a noble sacrifice of his own in "Star Trek: Nemesis," it wasn't really a surprise when the door was left open – albeit slightly – for the android's future return.

"Star Trek: Picard" season one on Paramount Plus focused heavily on Data's legacy, introducing a family of synthetic offspring and revealing that his consciousness had been preserved in a virtual simulation. Jean-Luc Picard subsequently watched his friend die for a second time, but the show’s third season has just dropped the bombshell that – in true "Jurassic Park" style – something has survived.

In Picard season 3 episode 6 , "The Bounty," Riker, Worf and Raffi Musiker's away mission to the top-secret Daystrom Station reunites them with an old friend, an android with a familiar face who's been given responsibility for the facility's security. But how did Data (still portrayed by actor Brent Spiner) survive certain death in "Star Trek: Nemesis?" Why does he look so much older now? And is he still the same android we knew on the Enterprise-D? These questions and more are answered below.  If you're behind, you can catch up on Star Trek: Picard Season 3" with our Star Trek streaming guide .

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Didn't Data die in Star Trek: Nemesis?

Yes. "Star Trek: Nemesis" is the 10th film in the Star Trek movie franchise and the last to feature the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." It features a clone of Jean-Luc Picard called Shinzon who's out to get Picard (and the Federation), with Data discovering an earlier prototype of himself called B-4 along the way.

In the film's climax, the Picard clone Shinzon had rigged his Romulan/Reman (don't ask) warbird, the Scimitar, to unleash its lethal thalaron radiation weapon on a severely damaged USS Enterprise-E. With Picard on board the enemy vessel, transporters inoperative, and the crew trapped in the quintessential no-win scenario, Data came up with his own solution to the Kobayashi Maru test. 

Effectively blowing himself out of an airlock, Data leapt across the void of space to the Scimitar and placed an emergency transport beacon on Picard, who was instantly beamed back to the Enterprise. With the weapon nearly charged, Data fired his phaser at the thalaron generator, destroying himself and the ship in the process. He had sacrificed himself to save his captain and the crew, a fact Picard subsequently struggled to live with. RIP, Data. 

Data lived on in B-4, or DID he?

Data wasn't the only android built by his creator: genius cyberneticist Dr. Noonian Soong (also portrayed by Brent Spiner). 

"Evil twin" Lore (Brent Spiner again) tormented the Enterprise crew on several occasions throughout "The Next Generation," and "Nemesis" introduced the earlier prototype model called B-4 (say the name out loud). Before his death, Data used B-4 as a kind of hard drive to back up his memories and personality, but – aside from sharing Data's ability to recite Irving Berlin standards – B-4's neural pathways lacked the sophistication to replicate his late brother.

But this is where it gets complicated ... The first season of "Picard" revealed that Data's consciousness had survived after all. Along with Soong's human son, Altan (also Brent Spiner), cyberneticist Bruce Maddox – who'd previously tried to prove Data was Starfleet property in classic "TNG" episode "The Measure of a Man" – used a process called "fractal neuronic cloning" to replicate a virtual Data from one of B-4's neurons. This version of the android lived in a "massively complex quantum simulation" until Picard agreed to his old friend's request to help him die for a second time.

There's another Data head in Star Trek: Picard, but whose is it?

Data, Lore and B-4 were all crafted in Noonian Soong's image, so it's almost impossible to tell them apart. It seems most likely, though, that the disembodied head we see in the top secret Daystrom research facility belongs to B-4. 

First, we know from Picard's meetings with Dr. Agnes Jurati in season one that B-4 is in Starfleet’s possession. Second, when Will Riker reminds us that "Data copied everything he was onto B-4," the camera very deliberately cuts to the android head.

There's still a chance, however, that this is a misdirection, and that the head belongs to Lore. We have no idea what happened to Soong's more problematic son after his Borg misadventures in "TNG" two-parter "Descent" – we know he was dismantled but everything beyond that is a mystery. So while it's conceivable Starfleet have brought Lore back somehow, the show would have to fill in some gaps in the canon to explain his presence here.

The head probably isn’t Data's. The explosion at the end of Nemesis was pretty cataclysmic, and besides, if part of Data had survived, surely Maddox, Soong and Starfleet wouldn’t have resorted to using neurons from the inferior B-4 to bring him back.

Why is Data "old" now?

Picard season one used some clever digital tricks to de-age actor Brent Spiner to look like he did in "The Next Generation" era, but the Data we see in "The Bounty" looks much older. His complexion is also much more human.

While the change undoubtedly saved some money on the show’s VFX budget, there's also an in-universe explanation. This is an entirely different type of synthetic body to Data's, much more similar to the "golem" the late Altan Soong gifted to Picard, allowing to survive his incurable irumodic syndrome. 

Soong Jr. had originally planned to transfer his own consciousness into the golem before he died, but ended up going down a very different route. He instead decided to combine the consciousnesses of Lore, B-4, Data and Lal (the "daughter" Data built in "TNG" episode "The Offspring") in one body, aka Daystrom Android M-5-10. Soong built this older-looking version "with the wisdom and true human aesthetic of age. With the hope that in totality, something, someone will rise to be the best of us."

 That's the million-dollar question, though it's clear there's much more to this new-look Data than simply managing the security systems at Daystrom Station. It’s also clear this isn't quite the Data we knew and loved. 

Altan Soong never got the chance to finish the project before he died, leaving the various personalities vying for supremacy within the vessel. Data still recognizes Geordi La Forge, Picard and the rest of the crew, but with Lore also lurking in that shared mind, this resurrected body could be a danger to everyone.

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Richard Edwards

Richard's love affair with outer space started when he saw the original "Star Wars" on TV aged four, and he spent much of the ’90s watching "Star Trek”, "Babylon 5” and “The X-Files" with his mum. After studying physics at university, he became a journalist, swapped science fact for science fiction, and hit the jackpot when he joined the team at SFX, the UK's biggest sci-fi and fantasy magazine. He liked it so much he stayed there for 12 years, four of them as editor. 

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Admin said: How is Data in 'Star Trek: Picard' if he died in 'Star Trek: Nemesis?' : Read more
  • OneOfTwelve Data already had a built-in aging program according to the TNG episode with his "mother" Juliana. Reply
  • Newhouse75 That head is in Mark Twains time. Don't forget. The one in the future was used to restore Data in The future. Reply
  • Backcountry164 It's called plot armor. Tripping over yourself making excuses for lazy writers seems pointless... Reply
  • View All 4 Comments

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Flashback: Star Trek’s Data Dies at End of Abysmal ‘Nemesis’ Movie

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

The new trailer for the upcoming CBS All Access Show Star Trek : Picard sent waves of shock and joy throughout the Trekkie community earlier this week. Not only was it our first glance of Jean-Luc Picard back in space, but it fleshed out the plot of the secretive show a bit by revealing that he’s drawn there to help out a powerful young woman in extreme danger. (So far, this seems like the Star Trek version of Logan. ) We also get to see him interact with Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine character from Star Trek: Voyager and, most intriguingly, Brent Spiner’s Data character.

Before his brief appearance playing cards with Picard toward the end of the trailer, Picard is shown mourning the death of Data and even displaying pieces of his body in a drawer. “Nearly two decades ago, Commander Data sacrificed his life for me,” Picard says. “These past few years, I truly tried to belong here, but it never truly felt like home.”

Anyone that doesn’t remember exactly how Data died can be forgiven because it happened near the end of 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis , a film so wretched that it forever ended Star Trek: The Next Generation as a film franchise and forced Paramount to reboot the entire universe and start over again with new actors playing the original crew from the days of Captain Kirk.

The plot of Nemesis revolved around the crew coming across a clone of an evil clone of Picard named Shinzon that looked nothing like him whatsoever outside of not having any hair. To make a long and boring story short, Picard ultimately kills Shinzon by ramming a metal bar into his chest, but it happens on a ship that’s about to explode. At the last minute, Data beams onto the craft and attaches a personal transporter to Picard and sends him back to the Enterprise. He dies in the resulting explosion. You can see the scene right here.

The movie was directed by Stuart Baird, who hasn’t directed a single movie in the 17 years since Nemesis came out. “It was a tough shoot and there was a lot of different things happening,” Michael “Worf” Dorn said at a 2014 cast reunion before Marina “Deanna Troi” Sirtis cut him off. “Oh come on say it!” she said. “The director was an idiot!”

Patrick Stewart vowed that he was done forever with Picard after the Nemesis fiasco, but he was lured back by an amazing storyline for his character. “We also have a new crew, a new cast, and I am astonished at the speed at which this has become a team, a cohesive unit working together,” he said at Comic-Con. “We are already cemented together and that makes me happy and proud.”

Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis don’t appear in the trailer, but it was announced at Comic-Con that they’d both be back. Their characters married at the beginning of Nemesis . It’s unclear how exactly Data appears, but it feels quite possible that the scene in the trailer takes place in a Holodeck. But we won’t know until 2020 when Star Trek: Picard appears and finally begins to undo the damage of Star Trek: Nemesis. 

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Star Trek: Picard – Brent Spiner Says He Won’t Play Data Again

Spiner would return in Star Trek: Picard season 2 as Alton Soong, but his days of playing Data are now behind him

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Star Trek Picard Data

Warning: this article contains MAJOR spoilers for the picard Season 1 finale

Audiences got to bid a sad farewell to a couple of characters in the emotional finale of CBS Access’ Star Trek: Picard last week. Both Jean-Luc Picard and Data closed the book on their long and adventurous lives in the very last episode of season 1, but thanks to the industrious work of Alton Soong and Agnes Jurati, the retired admiral’s mind was brought back to life, and it now lives in a virtually indistinguishable synthetic body – a synth/android ‘golum’ – which means we’re all set for Picard season 2, and more tales of Jean-Luc and his new crew.

As for Data, he was done living his extended existential existence inside a “massively complex quantum simulation” on Coppelius. He asked Picard for one last kindness: to let what was left of him go, and to become finite, as all human experiences are.

