Birthright (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
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| Star Trek: TNG episode | |
| "Birthright (Parts I and II)" | |
| Episode no. | 142 and 143 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 242 and 243 |
| Airdate | March 7, 1993 (Part One) March 14, 1993 (Part Two) |
| Writer(s) | Ronald D. Moore |
| Director | Les Landau |
| Guest star(s) | Siddig El Fadil James Cromwell Cristine Rose Jennifer Gatti Richard Herd Sterling Macer, Jr. Alan Scarfe |
| Year | 2369 |
| Stardate | 46578.4 (Part One), 46579.2 (Part Two) |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Tapestry" |
| Next | "Starship Mine" |
"Birthright" is a two-part episode of season six of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
[edit] Plot (Birthright Part I)
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
The Enterprise is docked at Deep Space Nine, providing assistance in repairing the station. Julian Bashir, DS9's Chief Medical Officer, has come aboard to get assistance in examining a piece of technology that was found in the Gamma Quadrant and is working with Geordi and Data. During a conversation, he notices that Data breathes. Data responds by saying that though he does not need to breathe, he has a ventilation system which also provides the appearance of human breathing. Data then points out most people only care about how capable he is as a computer, contrasting that observation with how no one has ever asked him before whether he breathes, or grows hair (another topic of the conversation). It's an interesting moment of character development for both of them, revealing some facts about Data's life, and demonstrating Julian's eccentric and inquisitive nature, curiously, outside of the series he stars in.
The main focus of the episode is on Worf. In cafe on DS9 Worf is approached by an alien who claims to know who he is. He informs Worf his father, Mogh, was not killed at Khitomer, but instead was captured by the Romulans. Worf refuses to believe him and storms off. On the bridge of the Enterprise, Worf snaps at an ensign causing Commander Riker to express concern. Worf returns to his quarters and does Klingon exercises and martial arts to try and calm down. Instead he ends up smashing a table just as Deanna Troi enters his quarters, causing her to ask "Did the table do something wrong?" Worf tells her about the alien and his claims about his father, denying that Mogh would be captured. If a Klingon warrior is captured, it brings shame on his family for three generations.
Meanwhile, Data, Geordi, and Bashir are working in engineering with the piece of equipment Julian brought over. During a test there is a sudden energy discharge which hits Data, causing him to collapse on to the deck. In the next frame we find Data wandering through one of the ship's corridors, he appears to be having a dream. He sees a bird and hears the sound of a hammer on an anvil. He finds the person banging the hammer and it is his "father", creator Noonien Soong. Before he can learn any more he is revived by Geordi.
Data is puzzled as to what happened. Bashir suggests that maybe he had a dream. Data approaches Worf, asking about the time Worf had an hallucination during a Klingon ritual. Worf says that it is important for Data to find the dream's meaning. He says that "Your father is the heart of you, always." This causes Worf to resolve himself to find out the truth about his father.
He goes back to DS9 and hunts down the alien. Worf demands the alien to take him to the Romulan prison camp. The alien refuses. Worf grabs him and dangles over a high bridge. The alien doesn't wish to go because the camp is on a planet on the fringe of Romulan space. Worf promises him that if he is lying he will be killed.
Worf gets a leave of absence from the Enterprise and sets of with the alien to the planet in question. On arrival the alien takes him to a clifftop from where they can see the camp. Worf makes plans for getting inside. The alien gives him a not-so-friendly warning about a certain breed of snake and its attack habits. Worf begins questioning the alien about how he knows of the camp and why he hasn't informed the Klingon government of its existence. The alien is an information broker, that is, he sells information to governments and people. He tried to sell the information to the Klingons but they refused to believe him.
Back on the Enterprise Data visits Picard, who is thankful for the interruption. Data tells Picard that he is investigating the dream, but has reached no conclusion. Data claims he has no culture, so he has turned to others for meaning. Picard tells him he is being ridiculous. Data is a culture of one. He tells the android to turn to within himself to find the meaning of the dream.
