Summary

• Dr. Tolian Soran became obsessed with the Nexus after experiencing a different life inside it, leading him to plot destructive actions to re-enter it.
• Soran's obsession with the Nexus turned him into a grief-stricken religious zealot, willing to risk countless lives to reach his own personal heaven.
• The Nexus is unlikely to make a return in the modern Star Trek franchise, as it served as a narrative device in Star Trek Generations and was poorly received by audiences.

The villainous Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) and his obsession with the Nexus was ultimately responsible for the death of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek Generations. The Nexus was conceived by Generations screenwriters Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga as a means to connect Star Trek: The Original Series with Star Trek: The Next Generation. Time had no meaning inside the extra-dimensional realm, which allowed Captain Kirk to meet his Star Trek successor, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) without Moore and Braga having to resort to cheap and easy time travel.

The Nexus was able to fulfill the desires of all who entered it, with Kirk able to settle down and live comfortably with his lost love, Antonia. Picard, meanwhile, was able to experience a family of his own, something he had denied himself due to his own issues with his father. Soran was so determined to re-enter the Nexus that he plotted to destroy two stars and an entire planet to do so. This plan resulted in both the death of James T. Kirk and the destruction of Star Trek: The Next Generation's USS Enterprise-D.

Who Was Dr. Tolian Soran In Star Trek Generations

Dr. Tolian Soran was, like Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), an El-Aurian who lost their home planet to the Borg. The loss of his home, and of his entire family hardened the El-Aurian scientist, who came to believe that the universe was defined by death. When a ship transporting El-Aurian refugees was caught inside the Nexus, Soran briefly experienced what his life would have been like if he hadn't lost his family to the Borg. After he and the other El-Aurians were rescued by the USS Enterprise-B, he dedicated his life to returning to the Nexus, no matter the cost to others.

Soran was played by Malcolm McDowell, best known for playing Alex in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. However, McDowell's connections to Star Trek don't begin and end with his role in Star Trek Generations. He played H.G. Wells opposite recurring Trek guest actor David Warner's Jack the Ripper in the film Time After Time, written and directed by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan's Nicholas Meyer. McDowell is also the maternal uncle of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig).

Why Soran Was Obsessed With The Nexus In Star Trek Generations

Star Trek Generations established that the loss of his entire family to the Borg fundamentally changed Dr. Tolian Soran. He became a more nihilistic man, who believed that death was the only constant in the universe. Therefore, he thought nothing of the countless lives he risked with his experiments to re-enter the Nexus. Essentially, Soran was a grief-stricken man unable to move past the trauma of the Borg Collective's attack on the El-Aurian home world. The idyllic life he saw inside the Nexus therefore consumed him, and his whole life became about reclaiming it.

Soran's obsession with the Nexus pushed him to extraordinary lengths, from siding with the Duras sisters to using Geordi's Star Trek VISOR against the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. He effectively became a religious zealot, determined to wreak havoc so that he could reach his own personal heaven. At the climax of Star Trek Generations, Picard and Kirk foiled Soran's attempt to re-enter the Nexus and saved the planet Veridian III from being destroyed. Kirk gave his life to save the planet, while Soran perished in an explosion, hopefully finding some form of peace on the other side.

The Nexus Will Probably Never Return To Star Trek

The concept of the destructive energy ribbon that provides a gateway to a heavenly idyll is a dangerous one, which is presumably why Kirk's body was stored in Daystrom Station in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Kirk's time in the Nexus left behind an echo, which could allow a Soran-like zealot to reverse engineer entry into the Nexus using Kirk's DNA. While the concept of the Nexus is certainly an interesting one, it's still unlikely that it will return to the modern Star Trek franchise.

The Nexus was essentially a narrative device to bring Picard and Kirk together, so it doesn't serve much of a purpose again after Star Trek Generations. It was also poorly received by audiences, and didn't hold up to scrutiny as a serious sci-fi concept. It's therefore likely that the only references to the Nexus going forward will be wry asides, like the ethereal meeting between Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) in Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Star Trek Generations is available to stream on Paramount+.