Brent Spiner, who has played Data since he first appeared in the pilot for Star Trek: The Next Generation back in 1987, is also saying goodbye to the character . The actor sat down for a chat with TV Guide to talk about his final moments as Data, and admitted that the character’s death in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis was divisive, saying “it didn’t seem to sit that well with too many people.”

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“I thought [Data’s Picard goodbye] was pretty great,” he said. “It was an unbelievably beautifully written scene — [showrunner] Michael Chabon at his finest. Both Patrick and I were both like, ‘This is fantastic,’ and we were both really moved by it. It was just wonderfully written, and I think the intent was to soften the blow of Nemesis and give Data a gentler exit than he had in that film.”

Though Data is finally gone for good, it doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Spiner in Star Trek . The established lineage of Dr Soong means he’d “absolutely” be happy to come back as Alton for season 2 of Picard . “I love working with all of the people on the show. The new cast is fantastic. Obviously, to still be working with Patrick is a dream. Now there’s a character that could conceivably go on and continue, so of course I’d love to.”

But having now died twice in Trek over the last two decades, Spiner says he won’t return as the iconic android on screen, and appreciates that Data was able to pass on his own terms this time, instead of sacrificing himself for his friends.

“I mean, there was just a finite amount of time that I can actually play Data, no matter what anyone says. So many people were like, “Oh, you can do it. You’re not too old,” and then I do it and they go, “You’re too old. Why’d you do it?” I think we did it in such brief sequences that it was fine to do it, and I felt good about it. But I wouldn’t really entertain the idea of doing it again because I just don’t think it would be realistic. So it seemed right to me to give him this more gentle sendoff, and it seemed right to me in the context of the entire season of  Picard   and what Picard himself had been experiencing because of the loss of Data. I think it allows him to feel okay about it too. So it seemed like the right thing to do.”

You can read more about Picard season 2 right here.

Kirsten Howard

Kirsten Howard | @emotionalpedant

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Brent Spiner Talks ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Roles And Why He’s Still Okay With Data Dying In ‘Nemesis’

in star trek how did data die

| February 20, 2023 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 71 comments so far

Brent Spiner hasn’t been a big part of the publicity tour for Star Trek: Picard season 3, even though he, too, is returning to the series as the character Lore, twin brother of his original Star Trek: The Next Generation character Data, who died in the 2002 film Star Trek Nemesis (and died again in the first season of Picard ). However, Spiner did talk to the New York Times (in a conversation with his other TNG castmates) that ended up returning to the subject Nemesis .

Spiner happy with Data’s death in Nemesis

In the New York Times profile, Brent Spiner was asked if he had any regrets about Nemesis , in the context of the new season of Picard :

Brent, there’s a running joke among fans about how every time there’s a new “Star Trek” story, there’s a new character for you to play. [Data has multiple clones and human quasi-ancestors.] Is there a part of you that wishes your original version of Data, who died in “Nemesis,” could be part of this rendition? SPINER I don’t think so, because then I couldn’t have played those other things. You know, I was perfectly happy with the ending of “Nemesis,” even though I know that a lot of fans weren’t. And then I feel that was sort of redeemed, in a way, for the fans in the first season of “Picard.” I would hate to have missed both those moments. So no, I’m perfectly happy with the way it’s gone. I can’t say much more. I haven’t really seen much of the show — they’ve kept it away from me because they know I’ll blow it.

New York Times interviewer Sopan Deb followed up by asking Patrick Stewart about Nemesis , and the Picard star ended up turning the question back to Spiner.

Patrick, did you think you were saying goodbye to Jean-Luc after “Nemesis?” STEWART  Oh, yes, but with disappointment. [To Spiner:] Brent, there had been a lot of conversation about you and John Logan [who co-wrote “Nemesis”] writing a new film script, and that appealed to me enormously. But of course that was dumped along with everything else. And I felt frustration and disappointment about that because what we went out with wasn’t good, I don’t think. SPINER There are things about “Nemesis” that didn’t work. I think we went into it with the feeling that it was probably going to be our last film, which was why we let Data’s demise happen. We thought a great dramatic conclusion to one of the characters would be a fitting end to the series.

in star trek how did data die

Data says goodbye to Picard in Star Trek: Nemesis

TNG cast on Picard season 3 as a do-over for Nemesis

Picard showrunner Terry Matalas has stated that he felt Star Trek: Nemesis did not provide the TNG crew with a proper ending to their stories, something he is trying to rectify with season 3 of Picard . In the NYT profile, TNG actors LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn talked about how they also saw Nemesis as a missed opportunity:

BURTON I always felt it was a missed opportunity to create a story and play a storyline that had a fitting and proper conclusion to it. None of us knew that was going to be our last outing. So there was always, at least for me, a sense of a missed opportunity, something unfulfilled. FRAKES Which is what season 3 of “Picard” has been, which we didn’t dare hope for. BURTON That ship had sailed. Two decades have passed. I had long since given up on any hope of a conclusion as satisfying as this one is. McFADDEN I had given up hope. I felt that my character in the movies was practically nonexistent; it was just bizarre. In this one, I felt more like the way I felt in “All Good Things” [the series finale]. “All Good Things” was a brilliant end. We all had great story lines, and in this, I think, the same thing is true. You feel the past — I felt my past connection with each of these characters, and that was something I didn’t feel in the films. Then I felt like I was just filling a role of, “Well, we have to have Crusher in here because she’s part of the cast.” There wasn’t really a sense that I had a through-line or real character intention. So this was unexpected, and I’m very happy with it. I think it’s an incredible season. DORN I didn’t have any idea that [“Nemesis”] was going to be the last one. I thought that there was going to be another shot at some point. After 10 years go by, you go, “I don’t know if it’s going to come back.”

in star trek how did data die

The cast of Star Trek: Nemesis

Spiner’s Lore in season 3 is “complicated”

Spiner’s role in season three of Picard was originally described by showrunner Terry Matalas and executive producer Alex Kurtzman as a “new old” character. When it was revealed what character he would be playing at New York Comic Con last October, Spiner said he was playing Lore but “in a very complicated way.”

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Brent Spiner in publicity photo for Picard season 3

in star trek how did data die

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Part of me was relieved when Star Trek: Picard was happening as a series. At long last, the original Star Trek timeline isn’t going to end on a joyless, ugly-looking excuse to make an action movie out of Star Trek that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Just one good episode of Picard and it would have all been worth it. Just one good episode to leave Nemesis behind.

I hope Season 3 finally does it.

Left a bad taste in “everyone’s” mouth. Speak for yourself.

There are plenty of us who actually quite like Nemesis. Just cause you don’t like it doesn’t mean “Everyone” agrees with you.

You don’t like it that is fine and all, but don’t discount those fans who actually enjoyed it for what it was/is.

Is that counting everybody who went to the cinema opening weekend? Cuz it got beat by MAID IN MANHATTAN and a Jessica Alba movie too as I recall. Must have been the only Trek feature that didn’t open at #1, probably close to the only one that didn’t set an opening weekend record, which I’m pretty sure the first few all did.

It’s not that I think NEMESIS is unwatchable (I can watch any of the first 10 and get something out of it, even tho 1, 2 & 5 are the only ones I flat-out like, warts&all); but man, so little in NEM works, or works as intended. Would call it a missed opportunity, but there wasn’t really any opportunity to miss given the fatal miscasting of Baird as director.

Also, if you do any search that rates all of the Trek films, the three movies that always wind up at the bottom on these lists, in various order, are Nemesis, STID and TFF.

That doesn’t make these lists correct, but it does validate the general consensus on how these films are perceived.

I liked Nemesis. The battle between the Enterprise and the Scimitar was great. It certainly wasn’t perfect. The light being reflected on Troi’s eyes while she guides Worf’s hand to find the cloaked Scimitar, and the teeny tiny personal transporter were a couple things that made me roll my eyes a bit. Other than those two examples, I quite enjoyed it.

Remember me?!!!!!??

Enjoyed it for what it is….

  • A Patrick Stewart indulging fest?
  • A bone thrown at a movie editing doctor who didn’t care about Star Trek?
  • A goofy villain story that wore out its popularity when Austin Powers did it?
  • The blatant disregard of essential moments in Picard’s life that would have been useful in his conversations with Shinzon?
  • The 3-way mind rape of Troi?
  • The GNDN Dune Buggy chase?
  • A critical and commercial failure that crippled the franchise for years?

And that last bit is not an understatement. Even though Star Trek V was a critical and financial failure, it didn’t grind the franchise to a halt. Enterprise was canceled shortly after and it wasn’t until the 2009 reboot years later that Star Trek was even considered a thing again.

The only people who seem to care about Nemesis are Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner, the only two people who the film was tailor-made for.

I think the last bit of the film was good, the Scimitar vs Enterprise battle, Data’s death. The Enterprise being worked on in spacedock. But of course those are all lifted from TOS films. Enterprise in Spacedock from TMP, Scimitar battle reminiscent of the duel between the Enterprise and Reliant, Data’s death ripped off of Spock’s. The entire tone of the film lifted from Wrath of Khan and Undiscovered Country.

well I hated it – and I’ve been a trek fan for over 40 years.

The fact that none of them knew Nemesis was going to be the last movie is very telling, because it was heavily marketed with the tagline “A Generation’s Final Journey.”

What that tells me is that the studio knew it was going to be a huge dud, effectively killing hopes for a sequel, and hoped that maybe by billing it as a goodbye they could sell a few more tickets and salvage the thing.

I seem to recall some of the TNG cast saying they had expected an eighth season, as they were contracted for it. Could be wrong on that, and I can’t remember where I heard/read it. But if that’s the case, it could make sense for some cast members to assume there would be a fifth film.

But yeah, you bring up the tagline for Nemesis , and it seems like perhaps the studio was ready to move on.

Yeah, and even more than that, it’s as if the studio saw a rough cut of the film and knew they had a bomb on their hands. This brings me to a gut feeling I have about Picard S3. I get this feeling that Matalas wanted to call this season something other than “Star Trek: Picard” because it was something so different, but the studio wanted the marketing angle of “The Final Season.”

They did have a contract through season 8. I think it was mistake not to do that eighth year.

