Sub Rosa ( episode ) Beverly Crusher attends her grandmother ' s funeral , but a mysterious entity that inhabited her grandmother is now focusing on her . Summary . Teaser . Doctor Beverly Crusher reads a eulogy before her late grandmother ' s coffin at the Caldos colony , with Counselor Deanna Troi and Captain Jean - Luc Picard at her side , describing her grandmother , Felisa Howard , as a healer , and one who offers more than just a healthy body ; she will miss her advice , healing , and most of all , her inspiration . Governor Maturin reads a modified version of the Anglican burial service as her coffin slowly descends beneath the ground . As the colonists circle the grave and the gravediggers begin to bury her , a camellia is thrown to the coffin . Crusher looks over and sees a mysterious man walking with the other colonists who stops and gives her one glance before leaving . Act One . Troi compliments Crusher on the eulogy , and the doctor asks about the mysterious man she saw throw the camellia on the coffin , describing him as mid 30s with longish hair . Troi says she didn ' t see anyone that fits her description . Crusher notes that the camellia was her grandmother ' s favorite flower , to which Troi responds by wondering whether he might be a friend or patient , but then Crusher mentions that the gesture with the camellia was too personal and that he gave her a remarkable look . Realizing the need to get her grandmother ' s affairs in order , she heads to her house and Troi comes along with her . Maturin asks Picard how long he plans on staying , to which the captain replies it would only be a few hours , and inquires why . Maturin explains to Picard that Caldos was one of the first terraforming projects in the Federation , and the weather control infusion systems are a century old and he would like a starship engineer to take a look at them , and possibly upgrade the infusion systems , in exchange for a tour of the colony and being a guest for some meals . Since the isn ' t due to Starbase 621 until the next morning , Picard graciously accepts the governor ' s offer . The tour is an intriguing offer to Picard as he remarks the colony impressive accomplishment , and describes the terraforming project as reminding him of experiencing Earth ' s Scottish Highlands . The governor says that ' s exactly what the colonists wished ; every cornerstone was brought from old cities in Scotland such as Edinburgh , Glasgow , and Aberdeen . The founders wanted to truly recreate Scotland . Maturin took the position of governor of the colony because of his fondness of the Scottish culture and the heritage of the people . He once visited the Glamis Castle , as a boy , feeling he was home when he gazed over the Scot highlands . At Crusher ' s grandmother ' s house , Troi glances at a picture of her and her grandmother and remarks how incredible Felisa ' s green eyes were . It was a Howard tradition where every woman in her family had green eyes , except her mother and herself , explains Crusher . She can remember her mother well , but remembers Nana more than her mother , who raised her after her mother died . Troi pictures the candle and says how beautiful it is . The candle is a family heirloom and has been in the Howard clan for generations and supposed to symbolize the enduring Howard spirit . Troi decides to return to the " Enterprise " and allow Crusher to have some time alone , which she appreciates . Wrapping herself in a blanket and reading her grandmother ' s journal , she goes upstairs . Another man enters her house unannounced and blows out the candle . The sound of his breath causes Crusher to race down and demand that he leave the house . The man identifies himself to her as Ned Quint , Felisa ' s caregiver . This surprises the doctor as her grandmother made no mention about Quint , but he replies that there ' s a lot of things she never talked about and demands she gives up the heirloom . When asked why , he replies the candle has been a curse to her family for generations . Dismissing his claims as rubbish , Crusher forcefully asks Quint to leave . Before leaving , Quint warns her that he will not be responsible for what happens as long as she continues to be stubborn , just as all the other Howard women were . Back on the " Enterprise " , Lieutenant Commander Data performs basic maintenance on the colony ' s primary systems in engineering . Maturin asks about the seismic stabilizer s due to the fact they ' ve been having tremors for the past couple of months . He then humors the android by saying how it ' s like to enjoy afternoon tea while the Earth is shaking . The governor is alerted by Geordi La Forge about a power fluctuation in one of the weather control substations that