Tolian Soran Doctor Tolian Soran was an El - Aurian scientist who , in the 24th century , attempted to destroy two star s and an inhabited planet in an effort to gain entrance to the Nexus , an extra - dimensional realm in which all one ' s desires are transformed into reality . He was also indirectly responsible for the death of James T . Kirk . Life before the Nexus . Soran was born more than three hundred years before 2371 . At some point in the 23rd century , he was married to his wife , Leandra , with whom he had several children , when his world was destroyed by the Borg , simultaneously killing his entire family , including his wife Leandra and his children . Soran , however , escaped aboard the , along with a handful of other El - Aurian survivors . These refugees were intended to be transported to Earth . However , shortly before reaching Earth in 2293 , the " Lakul " and its companion , the , became trapped in an extremely intense gravimetric distortion trailing from an energy ribbon which acted as an entrance to the Nexus . While trapped in the distortion , Soran and the other passengers experienced brief moments in the Nexus , where Soran was able to live a life in which the Borg had not killed his family . Soran ' s experiences in the Nexus were short - lived , however , as he and the others were beam ed away by Captain Montgomery Scott to the , which had responded to a distress call . Upon finding himself in the " Enterprise " s sickbay , Soran began ranting , demanding to be returned , forcing a nearby Commander Pavel Chekov to sedate him with a hypospray . Soran subsequently became obsessed with returning to the Nexus and dedicated the next seventy - eight years of his life to discovering a means by which to do so . 24th century . By the year 2371 , Soran had developed a plan whereby he would destroy two star s , thereby altering the gravitational forces near the energy ribbon , altering its course and bringing it to the planet Veridian III , where Soran would be waiting for it . To accomplish his goal , Soran entered into an alliance with the Duras sisters , who agreed to secure trilithium , a nuclear inhibitor with which Soran would destroy the stars , in exchange for research allowing the sisters to develop a trilithium - based weapon . As Soran prepared to fire a solar probe equipped with trilithium into the Amargosa star from the Amargosa observatory , the outpost came under attack by Romulan s who were attempting to retrieve the trilithium , which the Duras sisters had stolen from them . Soran was rescued by the crew of the , and was later able to return to the observatory and launch the probe , destroying the star . As the " Enterprise " crew attempted to rescue an away team from the observatory before the resultant shock wave arrived , Soran was retrieved by the Duras sisters and subsequently traveled to the Veridian system , where he intended to destroy the Veridian star . The " Enterprise " crew ultimately uncovered Soran ' s plot , realizing that Soran intended to destroy the Veridian star despite the fact that it would destroy all planets in the system , including Veridian IV , which supported a humanoid society of 230 million individuals . The " Enterprise " arrived at Veridian III , where Captain Picard beamed to the surface in an attempt to reason with Soran . Picard was ultimately unsuccessful , however , failing both to appeal to Soran ' s reasoning – Soran grimly stating that everyone was fated to die and that he was no longer concerned about preserving life – and in his subsequent attempt to penetrate the force field around Soran ' s equipment and stop him from launching the probe into the star . As the star was destroyed , the energy ribbon was diverted to the surface , where it transported both Soran and Picard into the Nexus , immediately before the destruction of all of the planets in the system and the " Enterprise " itself " . " Inside the Nexus , however , Picard was able to make contact with James T . Kirk , who had been pulled in during the " Enterprise " - B ' s encounter with the ribbon . Picard managed to convince Kirk to leave the Nexus with him , traveling back in time to a point before Soran had launched the probe . As Picard attempted to sabotage Soran ' s launcher , Kirk fought Soran , a confrontation which ultimately led to Kirk ' s death , when he fell off the scaffolding holding Soran ' s equipment while trying to recover the remote control for the launcher . Kirk ' s sacrifice , however , allowed Picard to successfully disable Soran ' s launcher . As Soran returned to the probe , he found that Picard had engaged the locking clamp s , destroying the launcher and killing Soran in a massive explosion . In the aftermath , Picard reflected that he disagreed with Soran ' s perception of time as a predator , preferring to see it as a teacher that encouraged him to treasure every moment as it would never come again . ( ) Alternate timeline . In an alternate timeline , Soran had originally succeeded in reaching the Nexus . Since Soran ' s plan initially worked , it is suggested that Soran is in fact still in the Nexus , since time has " no meaning " there . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Soran was played by actor Malcolm McDowell . At least two different versions of Soran ' s death were written for the script of " Star Trek Generations " . Additionally , two versions of Kirk ' s death were shot . The first involved Soran directly killing Kirk with a disruptor bolt , shooting him in the back . This version proved unpopular at early screenings so an alternate death ( the scaffold bridge death ) for Kirk was filmed and used in the theatrical release . While Paramount was casting , Rick Berman received a call which notified him Marlon Brando was interested in portraying the role of Soran . Berman was overjoyed and highly excited by the news . " " And I went to see the president of the studio , " " Berman continued , " " and I said , ' Marlon Brando wants to play Soran . ' And the response was , ' What does he want ? ' And I remember the president of the studio just laughing at me , and that was the end of that . " " When Berman relayed this sequence of events to Brannon Braga years later , Braga remarked that he thought casting Brando as Soran would not have been beneficial for the film . ( " In Conversation : Rick Berman and Brannon Braga " , ENT Season 1 Blu - ray special features ) When Tolian says " " They say ' time is the fire in which we burn " " he is in fact quoting the poem " Calmly We Walk Through This April ' s Day " ( also known as " For Rhoda " ) by . The full poem can be read here . According to Ron D . Moore , the writing staff found the quote in . Apocrypha . The early edition of for " Star Trek Generations " featured one of the alternate death scenes for Soran . In this version , Picard succeeds in disarming Soran ' s probe , preventing its launch and the destruction of the star , and allowing the ribbon to pass the planet by . Soran charges at Picard in a fury , who snatches up Soran ' s disruptor and shoots him dead in the chest . The novelization also notes that Soran was aware of Picard ' s trip into the Nexus , due to the lack of alternative explanations for Kirk ' s presence , increasing Soran ' s rage at Picard for depriving him of his wife again .