History TearJerker / StarTrekGenerations

* Many people have questioned how a Starfleet icon like Kirk could ever seriously consider staying in the Nexus and not trying to save the day? He explains, he's spent his whole life saving the galaxy, and all it got him....was an empty house. There are several people who can relate to feeling they missed out on things because of devotion to career.

** It speaks volumes that even with above, when he finally stops to think about it, he totally goes with Picard. James Tiberius Kirk will never EVER not do his job. Not even in (kinda sorta) death.

* However, he discovers that it isn't the "empty house". It's the "empty chair" -- retired, he finds himself useless unless he's "making a difference".

-->'''Soran:''' No, no! You don't understand! I have to go back! ''I have to go '''BACK'''''!

** What about that slow pull back once the saucer has come to rest? There's a moment of relief at the realization that they made it through, and then it really hits you - the crew survived, but the ''Enterprise'' won't be getting back up from that one.

*** If you read the novelisation, you don't have to use your imagination. It's as devastating as you'd expect. [=McCoy=] blames himself, because he was tired of Starfleet and knew that Kirk was feeling alone to the point of being a DeathSeeker, Spock will outlive all his friends, and everyone is desperate to believe it's like "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E9TheTholianWeb The Tholian Web]]" again. In a rare moment of vulnerability, [=McCoy=] even brings out the gift Spock gave him- a Vulcan tool for aiding in meditation- and affirms to his old verbal sparring partner that he genuinely ''uses'' the gift rather than just leaving it in a drawer, as though he wants to assure Spock that the two of them are friends in their own right rather than "needing" Kirk as a buffer.

** In the novelization, it's Chekov who makes the call, and it's heartbreaking. Doubly so because Rand is there to hear the news as well. Sulu in particular experiences MoodWhiplash throughout the call, as he initially assumes Chekov's calling to tell him that his daughter is dead only to be left confused when Chekov says that "the captain" is dead. Wondering why Chekov is calling to tell him about the death of Captain Harriman, a man he barely knows, Sulu is then left devasted when he realises ''which'' captain Chekov actually meant, softly thanking his friend for passing on the news and issuing a shipwide broadcast to inform his crew of the loss of a living Starfleet legend.

* The novelization has one that's sadly missing from the movie; Captain Sulu and the crew of the ''Excelsior'' are running an evacuation drill, when a grieving Chekov calls in and interrupts (this is after the ''Enterprise''-B escapes the Nexus). Sulu immediately thinks something has happened to his daughter, but Chekov tells him it's "the Captain". For a moment Sulu is baffled, wondering why Chekov is calling him about Harriman -- then Rand, standing next to him, gasps, and Sulu realizes what Chekov is actually telling him.

*** If you read the novelisation, you don't have to use your imagination. It's as devastating as you'd expect. [=McCoy=] blames himself, because he was tired of Starfleet and knew that Kirk was feeling alone to the point of being a DeathSeeker, Spock will outlive all his friends, and everyone is desperate to believe it's like "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E9TheTholianWeb The Tholian Web]]" again. In a rare moment of vulnerability, [=McCoy=] even brings out the gift Spock gave him- a Vulcan tool for aiding in meditation- and affirms to his old verbal sparring partner that he genuinely ''uses'' the gift rather than just leaving it in a drawer, as though he wants to assure Spock that they are friends in their own right rather than "needing" Kirk as a buffer.

** A deleted scene has one final moment with the two, on the bridge where Demora confirms no trace of Kirk even his body. Poor Chekov is sobbing how he can't believe after all they'd been through "it would end like this" while Scotty just mutters about how they were just going on a quick "Run around the block" and then tries to reason that everyone has to go sometime, but Chekov isn't convinced and thinks Kirk deserved better. It's not just that Kirk died, but how to them. They knew full well the risks they took on their adventure but never expected the heroic Captain James Kirk who survived a 30 year career in Starfleet to get spaced like a random crewman during a few hour press tour only a few months after he'd officially retired. And they don't even have anything to bury.

** In the novelization, it's Chekov who makes the call, and it's heartbreaking. Doubly so because Rand is there to hear the news as well. Sulu in particular experiences MoodWhiplash throughout the call, as he initially assumes Chekov's calling to tell him that his daughter is dead, is left confused when Chekov says that "the captain" is dead as he assumes that means Captain Harriman, and is left devasted when he realises ''which'' captain Chekov actually meant.