controls atmospheric humidity , the first problem noted with the systems in over twenty years . Data checks the weather patterns and discovers the formation of a storm system in the northern coastal area , which , according to Maturin , normally doesn ' t happen in the summer and now threatens the next day ' s caber toss . Picard and Crusher discuss the entries in her grandmother ' s journal and was surprised to learn she had a younger lover , even though none of her grandmother ' s letters had mentioned him . The man is identified as 34 - year - old Ronin , whom Felisa met shortly after Crusher ' s great - grandmother passed away ; Ronin seems to match the description of the man who threw the camellia onto the grave earlier . Picard explains to Crusher they ' ll be staying in orbit for for a while longer , which gives her an opportunity to straighten out her grandmother ' s affairs . As she enters her quarters , Picard wonders why a man like Ronin would be dating Crusher ' s grandmother at his current age . The heirloom begins to flicker in Crusher ' s quarters as she is sleeping soundly . The covers over her begin to slide away , as well as her nightgown begins to slide away exposing her shoulder , and Crusher reacts as if someone was kissing her on the neck . An eerie voice calls her name , causing her to rise from her bed in fear . Act Two . Discussing the events the night before with Troi while sitting at a table together in Ten Forward , Crusher explains to her she did not dream , but felt a presence with her . The experience she felt , especially when she was called out by her name , felt like she knew the person , or vice versa ; it also was the most physical dream she ever had , as he knew exactly how she likes to be touched . The sensations were real , and extremely arousing , which caused Troi to be envious of her . Crusher admitted she fell asleep after reading a particularly erotic chapter in her grandmother ' s journal , going as far as detailing her experience with Ronin . She becomes curious if she would have another dream tonight , prompting Troi to suggest that she reads two chapters . Back on the colony , and out of uniform , Crusher enters the cemetery with flowers for her grandmother ' s grave . She sees Quint putting the final touches of the grave and Quint suggests that he should leave so she can spend time alone . Crusher apologizes that they didn ' t start off well , and understands , from her grandmother ' s journals , how much he meant to her grandmother . Quint admits that she would not find another grand woman like Felisa , and says that Crusher has her grandmother ' s fire . She offers Quint an olive branch and welcomes him to stay at the house to take care of it when she ' s away , but Quint swore he would never enter that house again , and advises her to do the same . He explains the house is haunted , and warns her not to light the candle or she ' ll bring out the ghost . " " He ' s out now " " , he says , angry about being driven out . Quint blames the ghost on causing the storm that is about to occur . Crusher dismisses Quint ' s warning and explains the " Enterprise " is repairing one of the weather control substations that is malfunctioning . Quint asks her " " Who do you think is causing the malfunction ? " " and warns her again not to light the candle or go into the house , or he ' ll be burying another Howard in the cemetery before long . As he turns to leave , the storm intensifies as thunder and green lightning begin to crackle . Crusher turns around and sees Felisa ' s grave covered in flowers . The storm continues to intensify as Crusher retreats to her residence . Lieutenant Worf detects large pockets of atmospheric turbulence and regions of electrical activity . Picard orders that this be shown on the main viewer , and sees in Commander Riker ' s own words " " one hell of a thunderstorm " " that is growing in intensity . Data explains to the captain that what began as a power fluctuation has now spread throughout the control grid and has caused an unusual concentration of cumulonimbus activity around the colony . La Forge recommends they set up a power transfer beam between the " Enterprise " and the weather control substations to give them enough power to stabilize the storm . Crusher returns to the house soaked , and is surprised to find the foyer of the house full of flowers . Act Three . The door slams shut behind her as the fear level in Crusher rises . Asking if it was Quint in the house or someone else , she calls out for that person , and no one replies . Walking around the house , she calls out that she knows someone is in the house and suggests the person comes out . The mirror begins to tap against the wall , which she picks up and checks