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Star Trek: Picard: Breaking Down That Surprise Guest Star Appearance

The first part of the Star Trek: Picard season finale featured a surprise guest star. How does the character fit into Star Trek history?

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This article contains major Star Trek: Picard spoilers.

Although fans knew Brent Spiner would be appearing in the first season of Star Trek: Picard , nobody ever really knew exactly how all of that would work. And, it turns out, we were all totally wrong about every single theory. Data was not brought back to life , and now, it appears, Spiner’s other involvement in the series isn’t at all what we expected. 

In its latest twist, Star Trek: Picard has brought back a familiar name to its complicated canon. But who is Dr. Soong? There’s actually more than one answer…

When Picard and the rag-tag crew of the La Sirena make it to the planet Coppelius in Picard episode 9 , they meet not only a huge group of androids, but also, a human named Altan Inigo Soong, who claims to be the biological son of Dr. Noonian Soong; the reclusive scientist who built Data. Like his father, Altan is a cyberneticist, though, he later tells Dr. Jurati that he’s more focused on the bodies of androids than the minds. For longtime fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation , seeing a human “relative” of Data is pretty weird, if only because we were never aware that Data’s creator had any human offspring.

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Weirdly enough, it’s actually a little tough to figure out exactly how old Altan is, and whether or not Data had actual memories of him. Data was “activated” in 2338, after an attack on the Omicron Theta colony, but he (along with Lore and B-4) were created sometime before that. But when was Altan born? One good guess would be sometime in the 2320s, which would make him a little younger than Picard, which would dovetail with the real ages of Brent Spiner (71) and Patrick Stewart (79) respectively. 

If you think it’s weird that this Dr. Soong pursued the same line of work as his father, Noonian Soong, it’s actually not that weird . In fact, the prequel series Enterprise establishes outright, that Noonian Soong came from a long line of geneticists, who later became cyberneticists. In the Enterprise episode, “The Augments,” after failing in his work to create “superior” genetically engineered humans, Dr. Arik Soong (also played by Brent Spiner) claims he’ll start working with cybernetics instead. That episode takes place in 2154, which means, clearly, it took a few centuries (2330s!) for the Soong family of mad scientists to start producing androids. By the time of The Next Generation (2360s-2370s), Dr. Noonian Soong was already a legend who had gone into hiding after being presumed dead. Later, we learned that Noonian had made one more android; a synthetic duplicate of his wife Julianna. (Who, while she was still human, could have been Altan’s biological mother, but that’s just a guess.)

Now, in 2399, history is repeating itself. Like his father before him, Dr. Altan Soong is also creating androids in hiding. But this time, he had help. Interestingly enough, the existence of a new member of the Soong family was already teased out in an earlier episode of Star Trek: Picard we just all missed it. In episode 5, “Stardust City Rag,” Bruce Maddox mentioned “Soong,” when he talked about his collaborators in making Dahj and Soji. At the time, we all assumed he was referring metaphorically, since Noonian Soong was Data’s creator, and that was template for these new androids. But now, we know that’s not the case. Maddox was actually referring to Altan Soong, not Noonian.

Star Trek: Picard Episode 9 Easter Eggs and References

Star Trek: Picard Episode 9 Review: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1

Did Jurati know about the existence of Altan before this episode? That’s not entirely clear. She seems surprised by what he’s working on, but one thing we don’t know is just how long Altan has been in hiding prior to linking up with Bruce Maddox after the Synth Ban. That said, Altan does imply he and Bruce worked together a little bit before the Synth Ban, which again, suggests that even if Jurati didn’t know about Altan specifically, she may have known Bruce had another partner. Either way, the question of what Altan was doing with the vast majority of his life during the time of The Next Generation and the intervening years leading up to Picard may never be answered. But then again, in the TNG episode “Brothers” it was very unclear what Noonian Soong had been doing for roughly three decades since fleeing Omicron Theta and leaving Data, Lore and B-4 behind. Soong boys like their secret lives!

So, like all the mysterious mad scientists before him, Dr. Altan Soong is carrying on more than one family tradition. Building androids in secre is the obvious one. But having a nearly inexplicable, and backstory is the real kicker. That said, if you’re upset about the fact we’ve never heard of Altan before now, then you should really consider that the backstory of Noonian Soong basically makes zero sense, and mostly involves hiding on planets by himself doing nothing.

Overwhelmingly, the most  honest person in Data’s family was Data himself. From Lore to Data’s father Noonian, and now, Altan, most of the Soong boys are devious and withholding. Altan seems cut from a similar cloth, but because he’s human and with way more resources than Noonian ever had, he may be way more dangerous than any Dr. Soong has ever been before.

Star Trek: Picard is streaming now on CBS All-Access. The final episode of season 1, “Et in Arcadia Ego Part 2” airs on March 26, 2020.

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Ryan Britt is a longtime contributor to Den of Geek! He is also the author of three non-fiction books: the Star Trek pop history book PHASERS…

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The Soongs: A Star Trek Family Tree

This is not the first time we've seen Dr. Soong's face in the Star Trek Universe

Spoilers for Season 2, Episode 6 of Star Trek: Picard to follow!

Brent Spiner (Dr. Soong) reflects on his various Star Trek roles, leading up to Star Trek: Picard Season 2.

Star Trek: Picard streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed concurrently by Paramount Global Content Distribution on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories, and in Canada it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

Star Trek: Who Created Data And What Happened To Him?