* The book also has several versions of Kirk’s Nexus fantasy (explaining that it constantly shifts when the happiness gets too much, as he knows then it’s not real); marrying Carol, Gary and his brother/sister in law being alive, he and his friends being young again, saving Edith, living out every relationship that went wrong (on his part or theirs) and saving every RedShirt that served under him.

*** If you read the novelisation, you don't have to use your imagination. It's as devastating as you'd expect. [=McCoy=] blames himself, because he was tired of Starfleet and knew that Kirk was feeling alone to the point of being a DeathSeeker, Spock will outlive all his friends, and everyone is desperate to believe it's like [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekS3E9TheTholianWeb The Tholian Web]] again.

** In the novelization, it's Chekov who makes the call, and it's heartbreaking. Doubly so because Rand is there to hear the news as well.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkk-IYaXlVQ Picard having to abandon his fantasy.]] He is so close to just letting himself get sucked into the illusion; here, he has a family again after his real relatives were so cruelly taken from him just days before. Even the illusory Guinan doesn't attempt to stop him- but he knows that to stay would be to condemn millions of lives to death as the Veridian system's sun goes nova, and in the end, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany he lets his fantasy go for the sake of the many.]]

*** Not precisely. He goes because it's not real, not because it's not desired.

** However, that relates to having a legacy -- without one, he's not making a difference with progeny.

* The novelisation has Kirk preparing to jump for the bridge, maybe knowing he might die, and one of his last thoughts is wondering if Spock was still alive.

** During the saucer separation, they don't wait for the power lines to disconnect properly and instead sever them by force. It has a similar vibe to cutting off one's foot in hopes of escaping a trap.

** Hell, the whole sequence of the evacuation from Geordi rushing everyone out of engineering (himself being the last to leave after staring back at the warp core, ''his'' engine room), Beverly rushing everyone out of Sick Bay, and the final view of the saucer separating and leaving behind an obviously disintergrating lower ship... ... Something about it feels so different from every other incident or near evacuation. Somehow you just know the ship won't survive this.

*** If you read the novelisation, you don't have to use your imagination. It's as devastating as you'd expect.

** The spin-off novel ''Stargazer- Oblivion'' expands on this idea by looking at the circumstances of Picard's first meeting with Guinan while he was still captain of the ''Stargazer'', which includes her reflecting that, when she was in the Nexus, she was reunited with Jevi, the daughter who was most like her and born after all her other children had moved out. Even over forty years after the Nexus, Guinan continued to grieve what she had lost in the Nexus until she was 'reunited' with Picard (having met his future self in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E26S6E1TimesArrow Time's Arrow]]"), his courage and commitment helping her realise there could still be joy in the real world.

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[[caption-width-right:350:[[LastWords "It was... fun. Oh my..."]]]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkk-IYaXlVQ Picard having to abandon his fantasy.]] He is so close to just letting himself get sucked into the illusion; here, he has a family again after his real relatives were so cruelly taken from him just days before. Even the illusory Guinan doesn't attempt to stop him- but he knows that to stay would be to condemn millions of lives to death as the Veridian system's sun goes nova, and in the end, he lets his fantasy go for the sake of the many.

* Picard talking with Troi about his family, who he has just learned had all but one died in a fire. He manages a few words with Troi before he breaks and just starts ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H0ZI8dgJZY sobbing]]'' over the loss of his nephew Rene, to whom he was exceptionally close. All he's been through in his career and life, and that the man is still capable of showing such emotion makes for an ''intensely'' powerful scene. Even worse is his attempt at a StiffUpperLip by saying it's all right - and Troi replying, aghast, "''Captain''! It's ''not'' all right!". After so long as the calm, collected Captain of the ship, Troi has to ''remind'' him that it's okay to fall apart after such news.

** Hell, the whole sequence of the evacuation from Geordi rushing everyone out of engineering (himself being the last to leave after staring back at the warp core, ''his'' engine room, Beverly rushing everyone out of Sick Bay, and the final view of the saucer separating and leaving behind an obviously disintergrating lower ship... ... Something about it feels so different from every other incident or near evacuation. Somehow you just know the ship won't survive this.