behind it to find nothing out of the ordinary . As she places it back , she finds a man in the reflection beside her , which frightens her , causing her to drop the mirror . She turns around and finds no one there , and warns whoever is in the house to show himself or she will contact the " Enterprise " and will have ten security guards down to the house in thirty seconds . The man calls her name and says he has come back for her and says that he was with her last night . Crusher dismisses it as a dream and reaches for her combadge to call the " Enterprise " . Suddenly she becomes dizzy and pain - stricken , leading her to drop her combadge to the floor . The mysterious visitor proclaims his love to her , just as he loved Felisa before . Crusher puts the pieces together and identifies the visitor as Ronin , who identifies himself as a spirit who lived in Glasgow in 1647 . There he found a home with Jessel Howard , describing her as a pretty lass with red hair , and eyes like diamonds . She stayed with her daughter after Jessel died , and her daughter after her , and down on down the family clan through generations . Wracked in fear and terror , she wanted to know how he came to Caldos , two hundred light year s away from Earth . Ronin tells her when her family moved into the galaxy , he moved with them . Crusher doesn ' t believe him , but Ronin says he believes the Howard women are the most beautiful he has ever known . Crusher then feels a strange sensation as Ronin says they are becoming one . Something she doesn ' t understand , but nevertheless , wants him to stop . Troi stops by Crusher ' s quarters on the " Enterprise " to see if she was going to the " mok ' bara " class tonight , but she plans to skip it , due to her exhaustion . Troi is curious and asks if she had another dream , but the doctor says no , and everything is alright . Troi gets suspicious and asks if she was seeing someone , a suspicion proved correct when Beverly tries to dismiss it . Crusher simply says she met someone , but Troi ' s telepathic abilities says otherwise . Crusher admits defeat and reveals that she saw Ronin , her grandmother ' s lover . This man she says is unlike any man she met before , and is so passionate about her . It ' s a strange relationship says Troi , but nonetheless is very happy for her . Despite this , Troi offers her some advice : Ronin and Crusher have both suffered a tremendous loss , and that shared tragedies can often create the illusion of closeness , and romance . Crusher appreciates her advice but dismisses it , simply saying she ' s interested , but not in love ; with Ronin . In the turbolift , Maturin explains to Picard that he moved to the colony because it was a recreation of Scotland , but admits it ' s getting a little too real , and sneezes . When they step foot on the bridge , the deck is flooded with a dense fog . The cause is a malfunction in the ship ' s environmental controls , which is traced to the power transfer , which is creating a feedback from one of the weather control sub stations . Data is unable to terminate the connection as a feedback loop is preventing it from being shut off . He would have to go to the sub station itself and correct it from there . Picard agrees and decides to go into his ready room to get his jacket in the meantime . La Forge and Data determine that the weather control grid is experiencing a power failure . A problem that is impossible according to La Forge , but is interrupted by Ned Quint who is dismantling the primary power conduit . Data asks him to stop , but Quint will not . Data forces him to get up , but Ned warns both Starfleet officers to keep away from him and warns them the ghost is trying to kill them all . A shock of green energy discharges and strikes Quint from the conduit sending him tumbling down near the feet of Data and La Forge . They both rush to check on him , and Data checks his pulse . He reads nothing , and grimly tells La Forge " " He is dead . . . " " Act Four . La Forge summarizes that he was trying to shut down the entire weather control system , and a plasma discharge from the primary plasma conduit is what killed Quint . Maturin knew him and doesn ' t believe he would do something like this , since he kept mostly to himself . Because of the tampering , another day would have to be added to the repairs , and Data lets the governor know the weather patterns will continue . Crusher finds something and brings it to the attention of Data . It was not a plasma discharge that killed him , but an anomalous energy residual , which Data links to the malfunctions to the sub stations , and suggests they scan the colony for those same readings . Crusher asks Maturin to take Quint ' s body back to the ship for