Lore (Brent Spiner), the evil android brother of Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), left quite an impression on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Lore debuted in TNG season 1's "Datalore," which revealed more about Data's fascinating history. After this memorable introduction, Lore only appeared in three more episodes of TNG, but he certainly made his presence felt. The addition of Lore to TNG's roster of recurring characters let Brent Spiner show off the full range of his acting chops. With his unpredictable personality, Lore was more expressive than Data, and their relationship was certainly complicated.
Data and Lore were created by brilliant cyberneticist Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner), who came to view the androids as his children. Lore was Soong's fifth attempt to build a human-like android, and while he was a success in many ways, Lore proved to be unstable. Data was the culmination of Soong's work and went on to help save the galaxy several times over. After his sacrificial death in Star Trek: Nemesis, Data returned in Star Trek: Picard season 3, after one last battle with Lore, whose personality had also been incorporated into the synthetic android body built by Dr. Altan Soong (Brent Spiner).
5"Datalore"
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1, Episode 13
Lore's debut in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Datalore," is dragged down by a clumsy plot that makes many of the regular cast members seem less intelligent than they should be. Still, Brent Spiner is clearly having fun playing the villainous Lore, and he immediately makes the evil android a distinct character from Data. "Datalore" begins when the USS Enterprise-D visits Omicron Theta, the planet where Data was first discovered, and establishes several elements about the android brothers that will be important in later episodes.
An away team finds Dr. Noonien Soong's lab, which contains the disassembled parts of Lore. After Lore is reawakened on the Enterprise, he conceals his true intentions from the crew (who trust him far too easily) and incapacitates Data to take his place. Lore attempts to destroy the Enterprise by summoning the Crystalline Entity that decimated Omicron Theta, but the evil android's reasons are never fully explored. In the end, Data transports Lore into open space, and the Enterprise leaves him adrift.
4"Dominion"
Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 7
Data and Lore's personalities both fight for control of their hybrid synthetic body in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 7. Brent Spiner has fun as he quickly switches from Data's wide-eyed curiosity to Lore's cruel anger. Data desperately asks for his friends' help as he fights against his brother's strong personality. As Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) tries to find a way to help Data, Lore takes over the android body and eventually gains control of the Titan.
Although Star Trek: Picard season 3 brought Lore's story to an end, it remains to be seen if Data will return in a future Star Trek project. The proposed Picard spin-off, Star Trek: Legacy, appears to be a long shot at this point, but anything is possible.
Geordi continues trying to appeal to Data, but Lore claims that his brother is gone. Lore wants to survive within this new android body, so he helps Vadic (Amanda Plummer) and her Changelings, reveling in the chaos his interference causes. Geordi draws on his years of friendship with Data and his grief over the android's death, and he eventually reaches through to Data. Data takes over long enough to bring down the force field trapping Ensign Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) with a dangerous Changeling, but the battle between Data and his brother continues in the following episode, "Surrender."
3"Surrender"
Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 8
"Surrender" picks up where the previous episode, "Dominion," leaves off, with Lore in control of his shared synthetic body with Data. Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) tries to reach out to Data, whose consciousness also resides within the android. Admiral Picard and his crew need Data's help to take back the USS Titan from Vadic (Amanda Plummer), so they agree to take down the partition separating Data's personality from Lore's. Geordi fears that Lore will overpower and erase Data, and at first, that's what seems to happen.
Within the mind of the android, Lore taunts his brother, as Data relives some of his best memories. Data initially appears to accept defeat as he hands over his memories to Lore, who greedily accepts them. Although Lore appears to emerge victorious, he soon realizes that by taking all of Data's memories, he has essentially become him. In the end, Data embraces his brother as Lore fades from existence. Still, some of Lore's personality will forever live on within Data. It's a lovely scene that facilitates Data's return while bringing Lore's Star Trek story to its tragic but inevitable conclusion.
2"Descent"
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6, Episode 26 & Season 7, Episode 1
Lore forms his own Borg Collective in this Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter. Lore doesn't make an appearance until the end of "Descent, Part I," when he and Data declare their intentions to destroy the Federation. Lore has found a way to project his negative emotions, like anger and hatred, onto Data and has used this to manipulate him. Lore's volatile nature also infects the Borg, making them more violent. At the end of "Descent," Captain Picard and his crew manage to reactivate Data's ethical subroutines in time for him to realize the destructive nature of Lore's plans.
Data eventually turns on his brother and is forced to deactivate Lore, lamenting that he wasn't able to save him. "Descent" may not be as strong as some of TNG's other two-parters, but it's a great showcase for Lore and his complicated relationship with Data. Lore's last words are "I love you, brother," and while his sincerity may be up for debate, Lore did want Data to stand alongside him. Brent Spiner always makes Lore compelling, and the android makes a fascinating villain and a particularly great foil for Data in "Descent."
1"Brothers"
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 3
Lore's best Star Trek episode is also one of Data's best, as the two brothers reunite with their aging "father," Dr. Noonien Soong on Terlina III. Soong triggered a homing beacon in Data's programming, unaware that Lore had been reassembled and would also be summoned. When Lore learns that Soong created an emotion chip for Data, the villainous android impersonates his brother and steals the emotion chip meant for Data.
Despite only appearing in four episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and two of Star Trek: Picard, Lore remains one of the franchise's most memorable villains.
Lore then mortally wounds Dr. Soong and leaves before the Enterprise crew arrives to find the deactivated Data and the dying Soong. Data stays with his father until the elderly Soong dies, and then returns to the Enterprise and contemplates his relationship with Lore. Brent Spiner does triple duty as Data, Lore, and Dr. Soong, making each of the three characters distinct, and Lore is particularly fun, as always. Despite only appearing in four episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and two of Star Trek: Picard, Lore remains one of the franchise's.