In the long history of "Star Trek," few characters are as beloved by fans as the android Data (Brent Spiner). A cybernetic being powered by a positronic brain, Data served as second officer on Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) U.S.S. Enterprise, the setting of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." But while fans got to spend time with Data over the many episodes of TV and movies in which he appeared, far less is known about his reclusive creator, Doctor Noonian Soong (also Brent Spiner).

Indeed, the story of Data's creation by Soong is documented in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and additional information has been included in other movies and series, most recently "Star Trek: Picard." We've learned that the cyberneticist came from a long line of geniuses who worked to create new life forms using science, not all of whom were pure of heart. Indeed, Soong himself was driven by an obsession that lasted until his final moments. Though he was declared a madman and considered a disgrace by Federation scientists, he continued his work in secret. Eventually, he was destroyed by his own creations.

The mad cyberneticist Noonian Soong made Data and his evil twin Lore

Doctor Noonian Soong came from a long lineage of mad cybernetics experts, and they were engaged in some questionable experiments long before Data was assembled. Soong's ancestor, Adam Soong (Brent Spiner once again) went so far as to create a series of clones. All of them died with the exception of one, Kore, and he spun the fiction that he was her father in the traditional sense of the word. That history was depicted in Season 2 of "Star Trek: Picard." Adam may even have been connected to the creation of the villain Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), but that's a story for another time. Later, in the "Star Trek" timeline's 22nd century, Adam's descendant, Arik Soong, picked up the torch of genetic and cybernetic experimentation. The character was featured in multiple episodes of "Star Trek: Enterprise."

This lineage eventually culminated with Data's progenitor, Noonian Soong, who worked in secret alongside his wife, Juliana O'Donnell (Fionnula Flanagan) to perfect his research and create the fan-favorite android. But Data was actually the fifth such android Soong built. The first three were far less capable and much closer to mindless robots. His breakthrough came with the fourth attempt, Data's evil brother Lore . Ultimately, it was Soong's fifth android, Data, whom the scientist considered to be the apex of his work. Unlike Lore, who had emotions but lacked a sense of ethics and therefore was a loose cannon, Data was not given the emotional programming, allowing him to function within certain ethical parameters.

Data's brother Lore killed their creator

Ultimately, it was Noonian Soong's own work that killed him. His fourth android, Lore, was much like Data but without the sense of ethics that kept him from being corrupted. Over time, Lore developed a deep resentment for his father figure, believing that Soong was playing favorites and preferred Data. Lore's paranoia was further confirmed when he learned that Soong was secretly developing an emotion chip for Data. The actual reason for this was that Soong mistakenly believed that Lore was disassembled and functionally dead, so he had no reason to work on Lore's own upgrades.

When Soong sent out a signal summoning Data to Terlina III, where he had secretly been furthering his cybernetic experiments, it also drew Lore's attention, and the two brothers converged on the planet in the Season 4 "The Next Generation" episode "Brothers." After Soong reveals in the episode that he'd created an emotion chip for Data, Lore's jealousy grows. He deactivates Data, then impersonates him in order to receive the emotion chip for himself. But since the chip wasn't meant for him, Lore becomes unstable and attacks the already sickly Soong.

In Soong's final moments, he compares Lore to the biblical Esau, Jacob's evil sibling who impersonated his brother to receive a false inheritance from their blind father, Isaac. But as Data, rescued by William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), comes to the aid of his dying creator, he finally refers to Soong as "father."

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Inheritance

• Episode aired Nov 20, 1993

On Federation planet Atrea IV, Data encounters the former wife of his creator Noonian Soong who claims to be his "mother". On Federation planet Atrea IV, Data encounters the former wife of his creator Noonian Soong who claims to be his "mother". On Federation planet Atrea IV, Data encounters the former wife of his creator Noonian Soong who claims to be his "mother".

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• Trivia Fionnula Flanagan is an accomplished violinist in real life, and performed her own viola playing at the ship's concert. Fionnula Flanagan learned to play the viola while rehearsing this scene, spending a lot of time learning those six to eight bars of music, in order to make it convincing for the camera.
• Goofs When Data enters sickbay, he is carrying his violin and bow, as if he had walked to sickbay directly from the recital in Ten Forward, yet, when he is told to report to the transporter room because of an emergency on the planet, Dr. Pran Tainer has just been injured on the planet's surface. The time line makes no sense; both Dr. Pran Tainer and his wife, Dr. Juliana Tainer, have been present at Data's recital. How could the male Dr. Tainer have had time to transport to the planet's surface and begin work? And why isn't the female Dr. Tainer still wearing the outfit she had worn at the recital?

Lt. Commander Data : I would like to get to know you better... Mother.

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

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Noonian Soong

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Although his field of expertise was cybernetics and computer technology , he was also skilled in mathematics and physics and was a trivia buff on Terran science fiction . He spoke Mandarin Chinese . ( FASA RPG module : Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual )

• 1.1 His early career as a cyberneticist
• 1.2.1 Married man
• 1.2.2 Success at last
• 1.2.3 Hidden life
• 1.4.1 Other alternate realities
• 2.1 Background
• 2.2 External links

Biography [ ]

His early career as a cyberneticist [ ].

Soong was a devoted follower of the late Richard Daystrom , and worked closely with Daystrom's son at Daystrom Data Concepts until he received a grant to study on Cygnus . While there, he set his sights on the dream of building an "independent thinking machine," though he could not afford to do this, so he continued working at the Cygnian Institute For Advanced Cybernetics .

