How is Data in ‘Star Trek: Picard’ if he died in ‘Star Trek: Nemesis?’
Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched “Star Trek: Picard” episode 6, The Bounty.
Even though Spock died saving the Enterprise in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” Star Trek used the restorative powers of the Genesis planet to bring him back. So when Data made a noble sacrifice of his own in “Star Trek: Nemesis,” it wasn’t really a surprise when the door was left open – albeit slightly – for the android’s future return.
“Star Trek: Picard” season one on Paramount Plus (opens in new tab) focused heavily on Data’s legacy, introducing a family of synthetic offspring and revealing that his consciousness had been preserved in a virtual simulation. Jean-Luc Picard subsequently watched his friend die for a second time, but the show’s third season has just dropped the bombshell that – in true “Jurassic Park” style – something has survived.
In Picard season 3 episode 6, “The Bounty,” Riker, Worf and Raffi Musiker’s away mission to the top-secret Daystrom Station reunites them with an old friend, an android with a familiar face who’s been given responsibility for the facility’s security. But how did Data (still portrayed by actor Brent Spiner) survive certain death in “Star Trek: Nemesis?” Why does he look so much older now? And is he still the same android we knew on the Enterprise-D? These questions and more are answered below. If you’re behind, you can catch up on Star Trek: Picard Season 3″ with our Star Trek streaming guide.
Didn’t Data die in Star Trek: Nemesis?
Yes. “Star Trek: Nemesis” is the 10th film in the Star Trek movie franchise and the last to feature the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” It features a clone of Jean-Luc Picard called Shinzon who’s out to get Picard (and the Federation), with Data discovering an earlier prototype of himself called B-4 along the way.
In the film’s climax, the Picard clone Shinzon had rigged his Romulan/Reman (don’t ask) warbird, the Scimitar, to unleash its lethal thalaron radiation weapon on a severely damaged USS Enterprise-E. With Picard on board the enemy vessel, transporters inoperative, and the crew trapped in the quintessential…
