Descent , Part II ( episode ) Picard tries to free Data from Lore ' s control ; the " Enterprise " battles the Borg ship . ( " Season premiere " ) Summary . Teaser . After Lore reveals himself to Jean - Luc Picard , Deanna Troi , and Geordi La Forge , the three are confronted by the fact that Data and Lore are now working together . Lore and Data tell Picard that the end of biological life is at hand and the age of completely artificial lifeform s has begun . Lore had apparently found the Borg struggling with the sense of individuality that Hugh had contracted to the Collective . He sees himself and Data as something for the Borg to aspire to and believe in . He has Data take them away . Act One . Dr . Beverly Crusher , now in command of the with only a skeleton crew , faces the Borg ship that attacked the outpost on Ohniaka III and is closing in on their location . Crusher orders the ship to red alert and tries to speed the recovery of the away team s on the planet . The new tactical officer , Taitt , shows obvious inexperience , having been posted there only six weeks prior . When the Borg ship is in firing range , Crusher waits for the last minute to raise shields . After the Borg fire on the " Enterprise " , Crusher returns fire with a pair of photon torpedo es , which do nothing . The ship however , rescues all but 47 of the crew from the surface before escaping the Borg attack . On the surface , Commander Riker and Worf head off to search for the captain ' s team , which is being led to a holding cell by Data and a Borg . Another team led by Lieutenant Powell will take cover and avoid contact with the Borg . Riker thinks they only have a few days until another Federation ship can arrive . Picard ' s team discusses with Data his newfound emotions , and Data responds by telling them how his journey towards being Human was " misguided " and that he now sees the true way that things should be . He appears to be certain of what he ' s doing , but the others are certain he ' s being controlled . Data takes their combadge s and La Forge ' s VISOR before leaving . As he activates the force field around their cell , he states coldly , " " I am not your puppet any more . " " Act Two . Lieutenant Barnaby relieves Taitt at tactical , but Crusher sends her to the bridge ' s aft science station to keep her on the bridge . She orders a buoy readied with their log entries and releases it into the transwarp corridor to transmit them to Starfleet . Meanwhile , Crusher and company ready a plan to drop out of warp in orbit of the planet and rescue the remaining crewmembers . They will need every second they can get . On the planet , Data brings La Forge ' s VISOR to Lore , who then puts it on and jokingly asks , " " How do I look ? " " Data , not understanding , is confused . Lore remarks that Data will have to work on his sense of humor . Lore intends to experiment on La Forge ' s implants , saying it ' s needed to prevent further Borg death s in the experimentation he has apparently been doing on them , unsuccessfully . They are interrupted by Crosis , who brings a disobedient Borg named Goval to Lore because he was not letting Crosis hear his thoughts . Lore convinces him to comply . La Forge , in the meantime , has been conspiring with Picard and Troi to find a way around the carrier wave that Lore is using to broadcast his emotions to Data . His ethical subroutine s could be rebooted using a kedion pulse , it seems , but in the middle of the conversation , Data enters and takes La Forge away for experimentation without even stopping to talk . Riker and Worf are following the trail of the captain when they are cornered by some Borg , who take them into a cave . Surprisingly , they find Hugh , who is quite angry in seeing them . Act Three . Hugh , apparently leader of an underground group of Borg , does not like the return of the crew of the " Enterprise " , whom he blames for the current state of the rogue Borg . He explains the effect his individuality had on the Collective , that all the Borg ' s voices became increasingly discordant , leading to dysfunction . They would listen to any voice to end the resulting confusion , and then they encountered Lore , who promised clarity and purpose to the Borg that were not connected to the Collective anymore . He shows Riker and Worf the results of the experiments that Lore is attempting on the Borg , to the end of becoming a superior race : two individuals in an obviously bad state . However , he agrees to show Riker and Worf a way into the compound to save his friend , La Forge . La Forge , meanwhile , is strapped to a table to undergo an experiment . Data comes in with Picard ' s voice in an attempt at humor , unsuccessfully . Data explains the procedure of replacing control of his cognitive abilities with an artificial neural network , which has a 60 % mortality rate . La Forge explains Lore is manipulating him , but he ignores him . In the cell , Troi , standing over the body of Picard , calls a Borg over to help her . When the Borg leans over to check out Picard , the Captain pulls out a cable on the Borg ' s neck . Picard then steals the interlink transceiver while Troi takes the weapon from the Borg ' s arm to check the hall . There , she finds Data escorting La Forge back to the cell . Data takes the weapon and leaves with the Borg , unaware of the lost transceiver . Picard then begins to modify it to help activate Data ' s ethical subroutines , with La Forge ' s guidance . The " Enterprise " drops out of warp and transporter chief Salazar transports the last of the crew off of the surface , but informs the bridge that six people ( Picard , Riker , Troi , Worf , La Forge , and an officer who had been killed by the Borg ) still remain . Just as the Borg ship returns for another fight , Crusher orders shields up , but the " Enterprise " takes a hit which disables their warp drive . Retaliating with phaser s , the Borg ship fires again which takes a toll on the shields . Crusher then orders the " Enterprise " into the nearby sun ' s corona , much to Taitt ' s disbelief . Act Four . Approaching the star , Crusher orders Barnaby to activate the metaphasic shield ing , but he reminds her that the shield is still in an experimental stage . Once