Data's brother, Lore, arrived in the Star Trek franchise as one of the most nefarious villains in The Next Generation, but which of his episodes were best? Debuting during Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, Lore was Data's spitting image, but his aims were much more treacherous. Lore was also played by Brent Spiner, and the part allowed the seasoned character actor to stretch his range beyond the robotic nature of Data and truly play a complicated rogue. Though he only appeared in a handful of episodes across the show's seven seasons, Lore never failed to leave an impression, and he often gave the Enterprise crew their biggest challenges.
Lore's first appearance came in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, episode 13, "Datalore," and it didn't take long for Dr. Soong's bad seed to return to vex his brother. Like every Soong character Brent Spiner played, his take on Lore imbued the android with his own personality, and he transcended merely being a stock-standard enemy of the week. Lore mattered to TNG because he was a dark mirror for Data, and he represented a moral lesson about the dangers of creating life. Over his four appearances, Lore had a story arc all of his own, and his presence on the show made Data an even more fascinating character.
4 Descent (S6 E26)
The first half of an epic two-part story, Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 26, "Descent," was essentially the set-up for the payoff in "Descent, Part II." In the first part, the crew of the Enterprise encountered a band of Borg drones who attacked outposts and referred to themselves as individuals. Data's quest to find emotion was one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's best storylines, and many episodes in the latter half of the series were dedicated to his self-exploration. "Descent" was one such episode, and the bits with Data made up the bulk of the story with the Borg playing second fiddle.
Lore only arrived in the last scene and was ostensibly used as a teaser to keep the audience on the line for the long break between season 6 and season 7. Though "Descent" was by no means a bad episode, it was the worst Lore episode mainly because Lore himself was hardly in it. It was revealed that Lore was the one pulling the strings all along, but the charismatic character only appeared for a brief moment to declare that he planned to destroy the Federation, with his brother by his side. "Descent" was half of one of TNG's best two-part episodes, but it lacked its main villain.
3 Datalore (S1 E13)
Lore was one of the few guest characters to appear throughout the seven-season show, and his first appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, episode 13, "Datalore" was a triumphant debut. The story saw the crew of the Enterprise reassemble Data's brother Lore, only to find that he had evil intentions and was in league with the Crystaline Entity. Little went right in Star Trek: The Next Generation's first season, but the introduction of Lore was a brilliant masterstroke. Not only was the character a compelling villain, but it opened the door for future stories, and allowed the audience to learn more about Data and his creation.
Many early TNG episodes were based on TOS stories, and those often came off as stale and rehashed. "Datalore" was one of the few early TNG episodes to feel wholly original, even if it wasn't perfect. Brent Spiner was certainly the highlight of the episode, and he pulled double duty with effortless grace, as he would do in every Lore appearance. Despite the positives of "Datalore," it was still a season 1 episode and suffered from all the same pitfalls that plagued the show's maiden voyage. It was cheesy and poorly executed, but the ideas were there.
2 Descent, Part II (S7 E1)
Besides being one of the best TNG Borg episodes, "Descent, Part II," which kicked off season 7, finally let Lore be the star of the show. Following the revelation that he was controlling the Borg drones, it was discovered that he gave Data emotions in order to recruit his help in destroying all organic life in the galaxy. Though he was never a good guy by any stretch of the imagination, Lore's dastardly plan in "Descent, Part II" put him on an entirely different level of villainy. He had previously partnered with destructive forces like the Crystaline Entity in the past, but his recruitment of the Borg was truly sinister.
"Descent, Part II" was a clever piece of storytelling that blended together several ongoing arcs into one compelling outing. In the previous episode, Captain Picard had been scolded for not destroying the most significant Star Trek villain species in The Next Generation season 5, episode 23, "I, Borg," and the consequences of his choice were seen firsthand with the return of Hugh the Borg. Also, Lore hit his fever pitch as his designs finally graduated to the point of despotism. Though the episode was overstuffed, it was still an excellent way to kick off the show's final season, and it paid off plot threads that had simmered for years.
1 Brothers (S4 E3)
Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 3, "Brothers" pressed Brent Spiner to play three characters in one episode. After receiving a distress call from his father, Data hijacked the Enterprise in order to reunite with his long-lost creator along with his evil brother. Dr. Noonien Soong was yet another character for Spiner to sink his teeth into, and the episode was already memorable because of Data's interactions with his dad. Focusing on one of Data's most human relationships, "Brothers" showed him opening up to his creator, and the appearance of Lore made it all the more compelling.
Whereas "Datalore" was more of a straightforward evil twin story, "Brothers" allowed the moral differences between the two siblings to be the central focus of the episode's conflict. It was the only time that the two brothers actually squabbled like brothers, and Lore's rather immature plan to switch places with his brother was more informative about his character than any of his sweeping master schemes. Lore was not the central focus of the episode, and he was more of a nuisance than a downright villain, but the human jealousy within him made him so much more interesting than the usual Star Trek foe.