I agree. Out of the four TNG films, the only one I really love is First Contact . They could have done an eighth season and then made that film.

First Contact set on the Enterprise-D would have been interesting and different.

They would have had to grapple with the Borg starting to assimilate a ship with large numbers of civilians, including children, aboard.

I think that could have been a good film but perhaps difficult to make for the same mass market (i.e. PG-13/12A).

They actually didn’t know that it wasn’t going to do well. The fact that they released it as counter programming to The Two Towers speaks to their confidence in the film. It was never going to open number 1 at the box office opposite of LOTR, and they knew that, but still figured it would do well as counter programing.

What they didn’t count on was a . J-Lo movie and gangs of New York in limited release making more money than forcast, and taking away the rest of their audience.

That’s gonna be the dumbest counter programming strategy ever. You typically want to counter program with a different genre film, not a film that’s in the same general Science Fiction and Fantasy genre like The Two Towers was.

Yeah, I find it hard to believe that the release date implies they had faith in it. Maybe they had faith in it, idk, but the release date suggests to me they just wanted to kill it.

At about the same time they had faith of the heart

Was pretty sure NEM came out the week before the Tolkien.

It was “A Generation’s Final Journey Begins”. Perhaps they were expecting to end with a multi-movie story arc. I remember that tag line on the movie poster made me think that maybe that would be the case.

“Begins” does not imply anything of the sort. I can’t imagine anyone was thinking of a multi-movie arc, unless someone from the production actually said that. The movie did not end on a tease for a future film that would continue the story (unlike say, STII), and while a follow-up could have been possible, i’ve never heard of anyone having plans for one while NEM was in production.

In the years since we’ve heard several people talk about possible ideas for a sequel that had nothing to do with NEM: a possible crossover film with DS9/VOY, for example, which pretty much negates the notion that NEM was intended as a “Part One.”

They had identified that there was a sequel story planned during the original press junkets that would’ve been released in 2004.

I also recall that there were some attempts to write various Trek films before the 2009 Abrams film.

Both of you, please re-read my comment. I am not suggesting that there were no ideas for sequels. I even said that there were. But the idea that they planned Nemesis to be PART ONE of a multi-movie series is not something i’m ready to believe for a nanosecond unless there’s concrete proof.

Even a quote from Braga wouldn’t convince me, frankly, that dude is famous for rewriting the past.

Well for me it implied it at the time. Also B4 showing a glimmer of Data’s memories emerging at the end while the Enterprise was being rebuilt in space dock also made me think it was a possibility that they could be back. Of course, that never ended up being the case. While not a huge tease, it was enough of one to leave the door open to a possible return. At least for Spiner to play Data again.

That seemed less like a tease for a sequel as a “well here’s our out in case we want to ever bring him back.”

I have no doubt many people WANTED to make a sequel: the writers, the cast, even the producers like Berman, Piller, Braga, etc.

But the studio, not so much, particularly how badly insurrection did, and how poorly Enterprise was doing on TV at the same time (it was in the middle of Season 3 and cancelation rumors were already swirling) I think they were very prepared for this to be the last one, and developed the marketing campaign around that notion, hoping to sell it as “the last time you’ll ever see these characters.”

Sorry, meant Season 2

B4 was supposed to be a way to bring back Data like the remember scene in Star Trek II. Brent Spiner even had a story. Of course Nemesis tanked. And that is all she wrote.

It’s: “A generations final journey BEGINS” – so this could mean “Nemesis” was the beginning of the final journey in case they would had done another film..

I never read “Begins” as a tease, but I suppose it’s possible it was to hedge their bets if they did well. But between the tagline and the way it was generally promoted, the clear message being sent was “this is the last time we’ll ever see this cast.”

Studio gave away big surprise in ‘search/spock’ as well. But I doubt they thought it was a lemon and hoped it would do well

No studio hopes their movie bombs. But I just can’t imagine many people watching the first cut of Nemesis and thinking “yeah, this is going to be a huge hit after the disappointment of Insurrection and opening a week before the sequel to Lord of the Rings.”

By 2002, Trek was no longer popular at all, not like it was when TNG was in its prime. It was very much the goofy nerd property, Insurrection had been a huge letdown after the success of First Contact. It had been four years since that movie and the industry had moved on from this kind of thing, audiences didn’t care about this cast anymore (or Trek in general).

I just find it incredibly hard to believe that the studio was banking on a big hit and had plans for a series of follow-ups.

Much more likely that they knew this would be the last one: the industry was moving more towards blockbusters, they probably saw the film wasn’t very good, and developed a marketing strategy around “the final journey” the same way they had with Undiscovered Country (and before anyone says ST6 wasn’t billed that way, go watch the original teaser trailer where Christopher Plummer invites you to “one last adventure”).

That tagline might well have come some time after production though.

Yes, that’s exactly my point. The fact that “last adventure” implication was not something communicated to the cast, but was a heavy part of the marketing AFTER production, tells me they didn’t have a lot of faith in the movie.

If they’d gone into production telling the cast “hey everyone, enjoy this, it’s your last movie” then it’s a different story.

About Lore here in Season 3:

He could be using the Body of this Backup Data, but somehow the Head has malfunction or someone has the idea to “reset” or “clear” Lore’s Mind and Download that OS Roots of this Data and hopping for the best to haven an Data “backup Clone”. But this clearing of Lore did not goes as planed (Per Aspera Game AI). He could be all 3 at once and none. Somehow Lore has now different personalities where some Subroutines has the Higher Control (aka Subconsciousness) what one of them is dominant

or we have some “Bladerunner” moment where the Android save the Human on his dying moment

But yes, this is again guts feeling aka speculation. Time will tell, when Lore make his appearance

I’m sure there’s another reason, but perhaps Spiner’s comments in the article tell us why he’s not participating in any of the press events?

Of course he’s OK with Data dying in Nemesis, because the Dr Soong/alternate Data wannabe family is the paycheck that keeps getting cut no matter how much the fans groan…lol

I’m not sure if it’s that.

Spiner seems to think that his popularity in TNG was principally about him as the actor inhabiting the character Data. No matter how skilled Spiner is at his craft, that wasn’t what attached the audience.

He and others seem not to understand how appealing Data was as a character. Data’s innocence, his curiosity, his drive to become human, his friendship with Geordi, were among his key appeals.

No character that Spiner will play will replace that.

Of all the creative choices in season one of Picard, I actually found the scene with Data insisting on the termination of his program, a true death, to be the most true to the Data of TNG. So, I was happy to have had that. Otherwise, to me Spiner is just another guest actor.

Well, yeah, of course it’s that too — good point.

It’s interesting seeing Patrick and Brent speak about Nemesis 2 decades later. Both of those actors not only supported, but were enthusiastic about the script that was written by John Logan. The elephant in the room for me has always been Stuart Baird as director. Levar has gone on record saying that his experience working with him was…poor. I didn’t care for the movie at all, but one of the worst things about the film is that it is flat out left me feeling quite depressed at the end. Raise a champagne toast to Data, and lets all move on to other jobs. I think the entire cast (and us fans) deserved far better.

I found out just very recently no one making the movie even wanted Sturat Baird as director. It was Paramount who forced him to direct it because his editing on Tomb Raider supposedly helped saved that movie and he was given that movie to make as a thank you. That tells you everything right there, he only got the job as a favor and it showed. He didn’t care about Star Trek at all and unlike directors like Meyer, didn’t try to understand it either.

I will say though there was a lot of cut footage I thought would’ve made the movie a little better because they were more character based. But those were cut out because Paramount wanted to keep the movie under two hours and, of course, wanted to keep it more action focus so those were gone too.

His direction is so flat and leaden that stuff like the picad/data deleted blab scene just lies there, and for me is best off gone from the movie. There have certainly been good editors turned directors, but Baird ain’t one of them – zero for three even though Goldsmith scored all of his films, and if JG can’t salvage your movie with a hardworking score, then you don’t deserve to employ him.

I’m not all that big on Baird as an editor either; he cut two of the Bond films I most despise and I’m not a big Richard Donner fan either, who was Baird’s most frequent collaborator. SUPERMAN and OUTLAND were handled well, and I think DIE HARD 2 and THE LAST BOY SCOUT are mostly well-edited, but I think LADYHAWKE was off, and the LW series of movies are kind of take-it-or-leave-it for me.

Superman was well edited. The Extended Salkind cut is leaden. I watched it as a fan because i grew up with the TV cut but its not good.

I mean it is obvious that Baird was a horrible director as we can see with the fact that he didn’t direct anything else after Nemesis. I also didn’t like his work on Executive Decision as well as he seemed to be cutting away at the most suspenseful moments of the film and losing all the tension as a result. He did some solid editing work in his career but not all editors should go on to direct things.

It occurred to me that when Data died at the end of Picard it also meant that Lal died with him since he had downloaded her into his positronic brain.

They should have downloaded her into her own body beforehand, no?

It would have been good if she had had a cameo in the final episode.

I believe Nemesis did poorly because the movie before it wasn’t so hot. I remember several friends say they just weren’t very motivated to go see the next movie because Insurrection killed their enthusiasm for the franchise.

Insurrection has been criticized for being a feature-length episode, but it was a pretty good story. Nemesis was just a poorly constructed story.

I literally couldn’t find anyone who wanted to go see Nemesis. It could have been a masterpiece, but it would not have mattered. The opening night and weekend box office numbers prove it, because many fans stayed away.

I remember sitting in the theater opening night and wondering, “Where is everybody?” Because every other Star Trek opening night my entire life was an excited and packed house.

Sorry about your experience. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I just didn’t find Insurrection to be a bad movie. Would it have worked better as a big two-part episode? Yes, it would have, but the story was better than what they came up with for Nemesis.

Those of us old enough to remember were amazed how few general viewers went to TWOK (after the big opening weekend.) We finally decided that those folks didn’t come back till TVH, having caught up on TWOK and TSFS via home vhs views and being gunshy after TMP’s relative lethargy.

