Star Trek is mostly known for its idealistic view of the future, but sometimes that utopian backdrop is used to tell heartbreaking stories. Every Trek series since Star Trek: The Original Series has had at least a couple of tearjerker episodes, from the classic "City on the Edge of Forever" to the more recent Strange New Worlds episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." Several of the saddest episodes of Star Trek involve the death of a beloved character, but others tug on viewers' heartstrings in different ways.
The Star Trek franchise often combines science fiction with humor and mystery and sometimes even horror, and when the show commits to telling a certain kind of story, it doesn't hold back. Star Trek has always told emotional stories, creating characters that fans fall in love with only to put those characters through the emotional ringer. Many of these episodes follow stories of lost love and tearful goodbyes, often leading to tragic or bittersweet endings. Whether they produce a single tear or a fit of sobbing, here are 10 of the most poignant Star Trek episodes that made fans cry.
10 Star Trek: The Original Series - "The City on the Edge of Forever"
Often regarded as one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, "The City on the Edge of Forever" finds Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) temporarily stuck in 1930s New York City. While attempting to restore the timeline that Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) had inadvertently altered, Kirk falls in love with a local woman named Edith Keeler (Joan Collins). Kirk and Spock eventually determine that Edith must die in order to preserve the proper timeline. This obviously devastates Kirk, but he later allows her death to happen, knowing that it will save millions of people in the long run. Kirk has many romances over the course of the series, but none are more heartbreaking than his relationship with Edith, which was doomed from the start.
9 Star Trek: The Next Generation - "The Offspring"
With its conflict-free main cast, Star Trek: The Next Generation did not often go for the tragic story, but when it did, it didn't hold back. Several of the series' most heartwarming and heartbreaking moments come courtesy of the USS Enterprise-D's resident android, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner). One of Data's saddest moments comes in the season 3 episode "The Offspring," when he builds an android daughter, Lal (Hallie Todd). Though initially a success, Lal soon begins to malfunction. Data fights to save her just as much as any parent would fight to save their child, but in the end, even he cannot prevent her death. While Lal's death is certainly tragic, it's Data's reaction to it that's truly devastating.
8 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - "The Visitor"
Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his son, Jake (Cirroc Lofton), have one of the best father/son relationships in Star Trek, so it's not surprising that they would be the focus of this tearjerker of an episode. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4's "The Visitor" follows the life of Jake Sisko (played as an adult by Tony Todd) after his father was supposedly killed in an energy discharge. The episode later reveals that Captain Sisko has been caught in a temporal inversion and cannot be restored to regular spacetime. Jake eventually leaves Deep Space Nine, gets married, and becomes a published writer. But when his father appears again, Jake abandons everything to attempt to save him. The episode ends with Sisko restored to his proper timelines, where he avoids the initial energy discharge and embraces his young son.
7 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - "Tears of the Prophets"
The Star Trek shows of the 1990s rarely killed off their main characters, making it all the more heartbreaking when they did. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) had been one of the main crew of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine since the beginning of the show, and she and Worf (Michael Dorn) became one of the franchise's most beloved couples. Jadzia's death in the DS9 season 6 finale, "Tears of the Prophets" was truly devastating, made even more so by the fact that Jadzia and Worf had just decided to try to start a family. Just before she was killed, Jadzia radiated happiness, making her death one of the most crushing in all of Star Trek.
6 Star Trek: Voyager - "Course Oblivion"
As one of the darkest (and saddest) Star Trek episodes, Star Trek: Voyager's season 5 episode "Course Oblivion" sees the deaths of the entire USS Voyager crew. The episode opens with the wedding of Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) and Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), but their happiness is short-lived. Soon, many of Voyager's systems begin to fail and crew start dying, leading to the discovery that this Voyager and its crew are actually duplicates of the real ones. The final scene of the episode shows the real Voyager answering a distress call only to find the unidentifiable remnants of the duplicate Voyager. Star Trek episodes that open with weddings never seem to end well, and this one is particularly heartbreaking, as no one even knows that the duplicate Voyager crew ever existed.
5 Star Trek: Enterprise - “Terra Prime”
The only thing worse than the death of a great character is the death of a baby, and unfortunately, Star Trek: Enterprise's "Terra Prime" has just that storyline. In this penultimate episode of the series, Commander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) and Commander Trip (Connor Trinneer) must say goodbye to their infant daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was cloned from Trip and T'Pol's DNA by the leader of the xenophobic terrorist group known as Terra Prime. Though Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) and the Enterprise crew managed to save Trip, T'Pol, and Elizabeth from the terrorists, Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley) could not save the baby after flaws in the cloning process made her sick.
4 Star Trek: Discovery - "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2"
It's not surprising that an episode entitled "Such Sweet Sorrow" would contain several heartbreaking moments. This finale of Star Trek: Discovery season 2 not only sees the tragic death of iral Katrina Cornwell (Jayne Brook), but is also the last time Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) will see his adopted sister, Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). Though Spock initially wishes to travel with the USS Discovery into the far future, his shuttle gets damaged, preventing him from reboarding the Discovery. Spock and Michael share a tearful goodbye, in which Spock expresses his fear that he won't be able to find a balance between his Vulcan and human sides without Michael. On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Spock continues to struggle with this balance as well as his grief over losing Michael.
3 Star Trek: Picard - "The Last Generation"
From the death of now-Commander Ro Lauren (Michelle Forbes) to the death of breakout fan-favorite Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick), Star Trek: Picard season 3 has more than a few moments that inspire tears. While both of those deaths are truly heartbreaking, the finale makes viewers cry for a completely different reason. When Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) gets assimilated by the Borg, his father Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) must fight to save him. After a season of struggling to connect, Picard finally breaks through to his son, making sure Jack realizes that he is not alone in the world. This bittersweet finale also sees the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation sit down for a long overdue game of poker, in what might be the last time the group is all together on screen.
2 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - "All Those Who Wander"
It's always heartbreaking to lose one of the main crew, but it feels especially difficult when viewers are just getting to know that character. Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak) only appeared in six episodes as the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, but he still made quite an impression. In the frightening Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 9, "All Those Who Wander," the Enterprise investigates a missing ship and stumbles upon a nest of monsters. As Spock and the Enterprise crew fight for their lives against vicious Gorn, Hemmer ends up infected with Gorn hatchlings. Hemmer then sacrifices himself to save the rest of the crew, bringing an end to the short-lived but fascinating character.
1 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”
For much of its runtime, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” is a fun time-travel romp following Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and an alternate universe version of Captain Kirk (Paul Wesley) as they work to restore the proper future. Throughout the episode, La'an lets some of her guard down, opening up to a romance with Kirk. When La'an and Kirk confront a Romulan assassin who has been the cause of all of their trouble, Kirk is fatally wounded. Strange New Worlds season 2, epsiode 3 ends with La'an grieving alone in her quarters for a man she can never tell anyone about. La'an has already suffered a lot of tragedy in her life, so her heartbreak here is particularly devastating. Since its beginnings in the 1960s, Star Trek has never shied away from making viewers cry, and the newer series continue this trend.