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Who is Data’s Daughter on ‘Star Trek: Picard’: All About Dahj, Lal, and Soji

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• Star Trek: Picard

CBS All Access’s Star Trek: Picard focuses on an unusually emotional mystery for Star Trek . Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) is struggling with grief and angst in his advanced age. His only comforts are his few surviving friends, his dog, and his wine. However, Picard gets a jolt to his system when an unusual young woman named Dahj ( Isa Briones ) shows up at his vineyard in desperate need of help. It seems that she might not be who she thinks she is. She might be an android.

All this begs the question for Picard: Did Data (Brent Spiner) leave behind a daughter?

** STAR TREK: PICARD EPISODE 1 SPOILERS AHEAD**

The idea that an android like Data could be a daddy isn’t so wild. After all, Data was a father in the Season 3 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation , “The Offspring.” Her name is Lal. Now, however, Picard has evidence to believe that Dahj is Data’s daughter…and what of Dahj’s twin sister, Soji?

Here’s your guide to Data’s daughter from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lal, as well as the two women who may carry Data’s legacy within them: new synthetic humans Dahj and Soji.

Who Is Lal? Data's Daughter From 'Star Trek: TNG'?

Data became a daddy all the way back in Star Trek: The Next Generation , Season 3, Episode 16, “The Offspring.” Data decided to create a child, named Lal (Hallie Todd), without the knowledge of anyone else on the ship. Interestingly, Data let Lal choose their own species and gender, and Lal decided to become a human female.

At first, Picard was furious with Data for creating artificial life without looping in the Federation, but when another admiral tried to force Lal to leave the Enterprise (and Data’s safekeeping), Picard defended Data’s right to be a parent. Lal eventually superseded her creator, managing to use contractions and to feel emotions. However, feeling emotions resulted in a system collapse. Data honored his daughter by copying her memories to his neural system.

In Star Trek: Picard , Jean-Luc Picard realizes that Dahj looks identical to a figure in a painting that Data made entitled “Daughter.” He believes Dahj is somehow Data’s daughter.

PS: Yes, Data’s daughter was indeed played by Lizzie McGuire’s mother. Same actress! Hallie Todd!

Where to stream Star Trek: The Next Generation

Who is Dahj? The Mysterious Synthetic Girl in 'Star Trek: Picard'?

Star Trek: Picard ‘s first episode introduces Isa Briones’s Dahj. She’s a sweet nerd who we learn lives in “Greater Boston” and has a nice boyfriend. However, that falls apart when a group of mysterious assassins transport into her apartment, slay the nice boyfriend, and throw a bag over her head. Suddenly, Dahj’s AI programming kicks in and she kills the intruders. Shocked, she leaves and looks for the one man she can see in her mind’s eye: Picard.

It doesn’t take Picard too long to piece together that Dahj is an android and that she has some sort of connection to Data. However, as soon as Picard can swear himself to her cause, she is murdered by assassins.

Undeterred, Picard travels to the Daystrom Institute in Okinawa, a center for AI research. There Picard meets Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill), a stymied expert on androids. She reveals that if her mentor Bruce Maddox managed to create AI life, he would have done so copying at least one of Data’s neurons…and there would have been twins.

At the end of Star Trek: Picard’s first episode, we learn that Dahj’s twin sister is named Soji…

Who is Soji, Dahj's Twin Sister?

As of yet, we don’t know too much about Soji except that she exists, she lives, and she is on some sort of science mission on a former Borg cube that has since been dubbed a “Romulan Reclamation Zone.” At the very end of the first episode of Star Trek: Picard, she flirts with a handsome Romulan played by Harry Treadaway.

Dahj might be dead, but Soji lives…and it’s likely that Jean-Luc Picard will be on a mission to find her and her connection to Data over the course of the first season of Star Trek: Picard.

