Star Trek 1060: And Death Shall Have No Dominion

1060. And Death Shall Have No Dominion

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #50, DC Comics, September 1993

CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Peter Krause, Pablo Marcos and Romeo Tanghal (artists)

STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)

PLOT: Though Alt-Worf is dead, the away team manages to capture Locutus successfully, and they immediately attempt to input the sleep command into the Borg net even as a Borg Cube attacks both Enterprises. It fails, and Picard realizes that there are more divergences in this universe than the key events of The Best of Both Worlds, including the priorities of the Borg net. Shelby gets impatient aboard our Enterprise and mutinies by flying back to Earth to destroy assimilation facilities. Wesley and O'Brien rebel and stun her, getting back to the Cube in a surprise move that gives Picard more time to stop the Borg. He awakens Locutus' feelings by whispering Spock's name in his ear, unleashing Sarek's mindmelded emotions, and Locutus utters the word "Eat". Data inputs that command, and all Borg in the system drain their energy reserves quickly, disabling the Cube and all drones. As the Enterprise heads towards the rift that will its crew home, the freed Alt-Picard reveals he created it to attract help and it's now closing fast. The ship races to the rift, something complicated by Alt-O'Brien taking O'Brien's place to be with Keiko and Molly, but he quickly gives up when confronted. The ship squeezes through to our universe just in time.

CONTINUITY: See previous issues. Worf cries a Klingon Death Yell for his counterpart (Heart of Glory). Mr. Argyle is still aboard the Alt-Enterprise (first seen in The Naked Now). The mindmeld Picard appealed to occurred in Sarek. The real O'Brien proves his identity by making reference to what he used to sing to Captain Maxwell (The Wounded).

DIVERGENCES: See previous issues.

PANEL OF THE DAY - The Borg have a hunger than can only be satisfied by Manwhich.
REVIEW: An exciting double-sized finale to this rather entertaining arc. There's a lot of action, including a scene where Alt-Riker proves every bit the equal to our Riker on a tactical level, releasing remote-controlled shuttles to weaken the Cube's shields. But there are also character moments, with everything previously set up appropriately exploited: Worf dealing with his double's honorable death, Alt-Riker trying to keep Troi by his side, Alt-O'Brien desperately wanting to be with our Keiko, Wesley misgivings about leaving another mother behind, Shelby's agenda, and Alt-Geordi's issues with Data. The resolution makes good use of continuity, though Locutus' rift-making ability is a lot of wand-waving and not really explained. On the flip side, the revelation that this world wasn't a straight What If (there are other divergences) takes some of the bite out of previously mentioned Divergences. I was almost sorry the ship didn't fly into the wrong alternate universe at the end.