10 Most Satisfying Twists In Star Trek
5. The Name's Riker, Thomas Riker
When Commander Riker arrives on Deep Space Nine and promptly steals the USS Defient, with Major Kira on board, it left a few members of the audience scratching their heads. This surely seemed an odd character arc for the Enterprise's Number One! Yet when he stripped off those stuck on sideburns, eyebrows raised even further.
This was not William T. Riker. This was Thomas Riker, the transporter clone created in The Next Generation's sixth season episode, Second Chances.
This entire story was a payoff for that episode. And it was absolutely brilliant. Thomas was introduced as an officer who had been created accidentally, yet still retained all of the memories of his counterpart. Therefore, he had every right to believe that Starfleet had abandoned him. His discovery that he had not been abandoned, they merely never knew of his existence, was hardly the salve it might have been.
He wanted to be the hero of his own story again and what better way than by joining the Maquis? He was able to gain entry to the Defiant with his charm and familiar face, but he lacked the knowledge to truly follow through on his plans - something that Major Kira spotted almost immediately.
Both the twist in the reveal of his identity and his eventual surrender were excellent moments in the episode. It is possible that he is still out there somewhere, who knows!