Star Trek: 10 Best 'I'm Dead And I Know It' Moments
The curtain's coming down and it's time for these folks to take their final bow.
Star Trek doesn't exactly have a reputation for being bloodthirsty, yet every now and again a character finds themselves backed up against a wall with no way out. There's even a description for it in-universe - the No Win Scenario.
Sometimes, it's a direct result of the character's actions. Other times, they're just so totally screwed that it doesn't really matter what they do.
One thing that Star Trek has done very well is to give some of these folks a moment or two before that final blow to truly appreciate their situation. Perhaps it is a gung-ho cheer as the Reaper comes to claim them, or an absolutely chilling look of clarity before the bombs start to fall. Either way, to quote a certain tailor - "they're gone, and they're never coming back."
Who are the best and the most self-aware of the bunch? Who stared straight into death's eyes as it rushed up to meet them? Who stood their ground and roared, and who crumbled beneath the realization of their own Kobayashi Maru?
Here are the folks that knew they were going to die, and how they handled it.
10. Commodore Decker - The Doomsday Machine
Matthew Decker has become something of an in-joke in Star Trek. He is the commander of the USS Constellation, the Enterprise's sister ship. They encountered the Doomsday Machine, the Planet Killer, leading to the vessel being absolutely ruined by the monster. To 'save' his crew, Decker then beams them down to the nearest planet. With a planet killer in orbit.
Not his best move.
By the time the Enterprise discovers him, he has lost all reason, though attempts to cover it up. Kirk gets trapped on the Constellation, so Decker takes control on the Enterprise. He gets it into his head that he needs to ram the ship down the Planet Killer's throat. A series of events later, he finds himself stealing a shuttle and flying it straight down the monster's gullet.
The look on William Windon's face in that scene is both an iconic image, and a heartbreaking moment of a man realising he is facing a horrible death, mere seconds away. Considering he was one of the most decorated Starfleet officers to that time, this was a highly ignoble way to go.