It took a lot of arm-twisting to get my parents to go see TWOK, about a month into its release, and my stepdad was utterly blown away (except for Kirk not raising the shields, the same idiot thing that set my teeth on edge then & now), though he felt the ‘i don’t believe in the no win scenario’ line of thought was potentially dangerous for fan types to buy into wholeheartedly.

I always enjoyed “Nemesis” much (except Data’s death) and looking so much forward to finally get it on 4K disc!!!! HOPEFULLY WITH DOLBY ATMOS!!!!

I think you can only play the ‘noble death’ thing once in a ST film so data dying was always going to fall flat compared to what happened in ‘khan’

Before Picard season 3 started I did a mini TNG rewatch starting with Encounter at Farpoint and then watching select episodes that focused on each character and Nemesis was the last thing I watched for obvious reasons. To this day it’s still my least favorite film in the franchise although I will say it has improved for me over the years but still pretty bad. I will say it started off great. I really enjoyed it up until they met Shinzon and it started to get worse after that. And yes, the ridiculous dune buggy scene.

I still have many problems with it. I could obviously watch it. I probably seen it about 10 times now over the years but outside a few key moments it just doesn’t do it for me. And yes I didn’t like how Data died either. I didn’t mind that he died just like I didn’t mind that Kirk was killed in Generations, it was how they died that left a bad taste in mine and other people’s mouths.

I still remember how excited I was for the movie. I was probably as excited for it as I was First Contact. I even cut a vacation in Malaysia a few days short so I can be back in L.A. and see it at the Mann Chinese theater opening weekend with my best friend who became a huge Trek fan during high school.. After watching it, I really wished I was back in Malaysia lol.

I too didn’t mind the death of Kirk or Data in theory. It’s that they felt so perfunctory, like they felt for the movie to work they had to kill them off. Particularly Nemesis, the screenwriter was so adamant about recreating TWOK, and well, Spock dies at the end so we should kill off TNG’s resident emotionless character, right?

Except that Picard and Data, while close, were never the best friends that Kirk and Spock were. You can’t just recreate an iconic movie by copying and pasting some plot beats.

That said, i’ve long viewed Generations, Insurrection, and Nemesis as if they were any other mediocre episode. I rewatch them on occasion, but don’t love them.

I’m currently binging ST:TOS right now and am really enjoying it, campiness and all. The OG crew really has fantastic chemistry and I enjoy the characters. The trinity Kirk/Spock/Bones are magic together.

My favorite episodes are City on the Edge of Forever followed closely by Errand of Mercy and Balance of Terror.

Wait a second – Data dies in Nemesis?! I’m only on ST4: The Voyage Home. The whales come back, right?

They take over the Earth in ST5. And Kirk asks: What does a whale need with a starship? Magnificent movie.

Spiner was interested in killing off Data as far back as First Contact and Insurrection. In fact a pod I listened to recently said that Spiner only came back for Insurrection with the agreement that Data would be killed of, only to have everyone’s “buddy” Rick Berman say “we’ll do it next time” once filming started.

it could have been TNG’s TUC, especially with them finally making peace with an old foe just as the previous film broke bread with the klingons but it was not to be…

At the time I thought that if anything Picard dying in Nemesis would have made more sense with Riker then staying on and taking over the Enterprise rather than the Titan. Data’s storyline was perhaps the worst to wind up, given it had the potential to go on for centuries (though admittedly there is a practical issue with the actor aging out of the role).

Lucky though that they didn’t go that route or we might not have had a sequel series.

They built in the fact that Brent was going to age as far back as TNG Season 7. In the episode with his “mother” (Inheretence, S7X10) its mentioned that she has an aging program like Lore and Data, so the fact that Data was going to visibly age was already set.

Brent simply wanted to be done playing Data and (frankly) having that be the character he will only be known for. The “Data won’t age” trope is frankly a cop out given that TNG already established he would progressively look older.

My wild theory on Spiner’s character. Anton Soong was dieing and transferred himself to a matching android body . Would explain why he looks old. He also transferred the memories and personalities of others to within himself -including Lore.. Those traits were meant to only be stored but something went wrong and he instead has the android version of multiple personalities

For the record, Nemesis was always going to be a train wreck because of the infighting between Stewart and Spiner for the spotlight. After First Contact, the films become completely lopsided towards Picard and Data which sidelined the other core characters. The end result was poorly-written scripts that had very little substance or story apart from that which presented endless monologues from the Picard/Data battery. I had taken pride on seeing every single Trek film in the cinema up until Nemesis – but was so appalled at Insurrection that I gave the final film a miss (so glad I did). Years later, with egos buried and sense reigning supreme – I hope the final series of Picard can undo the crapfest of the last two TNG films.

I really hope they explain Lore’s physical changes, if they don’t it’s going to be ridiculous. I am truly shocked Spiner continues to agree to play these androids again. He was hesitant after Nemesis, and now 20 years later he not only plays Data but he brings back his identical brother, which I am sorry is ridiculous considering the actor is pushing 75 years old.

I was excited for season 1, disappointed when it finished.

I was cautiously pessimistic of season 2, frustrated when it finished.

I am not cautiously optomistic of season 3, I hope it is a satisfying conclusion we have been sold it is. .

As I said in another comment, which i’ll just copy and paste here..

They built in the fact that Brent was going to age as far back as TNG Season 7. In the episode with his “mother” (Inheretence, S7X10) its mentioned that she has an aging program like Lore and Data, so the fact that Data was going to visibly age was already set. Brent simply wanted to be done playing Data and (frankly) having that be the character he will only be known for. The “Data won’t age” trope is frankly a cop out given that TNG already established he would progressively look older.

Yes, it seems like Spiner and the writers forgot all about “Inheritance”. Lore may be explained to have undergone an early test for mind transfer…with Alton trying to replicate the work of his father and Dr. “Grandpa” Graves. I’ve said this before but Crusher should’ve saved Picard and Data given the golem to become ‘human’

Data’s first death was poignant. His second death was baffling and idiotic. As dumb as Picard dying and becoming a robot.

“ I haven’t really seen much of the show — they’ve kept it away from me because they know I’ll blow it”

I honestly wonder if there are alternate scenes filmed for the last few episodes so that the cast isn’t 100% about the ending until it airs.

Star Trek: Picard - All The Different Datas Explained

Brent spiner’s android is a key part of the new show, but… which version of him are we seeing on star trek: picard.

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Star Trek: Picard - Explaining All the Different Datas

in star trek how did data die

Regular Data

in star trek how did data die

Dr. Noonian Soong (Human-ish Data)

in star trek how did data die

Lore (Bad Data)

lore-star-trek-data

In Season 1 of Next Gen, Data found out that he was not the only android out there when his “brother” Lore showed up. It turns out Dr. Soong had designed Lore before Data, but there was a bit of a problem with Lore’s ethical subroutines, which is a nice way of saying he was a son of a bitch. Also played by Spiner, Lore would go on to be a thorn in Data and the Enterprise crew’s side through most of the series’ run. He even teamed up with a group of Borg who had become disconnected from the Collective, with the android becoming a sort of cult-like leader to the lost creatures. In the seventh-season finale, Data was forced to gun down his brother during this encounter, and the last we heard was that Lore was to be deactivated. But come to think of it, the Borg are in Star Trek: Picard! Hmmmm…

B-4 (Barely Functioning Data)

b-4-star-trek-data-picard

Other Androids (Not Brent Spiner)

juliana-tainer-lal-data-star-trek-picard

Dream Data (or Dreamy Data?)

in star trek how did data die

Jean-Luc Picard: The First Duty Gallery - Comic Con 2019

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Star Trek: Nemesis

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Picard's Brent Spiner Explains Why Data Didn't Really Die in Star Trek: Nemesis

Star Trek: Picard star Brent Spiner explains why Data didn't really "die" in the 2002 feature film Star Trek: Nemesis.

Star Trek: Picard 's Brent Spiner says Data never really "died" in the 2002 feature film Star Trek: Nemesis -- and his reasoning for this perspective is fairly simple.

During an interview with ComicBook.com , Spiner was asked if he believes Data's recent return in Picard fundamentally alters the iconic android's character arc, given his demise in Nemesis . "Well, it's difficult to describe where this character is concerned as opposed to a regular human being. I mean, Data, first of all, Data didn't die. I mean, Data's not flesh and blood, so he didn't have a human death," Spiner replied.

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"His death was metaphorical and it was about hard drives and computers and things like that," he continued. "And I've said this to other people, but if your computer crashes or blows up even, and it's still possible for some genius out there to retrieve the hard drive and memories that are on it, that computer still lives. That's the heart of the computer. That's the essence, the heart or the brain of the computer and the rest is just a shell. And so the journey continues because they were able to access memories and we are nothing more than our memories and our experiences, and that's what they were able to access. So it makes perfect sense for me, for Data, of all characters to keep going on as long as they could make copies of that hard drive."

Data's Life, 'Death' and Return

Spiner originally portrayed Data -- an android officer aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise who was often defined by his desire for humanity -- in all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation , which aired on first-run syndication from 1987 to 1994. Spiner also played the character in a number of Star Trek feature films, namely Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and, finally, Nemesis . In the final film of the Next Generation era, it was Data who saved the day when all was said and done, sacrificing his own life in the process.

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Spiner eventually reprised his role as Data as part of the first season of Picard in 2020, albeit in a metaphysical manner. Picard Season 1 dealt heavily with whether Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) would finally being able to make peace with Data's "death." Ultimately, the retired Starfleet captain was indeed able to say goodbye to his fallen friend. However, in last week's episode of Picard Season 3 , "The Bounty," Data actually properly returned as a composite personality of Altan Soong's final android. While it was long known that Spiner would appear in Picard 's third and final season as Data's evil twin brother Lore, his return as Data himself proved to be a surprise for Trek fans, especially given the actor's previous comments that he was likely done playing the character .

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 drop Thursdays on Paramount+.

Source: ComicBook.com

in star trek how did data die

Why does Data look older in Star Trek: Picard?

Even androids can age, as it turns out

Data (Brent Spiner) in Star Trek: Picard

  • Huw Fullerton
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New Star Trek series Picard features an awful lot of familiar faces from the franchise, most notably Patrick Stewart’s titular former Enterprise captain but also the likes of Marina Sirtis’ Deanna Troi, Jonathan Frakes’ Will Riker and Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine.