further tests , which he accepts ; but she won ' t run the tests herself , instead having Dr . Selar do them . When asked by Maturin why she won ' t do it herself , she quotes other matters she needs to attend to . Back at the house , Crusher again makes contact with Ronin . He knows about Quint ' s death but tells her there is something more important they have to talk about . And so he appears in the flesh , claiming he can not stay in corporeal form for long and that he needs Crusher ' s help – he wants her to light the candle . Ronin confirms that he lives in the candle , that he weakens if he is away from it for too long . That is why the women in Crusher ' s family have kept it lit . The candle is on the ship , so as Crusher returns to get it , Ronin follows her , traveling along the power transfer beam in his natural form . In her quarters back on the " Enterprise " , Crusher lights the candle , and Ronin appears again . He promises her they will be together as one , as it has been for the Howard women before her . He then transforms into his anaphasic state and merges with Crusher . A distraught Picard walks in to the transporter room , where Crusher is getting ready to transport to the surface . He is holding a PADD displaying Crusher ' s resignation from Starfleet and demands an explanation . Crusher , who is all too anxious to get out of there , states that her intentions are to stay at the colony to be a healer like her grandmother and thus upholding the family tradition . As she has resigned from Starfleet , Picard is forced to let her go . Act Five . Picard and Troi discuss what has happened in his ready room . She tells him that the attraction between Crusher and Ronin is intense and intimate , and that the counselor warned her that the relationship was very sudden but that Crusher did not want to discuss it . Yet Troi sensed there was something Crusher was not telling her . Picard characterizes this decision as sudden and ill - considered , and that it is not at all like Crusher to behave like this . Data enters and informs the captain that he and La Forge have detected an energy residual that matches the anaphasic signature found on Quint ' s body . It is coming from the colony ' s cemetery . Picard orders Data to go there and find the source . As Data and La Forge scan the cemetery with their tricorders , they discover that the energy readings are concentrated at Felisa Howard ' s burial site . At the Howard house , Ronin tells Crusher that they will be completely merged soon and will become one . There is a knocking on the door ; when Crusher does not react , Picard opens it by himself . He startles her , apologizes and say he would like to meet Ronin . Crusher tells him Ronin is not there . He asks her if she has changed the color of her eyes . He tells her that he preferred the color they used to be . Crusher becomes agitated and makes it clear to him that she is not going to change her mind , and asks Picard to leave . He says that he won ' t as he understands that something is wrong . He points out the fact that no - one but Crusher has even seen Ronin , so Ronin reveals himself to Picard , by coming down the stairs . Picard starts questioning him , asking where he is from and how long he has been on Caldos . Ronin avoids the questions and tells Picard all that matters is that he and Crusher will be together for the rest of their lives . Data and La Forge hail Picard over the combadge and tell him of their findings at the cemetery . They request permission to exhume the body , but Ronin protests and urges Picard not to desecrate Felisa ' s grave . Picard orders Data to ask the governor ' s permission to exhume the body . Ronin threatens to go to the governor himself . Picard challenges him to do it , believing that the governor won ' t know who Ronin is and will have the same questions for him as Picard has . Picard continues to ask Ronin questions he can not answer until he turns in to his natural form and attacks Picard who is struck unconscious . Crusher takes out her medkit and starts to treat the captain . Ronin urges her to stop the exhumation , but she fears Picard will die if she leaves him . Ronin leaves for the cemetery and as Picard comes to he urges Crusher to go after him . At the cemetery , La Forge and Data have the " Enterprise " transport the coffin out of the grave , where they lift off the lid and scan Felisa Howard ' s peaceful body . Data determines that there is anaphasic energy in her body and that it has extended to the cellular level . La Forge is surprised at this as Felisa was nowhere the weather station and in fact died of natural causes . All of a sudden , the dead woman sits up in her coffin , her eyes glowing green . She strikes Data and