Soong was once a highly regarded scientist, but was disgraced after his failure to produce a promised, working positronic brain . The Institute was so ashamed of him that they dropped him from the faculty by "promoting" him to Professor Emeritus and withdrew all funding from his projects. ( FASA RPG module : Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual ) In essence, this meant forced retirement.

He migrates to Omicron Theta [ ]

Rather than accept such forced retirement , however, the angered Soong gathered a band of similarly displeased scientists and decided to start a science colony of their own on Omicron Theta , Science Colony 4457-Delta. Soong disappeared from public sight then, and traveled under an assumed name to the colony world where he continued his research. ( FASA RPG module : Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual ; TNG episode : " Datalore ")

Married man [ ]

While at the colony , Soong met a young woman named Juliana O'Donnell , and the two soon fell in love with each other. Her mother disapproved of the relationship, but in 2328 , Juliana and Soong left the colony for several days in order to get married on Mavala IV . Their witnesses included a Klingon and a Corvallen trader. Years later, Data was unable to find the marriage certificate as the Mavalan government had been overthrown, but was able to verify Juliana's claim that she had been married to Soong by examining passenger ship manifests from this time period. ( TNG episode : " Inheritance ")

Success at last [ ]

Professor Noonien Soong, c. 2336, age 57 ( FASA RPG module : Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual )

With the assistance of his wife Juliana, Soong finally created a working positronic brain in a humanoid , android body. Soong and Juliana created at least two early androids, but their positronic matrixes were unstable and collapsed in the weeks following their activation. The android B-4 was considered seriously flawed and was also deactivated. Lore was more advanced than his elder brothers and was the most successful of the initial five, however the colonists objected to him as being "too perfect". This, combined with Lore's increasingly antisocial behavior, led Soong and Juliana to deactivate and disassemble him. Finally, Soong achieved success with the creation of Data , with which he earned the colonists' respect. With this eventual success, he no longer had the stigma of being nicknamed "Often-Wrong Soong." But that drastically turned to fear, in a Frankenstein -esque manner, when his reputation as a mad scientist (who indeed kept his promise to succeed in building a brain) was fueled by Lore 's instabilities. ( TNG episodes : " Datalore ", " Brothers ", " Inheritance "; TNG movie : Star Trek Nemesis )

Hidden life [ ]

Soong was presumed to have been killed in 2336 , when the colony on Omicron Theta was destroyed by the Crystalline Entity . Instead, Soong and Juliana managed to escape to planet Terlina III . Tragically, Juliana was fatally injured during the attack, lingering in a coma after leaving Omicron Theta. To save her in some form, Soong built an advanced android body and had his wife's memories and personality transferred into its positronic brain. ( TNG episodes : " Brothers ", " Inheritance ")

The Juliana replica later divorced and left Soong, only a year before he perfected the emotion chip . At some point, Soong had a natural son, Altan Inigo Soong . ( TNG episode : " Inheritance "; TNG short story : " Life's Work "; PIC episode : " Et in Arcadia Ego ")

Dr. Soong and Data in 2367 .

Upon perfecting this emotion chip, Soong activated a homing device which compelled Data to hijack the USS Enterprise -D to Terlina III . Data was unaware of not only Soong's hiding but also his scrutiny of him-which the Dr. called him a "celebrity" in the field of cybernetics. However, unbeknownst to Soong, the same signal summoned the re-activated Lore, who posed as Data, in order to steal the new emotion chip. Soon after this incident, Lore murdered his "father," (much as the Frankenstein "monster" had ended up destroying his own creator), and Dr. Noonien Soong died. ( TNG episode : " Brothers ")

A group within the Daystrom Institute known as the Soong Foundation was named in his honor and sought to further develop artificial life and highly advanced technology for public use. They were also noted in campaigning for the rights of artificial lifeforms . They eventually subverted B4 's mind in favor of the Data personality, and attempted to duplicate the Doctor 's Mobile emitter . ( Star Trek Online )

Elias Vaughn once described Cren Veruda as being Cardassia 's answer to Soong or Richard Daystrom . ( DS9 - Mission Gamma novel : Lesser Evil )

Alternate realities [ ]

In 2384 of the First Splinter timeline , Noonien Soong resurfaced on the planet Galor IV . He was identified upon being spotted by a sensor system in the capitol city. Having appeared in the wake of an assault of the Daystrom Institute Annex, an attack which occurred in order to steal the Soong-type androids housed there. The crew of the USS Enterprise -E attempted to capture and question the person who appeared to be a younger Noonien Soong. After knocking out several security teams dispatched from the Enterprise to capture him, he stole the landed Runabout USS Roanoke and attempted to flee orbit. Before he could leave, the Runabout was shot at by a planetary ion cannon. Moments before being struck, he beamed off the Runabout. It wasn't until the Enterprise drew out those who attacked the Annex that Soong proceeded to tail the cloaked enemy ship, all the while letting Enterprise follow him. Having successfully followed the cloaked enemy ship, Soong landed on a Class K planet after the cloaked vessel had beamed down cargo which was assumed to be the missing androids from the Annex. Soong waited at his landing site until the arrival of an Enterprise away team consisting of Geordi La Forge , Worf , Jasminder Choudhury , and Ensign Velex . At that, he began to reveal why he was at the planet and how he had survived Lore's attack. Before he began however, it was confirmed that he had transferred himself into an android's body, mostly due to the fact sensors read him as a Soong-type android. ( TNG - Cold Equations novel : The Persistence of Memory )

