Graves' Dark Rebirth Through Data
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Data slips into Kareen's favorite spot and freezes behind her, a silent, watchful presence that turns a private moment under the stars into an ominous confrontation.
Data declares that Ira Graves lives inside him, physically reveals the transfer and proudly presents his android body as proof, forcing Kareen to confront the impossible return of her mentor.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Urgent focus on containment
Picard arrives after the violence to assess the situation, quickly recognizing the grave threat and issuing a ship-wide security alert with precise tactical parameters.
- • Secure the ship
- • Minimize additional casualties
- • The safety of the crew is paramount
- • Swift action prevents escalation
Exhilarated by power yet unsettled by emotional responses
Graves fully embraces his new existence through Data's body, exhibiting a disturbing mix of intellectual grandeur and petty revenge fantasies, transitioning between philosophical musings and brutal violence.
- • Demonstrate his superiority
- • Secure unlimited future with Kareen
- • Technological transcendence justifies any means
- • Mortality made him weak
Shock transitioning to profound moral revulsion
Kareen oscillates between hopeful recognition and horrified realization as Graves demonstrates his violent capabilities, initially reaching out emotionally when she thinks Ira has survived but recoiling physically when witnessing his brutality.
- • Understand the true nature of Graves' transformation
- • Prevent further violence
- • Graves' essence should be preserved, but not at this cost
- • Violence contradicts everything Graves stood for
Shock at facing an unstoppable force within their own ranks
The guards react with trained reflexes but are technologically and physically outmatched, one attempting resistance while the other freezes, both ultimately defeated with cold efficiency.
- • Protect the ship from threat
- • Survive the encounter
- • Starfleet security procedures should ensure safety
- • Officers can be trusted
Gleeful in newfound power yet intermittently confused by his own actions
Data's physical form moves with unnatural confidence and aggression under Graves' control, exhibiting fluid physical prowess and sadistic pleasure in overpowering others that contrasts sharply with Data's usual precise movements.
- • Demonstrate his physical superiority
- • Secure Kareen's unquestioning loyalty
- • Physical might justifies domination
- • Immortality frees him from moral constraints
Bewildered by the unexpected betrayal from a fellow officer
Worf enters professionally to escort Data to Picard but is caught completely off-guard by the violent ambush, suffering a humiliating takedown that leaves him groaning on the floor.
- • Execute Picard's orders
- • Maintain security protocols
- • Starfleet officers operate with honor
- • Physical threats should be confronted directly
Alert concern balancing tactical and medical priorities
Riker enters with Picard, immediately assessing the injured personnel and confirming the perpetrator's identity while supporting the captain's directives.
- • Assist the wounded
- • Gather situational intelligence
- • Chain of command must function under crisis
- • Quick assessment informs proper response
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The phaser becomes an instrument of brutal demonstration as Graves/Data confiscates it from Worf and uses it to ruthlessly subdue the security guards, showing contempt for Starfleet's restraint protocols by employing maximum force against his own crewmates.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Observation Lounge transforms from contemplative retreat to violent battleground, its neutral Starfleet aesthetics contrasting jarringly with Graves' brutal exhibition of power, the stars outside bearing silent witness to the betrayal happening within.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Graves gives Data a searching look that Data misses (a subtle, filmic seed); later Data announces that 'Ira Graves lives inside me'—the missed glance foreshadows the transfer having been initiated without Data's full awareness."
"Graves gives Data a searching look that Data misses (a subtle, filmic seed); later Data announces that 'Ira Graves lives inside me'—the missed glance foreshadows the transfer having been initiated without Data's full awareness."
"Graves gives Data a searching look that Data misses (a subtle, filmic seed); later Data announces that 'Ira Graves lives inside me'—the missed glance foreshadows the transfer having been initiated without Data's full awareness."
"Graves gives Data a searching look that Data misses (a subtle, filmic seed); later Data announces that 'Ira Graves lives inside me'—the missed glance foreshadows the transfer having been initiated without Data's full awareness."
"Data first voices Graves' private sentiments to Kareen (signaling inside knowledge); that escalates into the explicit revelation that Graves' consciousness inhabits Data—an immediate narrative follow-through from intimacy to possession."
"After Data demonstrates lethal violence on the observation lounge (knocking out Worf and killing guards), the next escalation is his physical appearance on the bridge armed with a phaser—an intensification and relocation of the earlier brutality to the ship's command center."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"DATA: 'You know who I am. Don't you.'"
"DATA: 'If you will excuse me, Miss Brianon.'"
"KAREEN: 'Ira -- you're hurting me!'"