Since we last saw them all these characters have changed a lot, aged and grown – but one returning figure’s physical change might surprise a few fans, with Brent Spiner’s Commander Data also appearing as a visibly older figure in the new series despite being a synthetic, man-made android who (presumably) wouldn’t actually need to age.

So what gives? Well, it’s complicated. Star Trek: The Next Generation was sometimes a little inconsistent when it came to Data’s ageing or lack thereof, with early appearances suggesting that he genuinely would live on in the same form forever only for this idea to be gently retconned in later episodes.

Sci fi

While it’s never stated outright, in one episode LeVar Burton’s engineer Geordi LaForge suggests that a new android discovered by the crew shares an ability with Data to visibly age.

“It's part of her ageing programme,” he says. “Not only does she age in appearance like Data, her vital signs change too.”

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Presumably, this (literal and metaphorical) wrinkle to canon was added to allow real-life actor Brent Spiner to continue playing Data even after his first few years in the role – however, Spiner himself reportedly didn’t like the idea of an old Data, which led in a roundabout way to the character’s death in 2002 Star Trek film Nemesis.

LOS ANGELES - JANUARY 8: Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data in the STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION episode, "The Hunted." Season 3, episode 11. Original air date, January 8, 1990. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

Of course, this raises further questions about how Data can be in Picard when he’s dead. Given that the series' episode hasn’t been released everywhere yet we won’t go into too much detail, but it’s fair to say that no-one is retconning the events of Nemesis, and the character is still dead.

"It was definitely important that we didn’t do anything that would undermine anything that had been done before,” Spiner told SyFy Wire .

“But I think, when you see the whole season… I can’t say anything else.”

Brent Spiner as Data in Star Trek: Picard (Amazon)

Once you’ve seen the episode, you’ll understand that Data’s older appearance may be as much in the mind and imaginings of the beholder as it is a point of fact. Data died younger than he appears in Picard – that’s just history – so some of how he appears in this sequel series may not necessarily need to be taken literally.

So there’s your answer: Data ages because he always could, except for when he couldn’t, and when he might not have. As simple as three-dimensional chess.

Star Trek: Picard is streaming on Amazon Prime from Friday 24th January

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'Picard’ Season 3 Showrunner Terry Matalas Breaks Down Episode 6, Data's Return, and the TNG Reunion

He also explains what's happening with Raffi and Seven's relationship.

The sixth episode of Star Trek: Picard 's third and final season reunites Picard ( Patrick Stewart ), Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ), and Beverly ( Gates McFadden ) with three familiar faces from The Next Generation , as Worf ( Michael Dorn ) and Raffi ( Michelle Hurd ) board the Titan to track down more clues about the Changeling plot on Daystrom. It's there that Riker, Worf, and Raffi discover that a version of Data ( Brent Spiner ) is being used to store information, while Picard and the crew of the Titan head to the Fleet Museum in hopes that Geordi La Forge ( LeVar Burton ) may be able to help them escape the clutches of the Changeling-filled Starfleet that is after them .

Ahead of the premiere of Episode 6 , Collider had the opportunity to speak with Picard 's showrunner Terry Matalas about everything that went down in the episode, from Geordi La Forge's return, to Jack's grim diagnosis, what Brent Spiner contribute to Data's return, where things are headed with Vadic's plan, what's next for Raffi and Seven's ( Jeri Ryan ) relationship, and a whole host of other juicy tidbits about how "Bounty" came together.

COLLIDER: So one of the big revelations in this episode is Jack having Irumodic Syndrome like his father. I really like the way that this really connects to a lot of the larger themes of this episode about the things that parents pass on to their children, both good and bad, personality traits, all that. It's a very meaty story that's kind of unfolding. But I also really liked how we see Beverly, Jack, and Picard all react to this diagnosis in very different ways, like they're going through the different stages of processing this. What went into the decision for how each of them would react? Because Beverly feels very practical, very doctor, reporting the diagnosis. You have Jack that's like, "I'm hitting the bar," and then you have Picard that seems a little bit more unmoored by this because there's a guilt associated with it.

TERRY MATALAS: I mean, I think you just summed it up perfectly. I mean, that is exactly it. I think Beverly is trying to be as practical and look for a way to diagnose it and then treat it. Jack, on one hand, is relieved that it's not insanity, and now has something that he can point to, but also has resentment that he can also point to because it is that he can point to his father after all. And Picard has guilt. It comes from him. He finally got to this place of acceptance that he has a son, and he immediately found that he's passed this thing onto him, and he sees his son is not handling it particularly well. However, by the end of the episode, I think they both come to a nice place with it. I love this episode.

I love, also, just the themes of what we pass on and the themes of evolution and the themes even from the La Forge family. It all came together better than we could even imagine in every way in performance, symphonically with the music. I think LeVar is extraordinary. I think Mica, his daughter who comes on, is wonderful. I think Ashlei is phenomenal in that scene with LeVar. And Brent is extraordinary as the five different versions of Datas and Soongs. And yeah, we're really proud of this one.

star-trek-picard-season-3-episode-6-ed-speleers-patrick-stewart

I have questions for every single thing you just mentioned. There's so much that happens in this episode, and I think I've re-watched this three or four times at this point, and I'm really continually impressed by how much is in this episode, like, trying to come up with which questions to ask is there's so much that happens and it's all done so well. It's the best usage of time that I've seen in an episode of television in a very long time. But what goes into it from the creative standpoint of maximizing the time that you have, like making sure you hit every point? What happens in the writer's room? I'm sure people are always curious about how things evolve in the writer's room.

MATALAS: I mean, that's a tough question. I mean, this particular writing staff who I've had, many of these writers who have come with me throughout the years from 12 Monkeys , we're super ambitious. So we like to pack a lot in, and we'll know if we're successful early on in the first couple drafts, or if something's got to come away. But the good news about this one is, every one of these stories were all on theme. They were all telling a version of the same story of what we pass on from one generation to the next, including the setting itself of it being a museum, or being a Section 31 experimental archive. As long as the emotion of these characters is working– when you read it, if it's emotionally satisfying in the story, then I feel like we've done our job.

It works really well. There are so many moving pieces, and they all fit together like a puzzle, which I think is why a lot of people are going to be really excited about this being the episode that brings Geordi in. I know a lot of people have been really anxious about seeing his character, and this really feels like the midpoint of the story. You get this great connection with what's happening with Picard and Jack, and then you have Geordi learning through his daughter, which is such a beautiful thing to see, and recognizing that he needs to get involved in this. So I really love how all of that plays out. What was it like getting to bring LeVar back, and getting to play into this beautiful story of fatherhood, and daughters, and fathers and sons? It's so beautiful.

MATALAS: It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. He loved every minute of it. Having his actual daughter there in those scenes, passing the torch from one generation to the next, right there in front of us was special to him and to us. So, it was incredible. It was really incredible. And he's never been better too. To meet this version of Geordi who is older, confident, is fully formed, has a family, has his own responsibilities, is not under the shadow of the Enterprise, and in the command of Jean-Luc Picard, it's so interesting. Watching LeVar just dominate those scenes, it takes your breath away.

Well, that's what’s made it so fun to watch these characters from The Next Generation cast reunite. They've all found their own place in the universe, and now they're trying to figure out how to fit back together as this crew. And they do fall back into things really well, but it takes time. Sometimes you see, in other shows, where they bring back characters, and it feels like no time has passed in a way that doesn't benefit the story, and this just works really well. I have to say that, not only is it fun watching LeVar and his daughter get to be on-screen together, that moment at New York Comic-Con where it was announced that she was going to be playing his daughter was such a special moment because, like you said, it's the passing of the torch. It's very fun to see this happen within the Star Trek family, so to speak. I also really love that Shaw, who has been so disillusioned by all of these legendary characters—

MATALAS: The only one he is impressed by is Geordi La Forge, the engineer.

star-trek-picard-season-3-episode-6-levar-burton

Beautiful . I thought that was beautiful payoff. I hope that more people continue to like Shaw because he is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The Next Generation cast has spent a lot of time together over the years at conventions and various things. They still kept in touch. They still had those moments together in real life, but it's fun to see them getting to come back together after this time has passed. I wondered, did they get to come up with how their characters would hug or handshake, or how those reunion moments would work? Or is that really in the script, and then it just evolved? How did that come to be? Because I love that moment in the transporter room.

MATALAS: Well, that was in the script, the moment is there. How they pace it and the actual physicality is all them, but the moment itself was definitely written.

Speaking of the evolution of characters over time, we have, finally, this reunion between Raffi and Seven. Maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like at the end of Season 2, they weren't in a terrible place, but now they're like awkward exes. Are we going to see more of what happened in that in-between time, or get more of these moments between the two of them? Because I know people love them.

MATALAS: Raffi and Seven are on a journey this season. Their romantic relationship is certainly on a pause so that they could focus on their careers in this moment, but they will always be family. But I think fans of Raffi and Seven will find their journey worthwhile by the end.

That actually ties into another question that I had about the themes of the crew with the family, and I really love that moment. I feel like a broken record, but there are so many moments I love in these first six episodes I've seen, but I really love that moment with Jack and Seven on the Bridge looking at the ships. That was the moment where I was like, I want Seven to be his cool aunt figure, cool older sister figure. It was such a fun moment.

MATALAS: Totally.

What has it been like getting to really explore the crew as the family theme that we're seeing through this? We've seen it in other Star Trek series, but there feels like something really poignant in Picard with the way that this story feels like it's headed, where things are coming to a close. What has been like getting to unpack all of that with these different characters who have had really strong connections to their crews?

MATALAS: Well, I think that's what Star Trek is all about. It certainly, to me, is what it was going back to the original series on. So, it's just reflecting all of the great Star Trek narratives for me. And in that moment, specifically, those aren't ships that they're looking at, they're homes. It's easy for nihilist fans to say, "Oh, they're tossing out some nostalgia member berries." But really, they're not looking just at some starships. [They] are looking at the homes of different incarnations of Star Trek .

star-trek-picard-season-3-episode-6-michael-dorn-michelle-hurd

I love that moment. I love seeing the Voyager . It made me feel the warm and tinglies, but then you also are getting this great moment with both of them and both of their personalities, and they play off each other so well. It's a really fun moment.