La Forge to the ground in the same manner as Ronin attacked Picard , green bolts shooting through their bodies . As her friends fall to the ground , Crusher screams " " no ! " " across the cemetery . Ronin , in her grandmother ' s body , asks her to trust him . Crusher , holding the candle in her hand , scream at him to leave her grandmother ' s body . And so he does , materializing again as the young man who has followed the Howard women through generations . He asks for her forgiveness , as he was only trying to make sure they could be together . But she can see through his game now , realizing that she has been infused with the same energy that killed Quint . Now she understands what he is , not a ghost but an anaphasic lifeform that ' s been using her grandmother as a host in order to maintain molecular cohesion . She ' s scanned the candle and it turned out to be plasma based , used only as a receptacle in order to merge with Crusher , her grandmother , and those who came before them . Ronin defends himself , claiming he loved his hosts and that they loved him . He asks her to give him the candle and as she refuses , La Forge is treated to another energy charge . Ronin threatens to kill him if she doesn ' t comply . Reluctantly , Crusher sets the candle down on the ground between them . Quickly , she grabs La Forge ' s phaser out of its holster and shoots the candle , destroying it , and then hails Riker and tells him to close off all the plasma conduit s at the weather control stations . With no where left for him to go , Ronin says he has one last place : her . Ignoring her demands to keep away , Crusher fires at him , which weakens him . As Ronin throws himself at her in one final attempt to take her as his host , Crusher fires the phaser at him and the anaphasic lifeform is vaporized . Overwhelmed with grief over the fact she " killed " her lover , she drops the phaser and falls to her knees , crying . Back on the " Enterprise " , Data and La Forge have recovered from their ordeal . Doctor Crusher is talking to Troi about the events of the last few days . Now she understands that Ronin had somehow found one of her ancestors , a woman who had a biochemistry that made her compatible as a host . Although relieved that she escaped the " family tradition " , a part of her is sad . As she re - read the entries from her grandmother ' s diary , she realized that whatever else Ronin had done , he made Felisa very happy . Memorable quotes . " " When I was a boy , my family visited Glamis Castle in Scotland . As I looked out across the highlands , I felt as if I had come home . " " " " It ' s a family heirloom . It ' s been in the Howard clan for generations . It ' s supposed to symbolize the enduring Howard spirit . Wherever they may go , the shining light to guide them through their fortune . Nana always kept it lit . I remember sitting here listening to ghost stories with only the candle burning . " " " " You dreamt you were in bed with someone ? " " " " The sensations were very real and " extremely " arousing . " " " " Frankly , I ' m envious . " " " " I did fall asleep reading a particularly erotic chapter in my grandmother ' s journal . " " " " Howard women . . . always the same stubborn fools . " " " " That candle has brought nothing but misery and bad luck to your grandmother . " " " " That ' s verra kind of you , lass , but I ' ll ne ' er set foot in that house again . And I recommend that you dinna , either . " " " " You have been using me , Nana , my " entire " family for centuries ! " " " " And I loved all of them ! And they loved me . " " " " Beverly . . . I love you . Bever . . . " " " " Think what you want . See what you want . Just do as I say . Dinna light that candle or dinna go to that hoose , or before you know it , they ' ll be burying another Howard in this cemetery . " " Links and references . References . 47 ; 1647 ; 2242 ; 2270 ; Aberdeen ; Amen ; anaphasic energy ; anaphasic lifeform ; aqueduct ; biochemistry ; caber toss ; Caldos ; Caldos colony ; camellia ; candle ; Celsius ; cemetery ; coffin ; cornerstone ; ; cumulonimbus ; deep tissue scan ; diary ; Earth ; Edinburgh ; energy matrix ; eye ; Federation ; feedback ; fog ; funeral ; gesture ; ghost ; ghost story ; Glasgow ; Glamis Castle ; governor ; granddaughter ; grandmother ; grave ; gravestone ; ; groundskeeper ; ; ; Howard family ; Howard family candle ; McFly ; McManus ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mirror ; " mok ' bara " ; nana ; painting ; plasma conduit ; power transfer beam ; Scotland ; Scottish ; Scottish Highlands ; Scots language ; seismic stabilizer ; Selar ; September ; Starbase 621 ; Starfleet ; terraforming ; thunderstorm ; Vader ; weather control system ; weather substation