12 Most Heart-Breaking Star Trek Moments Ever

6. Picard€™s Interrogation - Chain Of Command Pts 1 & 2 - TNG

A clandestine sabotage mission goes awry and Captain Picard is captured by the Cardassians to obtain information about the defences of Minos Korva, a tactically significant planet. He is tortured by the sinister Gul Madred through a combination of humiliation, sensory deprivation, pain infliction, and starvation and deception techniques. One particular attempt to break Picard€™s will involves the assertion that there are five lights when in reality there only four in front of him.

During the interrogation, this is a recurring battle. Picard is able to constantly maintain that there are four lights €“ even after the point where he actually believes he can see five. While his spirited resistance is a noble thing to behold, it is also a saddening thing to see the sinister Madred humiliate and bring down a heroic captain like Picard.

The use of torture as a military practice is a despicable and loathsome one. While it is a non-human delivering the torture, this episode is a clear indictment of the act and a reminder of the cruelties of war. This is a truly sad moment and one that can€™t help but elicit sympathy from a viewing audience. Cruelty is a heartbreaking thing to witness.

Contributor
Contributor

John Kirk is a Teacher-Librarian and currently a History/English Teacher with the Toronto District School Board. But mostly, John teaches Geek. Comics, Sci-Fi (Notably Star Trek), Fantasy and Role-Playing and table-top games all make up part of John’s repertoire, There is a whole generation of nerds-in-embryo who rely on him to make sense of it all, to teach that with great power comes great responsibility, that the force will be with us always and that a towel IS the most useful thing to have in one’s possession. When John isn’t in the classroom, he can be found in his basement writing comic reviews for www.popmythology.com and features for Roddenberry Entertainment's www.1701news.com.