8 most heartbreaking moments in Star Trek: The Next Generation (that still get us decades later)

Star Trek: The Next Generation is a masterclass in what it means to be human: messy feelings, complicated friendships, and that weird sense of duty that keeps you up at night. The show wrapped up in ’94, but some of those scenes still hit like a ton of bricks. Here’s a rundown of eight TNG moments that still haunt fans, even after all these years. You might need to grab some tissues to watch them.

8 most heartbreaking moments in Star Trek: The Next Generation

1. Tasha Yar's Demise in Season 1, Episode 23: Skin of Evil

Tasha Yar, the very definition of a fearless chief of security for the enterprise, meets her end so suddenly and so tragically. She is killed by a strange alien being called Armus. The death occurs so quickly and without warning that it leaves the crew and the audience in shock.

Even more emotional is her funeral. Captain Picard plays a message Tasha recorded before her death. In it, she speaks kindly about her friends and crewmates. The fans say that her words and her early departure from the show make this one of the saddest moments in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

2. Picard becomes Locutus of Borg in Season 3, Episode 26 & Season 4, Episode 1: The best of both worlds

In one of the most consequential two-part episodes in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard is captured by the Borg. The Borg are terrifying creatures who turn people into half-machine beings. They take Picard and turn him into one of them. He becomes “Locutus,” their voice to speak with humans.

This moment in Star Trek: The Next Generation is heartbreaking because Picard is not just any captain; he is a wise and strong leader. Seeing him stripped of his identity and forced to help the Borg attack Earth is painful for the crew and the viewers. When the crew finally saves him, he is no longer the same and carries the scars of that time forever.

3. The tragic loss of K'Ehleyr for Worf in Season 4, Episode 7: Reunion

Worf losing K'Ehleyr hits differently in Star Trek: The Next Generation. She wasn’t just some random love interest; K’Ehleyr had brains, guts, and this wild chemistry with Worf that you just can’t fake. Plus, they had Alexander, which complicates everything even more. So, when Duras murders her in Star Trek: The Next Generation, it’s brutal.

Worf finds her bleeding out, and Duras is already gone. There’s this moment in Star Trek: The Next Generation, where Worf just holds her as she’s dying, and for a guy who’s usually all stoic and Klingon-tough, you see him break down.

4. Picard lives a lifetime in minutes in Season 5, Episode 25: The inner light

In this episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard is affected by a peculiar probe. Instead of causing him harm, however, it allows him to experience an entire life in the body of another man. In his mind, he has lived as Kamin, a man on a dying planet. He marries, has children, eventually ages and dies.

While only moments have passed aboard the Enterprise, for Picard it was a lifetime; and he remembers the people he loved and lost, including his children, and his wife, who died too harshly. Holding that flute from that life, Picard has so much emotion.

5. Data’s failed attempt to feel love in Season 4, Episode 21: In theory

Data is an android who wants to understand human emotions in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In this episode, he enters a romantic relationship with a crewmate named Jenna. He tries hard to do everything right, using logic and programming, but he is unable to experience feelings. In the end, Jenna breaks up with him.

She tells him that something important is missing, something human. Data calmly accepts her decision, but when he is alone, he deletes the romantic program. The viewers agree that the sadness lies in the fact that he doesn’t even know how to feel heartbreak, but they feel it for him.

6. The death of Picard’s brother and nephew in Season 4, Episode 2: Family

After being turned into Locutus by the Borg, Picard returns to Earth to heal. He spends time with his brother Robert and nephew René. At first, Picard and Robert clash, but slowly they reconnect. The episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation ends on a warm note with hope for the future.

But years later, in the film Star Trek: Generations, the audience learn that Robert and René have died in a fire. Picard is crushed. He realizes that his family line may now end with him. For someone who always seemed so strong and in control, this moment shows a deeply personal side of his pain.

7. The death of Lt. Marla Aster in Season 3, Episode 5: The bonding

Another unanticipated death occurs following an away mission where Lt. Marla Aster dies, leaving her son, Jeremy, adrift. Worf felt the death extremely hard and attempted to connect with Jeremy through the Klingon custom. This episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation explored emotions of grief and loss, making viewers feel what Worf felt.

It was tough to witness Jeremy in so much pain. The child had just lost his mother. Still, the crew was there for him, and it is always nice to see them as a close-knit group. Some of the episodes in Star Trek: The Next Generation remind fans how dangerous a field it is and losing one is a real part of it.

8. Data’s Letter to his daughter in Season 3, Episode 16: The offspring

In a touching episode in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data builds a daughter named Lal. She is an android, like him, but she falls in love, which Data cannot. Lal is confused about herself and just wants to be seen as a person. But soon, Lal starts to malfunction.

Her systems are shutting down, and Data can’t stop it. She professes her love for Data before she dies. Data can’t show emotion, but he tries to console her and remains by her side until her death.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation showed us epic, bold and daring adventures, as well as emotions and heartbreak that knew no bounds. Whether it was the loss of a friend, having someone you love die, or a fear of their darkness, the show wasn’t afraid of showing the human side of space travel. These eight moments still bring the tears back for fans today, proving that even in the future, there will always still be love, loss and everything in between.