Where to stream Star Trek: Picard

• Isa Briones

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The Offspring

• Episode aired Mar 10, 1990

After returning from a cybernetics conference to the Enterprise, Data creates his own "child," much to the chagrin of his captain, and without regards to the ramifications with Starfleet. After returning from a cybernetics conference to the Enterprise, Data creates his own "child," much to the chagrin of his captain, and without regards to the ramifications with Starfleet. After returning from a cybernetics conference to the Enterprise, Data creates his own "child," much to the chagrin of his captain, and without regards to the ramifications with Starfleet.

• Jonathan Frakes
• Gene Roddenberry
• René Echevarria
• Ronald D. Moore
• Patrick Stewart
• LeVar Burton
• 31 User reviews
• 9 Critic reviews

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard

• Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

• Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

• Lieutenant Worf

• Doctor Beverly Crusher

• Counselor Deanna Troi

• Lieutenant Commander Data

• Wesley Crusher

• Adm. Anthony Haftel

• Lt. Ballard
• Ten Forward Crew
• Crewman Nelson
• (uncredited)
• Crewman Martinez
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia First Star Trek TV episode to be directed by an actor from the show ( Jonathan Frakes /Commander Riker). Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner had both previously directed Star Trek movies.
• Goofs Data teaches Lal how to blink, but earlier when Data and Wesley are discussing Lal she is already visibly blinking.

Lt. Cmdr. Data : Lal. I am unable to correct the malfunction.

Lal : I know, Father.

Lt. Cmdr. Data : We must say goodbye now.

Lal : I feel...

Lt. Cmdr. Data : What do you feel, Lal?

Lal : ...I love you, Father.

Lt. Cmdr. Data : [after a pause] I wish I could feel it with you.

Lal : I will feel it for both of us. Thank you for my life. Flirting... Laughter... Painting, family... Female... Human.

• Connections Featured in The Chronic Rift: The 1990 Roundtable Awards (1991)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 31

• planktonrules
• Nov 16, 2014
• March 10, 1990 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 45 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Star Trek: Picard - Is Soji ACTUALLY Data’s Daughter?

Star Trek: Picard has teased that the twins Dahj and Soji could be derived from Data, but the latest episode casts serious doubt on that theory.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 3 of Star Trek: Picard , “The End is the Beginning,” now streaming on CBS All Access.

The central storyline of Star Trek: Picard sees the venerable captain embark on a mission to rescue Soji Asha , a synthetic being created with revolutionary technology. The clues left Jean-Luc (and us) with the impression that this tech was derived from Data’s miraculous positronic brain. But in the third episode “The End is the Beginning,” information was revealed that raises doubts concerning Soji’s connection to Data.

Chief among them, was Soji’s interactions with Ramdha, a Romulan who de-assimilated from the Borg collective. Soji learned from Hugh that the only de-assimilated Borg to suffer from severe mental health issues were Romulans. Soji struggles to get through to Ramdha, who is laying out triangular pixmit cards, essentially Romulan tarot, in an intricate pattern.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Is a Fight for the Franchise's Soul

She finally manages to connect with the near-vegetative Romulan by repeating classified information regarding Ramdha’s assimilation -- information that up until that moment, Soji didn’t have access to. At this point, Ramdha has a severe emotional outburst. She looks at pixmit card displaying two women and claims to know Soji from “tomorrow.” As realization dawns on Ramdha, she panics and snatches a guard’s phaser.

She takes aim at Soji, calling her Seb-Cheneb, the Destroyer. This term is also used to describe Soji by a Zhat Vash agent Picard interrogates. When Ramdha sees she cannot escape the room containing Soji, she attempts to kill herself but is stopped. The other de-assimilated Romulans seem agitated by Soji’s presence as well.

If Soji were merely an advanced android spawned from Data, it’s unlikely that she would be pursued so doggedly by the Romulans. And the Zhat Vash agents in the show frequently say that Soji is not who we think she is. If she’s not Data’s daughter, there is a distinct possibility that Soji is a Borg of some kind.

