Karnas Confronts the True, De-Aging Admiral Jameson
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Karnas denounces the boy Jameson as a charade and demands the 'old man' to confront the devastation the admiral caused, rejecting Picard's explanation of Jameson's de-aging.
Jameson reveals intimate details of the original secret weapons deal and displays a distinctive V-shaped scar to prove his identity, finally convincing Karnas of the truth despite his rage.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Resolute and vigilant
Tasha Yar provides critical tactical covering fire during hostile engagements in the tunnels, protecting Picard and the away team, contributing to the safe extraction of Jameson prior to this confrontation.
- • Protect command personnel from hostile fire
- • Suppress enemy advances
- • Ensure safe retreat of team
- • Maintain tactical advantage
- • Force must be controlled and precise
- • Team safety is paramount
- • Duty requires courage under fire
- • Tactical discipline preserves lives
Calm yet deeply concerned; balancing duty with empathy
Captain Picard mediates between Karnas and Jameson, advocating for understanding and managing the hostage crisis. He delivers factual medical explanations, attempts to negotiate release of hostages, and supports Jameson's desperate bid to surrender. Picard embodies calm authority amid escalating tension and moral ambiguity.
- • Negotiate safe release of hostages
- • Protect Jameson's life where possible
- • Reveal truth about Jameson's condition to Karnas
- • Maintain Starfleet protocol and mission integrity
- • Truth and transparency are essential for negotiation
- • Preserving life is paramount
- • Hostage safety overrides political pride
- • Jameson's sacrifice is both tragic and necessary
Clinically detached yet loyal
Data provides analytical support, reinforcing the logical framework for understanding Jameson's condition and assisting Picard's negotiations. While physically absent in this segment, his prior tactical assessments underpin the team's strategy.
- • Support command decision-making with data
- • Provide medical and tactical analysis
- • Enhance situational awareness
- • Preserve mission integrity
- • Data-driven decisions improve outcomes
- • Emotional factors should be balanced with logic
- • Mission success depends on collaborative teamwork
- • Scientific truth is paramount
Focused and dutiful
Worf provides protective cover for Jameson during the firefight, physically shielding him and facilitating the team's tactical retreat from hostile forces in the tunnels, setting the stage for the subsequent confrontation with Karnas.
- • Safeguard Jameson from harm
- • Maintain security perimeter
- • Support tactical withdrawal
- • Ensure mission continuity
- • Physical protection is vital in combat
- • Loyalty to command guides action
- • Discipline ensures mission success
- • Courage underpins security operations
Alert and cautiously optimistic, tempered by realism
Commander Riker relays Karnas’s escalating threats, voices concerns about Jameson's condition, and supports Picard’s negotiating strategy. He acts as a pragmatic intermediary balancing caution with Starfleet mission objectives.
- • Ensure safety of hostages
- • Support command decisions effectively
- • Communicate timely intelligence to bridge
- • Mitigate risks from Jameson's condition
- • Jameson's physical state jeopardizes mission success
- • Negotiation is preferable to violence
- • Timely communication is critical
- • Loyalty to Starfleet mission guides actions
Worried and pragmatic; burdened by medical limitations
Dr. Beverly Crusher provides crucial medical insight into Jameson's deteriorating condition, administers palliative care via hypospray, and urges Anne’s presence for emotional support. She conveys the grim prognosis to Picard and Karnas, embodying professional compassion amid an intractable medical crisis.
- • Alleviate Jameson's suffering
- • Provide accurate medical assessment to command
- • Support Anne emotionally
- • Advocate for medical intervention within limits
- • The rejuvenation drug is fatal and irreversible
- • Medical science can only provide limited relief
- • Emotional support is vital in terminal care
- • Transparency with command aids decision-making
Compassionate and concerned, attuned to emotional undercurrents
Counselor Troi provides empathetic support to Anne Jameson and relays medical communications between Sickbay and the bridge, underscoring the emotional stakes and psychological complexity of the event.
- • Comfort Anne Jameson during crisis
- • Facilitate communication between medical and command staff
- • Monitor emotional well-being of key individuals
- • Support team cohesion under stress
- • Emotional resilience is crucial in crisis
- • Effective communication eases tension
- • Empathy bridges personal and professional divides
- • Psychological insight aids mission success
Calm and methodical
Geordi La Forge remains focused on providing critical tactical scanning of the Mordan IV tunnels, supporting the away team's safety and informing command decisions, although not physically present in Karnas’s office during this confrontation.
- • Ensure safety of away team through technological support
- • Monitor hostile environment conditions
- • Provide real-time intelligence
- • Support Starfleet operational readiness
- • Technology is essential for mission success
- • Situational awareness prevents casualties
- • Team coordination relies on accurate data
- • Preparedness mitigates risk
Pain-wracked yet resolute; imbued with remorse and acceptance of his fate
Jameson appears physically transformed into a youth but retains the voice and memories of the admiral. Despite agonizing convulsions and debilitating pain from the rejuvenation drug, he bravely reveals intimate proofs of identity and offers himself as ransom to save hostages. His tragic decline culminates in his death, cradled by Anne.