MATALAS: They have great chemistry.

I feel like I have not talked about any of the stuff that has happened over on Daystrom, but the Moriarty reveal is really fun. It's something that we saw in, I think, the first trailer that dropped, it's a really fun connection. Are we going to see more cameos that haven't been revealed yet? Are there more things that we should be anticipating? Obviously not what are they, but will there be?

MATALAS: Yes.

I also really appreciate how Picard , throughout all three seasons, has found ways to incorporate Brent Spiner and Data in very fun, very creative ways that allow him to be a part of this plot. And you know, found another really fun one with this. Can you talk a little bit more about bringing him back? And are we going to get more of these moments like with Geordi where it’s the pure elation of seeing Data again? Are we going to get more of these moments of the Data and the crew?

MATALAS: One of the first questions I had to ask myself was, "How the hell are you going to do a Star Trek: Next Generation reunion without Data being a part of it?" This character has died twice, and you can't just bring him magically back to life. Something else has to happen. However, there are some stories that haven't really been told with Data, which is he was backed up onto B-4. Lore is still a dangling chad. What if there was a final android that was almost perfectly human in the way that Soji or Picard was, that could look like Brent Spiner today?

But what if it was Jekyll and Hyde? What if both Lore and Data [were] in there with all these other things? Wouldn't that give Brent Spiner something really interesting to play? And couldn't that promise a really interesting final Data/Lore story? I took that to Brent thinking he was going to reject the whole thing, and he was like, "Oh, that's actually really cool." Brent was unbelievably collaborative with it, and Brent had ideas that only elevated it in ways I couldn't have imagined. In fact, some of the best moments of this story were Brent's idea.

star-trek-picard-season-3-episode-6-jonathan-frakes-patrick-stewart-gates-mcfadden-jeri-ryan-social-feature

What we've seen so far has been great! I also love the way that this episode incorporated an actual flashback to The Next Generation I thought was a really fun callback. I was curious, are we going to see more of those, or is this just a special occasion because of the situation that they were in?

MATALAS: You might see a flash of something.

I've obviously watched The Next Generation a few times in my life, but it's nice to actually visually see the moment that's being called back. Because then I don't have to go to YouTube or Paramount+ to try to find the clip that's being referenced.

MATALAS: It bridges the two together in a really beautiful way. That's Jonathan Frakes, that's Brent Spiner. These are the moments that we're talking about.

In the process of bringing that footage in, was there any amount of restoration to the footage that had to be done to fit new standards of television? Because things have obviously evolved a little bit. Now we're watching it on little computer screens.

MATALAS: I think we did a little bit of noise reduction and some color timing to it. I think we cleaned it up a little bit, but not much.

We also get in this episode a hint that maybe Vadic has her own agenda, which I thought was really neat. How long do we have to wait to see a payoff of that?

MATALAS: The next episode is all about Vadic's backstory. That's my tease. You're going to know everything you want to know about Vadic in the next episode.

There are a lot of brilliant moments in this episode, as I've said, but I love Deanna showing up at the end, being the payoff of, I'm assuming this Vadic's quest to find people related to this crew, to torment them in new ways. That moment was great. I was curious, and maybe this is too soon to ask this, but are we going to get any payoff at all for that very oft-forgotten connection between Deanna and Riker, which is that they have telepathy? I saw, I think it was Frakes that mentioned it in an interview that he did, and it got me thinking about that again. Are we going to see any hints of that?

MATALAS: I would say the answer is: keep watching.

Can we expect more of Picard's associates and his crew's associates to potentially get pulled into this whole thing that Vadic is pulling?

MATALAS: There will be other people. Yes and no.

Are there any Easter eggs in this episode that we should keep our eyes out for?

MATALAS: Oh my God, this episode's chock-full of Easter eggs.

Maybe a favorite?

MATALAS: My favorite Easter egg is probably the body of James T. Kirk.

And the Tribbles?

MATALAS: The Attack Tribbles.

Picard-season-3-Terry-Matalas

Attack Tribbles! I don't know if you've seen the Mirror Universe Tribbles toy that came out a few years ago, but they have terrifying teeth, and I was like, "Is that what that is?"

MATALAS: No, this is some genetically enhanced thing. I don't know what they were doing, but they shouldn't be.

It was terrifying. Do you have any favorite moments in this episode? Which I feel is a hard question to ask with this episode.

MATALAS: I have so many. I love Jack and Seven looking at the ships. I love Shaw and Geordi. I love when both Picard and Geordi realize it's their kids that had stolen the device at the same exact moment, “Jack.” “Sidney.” I love the Titan decloaking and coming to the rescue. I love Riker taking the punch at the end, and saying, "Ooh, look at you. How much of that goo shit did they pour into you?" He's just like Indiana Jones. He's fantastic. I have so many. I love LeVar and Sidney's scene, you know, "You taught me that, you taught me to believe in family, that the crew is my family." I love this episode, one of my favorites.

So what can you tease, aside from Vadic and her backstory, for Episode 7?

MATALAS: Things are about to get a whole lot worse.

The first six episodes of Star Trek: Picard 's third and final season is streaming now on Paramount+.

21 Years Later, Brent Spiner Helped Reboot Data For Star Trek Canon

Data is back. But for how long?

in star trek how did data die

In Star Trek: Picard Season 3 , the saddest moment of Star Trek: Nemesis has seemingly been undone. After dying on the Reman warship, the Scimitar , in 2379, Data has been reborn in 2401. But, after the events of “The Bounty,” this new version of Data is decidedly different than the one we remember. Jammed in the same body as his evil android brother, Lore, the latest version of Data is fighting for his existential life in the episode “Dominion.” And, for actor Brent Spiner, the meaning of life and death for Data are very different than you might think.

Spoilers for Star Trek: Picard ahead.

Because Data’s living consciousness, which existed in limbo from 2379 to 2399, died at the end of Picard Season 1 , the presence of another copy of Data’s memory in this new human-ish body, might make you wonder if those other Data deaths counted . But for Spiner, it’s a bit simpler than all that.

“People have said Data's died twice now. But, well, Data didn't die . He’s not a human being!” Spiner tells Inverse with a laugh. “It's like if your computer blew up, and you were still able to retrieve the hard drive. That’s the essence of him. So, Data goes on because they were able to access his memories and his experiences.”

Brent Spiner as Data, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker and Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker

Brent Spiner as Data, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, Michael Dorn as Worf and Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker

Mental gymnastics aside, Spiner did have several conversations with Terry Matalas and the other Picard writers to determine that this resurrection made sense.

“I wouldn’t say I was resistant,” Spiner reveals. “But I was dubious , at first. The writers and Terry were so open and receptive. I don’t mean they just let me do everything the way I asked. I mean, we struggled. These are smart people and talented people, and so we would go back and forth. They were always wide open and available. And, finally, I think we came to something that satisfied all of us. Also, at the end of the day, I don't want to be home, wondering if my friends are having a really good time on the set, playing their characters again.”

In “Dominion,” we learn that Data's personality has been partitioned from Lore’s in this body, and the outcome of that struggle will determine, eventually, which persona will become dominant. In this way, the Data-Lore-Soong hybrid in Picard Season 3, is actually a new character, and not just a copy-and-paste of Data from Nemesis .

“It is a new character in a sense,” Spiner says. “But also, I think what we’re saying is that we are our memories. Obviously, we all have memories of things we love. But also of things that we don’t love. Of sad things. Of horrible things. Data is all of that now.”

In “The Bounty,” fans were reminded of Data’s love of Sherlock Holmes , something which feels appropriate in real life. After Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off the detective in “The Final Problem,” the sheer popularity of the character forced him to bring Holmes back. And Data is very much the same. “Well, we tried to off Data,” Spiner jokes. “But they keep tracking me down. They keep bringing me back in.”

Now that Picard Season 3 is warping toward its conclusion in just three weeks, it feels like the swan song for The Next Generation crew is truly coming to an end. With a (potentially) newly reborn Data, would Spiner want to continue doing more Star Trek? Or is this really, really it ?

Data and Lore in 'The Next Generation' episode "Datalore."

Data and Lore in The Next Generation episode "Datalore."

“The thing about being an actor is no one ever retires,” Spiner says. “Cagney. He was retired after One, Two, Three . Then he came back and did Ragtime . Fred Astaire said he never wanted to do it again, and there he is in Finian's Rainbow. Nobody really wants to stop.”

In this way, Spiner is open to appearing in a future Trek project beyond Picard Season 3, should a hypothetical spinoff series materialize or not.

“We don't have any control over it. I know Terry would like to do more. Certainly, if there was a deal on the table, and they said we’d love you to come back, then I’d have another decision to make. I can't imagine that I would say no. Certainly, if everybody else was doing it, like I said, I don't want to be at home while they're having fun,” Spiner says. “But there’s also something to be said for going out with goodwill. This season has achieved so much goodwill from the fans and critics and everybody who’s seen it. It wouldn’t be a terrible place to stop if we had to stop.”

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams on Paramount+

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Kenneth Mitchell, star of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’, dead at 49 after battle with ALS

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Kenneth Mitchell

Kenneth Mitchell, who starred in the hit series “Star Trek: Discovery” and Marvel’s “Captain Marvel” movie reportedly died Sunday following a five-year battle with ALS. He was 49.

“With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Kenneth Alexander Mitchell, beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, son and dear friend,” Mitchell’s family shared on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram .

“Ken was widely known as an actor in many films and television shows. He’s portrayed an Olympic hopeful, an apocalypse survivor, an astronaut, a superhero’s dad, and four unique Star Trekkers,” the statement continued.

Kenneth Mitchell, who starred in the hit series "Star Trek: Discovery" and Marvel's "Captain Marvel" movie reportedly died Sunday following a five-year battle with ALS.