This notion is not so far-fetched. Signs have pointed to a deeper connection between the Romulans and the Borg . The Zhat Vash are keepers of a secret shame that could break a Romulan’s mind, and they are actively hunting synths. The Romulans who were de-assimilated have all been driven mad by the information they received from the Borg cube.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard's Baby Data (Inspired By Baby Yoda) Will Haunt You Forever

If Soji is able to uncover the truth about her construction it may also expose the Romulan/Borg connection. If made public, that revelation might very well be the secret shame capable of driving Romulans mad. An event of that scale would absolutely qualify Soji as their destroyer.

There are still major gaps to be filled. Bruce Maddox has yet to be found and he could be the key to unraveling Soji’s mysterious past. Jean-Luc believes that Maddox built Soji solely out of Data’s technology, but there is a chance he included Borg advancements in her construction, making Soji some kind of hybrid. But Maddox’s involvement doesn’t explain how she became so important to the Zhat Vash or how Soji subconsciously possesses classified Romulan intel.

If she isn’t Data’s daughter, this will surely be a blow to Jean-Luc. He first embarked on his mission out of respect for his dead friend. If he finds out that he’s been operating under false assumptions, it could very well break him. And if Soji turns out to be related to the Borg in some way, there’s no telling how Jean-Luc will respond. The Borg are his most hated enemy, and it would turn his world upside down to learn his rescue mission was to save a member of that race.

Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, and Harry Treadaway. New episodes of the series premiere every Thursday on CBS All Access.

KEEP READING: Star Trek: Picard - Is Section 31 Working With the Romulans?

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Published Jun 15, 2023

Star Trek's Unlikely Fathers: Data and Odo

Our two figures came to discover, through trial and error, that fatherhood was a constant evolution.

StarTrek.com

Fatherhood is not a step one should take lightly. For two of Star Trek ’s least likely fathers, fatherhood began as clear-eyed choices, which would reveal to them truths about themselves and the world in which they walked.

For Data , in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “ The Offspring ,” his daughter started out as an experiment driven by a visit to a cybernetics conference. And for Odo , in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “ The Begotten ,” his adopted child was a chance-find brought to him by his main foil . Both knew almost immediately that what he was undertaking was not something done lightly, and yet, like all new fathers, neither had any idea what they were actually in for.

It is often said that being a parent is like having a piece of your heart walking around outside your body. Your heart (your child) is exposed and vulnerable, and every instinct inside you screams to protect it. You cannot let this piece of you come to harm because anything that hurts it hurts you. But you understand that you cannot protect it forever, and sooner than you wish, your child will have to learn to cope with the world and all its dangers on their own.

Data does this in the most logical way he knows, which is the only way he knows to do anything. He exposes Lal to as much of the world as he can as quickly as he feels she will be able to understand. He soon realizes that he cannot teach her everything she needs to know, becoming so overwhelmed by her constant quest for learning — “ Why is the sky black? ” — that he shuts her off for the night. (Human children, alas, come with no such switch, but that’s why science invented tablets and Cocomelon.) He decides, in that moment that, while Lal can learn from him, it is better than she learn on her own as other children do — in a social setting. He pushes his baby bird out of the nest, and in doing so, he learns that early difficult lesson of fatherhood — making friends for yourself may be hard, but making friends for your child is impossible. All you can do is step back, watch them fail, and then talk with them about why it didn't work out.

Odo felt the sting of his child’s failure much more sharply because of his own upbringing. While Data had no parent figure when he was a “child,” he has had a positive father figure in his own life in the form of Captain Picard. Odo’s sole father figure was Dr. Mora Pol , a scientist Odo came to resent and even hate. Why? Because Dr. Mora had no idea what he was doing as he raised Odo, and he made every mistake a father could make. He pushed, punished, and was neither gentle nor kind. He barely saw Odo as a person, but more as an experiment, a thing to be understood.

And so Odo, when given the chance, made his parenting choices almost out of spite. Sometimes being a father means putting into action the words, “Oh, I’ll show you.” In doing so, Odo overcorrected the sins of his father and cradled his child like an egg, terrified to do anything which would cause it any discomfort or pain, terrified to be anything like the man who raised him.