- • Prove authentic identity to Karnas
- • Save hostages by surrendering himself
- • Atone for past mistakes through sacrifice
- • Maintain dignity despite physical collapse
- • His physical transformation obscures but does not erase his identity
- • Sacrifice is necessary to save innocent lives
- • Atonement requires personal suffering
- • His past decisions had grave consequences he must face
Righteously indignant masking a conflicted pity; oscillates between vengeance and reluctant acceptance
Karnas confronts the youthful Jameson with fierce anger and disbelief, demanding proof of identity and expressing deep-seated vengeance for decades of war. He wavers between rage and reluctant pity, ultimately lowering his weapon and choosing to condemn Jameson to live in suffering rather than death. He asserts control over the hostage situation by leveraging Jameson's condition and past actions.
- • Confirm the true identity of the boy claiming to be Jameson
- • Extract retribution for the devastation caused by Jameson's actions
- • Secure the release of the hostages
- • Uphold his personal and political honor through justice
- • Jameson is responsible for prolonged war and devastation on Mordan
- • Revenge and punishment are justified for past betrayals
- • Seeing the ‘old man’ is necessary to fully grasp the cost of war
- • Mercy is a form of punishment in itself
Anguished but steadfast; channeling deep love amid impending loss
Anne Jameson supports her husband tenderly during his physical agony and rapid decline. She provides emotional comfort, cradling him in his final moments and expressing intimate affection despite the tragic circumstances, embodying unwavering love and sorrow.
- • Provide emotional solace to Jameson
- • Remain present and supportive through his final moments
- • Honor her husband's dignity despite his tragic state
- • Carry the emotional weight of their shared history
- • Love persists beyond physical decline
- • Her presence can offer comfort even in death
- • Jameson remains the man she knew despite his form
- • Their shared past grounds her in this crisis
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Dr. Crusher uses the medical hypospray to administer palliative care to Jameson during agonizing convulsions, symbolizing limited medical intervention amidst inevitable decline.
The medical P.A.D.D. displays detailed visual records of Jameson's rapid de-aging, used by Picard and Crusher to convince Karnas of the tragic reality behind Jameson's condition, facilitating reluctant acceptance.
Jameson wears the distinctive Starfleet admiral uniform, now ill-fitting on his de-aged frame, symbolizing the tragic incongruity of his rank and physical state, visually underscoring themes of faded power and lost identity.
Jameson reveals his distinctive V-shaped wrist scar as irrefutable proof of identity to Karnas, a key narrative moment that dissolves Karnas's disbelief and cements Jameson's claim, connecting personal history to political consequences.
Karnas raises a phaser weapon from his desk in a moment of vengeful anger, aiming it at Jameson’s heart but ultimately lowering it, symbolizing the tension between vengeance and mercy that defines this event.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Karnas's Office on Mordan IV serves as the intense crucible for the final confrontation between Karnas, Jameson, and Picard. The space is charged with decades of political strife, personal vendettas, and the tragic physical decline of Jameson. The office’s austere military atmosphere, punctuated by aged veterans and symbolic weapons, heightens the gravity and moral complexity of the encounter.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"The away team's arrival in the tunnel and Jameson's confident reliance on outdated knowledge directly leads to triggering the infrared alarm and subsequent firefight."
"The away team's arrival in the tunnel and Jameson's confident reliance on outdated knowledge directly leads to triggering the infrared alarm and subsequent firefight."
"The away team's arrival in the tunnel and Jameson's confident reliance on outdated knowledge directly leads to triggering the infrared alarm and subsequent firefight."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Anne’s emotional pain resonates through to Jameson's final moments, highlighting the tragic gulf between regained youth and inevitable loss."
"Anne’s emotional pain resonates through to Jameson's final moments, highlighting the tragic gulf between regained youth and inevitable loss."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"The firefight triggered by the away team's intrusion leads to Jameson's collapse from violent physical attacks linked to his unstable rejuvenation condition, forcing an emergency beam-out."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Jameson's agonizing final moments and tender exchange with Anne echo the emotional cost of his quest for redemption and the tragic gulf between regained youth and lost time."
"Doctor Crusher's revelation of Jameson's deteriorating condition precipitates the urgent ultimatum from Karnas, escalating the hostage crisis to a critical breaking point."
"Doctor Crusher's revelation of Jameson's deteriorating condition precipitates the urgent ultimatum from Karnas, escalating the hostage crisis to a critical breaking point."
"Doctor Crusher's revelation of Jameson's deteriorating condition precipitates the urgent ultimatum from Karnas, escalating the hostage crisis to a critical breaking point."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Following the resolution on Mordan IV, Picard's reflective log on the futility of chasing youth closes the story, connecting thematic closure with the mission's end."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
"Karnas's decision to let Jameson live in agonizing decline rather than kill him directly parallels themes of revenge, suffering, and the moral complexity of vengeance."
Key Dialogue
"KARNAS: "I want that old man, Picard. I want to show him this world he helped to make... the scars on old soldiers' bodies... the graveyards of our young dead... and all of it caused by him.""
"JAMESON (BOY): "Peretor Karnas... there were only two of us in the meeting. You told me old Peretor Sain had ordered your father's assassination. You told me you wanted arms to destroy him. Peace wasn't on your mind. You just wanted revenge. And I gave you the weapons to do it.""
"KARNAS: "If you are him, show me the scar." JAMESON (rolls up sleeve): "There. The blood cut you gave me to seal our bargain." KARNAS (after a long beat): "It is you. Somehow... it is you.""
"KARNAS: "Then die by one of your own weapons!" (lowers weapon) "No. My revenge is in letting you live like this.""
"ANNE: "Mark... can you hear me?" JAMESON (BOY): "Yes." ANNE: "I'll always love you." JAMESON (BOY): "Annie with the golden hair...""