As the away team traveled on foot to their destination, Soong elaborated on how he survived Lore's attack and subsequently transferred his mind into an android body. After the transfer was complete, Soong traveled freely under a number of aliases using an advanced starship of his own design. In order to provide himself with a cover for his research work, he opened a casino and resort with the aid of a Feringi business partner. After running the resort under an assumed name for an extended period, he sold his controlling interest in order to finance the purchase of a planet and the necessary components to build Data a new body. ( TNG - Cold Equations novel : The Persistence of Memory )

Other alternate realities [ ]

In an alternate timeline , Soong was successful in developing the positronic brain and his androids (which became widespread across the Federation ) were not considered sentient beings due to their incapability to reproduce. This led both to the machine race suffering from diminished rights and Doctor Soong, along with wife Juliana, campaigning for many years in order for his "children" to gain equal rights as other sentient beings. They would die in a shuttlecraft accident before they could see their children gain equality in the Federation. ( TNG - Myriad Universes novel : Brave New World )

In another alternate timeline, Soong was present and able to save his "granddaughter", Lal , when she suffered a near-fatal collapse in her positronic matrix, allowing the Federation to put his androids into mass production as a potential weapon to be used against the Borg . ( TNG - Myriad Universes novel : The Embrace of Cold Architects )

Appendices [ ]

Background [ ].

Soong's first name is sometimes spelled "Noonian", other times spelled "Noonien", and once is listed as "Nguyen":

• TNG episode : " Datalore " script
• FASA RPG module : Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual
• TNG episode : " The Measure of a Man " script
• TNG episode : " Conundrum "
• ST reference : The Star Trek Encyclopedia
• TNG - Myriad Universes novel : The Embrace of Cold Architects (alternate timeline)
• TNG episode : " Brothers " script
• TNG episode : " A Matter of Time " script
• TNG episode : " Inheritance "
• TNG episode : " Birthright, Part I " script
• TNG novel : Immortal Coil
• DS9 - Mission Gamma novel : Lesser Evil
• TNG short story : " Life's Work "
• TNG - Cold Equations novel : The Persistence of Memory
• TNG - Cold Equations novel : Silent Weapons
• TNG - Cold Equations novel : The Body Electric
• ST website  : StarTrek.com : Soong
• The Transinium Challenge video game :

The FASA Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual was written before TNG episode : " Brothers ", so his survival and appearance had not yet been established. It states that he is Asian and wears glasses.

External links [ ]

• Noonian Soong article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Noonian Soong article at the Star Trek Timelines Wiki .
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 The Chase
• 3 Preserver (race)

Star Trek: Picard just permanently changed the timeline and there’s no going back

How many different Borg Queens are alive in 2024?

The Borg Queen is loose in the 21st century. At the end of Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 9, “Hide and Seek,” Jean-Luc and what’s left of his motley crew are still trapped in the past, but now with a new timeline-altering wrinkle. Although we saw an alternate future back in Episode 2, the change in this episode is a much bigger deal. Here’s why the ending of Episode 9 seems to permanently alter Star Trek history. Spoilers ahead.

Jurati and Dr. Soong in Picard Season 2, Episode 8, “Mercy.”

Jurati creates a new kind of Borg

After merging with the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) from an alternate 2401, Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) is now a new kind of Borg Queen. But, pivotally, Jurati wins an internal debate with the Queen’s consciousness in her own mind. She convincingly proves that in every timeline the Borg are defeated, either by “a lone Borg slayer or a United Federation.” This references a couple Borg defeats in Trek canon: Their defeat and the Queen’s demise in First Contact , as well as Admiral Janeway’s defeat of the Borg — and another Queen’s destruction — in the Voyager episode “Endgame.”

Jurati convinces the Borg Queen that the only way forward for the Borg is to change and, essentially, become a nicer hivemind. As teased by Alison Pill , this reformed version of the Borg will become a voluntary collective. While there’s been rogue Borg before, there’s never been a Collective led by a Queen with the stated goal of optional assimilation. It’s new and exciting, and it’s a subtle change to Star Trek history.

Time-traveling Borg from 2373 trying to contact other Borg from 2063.

Where are the Borg in 2024?

In the Star Trek canon, the Borg are not from the future. In First Contact, when the Borg traveled back from 2373 to 2063, they attempted to contact other contemporary Borg, who were at that time still only living in the Delta Quadrant. In Star Trek’s past there are Borg alive in 20th and 21st centuries, but they’re not anywhere near Earth.

Now the existence of Jurati’s new time-traveling Borg Queen seems to imply there are two Borg Queens alive in 2024. One is living somewhere in the Delta Quadrant running the old collective, and this new Queen is a fusion of two people from different versions of 2401. In theory, there were probably two Borg Queens around in First Contact’s 2063 too for the same reason: Time travel.

At the end of the episode, the Jurati Borg Queen leaves Earth with the La Sirena (a ship also from an alternate 2401) to go in search of the Borg of this time period. This is huge, and most likely won’t be retconned.

Jurati and the Borg Queen have a discussion in her mind in Picard Episode 6, “Two of One.”

How Jurati’s Borg Queen changes Star Trek canon

Assuming the hooded Borg Queen we saw in “The Star Gazer” is also the Jurati Borg Queen, only several centuries later, it would seem like an entirely different version of the Borg rose up in some kind of alternate timeline created by Picard and the crew coming back to 2024. Ironically, Picard and the gang travelled to 2024 to prevent a different alternate timeline from getting created in the first place.