Only once Odo did what Data did, and allowed the child to come under strain and experience difficulty did the child grow and respond. But because of the lessons Odo had learned, he reacted with empathy and understanding. He guided the Changeling infant through the challenges it faced even as he was the one subjecting it to those challenges. Through this, Odo also came to an understanding of Dr. Mora because it is not until you are a parent that you can truly begin to understand your own parents. And through Odo’s journey, Dr. Mora came to understand his son like he never had before. Fatherhood is a constant evolution, rippling forward and backward through generations.

As their children begin to grow, both Data and Odo see their hopes and dreams for their children expand. Data understands his limitations — his lack of emotion and, on a more surface level, his inability to use contractions. While he never states his intention to make Lal better than he is, he does strive to help her understand that she can be the best person she could be. When Lal asks Data what their function is, he responds, “To contribute in a positive way to the world in which we live.” Much like Odo wants to be a better father than his was, Data wants Lal to understand she exists to make the world better. Macro and micro goals which both equal out to the same thing.

Lal uses a contraction for the first time, and Data realizes that his child has capabilities which far exceed his own. While this is never explored in the episode, it can be assumed that, at some point, Data would have to wrestle with the fact that there will come a time when Lal will experience things Data can no longer explain to her. What is a father to do when he no longer understands the world as his child sees it? The only thing a father can ever do — love the child unconditionally and be there for whatever the child needs.

Odo also glimpses this future, and in fact, it’s part of his stated goal from the very moment he learns of the baby Changeling. “You can be anything,” Odo says, a cliché all fathers say (and believe), but carrying with it a delightful double meaning for this infant shapeshifter. Odo tells his child that he can’t wait to teach it to change into all sorts of wonderful things, like a Tarkalean hawk, while admitting that he was never very good at shapeshifting. He knows that he can teach his child to exceed his own abilities, and, in fact, relishes the idea.

Data and Odo both also experience one of the most rewarding and unexpected joys of fatherhood; something you never really think about until it happens. For Data, it occurs when Lal understands the purpose of holding hands and, on her own, makes the choice to take Data’s hand in her own. For Odo, it's when the infant Changeling rises up and mimics Odo’s own face back to him. For both characters, these silent gestures mean one thing — “I love you, father.” And the first time your child tells you they love you unbidden, it is one of the most special moments in a parent’s life.

There is one more thing that Data grasps about being a parent innately that cannot be left unstated as too many parents in this present day do not understand it. Data understands that he will accept and care for Lal no matter what gender or appearance she chooses. He gives her that choice freely, and if she were to choose to change it later, we understand that he would accept that as well and care for them just the same. This is not a discussion Odo must have because he, by nature, understands the fluidity of his child’s person. Star Trek , it seems, will forever reach across decades and speak to discussions happening today.

Both fathers, in the end, must also experience the worst thing a parent can go through. But rather than focus on that, we can focus on the final lesson both learn. That through our children, we understand the world. That what they experience — how they live, learn, and grow — can teach us to be better ourselves. Through the experience of fatherhood, brief though it is for both Data and Odo, they are forever changed for the better. We can all hope that we teach our children to be better than we are, and they, in turn, teach us to be better than we thought we ever could be.

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Doug Robertson is a lifelong Trek fan and educator who has written several books about teaching, including "The Cardboard Classroom," which can be found anywhere books are sold.

Daughter (painting)

• View history

Daughter was one of a set of two oil on canvas paintings painted by Data circa 2369 . It depicted a young woman standing at the edge of a rocky shore on a stormy day. The difference between the two was the direction the woman was looking. In Daughter , she was looking directly at the viewer; while in the other, she was looking to the horizon. Data gave them as a gift to Captain Jean-Luc Picard while they were aboard the USS Enterprise -D .