activated , it works ; it lowers the radiation level and temperature of the hull while getting the Borg ship off their tail . The Borg take a position , letting them know that they will wait until they come out of the sun . Crusher wonders how long they can stay in the sun ' s corona . Picard has finished modifications on the interlink transceiver , and places it near the force field , activating the pulse that will reset Data ' s subroutines . Meanwhile , Data is ready to irradiate La Forge ' s brain s and begin construction of a positronic net to take the place of his biological brain . However , the pulse works , and at La Forge ' s coaxing , Data thinks of a false excuse to not destroy La Forge ' s brain yet . Outside , Lore and Data are chatting regarding La Forge . Data then projects accountability towards his comrades , stating that if they die , he is responsible . Lore wonders if something is wrong with Data ' s systems , then begins to induce pain within Data . Under duress , Data asks for more emotions , which Lore gives . As soon as he leaves , Crosis emerges and Lore wonders if Data has the strength to help Lore in his plan . Act Five . Faced with only a few minutes of metaphasic shielding left , Taitt , having done her senior honors thesis on solar dynamics at the Academy , thinks up a plan to create a solar eruption to destroy the Borg ship . Barnaby objects , reminding Taitt that this is not the Academy , and that comparing the two is a long way from actually trying it . Taitt assures him that she ' s got a targeting sequence lined up . Barnaby tells her if her calculations are even slightly off , the eruption could obliterate the " Enterprise " as well . Taitt bluntly reassures him , echoing his own retort from earlier . After firing phasers and using the tractor beam , the Borg ship is destroyed , to the surprise and delight of Barnaby . Taitt just gives him a sly grin . With the Borg ship destroyed , the " Enterprise " is free to orbit the planet again . Back on the planet , Data returns with La Forge and then takes Picard , who begins to confuse Data by activating portions of his ethical subroutines . Lore interrupts them , and , as part of a ceremony , orders Data to kill Picard . The ethical subroutine has been activated , and Data tells Lore that that would be wrong . Beneath the surface , Riker and Worf use the environmental conduits to get to the central room , and then attack at a key point in the events when Lore was about to kill Data . Hugh tackles Lore , preventing him from killing Data . The Borg fight back and amongst themselves . In the chaos that ensues , Lore escapes from the room , and Data follows . As Lore tries to coerce Data into leaving the planet with him , Data shoots and proceeds to deactivate his brother once and for all . Lore ' s last words before his deactivation are , " " I love you , brother . " " Picard , Riker , and Worf thank Hugh and welcome Data back to normal functioning . Picard hints that even though Hugh is unsure of their future , perhaps these Borg have a good individual leader for the future . Back on the ship , La Forge enters Data ' s quarters and walks over to his desk , where Spot is lying . La Forge tells Data that he will return to duty soon . Data is relieved at this , and shows La Forge the damaged and inoperative emotion chip that was retrieved from Lore ' s body . He is about to destroy it with a phaser , because his friendship with La Forge is more important to him than emotions , and emotions are what caused him to harm and nearly kill his friend . La Forge stops him and says that perhaps someday they will be able to use the emotion chip . After all , it is Data ' s lifelong dream to have emotions , and , as La Forge concludes , " " I wouldn ' t be very much of a friend if I let you give up on a life - long dream now , would I ? Maybe some day , when you ' re ready . " " Memorable quotes . " " They had lost their sense of purpose . Well , I gave them their purpose . . . and they gave me mine . " " " " The reign of biological life - forms is coming to an end . You , Picard , and those like you , are obsolete ! " " " " Give me your VISOR . " " " " Why ? " " " " Give it to me . . . or I " will " take it by force ! " " " " I now realize that my life aboard the " Enterprise " was a waste . My quest to become Human , misguided . An evolutionary step in the wrong direction . . . I am not your puppet anymore ! " " " " What ' s your name ? " " " " Taitt , sir . " " " " I don ' t think I ' ve seen you before . " " " " I was just posted here six weeks ago . " " " " Well , Taitt , I bet you never thought you ' d be serving as Tactical Officer after only six weeks . " " " " No , sir , I sure didn ' t ! " " " " Establish a frequency shift firing pattern and return fire ! " " " " Uh . . . right ! " " " " If your calculations are even slightly off , we ' d hit the atmosphere . " " " " I ' ll just have to be sure my calculations are accurate , " ensign . " " " " If her calculations are off that eruption could encompass us ! " " " " Well I ' ll just have to make sure my calculations are accurate , Lieutenant ! " " " " Yes please , I want more ! " " " " Lore . I must deactivate you now . " " " " Without me , you will never feel emotions again . " " " " I know . But you leave me no other choice . " " " " I . . . love you . . . brother . " " " " Goodbye , Lore . " " " " We can ' t go back to the Borg Collective . . . and we no longer have a leader here . " " " " I ' m not sure that ' s true . " " " " Data , I wouldn ' t be very much of a friend if I let you give up on a lifelong dream , now would I ? Maybe . . . someday , when you ' re ready . " " Links and references . References . Borg ; Borg Collective ; Borg ship ; carrier wave ; Celsius ; Delta Quadrant ; Devala Lake ; dizziness ; " El - Baz " ; electromagnetic pulse ; emergency buoy ; emotion chip ; evasive maneuvers ; Federation ; kedion pulse ; metaphasic shield ; millicochrane ; photosphere ; rad ; red alert ; neural shock ; Ohniaka III ; pain receptor ; particle beam ; pressure wave ; solar dynamics ; solar fusion eruption ; ; subspace distortion ; Starbase 295 ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; swimming ; team leader ; transwarp ; tricorder ; VISOR