Donald Varley

protective decisive desperate resolute

Donald Varley commands the USS Yamato and transmits a desperate plea for aid after discovering the ruins of Iconia and hiding recovered Iconian technology from Romulan seizure. He reports simultaneous, shipwide system failures and the loss of his engineering team while urgently begging the Enterprise for assistance. His final visual transmission is cut short as the Yamato detonates, converting his appeal for rescue into a geopolitical crisis and narrative catalyst for securing Iconian tech.

8 appearances

Starfleet Operations

Also known as: Captain Varley, Captain Donald Varley, Varley

Donald Varley's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

8 moments

S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Picard Logs the Yamato Crisis — From Assessment to Action

Desperation and fear (as reported); urgency in appeal for aid that pressures Picard to act.

Present only as the subject of Picard's log and Varley's transmitted plea; his desperation motivates Picard's actions though he is not physically on screen.

View full event

S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Captain's Log — Impulse Rendezvous

Distressed and urgent — implicitly fighting for his crew's survival and seeking assistance before catastrophe or exploitation occurs.

Referenced via Picard's log as the suffering captain of the USS Yamato; his desperate plea serves as the inciting catalyst that drives Picard from the quiet of his Ready Room …

View full event

S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Rendezvous Deadlines and a Ship That Falls Apart

Panic laced with shame—he's trying to defend his risky choice while pleading for help, masking helplessness with brittle humor and rationalization.

Varley appears on the viewer frantic and pressured: he reports multi‑system failures, the death of an engineering team, and reveals that he found Iconia; his transmission fractures as he tries …

View full event

S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Varley's Last Transmission — Yamato Explodes, Iconia Revealed

Terrified and pressured: trying to perform leadership and protect information while facing uncontrollable shipboard catastrophe.

Varley appears on the visual, attempting to maintain control while reporting systemic failures and confessing he found Iconia; his transmission fragments under strain, and he is violently silenced as the …

View full event

S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

The Yamato Explodes — Romulan Cruiser Appears

Frightened and desperate — attempting to maintain command and seek aid while under catastrophic pressure.

Appears on the viewer from the Yamato, reporting widespread system failures and the loss of an engineering team; his transmission degrades and is cut off as his image is consumed …

View full event

S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Varley's Last Log — Iconia Identified

Shifts from elation and academic excitement to frustration, worry, and grim urgency as operational problems mount and the geopolitical stakes become clear.

Appears only as recorded footage: Varley carefully turns a corroded alien device, narrates his archaeological link to Denius Three, explains the starfield-decoding process, acknowledges being pursued by a Romulan cruiser, …

View full event

S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Varley's Final Log — Iconia Identified, Yamato's Systems Fail

A mixture of elation (at the discovery) and growing anxiety/frustration as systems fail and the Romulan threat looms; an urgency to secure help.

Appears only as recorded footage: handling a corroded device, narrating provenance and technical bafflement, explaining the decision to violate the Neutral Zone, describing a Romulan tail, and reporting shipwide system …

View full event

S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Orbit Above a Dead World — Probe Launched

Absent/deceased — his previously expressed conviction now haunts and compels the crew to act.

Not physically present but referenced by Picard; his prior actions and final belief that the ruins are Iconia provide narrative motive and emotional weight that inform Picard's and the crew's …

View full event