Thirty years later, Daughter , item number 227.67, had been stored since 2386 in Picard's section of the quantum archive at the Starfleet Archive Museum while the other painting was framed and hung on the wall in the study of Château Picard . The presence of Dahj Asha 's face in this painting led Picard to speculate that Bruce Maddox used it as inspiration when creating Dahj and her twin, Soji Asha , via fractal neuronic cloning . It was later revealed that fellow Coppelius androids Jana and Sutra were also modeled after Daughter . ( PIC : " Remembrance ", " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1 ")

Screen Rant

The aunt of star trek: tng's tasha yar actress once romanced ds9's quark.

Despite leaving TNG in season 1, Denise Crosby has lasting ties to the Star Trek franchise, including her aunt, who fell in love with DS9's Quark.

The aunt of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Denise Crosby once had a brief romance with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Quark (Armin Shimerman). Denise Crosby played Lt. Tasha Yar in TNG , whose family continued to pop up in the show even after she was killed by Armus. Tasha's sister, Ishara Yar (Beth Toussaint), used the crew of the USS Enterprise-D to help her launch an invasion of the Turkana IV Alliance's territory in TNG season 4, episode 6, "Legacy". Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5 introduced Sela (Denise Crosby) Tasha Yar's half-Romulan daughter from an alternate timeline, who became a recurring villain on the show.

Tasha Yar's extended family appearing on Star Trek: The Next Generation was reflective of Denise Crosby's own family links to the wider Star Trek universe. Denise Crosby was the granddaughter of popular crooner and actor Bing Crosby, named after her father, and Bing's son, Dennis Crosby. Embarrassed by a high-profile child support case between Dennis Crosby and Denise's mother, Marilyn Miller Scott, Bing Crosby reportedly never met his granddaughter . Amid this court battle, Bing Crosby's second wife, Kathryn, gave birth to her second child, Denise's aunt and future Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest star , Mary Crosby.

Star Trek: TNG's Most Hated Episode Still Traumatizes Denise Crosby

Star trek: tng's denise crosby's aunt played quark's love interest in ds9.

Denise Crosby's aunt Mary played Professor Natima Lang in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 18, "Profit and Loss" . Mary Crosby was a prolific TV guest star in the early 1990s, appearing in shows such as Murder, She Wrote and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman before being cast as Natima in DS9 . A specialist in political ethics, Natima was a prominent member of the Cardassian dissident movement, who wanted to overthrow their government's military rulers. Natima Lang was a character who brought out Quark's romantic and heroic side, something that DS9 writer and producer Ira Steven Behr disapproved of :

" I felt we didn't need another tough, sexy, swashbuckling character on the show. We had enough of those." - Ira Steven Behr, The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion

Mary Crosby is best known for playing Kristin Shepard in the iconic soap opera Dallas between 1979 and 1981 . Kristin Shepard was the character who famously shot J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) in the soap, with the reveal becoming one of the highest-rated episodes of any TV drama. In an interesting parallel between her character in Dallas and her character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Mary Crosby also shoots Quark in "Profit and Loss", albeit accidentally. It's a fun nod to Mary Crosby's best-known TV role.

Denise Crosby's Other Star Trek Family Links

Mary Crosby isn't the only member of Denise Crosby's extended family to appear in the wider Star Trek universe. Denise Crosby's brother, Paul, is married to actress and stunt performer, Spice Williams, who has made many appearances in the Star Trek franchise . Spice Williams-Crosby played Vixis in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , the first officer on Klaa's Klingon bird of prey. As a stunt performer, Spice Williams-Crosby doubled for Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine on episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.

Denise Crosby is also a distant relation of Family Guy creator and Star Trek: Enterprise guest star, Seth MacFarlane . Ancestry details of Seth MacFarlane reveal that he was a descendant of William Brewster, an ancestor of Bing Crosby. This means that Denise Crosby and Seth MacFarlane are distant cousins, a detail which must have pleased the noted Star Trek fan. In 2011, Seth MacFarlane revealed his desire to reboot the franchise on TV, a dream he never got to realize. However, his sci-fi comedy drama The Orville is the next best thing, a loving homage to Star Trek: The Next Generation that features many of its alumni.

All episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.