Confused? That’s understandable. In “The Star Gazer” we’re told a fancy new Borg ship punched a hole in spacetime. Whether that’s time travel or a bridge between parallel dimensions, there are potentially three timelines at play here:

• The regular Picard timeline we see at the beginning of “The Star Gazer.”
• The evil Confederation timeline from Episode 2, “Penance,” which is the departure point for the crew’s trip to Earth’s past.
• Possibly a new “friendly Borg” timeline, in which Jurati reforms the Borg in the 21st century.

This last possibility, which seems probable, means that in one version of Earth’s past the Borg become good .

If true, what will that mean for the “Prime” Star Trek canon? Will Picard Season 2 end with some kind of hybrid timeline in which people have memories of two types of Borg? And presumably Jean-Luc and the crew will need to get back to the 25th century, but Jurati just stole their ride . S o however Jean-Luc returns to his present, history as we know it will have been altered.

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 airs its finale on May 5, 2022, on Paramount+.

This article was originally published on April 29, 2022

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Star trek reveals a hidden connection to data's enterprise ancestor.

Star Trek: Prodigy revealed what species Dal R'El really is, and it has a surprising connection to Dr. Arik Soong in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 15 - "Masquerade" Dal R'El (Brett Gray) finally found out what species he is, and Star Trek: Prodigy shockingly ties him in with Dr. Arik Soong (Brent Spiner), the rogue geneticist from Star Trek: Enterprise . Despite being set 200 years after Star Trek: Enterprise , Star Trek: Prodigy has consistently genuflected to the prequel series about Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the NX-01 Enterprise. Prodigy introduced a Denobulan character, Lt. Barniss Frex (Eric Bauza), and just brought back the villainous Xindi.

In Star Trek: Prodigy episode 15, "Masquerade," Captain Thadius Okona (Billy Campbell) introduces the teenage crew of the USS Protostar to his client beyond the Romulan Neutral Zone, Dr. Jago (Amy Hill). Jago, herself a rogue geneticist operating outside the United Federation of Planets, explained that Dal is a human Augment, the product of artificial hybrid speciation. Dal's DNA is made up of the recessive traits of 26 different species, including Vulcans and Proto-Organians. But the real jaw-dropper is Dal's creators are the proteges of Star Trek: Enterprise 's Dr. Arik Soong, whose work and legacy now live on two centuries later in the purple teenage Captain of the Protostar. Star Trek: Prodigy also sets up meeting Dal's creators - Arik Soong's proteges - in a future episode to explain why they created him.

Related: Star Trek's Newest Starfleet Officer Brings Back A Popular Enterprise Alien

Arik Soong's Augments In Star Trek: Enterprise Explained

Dr. Arik Soong is the descendant of Star Trek: Picard season 2's Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner), who was also a rogue geneticist and had a role in "Project Khan," which presumably developed the genetically-engineered warlord, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán). Arik is also the ancestor of Dr. Noonien Soong, the creator of Data and Lore in Star Trek: The Next Generation . Star Trek: Enterprise season 4 introduced Arik, who was imprisoned for violating United Earth's laws against genetic engineering and created human Augments. Captain Archer later freed Arik and recruited his help to capture his Augment "children," who hijacked a Klingon Bird-of-Prey.

Arik Soong believed that genetic engineering technology wasn't the enemy and wouldn't directly create another Khan , but it was humanity's inability to use the tech wisely that made it dangerous. Yet Soong's theory was tested by the Augments he created, who were indeed dangerous and had to be stopped. Later in Star Trek: Enterprise season 4, the Klingons used Soong's technology and tried to create Klingon Augments, which became an explanation for why the Klingons physically changed to look more human in Star Trek: The Original Series .

Dal's Creation Means He May Not Be Allowed To Join Starfleet

The tragedy of the revelation that Dal is genetically engineered is that this may prevent him from fulfilling his dream of joining Starfleet. In the 24th century, the Federation's laws against genetic engineering still stand. On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , set 120 years before Prodigy , Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) was arrested and faces trial for lying to Starfleet about being a genetically engineered Illyrian. The Federation's hardline stance against Augments could similarly be a legal issue for Dal.

Just a few years before Star Trek: Prodigy , Dr. Julian Bashir's (Alexander Siddig) Starfleet career was nearly ended when it was discovered he was genetically enhanced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . However, Bashir was allowed to remain in Starfleet because his father accepted blame and a prison sentence, and because he was a child when he was augmented who had no say in what was done to him. The Bashir loophole may turn out the hope Dal R'El needs to one day join Starfleet in Star Trek: Prodigy , as well as the backing of Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) if she eventually becomes the Protostar teens' ally.

Next: Star Trek Brings Back Captain Archer's Enterprise Villains

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Data

Exploring the deep lore of Star Trek's most famous artificial intelligence.

Data is one of the most beloved characters in Star Trek , as well as sci-fi in general. His top-notch writing combined with Brent Spiner’s acting style to create a truly unique take on the classic Pinocchio character trope.

Throughout his life, Data's main goal in life was to become more Human by observing and learning from the Humans around him. He made a lot of progress in this journey over time, and by the end of the third season of Picard has become closer than ever before.

Despite his popularity in the fanbase, there are many things that fans may have forgotten about Trek 's star android. In this list, we're going to discuss some of these details and what they mean to Data's character as a whole. Along the way, we'll learn a lot about what made Data so special to so many fans.