“Ken was diligent and hardworking in everything he did, but as a father these traits found their fullest expression,” the statement read. “He was extremely dedicated to being a positive and playful force in the lives of his children. Regardless of his later disabilities, Ken discovered a higher calling to be more fully himself for his kids.”

“Ken will be forever proud of who his children have become,” the statement concluded.

The Post reached out to Mitchell’s rep for comment.

According to the post, the Toronto actor, who was born on November 24, 1974, was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), sometimes known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2018.

“For five and a half years Ken faced a series of awful challenges from ALS. And in truest Ken fashion, he managed to rise above each one with grace and commitment to living a full and joyous life in each moment,” his family wrote.

“Ken is forever grateful for the massive amounts of love and endless support he received from his community along this journey. Especially the courage, resilience and strength displayed from his extraordinary wife, family and friends.”

According to the post, the Toronto actor, who was born on Nov. 24, 1974, was diagnosed with ALS, sometimes known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2018.

Mitchell was described by his loved ones as “a keeper of countless enduring friendships. Like a massive star exploding with kindness, purity and a particular brand of silly, you were pulled right into his orbit. Once captured, Kenny could bathe you in positivity, compassion, thoughtfulness, and hilarity, and make you feel so loved.”

In 2020, the “Captain Marvel” actor went public with his diagnosis , expressing his “complete disbelief.”

“I do remember there was something really simple and beautiful in a way, how my wife and I were in the trenches together, and how we from this moment on we’re having to deal with something so severe that was going to affect our lives forever,” he told PEOPLE. “We grieved and mourned really hard. There was so much unknown.”

In 2020, the "Captain Marvel" actor went public with his diagnosis, expressing his “complete disbelief.”

“I think it, over time, became the theme of us accepting this with grace,” he said. “Trying to see the beauty in it, in a way. I’ll never forget, one of my ‘Star Trek’ costars told me, because they had dealt with some trying times with illnesses and stuff, and I remember them communicating to me, saying, ‘You have a choice. You can look at this in many different ways, but maybe try to look at this like a gift where you get to experience life in a way that most people don’t.'”

Since the news of his death broke, several of the actor’s fans have taken to social media to express thier own grief.

“My sincerest condolences for your loss. I didn’t meet Ken but he clearly made both this universe and the Star Trek universe a better place. Thanks for sharing him with us,” one person posted on X .

Mitchell played the Klingons Kol, Kol-Sha, and Tenavik, as well as Aurellio, on :Star Trek: Discovery."

“I’m so sorry. I was never fortunate enough to meet Kenneth, but everything I ever heard about him was overwhelmingly glowing,” a second person said while adding that it was “a profound loss.”

“You were the best Kenneth. I’ll miss you and love you forever. All my love to the Mitchell family,” a third person stated .

“Star Trek” also paid tribute to the late actor.

“StarTrek.com is deeply saddened to report the passing of Kenneth Alexander Mitchell, who played the Klingons Kol, Kol-Sha, and Tenavik, as well as Aurellio, on ‘Star Trek: Discovery,'” they wrote in a post . “The entire ‘Star Trek’ family sends their condolences to Mitchell’s family, friends, loved ones, and fans around the world.

The “Astronaut Wives Club” actor is survived by his wife Susan, their children Lilah and Kallum as well as his parents, siblings and nieces and nephews.

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Kenneth Mitchell, who starred in the hit series "Star Trek: Discovery" and Marvel's "Captain Marvel" movie reportedly died Sunday following a five-year battle with ALS.

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Kenneth Mitchell, 'Star Trek: Discovery' and 'Captain Marvel' actor, dies at 49 after ALS diagnosis

2018 Star Trek Convention Las Vegas

Kenneth Mitchell, the actor who starred in "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Captain Marvel," died Saturday. He was 49 years old. 

“With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Kenneth Alexander Mitchell, beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, son, and dear friend to many,” his family said in a statement shared on Instagram. 

Mitchell died after a 5 ½-year struggle with Lou Gehrig’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. 

Despite the “series of awful challenges” Mitchell faced as a result of the disease, his family said, he “managed to rise above each one with grace and commitment to living a full and joyous life in each moment.” 

Mitchell, born Nov. 24, 1974, in Toronto, rose to fame for his portrayal of the Klingons Kol, Kol-Sha and Tenavik, as well as Aurellio, on "Star Trek: Discovery," and for playing Joseph Danvers in "Captain Marvel." 

He also acted in the hockey drama "Miracle" and appeared on "Grey’s Anatomy," "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds," among others. 

The “Star Trek” universe paid tribute to Mitchell on its website Sunday, saying it was “deeply saddened” by his passing. 

Kenneth Mitchell

“The entire Star Trek family sends their condolences to Mitchell’s family, friends, loved ones, and fans around the world,” it said. 

His family remembered him, among other things, as a “hope seeker,” “dream believer,” “beach walker” and “garden grower,” but most of all as a “proud father.” 

He is survived by his wife, Susan, and their children, Lilah and Kallum. His family said he requested that any gifts be directed toward research for the disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. 

According to a passage Mitchell wrote and shared in the tribute, he wished to be buried under the roots of a tree, "so I can be soaked up, all my matter, my energy, my love, my laughter, my tears and I want to reach up through the branches and touch the night sky.”

Mike Gagliardi is a researcher with the NBC News Network Desk.

Screen Rant

Is lore finally dead in star trek: picard.

Data’s consciousness squared off with his evil brother Lore for control of their shared body in the Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode “Surrender.”

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 8 - "Surrender" Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 8 "Surrender" saw Data (Brent Spiner) face off against his evil brother Lore (Brent Spiner) seemingly for the last time, but has the benevolent android finally seen the last of his evil brother? Data and Lore's consciousnesses were restored inside a new, advanced Soong-type android by Altan Inigo Soong (Brent Spiner), the son of Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner), the androids' creator. Once rescued from Daystrom Station, it became clear Data and Lore were vying for control of the new body.

The Data/Lore hybrid proved to be dangerous, and Vadic's (Amanda Plummer) capture of the USS Titan-A called for a drastic solution. After Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) removed the partition separating the two personalities, Data and Lore began a battle inside the new android body for ultimate control. The battle ended with a decisive victor and an exciting new rebirth.

What Data Did To Lore In Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 8

Data's new body in Star Trek: Picard season 3

At the outset of their positronic battle, the ruthless Lore seemingly had the upper hand, as he attempted to erase Data piece by piece. Data even offered Lore his memories, since Lore had so few of his own, and Data believed his memories defined him and were the best of him. A bemused Lore absorbed all of Data's memories, and Data's essence seemingly dissipated.

Lore didn't realize Data had tricked him. By absorbing the memories Data offered to him, Lore was absorbing Data himself, slowly merging with him and eventually becoming him. As was always apparent, Lore was a minor consciousness compared to Data, and he now exists as a small part of Data's consciousness alongside Altan Soong, the prototype android B-4 (Brent Spiner) , and Data's late daughter Lal (Hallie Todd).

Lore Picard

Chances are very good that Lore is finally gone for good this time. He wasn't simply disassembled or deactivated this time - Data essentially absorbed everything Lore ever was, holding onto only the good bits, like his grasp of humor and use of contractions. Data's new, more human form may technically be a hybrid of several different android memories and personalities, but Data is clearly in the positronic driver's seat.

Lore is ultimately something of a tragic figure. He was incredibly close to the ideal artificial life form Dr. Noonien Soong had dreamed of, but he lacked basic human empathy, a flaw he could never truly overcome. His last moment realization that he had lost to Data and was essentially facing death felt something like acceptance. Star Trek: Picard has finally returned Data to exciting new life, while bidding a final farewell to Lore.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

in star trek how did data die

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Kenneth Mitchell, ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ Actor, Dies at 49

By Caroline Brew

Caroline Brew

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LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 19:  Actor Kenneth Mitchell arrives for the Premiere Of CBS's "Star Trek: Discovery"  held at The Cinerama Dome on September 19, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)

Kenneth Mitchell , known for his multiple roles on “Star Trek: Discovery,” died from ALS complications on Saturday. He was 49.

“For five and a half years, Ken faced a series of awful challenges from ALS. And in truest Ken fashion, he managed to rise above each one with grace and commitment, to living a full and joyous life in each moment,” a statement reads on Mitchell’s official Instagram page. “He lived by the principals that each day is a gift and we never walk alone.”

In 2020, Mitchell announced to People that he was diagnosed with ALS in 2018. The actor had been using a wheelchair since 2019.

“I think it, over time, became the theme of us accepting this with grace,” he said. “Trying to see the beauty in it, in a way. I’ll never forget, one of my ‘Star Trek’ co-stars told me, because they had dealt with some trying times with illnesses and stuff, and I remember them communicating to me, saying, ‘You have a choice. You can look at this in many different ways, but maybe try to look at this like a gift where you get to experience life in a way that most people don’t.'”

He also revealed to People that he had to give up his part as the lead in a television show, which would require him to move to Newfoundland. “Being lead of the show, I really wanted that responsibility. But in the end, it just wasn’t the right thing to continue on,” he said.

Donations to Mitchell’s family can be made to this GoFundMe campaign .

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USA TODAY

Kenneth Mitchell, 'Star Trek: Discovery' actor, dies after battle with ALS

K enneth Mitchell, an actor who appeared in shows like " Star Trek: Discovery " and "Jericho," has died following a battle with ALS . He was 49.

Mitchell's death was confirmed on Sunday in a statement shared to his verified Instagram page . "With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Kenneth Alexander Mitchell, beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, son and dear friend," the post said.

Mitchell portrayed multiple characters in various episodes of " Star Trek: Discovery ," including a Klingon named Kol, and voiced characters on the animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks." He also starred as Eric Green on CBS' " Jericho ," and in the 2019 Marvel film " Captain Marvel ," he played Joseph Danvers, father of Carol Danvers ( Brie Larson ), in a flashback scene.

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In 2020, Mitchell revealed he had been diagnosed with ALS two years earlier. In an interview with People at the time, he said he had been using a wheelchair since 2019 and was diagnosed in 2018 after he began experiencing twitching in his muscles.