Data goes to his quarters to paint. The image is that of a man with a hammer, standing over an anvil, as in his dream.
On the planet Worf and the alien delve into the dark jungle. The alien gives Worf a device that will tell him the location of the alien's vessel when he comes back to get Worf. Alone now, Worf moves towards the compound. He spies a figure bathing in the wilderness. It begins to move toward him and he hides. The figure, a female, calls out to Worf, asking who he is. When she sees him, she begins to run, but he catches up to her and asks her to lead him to the camp. She is stunned by the fact that Worf is Klingon. When Worf offers to take her home, she claims that she is already home. A Romulan calls out to her. She runs off, promising not to tell about Worf.
Geordi calls by Data's quarters to see how he is getting on. He is stunned--Data has painted dozens of pictures of images from his dreams. First the blacksmith, then the corridor, then the anvil, hammer, and Soong's face. Then, Data says, the thought occurred to him to paint smoke. Geordi points out that the smoke is coming out of a bucket of water, which blacksmiths used to use to cool metal. Data then says he painted a bird, but he doesn't understand why. He asks Geordi to help him recreate the experiment that caused the dream. Geordi reluctantly agrees, warning Data that it could fuse his brain.
Bashir and Geordi initiate the experiment. Data is zapped again and has another vision. It begins the same as the first: Corridor, sound of a hammer, Soong (who is played by Brent Spiner, who also plays Data). Soong plunges hot metal into a bucket of water, causing smoke to billow out. When the smoke clears, Soong is gone and a bird is left in his place. Data realizes that the vision is different, saying so out loud. Soong appears to him, saying that of course the dream is different. Data is now on the bridge. Data begins to relate all the things that are different: The bridge is there, his cat Spot, his potted plant, and his paintings. Soong says Data is showing progress. Data doesn't understand. Soong says that is all right. If he understood, he would spoil the fun.
Soong says he is proud of Data. He wasn't sure that Data would develop far enough to have dreams. He says that now Data has started a new journey. Data is suddenly laying on a bed, as his father tells him to just dream. He sits next to his son and says, "Data, you are the bird!" Data then dreams he is flying through the Enterprise, out of the ship in space, and then back into his own head. He awakens, stunned.
Data believes that the dream was pre-programmed by Soong. He also plans to "sleep" for a brief period every day, to "dream". Bashir asks if he could write a paper on this event. Data says that is fine. Bashir says, "Sweet Dreams," and departs.
Worf breaks in to the prison compound and hears singing. He dodges some Romulan guards and proceeds to the singer. An old Klingon is standing around a fire with several other Klingons listening to him sing. The elder Klingon then leaves and Worf follows him. He catches him in a hallway, startling the old man. Worf tells the old Klingon who he is. The elder Klingon says that Mogh died in battle, and that he was fortunate. The Romulans robbed him of his right to die in battle. The Klingon warns Worf that there are things going on that Worf doesn't understand. The Klingon says he remembers Worf as a child, and relates a story about how Worf injured himself as a child while on a hunt. Worf says he remembers the old Klingon, who warns him that he should not have come here. The Klingon elders grab Worf, attempting to keep him in the compound. He easily defeats them and begins to run, only to be stopped by two armed Romulans.
[edit] Part Two
The plot concerning Data's dreams is concluded in the previous part. This part deals almost entirely with Worf at the Romulan prison compound. The Romulan elders explain that it is in fact not a prison and that Worf can leave whenever he wants. Worf is puzzled by the Klingons' lack of desire to escape. At the end he discovers that the Romulans and Klingons married and now they have half-Klingon, half-Romulan children. Worf returns to the Enterprise.
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[edit] External links
- Birthright, Part I article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- Birthright, Part II article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- Birthright (Star Trek: The Next Generation) at StarTrek.com (Part 1)
- Birthright (Star Trek: The Next Generation) at StarTrek.com (Part 2)
- Birthright: Part 1 at the Internet Movie Database
- Birthright: Part 2 at the Internet Movie Database