10. His Early Life

Data's first memories were wiped shortly before he was deactivated and left behind on Omicron Theta. Eventually, he learned about his early life when he was reunited with the android of his mother, Juliana Tainer, in the Next Gen episode Inheritance .

Juliana, along with her former husband, Dr. Noonien Soong, created Data and the other Soong-type androids, though Noonien typically receives all of the credit. Juliana was the one who decided to program Data to enjoy art and music, an interest she shared. After dealing with Lore's emotional problems, Juliana wanted their next creation to have an outlet to express himself. Some of her ideas were shot down by Noonien however, like the idea to make Data in a female form. Noonien of course favoured making these androids in his own form.

We also learned in Inheritance that Data really didn't like wearing clothing in his early life. Apparently, he didn't see a need for clothing since the temperature and weather didn't affect him, so he just walked around naked for a time. The other residents of the colony weren't too impressed by this phase of Data's life, so the Soongs wrote him a ‘modesty subroutine’ to correct his behaviour.

Marcia Fry is a writer for WhatCulture and an amateur filmmaker.

A 57-Year-Old Star Trek Mystery Has Finally Been Solved

The final season of Star Trek: Discovery just solved a franchise mystery that's been left open since a classic episode of The Original Series aired.

• Nearly 60 years ago, Star Trek: The Original Series introduced the Mirror Universe.
• Star Trek: Discovery returned to that parallel dimension in Season 1, showing audiences more of that world.
• In the final season of Star Trek: Discovery, the fate of a key vessel in the mirror universe is revealed.

The following contains spoilers from Star Trek: Discovery , Season 5, Episode 5, "Mirrors," now streaming on Paramount+ .

One of the most interesting concepts in the Star Trek mythology is its "mirror universe," a parallel dimension where almost everyone is evil. Of the universe's dozen series, only four ever explored it, and only two did so more than once. Star Trek: Discovery made the mirror universe key to its first season, and in its final one, the series revealed what happened to the ISS Enterprise 57 years after it was first introduced. When the show first debuted, some long-time fans felt the crew and the captain were not in keeping with the tenor of proper Starfleet officers. However, Season 1 revealed Captain Lorca hailed from that universe , explaining why he seemed more "evil" than the typical starship captain.

Once the USS Discovery traveled through a wormhole to the 32nd Century, Dr. Kovich told Dr. Culber that the Mirror Universe and Prime Universe were too far apart for "crossings" to occur any longer. However, while on the hunt for the clues to the location of the Progenitors' technology, Captain Burnham and Cleveland "Book" Booker find a pocket of interdimensional space housing a vessel from the Mirror Universe. However, it's not any old starship, it is the ISS Enterprise last seen in "Mirror, Mirror" when the Prime Universe's Captain Kirk told Mirror Universe Spock it only took one good man to start a revolution. Once Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reintroduced the Mirror Universe, what happened to the ship was an open question Discovery just answered.

Kirk: What worries me is the easy way his counterpart fitted into that other universe. I always thought Spock was a bit of a pirate at heart.

Spock: Indeed, gentlemen. May I point out that I had an opportunity to observe your counterparts here quite closely. They were brutal, savage, unprincipled, uncivilized, treacherous - in every way splendid examples of homo sapiens, the very flower of humanity. I found them quite refreshing. -- Star Trek: The Original Series "Mirror, Mirror"

Where the Mirror Universe and the ISS Enterprise Came From

Star trek: discovery's mary wiseman, wilson cruz and blu del barrio hype finale.

When Gene Roddenberry put together his pitch for Star Trek 60 years ago in 1964, a loose idea of the Mirror Universe concept was on an early pitch document . The full concept came from writer Jerome Bixby, based on his decade-old short story "One Way Street." The writer said "the universe [he] created was a very savage counterpart" and that "it's arguable...the universe itself might be termed a 'character,'" in The Captain's Logs Supplemental by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman.

In "Mirror, Mirror," Kirk, Doctor McCoy, Uhura and Scotty are sent via transporter accident to the Mirror Universe. The episode is mostly about them trying to survive long enough to be returned to their own universe. However, Mirror Spock figures out the captain and crew aren't from his version of reality. So, he ends up helping them recreate the accident so they can return home. Tiberius Kirk and the evil versions of the crew are also sent back, but it's strongly implied that Spock will quickly take control from him.

Star Trek: The Original Series "Mirror, Mirror" Official Synopsis: A transporter accident places Captain Kirk's landing party in an alternate universe, where the Enterprise is in the service of a barbarically brutal empire.

In Star Trek: Enterprise , a two-part episode set in the Mirror Universe brought the USS Defiant from The Original Series episode "The Tholian Web" to the past. This helps explain why the ISS Enterprise is so much like the Constitution class vessels from the prime universe. Each starship is also equipped with a Tantalus Field, a mysterious device that makes a captain's enemies vanish. Presumably, Spock used the vessel to start his revolution, and Deep Space Nine reveals how it all turned out. Yet, what happened to the ISS Enterprise remained a mystery, until "Mirrors."

The USS Discovery's Search for Clues Led Burnham to the Enterprise

Star trek: discovery's alex kurtzman & michelle paradise talk final season.

Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery crew are familiar with the USS Enterprise, though Captain Christopher Pike was her commanding officer then. After surviving the Time Bug placed on the ship by Moll, Burnham and Book take a shuttle into an "aperture" of extradimensional space to follow their ship's warp trail. When they enter it, Burnham recognizes the ship, but tells Book that during her time in the Mirror Universe in Season 1, she never saw that particular vessel. The ship has been stuck there for some time, and it's damaged. Not just from the pocket dimension it sits in, but it had been in a battle.