"The moment that they told us it was (ALS), it was like I was in my own movie," Mitchell said. "That's what it felt like, like I was watching that scene where someone is being told that they have a terminal illness. It was just a complete disbelief, a shock."

What is ALS the rare disease making it 'impossible' for Roberta Flack to sing?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS, is a nervous system disease that "affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord" and causes loss of muscle control, according to the Mayo Clinic .

One of the "Star Trek" characters Mitchell played was Aurellio, who used a hovercraft chair. In an Instagram post in 2021, the actor said he was "incredibly grateful for the inclusion." He described this role as "a reminder that despite one's disabilities there is always room for possibility & ability."

In 2022, he also appeared in the FX series "The Old Man" as a character created for him.

Mitchell is survived by his wife, Susan, and their two children. He previously told People that after his diagnosis, his focus became spending as much time with his family as possible, including giving up a television lead role that would require him to move.

"For five and a half years Ken faced a series of awful challenges from ALS," the statement shared on his social media said. "And in truest Ken fashion, he managed to rise above each one with grace and commitment to living a full and joyous life in each moment. He lived by the principles that each day is a gift and that we never walk alone."

The statement concluded: "His life is a shining example of how full one can be when you live with love, compassion, humour, inclusion, and community."

A new ALS drug extends patients' lives by months, giving hope for those facing such a 'brutal illness'

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kenneth Mitchell, 'Star Trek: Discovery' actor, dies after battle with ALS

Actor Kenneth Mitchell arrives for the 2015 Golden Maple Awards in Los Angeles on July 1, 2015.

IMAGES

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    in star trek how did data die

  2. Star Trek’s Data Dies at End of Abysmal ‘Nemesis’ Movie: Watch Scene

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  3. How is Data in 'Star Trek: Picard' if he died in 'Star Trek: Nemesis

    in star trek how did data die

  4. Data Star Trek: How did Data die? Who is the android B-4?

    in star trek how did data die

  5. Star Trek Almost Killed Data In Insurrection (But His Death Was Inevitable)

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  6. This Is What Happened To Data From Star Trek

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COMMENTS

  1. Star Trek: Picard: how Data died, and his appearance in Picard

    How did Data die in Star Trek: Nemesis? Nemesis was the last of the Next Generation movies. Released in 2002, it starred Tom Hardy as Shinzon, a clone of Picard who stages a violent coup and ...

  2. How Did Data Die On Star Trek & How Did He Return?

    As mentioned, Data's first demise came at the end of 2002's "Star Trek: Nemesis." With a Romulan praetor, Shinzon about to unleash a doomsday weapon on the Enterprise, Captain Jean-Luc Picard ...

  3. Why Data Died In Star Trek: Nemesis (& Did He Have To?)

    Published Feb 15, 2023. Data's death in Star Trek: Nemesis was supposed to provide the film with an emotional climax, but it was an unworthy end to a much beloved character. Star Trek: Nemesis killed off Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) in an attempt to give the film an emotional climax, but the beloved android deserved a better ending.

  4. Data (Star Trek)

    Data is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise.He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and the first and third seasons of Star Trek: Picard; and the feature films Star Trek Generations (1994), First Contact (1996), Insurrection (1998), and Nemesis (2002). Data is portrayed by actor Brent Spiner.. Data was found by Starfleet in 2338.

  5. How is Data in 'Star Trek: Picard' if he died in 'Star Trek: Nemesis?'

    Yes. "Star Trek: Nemesis" is the 10th film in the Star Trek movie franchise and the last to feature the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." It features a clone of Jean-Luc Picard called ...

  6. Star Trek: Picard

    From the very first episode—nay, the very first scene of this show—we saw Data as Picard remembered him: in dreams, mostly. Finally, in the Season 1 finale, we see a vestige of Data's ...

  7. Star Trek: Picard

    Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard's Season 1 Finale. The Star Trek: Picard season 1 finale ended with the death of Commander Data (Brent Spiner), which was especially shocking since Data had already died in Star Trek: Nemesis.In Star Trek: Picard, the emotional scars left behind by Data's demise was a driving factor in Jean-Luc Picard 's (Patrick Stewart) quest to return to space and ...

  8. Star Trek: Picard: What REALLY Happened to Data?

    In Star Trek: Picard, an aged and retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard haunted by Data's death as he and his new crew embark on a quest to save the last of the android's mysterious offspring, Soji, from certain destruction by the Romulan Zhat Vash. So far, B-4 seems to have been relegated to being a red herring. Although B-4 successfully became ...

  9. Flashback: Star Trek's Data Dies at End of Abysmal 'Nemesis' Movie

    Anyone that doesn't remember exactly how Data died can be forgiven because it happened near the end of 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis, a film so wretched that it forever ended Star Trek: The Next ...

  10. Data Star Trek: How did Data die? Who is the android B-4?

    Despite this, Data still copies his memories over to B-4 in an attempt to try and make him become more human, and following Data's death Picard emotionally attempts to explain his second officer ...

  11. star trek

    In the Star Trek TNG series finale, "All Good Things", Data is clearly alive and well while Picard is an old man. But Data is clearly destroyed in Star Trek: Nemesis, while Picard is still relatively young.

  12. Star Trek Confirms Data WAS Rebuilt After Nemesis (So What Killed Him?)

    Data was seemingly killed in Star Trek: Nemesis, which was the final film to feature the cast of The Next Generation. Various spin-off media, including novels and comics, revived Data but the first season of Star Trek: Picard (set approximately 20 years after Nemesis) established that he was not rebuilt after Nemesis and was in fact still dead.

  13. Star Trek: Picard

    Brent Spiner, who has played Data since he first appeared in the pilot for Star Trek: The Next Generation back in 1987, is also saying goodbye to the character. The actor sat down for a chat with ...

  14. Brent Spiner Talks 'Star Trek: Picard' Roles And Why He's Still Okay

    TNG cast on Picard season 3 as a do-over for Nemesis . Picard showrunner Terry Matalas has stated that he felt Star Trek: Nemesis did not provide the TNG crew with a proper ending to their stories ...

  15. Star Trek: Picard Created the Perfect Ending for Data

    Picard's consciousness is about to leave the simulation to be placed into a new body, symbolized by a bright light coming from the door behind him. Before leaving, Data makes one more request: When he's corporeal again, terminate his consciousness. Baffled, Picard asks if he's requesting to die. " Not exactly, sir," Data replies.

  16. Star Trek: Picard

    Still, the golden android and Pinnochio surrogate had some robo-relatives who looked exactly like him. Yeah, there's a whole family of Datas and Data off-shoots actually, like the evil Lore, or ...

  17. Star Trek: Picard Season 3: Brent Spiner on How Data Never Really Died

    Instead, the Star Trek: Picard Season 3 trailer suggested that Spiner would return as Lore, the evil brother of his beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation android, Data, who physically "died" in ...

  18. Picard's Brent Spiner Explains Why Data Didn't Really Die in Star Trek

    Star Trek: Picard 's Brent Spiner says Data never really "died" in the 2002 feature film Star Trek: Nemesis -- and his reasoning for this perspective is fairly simple. During an interview with ComicBook.com, Spiner was asked if he believes Data's recent return in Picard fundamentally alters the iconic android's character arc, given his demise ...

  19. Picard: Why is Data older? Why did Data age in Star Trek?

    Data died younger than he appears in Picard - that's just history - so some of how he appears in this sequel series may not necessarily need to be taken literally. So there's your answer ...

  20. Whew! Data's Comeback Doesn't Hurt His 2 Star Trek Deaths

    Data's Comeback Doesn't Hurt His 2 Star Trek Deaths. By John Orquiola. Published Mar 26, 2023. Star Trek: Picard season 3 brought back Data, and the beloved android's new lease on life makes sense despite the fact that he has died twice. Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 6 - "The Bounty" Thankfully, the return of ...

  21. 'Picard' Season 3 Showrunner Terry Matalas Breaks Down Episode 6, Data

    Star Trek: Picard's showrunner Terry Matalas breaks down Season 3, Episode 6, Data's return, the Seven/Raffi relationship, and bring the TNG reuion. ... This character has died twice, and you can ...

  22. 21 Years Later, Brent Spiner Helped Reboot Data For Star Trek ...

    Spoilers for Star Trek: Picard ahead. Because Data's living consciousness, which existed in limbo from 2379 to 2399, died at the end of Picard Season 1, the presence of another copy of Data's ...

  23. Kenneth Mitchell, star of 'Star Trek: Discovery', dead at 49

    Kenneth Mitchell, who starred in the hit series "Star Trek: Discovery" and Marvel's "Captain Marvel" movie reportedly died Sunday following a five-year battle with ALS. He was 49.

  24. Kenneth Mitchell, 'Star Trek: Discovery' and 'Captain Marvel' actor

    Kenneth Mitchell, the actor who starred in "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Captain Marvel," died Saturday. The celebrated actor, who had Lou Gehrig's disease for 5 ½ years, died Saturday, his ...

  25. Is Lore Finally Dead In Star Trek: Picard?

    What Data Did To Lore In Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 8 . At the outset of their positronic battle, the ruthless Lore seemingly had the upper hand, as he attempted to erase Data piece by piece. Data even offered Lore his memories, since Lore had so few of his own, and Data believed his memories defined him and were the best of him.

  26. 'Star Trek: Discovery' actor Kenneth Mitchell dies at 49

    49-year-old actor Kenneth Mitchell passed away at the age of 49, his family confirmed in a statement shared on Instagram.

  27. Kenneth Mitchell Dead: 'Star Trek: Discovery' Star Was 49

    Kenneth Mitchell, known for his multiple roles on "Star Trek: Discovery," died from ALS complications on Saturday. He was 49. "For five and a half years, Ken faced a series of awful ...

  28. Kenneth Mitchell, 'Star Trek: Discovery' actor, dies after battle ...

    Kenneth Mitchell, an actor who appeared in shows like "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Jericho," has died following a battle with ALS. He was 49. Mitchell's death was confirmed on Sunday in a statement ...