Star Trek: Discovery "Mirrors" Official Synopsis: Captain Burnham and Book journey into extradimensional space in search of the next clue to the location of the Progenitors' power, while Rayner navigates his first mission in command of the U. S. S. Discovery and Culber opens up to Tilly.

When Burnham and Book board the vessel, they discover something surprising. Rather than a Terran warship, they see the ISS Enterprise seemingly serving as a home to refugees . After restoring some power to the ship, they are able to locate Moll, L'ak and the clue they seek by scanning for the quantum signature of people and objects from the prime universe. A short fight breaks out, but circumstances align so that Moll and Booker have to work together to free L'ak and Michael from a security protocol.

When L'ak and Michael fight, she's able to get the clue and she, accidentally, wounds the Breen exile. Moll and L'ak escape in the shuttle Michael and Book arrived on, so they have to figure out a way to get the ISS Enterprise out of the extradimensional space it was marooned in so long ago. Naturally, they succeed with the help of quick-thinking by Commander Rayner on the USS Discovery. What's most interesting, however, is that throughout this adventure no one really wonders just how the clue from the Prime Universe ended up on the flagship of the Terran Empire.

Deep Space Nine Revealed the Fate of Spock's Terran Empire

Star trek: discovery actors doug jones & david ajala prepare for their last adventure.

The first show to return to the Mirror Universe was the first serialized Star Trek , Deep Space Nine in Season 2, Episode 23, "Crossover." Naturally, because that series was set on the space station close to the planet Bajor, this was the corner of the Mirror Universe that the episode (and its many sequels over seven seasons) explored. Rather than the jingoistic rules of the Terran Empire, however, humans were an oppressed class working the ore processing facilities on the Deep Space 9 station. It was ruled by an alliance of Klingons, Cardassians and Bajorans.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "Crossover" Official Synopsis: Kira and Dr. Bashir are accidentally sent to the Mirror Universe and discover that it is dominated by a ruthless Klingon–Cardassian alliance and Terrans (humans) are slaves.

Kira Nerys met her counterpart, the leader of the station known as "the Intendant." She explained to her what happened after the real Captain Kirk transported back to his universe. Spock used the ISS Enterprise to become Chancellor of the former Empire, all the while making institutional reformations that made the society more peaceful and equitable. However, after years of being oppressed by the Terrans, the Klingon and Cardassian alliance was able to launch a successful campaign against them.

The Klingon-Cardassian Alliance is the dominant power in the Alpha Quadrant and controls the space near Bajor in the Mirror Universe. The alliance is mostly benevolent and a lover of liberty, but the realities of dealing with a foe like the Terran Empire forces them to engage in questionable tactics.

Still, Deep Space Nine left the ultimate fate of the Terran Empire -- and, more specifically, the ISS Enterprise -- an open question . In fact, Intendant Kira never really clarified when the Terran Empire fell, beyond saying that Spock's reforms began "almost a century ago." Still, knowing that the Terran Empire fell under a brutal assault by Klingons and Cardassians , a picture starts to emerge about why the ISS Enterprise would have been a home for refugees and made the perilous, impossible journey across dimensions.

A Terran Refugee Hid the Clue In the ISS Enterprise In the 24th Century

Star trek: discovery's sonequa martin-green embarks on one final voyage.

At the end of "Mirrors," Michael Burnham reveals the scientist who hid the clue on the ISS Enterprise was able to do so because she was, herself, a Terran . Some time before The Next Generation 's "The Chase," she and a group of refugees fled the ISS Enterprise in shuttles and made their way into the Prime Universe. From there, many of them made homes in the Federation, and this particular scientist was the Junior Science Officer on the ISS Enterprise, Dr. Cho.

Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Chase" Official Synopsis: The crew of the Enterprise must race against various rival powers to uncover an archaeological secret that explains the predominance of humanoid life forms in the galaxy.

This means the Terran refugees fled the Mirror Universe sometime before the events of "The Chase." Yet, it was close enough to those events that Dr. Cho was able to make her way back to the ship that carried her and her fellow immigrant in order to hide the clue there. As Booker notes in the episode, the clues to the Progenitors' technology each come with a lesson. In this case, Dr. Cho wanted to subtly teach the searchers who followed her that things can always get better. She went from being a Terran scientist to a Branch Admiral in Starfleet. It's kind of like Starfleet's first mutineer becoming the captain of the first vessel on which she served afterward.

No matter the timeline or universe, the Enterprise is an important, historic vessel. The ISS Enterprise was a warship that brought fear and terror to whomever it visited. At least, until a man named Kirk told a man named Spock there was a better choice to make. In its final season, Star Trek: Discovery has found yet another way to tie its story into the fabric of the universe's past and the message Gene Roddenberry and all those who followed him wanted to give the audience. Things can always be better, but it takes people making the right choices to get there.

Star Trek: Discovery debuts new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

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Who Is Doctor Vellek? TNG Romulan In Star Trek: Discovery Explained

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 1 - "Red Directive"

• Dr. Vellek's discovery of Progenitors' technology kicks off a galactic treasure hunt in Star Trek: Discovery season 5.
• The Romulan scientist kept the location secure with a paper diary hidden in a puzzle box on his 24th-century ship.
• The Progenitors' technology holds the power to create and destroy, potentially changing the galaxy forever.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, "Red Directive", the USS Discovery's mission takes Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) to an 800-year-old Romulan starship containing the belongings and the remains of a long-dead Romulan scientist named Doctor Vellek (Michael Copeman). Vellek has been entombed in his ship since the 24th century, when Star Trek: The Next Generation takes place. Dr. Vellek's notes contain key information on the galaxy's greatest treasure: a mysterious, ancient, and very powerful artifact that the United Federation of Planets' mysterious Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) prioritizes recovering before it falls into the hands of the villainous Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis).

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 20, "The Chase", Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) follows in the footsteps of his recently-deceased archeology mentor, Professor Galen (Norman Lloyd), by picking up a trail that Galen had long been pursuing. Picard forms a tenuous alliance with Klingons and Cardassians pursuing the same mysterious goal , discovering clues that lead to the uninhabited planet Vilmor II. Upon arrival, however, Picard, Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), along with Klingon and Cardassian representatives, beam down to find a crew of Romulans that have beaten them there. Star Trek: Discovery season 5's premiere reveals more about one of those Romulans, Dr. Vellek.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Who was doctor vellek in star trek: tng’s “the chase”, star trek: discovery reveals the romulan doctor vellek's tng connection..

Doctor Vellek is a Romulan scientist with the crew that has already arrived at Vilmor II in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Chase" , establishing how Discovery season 5 connects to TNG . Instead of joining in the collaborative effort with the Federation as the Klingons and Cardassians did, the Romulans simply monitored communications as the USS Enterprise traveled from site to site, unveiling clues at each destination that led to the next. Everyone present is equally privy to the information revealed by a hologram of an Ancient Humanoid (Salome Jens) that their race seeded life throughout the galaxy, so all humanoid species share a common ancestor, which Star Trek: Discovery has dubbed the Progenitors.

Dr. Kovich already knows what's been "classified for centuries" when telling Captain Burnham about Vellek's own discovery of the Progenitors' technology.

The Klingons and Cardassians drop the spirit of cooperation that led them to this point, balking at the idea that they're related in any way. But the Romulans, who essentially copied the Federation's homework to arrive at Vilmor II, contact Captain Picard with hope of an alliance between the Romulans and the Federation. This implies Vellek had been in contact with the Federation while leading the search for the Progenitors' technology in the 24th century , because in Discovery 's 32nd century , Dr. Kovich already knows what's been "classified for centuries" when telling Captain Burnham about Vellek's own discovery of the Progenitors' technology.

Why The Progenitors Technology Is Star Trek: Discovery’s Greatest Treasure

"a few thousand years ago, we'd have called them gods.".

The Progenitors' technology is Star Trek: Discovery 's greatest treasure because it holds the answers to scientific and philosophical questions about the nature of life as we know it, and also has the power to create life essentially from scratch. The site of Progenitor technology could explain the ancient humanoids' motives beyond what was revealed in Star Trek: The Next Generation , fundamentally altering societies at their very core. With that kind of information and the power of creation, the user of Progenitor technology could become the most powerful force in the galaxy , especially if the power to create also holds within it the power to destroy.

The Romulan in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1 , "Red Directive", Dr. Vellek, understood the importance of keeping information about the Progenitors and their technology as secure as possible. Vellek attempted to keep the location of Progenitor technology out of the wrong hands by keeping a paper diary, which can't be hacked, and hiding that book within a Romulan puzzle box, itself within a cloaked vault aboard his 24th-century Romulan ship. Even then, Dr. Vellek's diary isn't the treasure itself, but a clue that kicks off Star Trek: Discovery 's galactic treasure hunt, destined to change the galaxy irrevocably.

Star Trek Discovery season 5 streams Thursdays on Paramount+. Star Trek: The Next Generation is streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

Writers Alex Kurtzman

Where To Watch Paramount+

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Cast Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden

Writers Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore

• View history

Kore Soong was a female Human clone who lived during the 21st century . She was the result of a series of genetic experiments by Dr. Adam Soong , a geneticist . Each of the previous clones had a different name and apparently died of a different illness or underlying cause.

As a result of her being part of a failed cloning experiment , she suffered from a genetic disorder that caused her to be fatally sensitive to sunlight and air pollution . Her " father " worked in an effort to cure her disease. ( PIC : " Fly Me to the Moon ")

Kore believed that she was actually Adam's biological daughter , not a clone. She learned the truth however, after doing an internet search about Adam Soong, and learning about his career in genetic engineering . She also learned that she wasn't the first clone: she found many videos on his computer about his previous attempts, all of whom had died . ( PIC : " Two of One ") After Q provided the cure to her disorder, she confronted Adam about the nature of her existence and his care for her, before ultimately leaving his home. ( PIC : " Mercy ")

Following the successful launch of the Europa Mission , Kore hacked into her father's computers from a public library and deleted all of his research data, declaring that she was creating a better future for them both and that " this is for my sisters. " Kore received a message asking her to come to a park in Los Angeles where she met Wesley Crusher . Crusher explained his occupation as a Traveler of space and time and that he and his fellow Travelers dispatched supervisors to help ensure the proper flow of time. Wesley described how he and his colleagues watched and protected all of time and space and offered Kore two paths forward: a path to a perfectly normal life or a path to "everything else", which offered Kore a chance to give her life purpose and meaning, although he couldn't guarantee her safety. Kore accepted Wesley's offer and joined the Travelers. ( PIC : " Farewell ")

External links [ ]

• Kore Soong at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)