History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E9TheVengeanceFactor

** Learning more about Acamarian history, Picard notes how Acamar's violent past is not too unlike that of his own homeworld.

-->'''Picard:''' You know, it is remarkable how very much alike the two of you actually are.\\

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Used by Picard during the talks between Marouk and Chorgan, as he points out that the two are more alike than they care to admit.

* BullyingADragon: Chorgan somehow thinks that it's a good idea to open fire on a Galaxy-class starship on sight.

* CurbStompBattle: ''Enterprise'' only needs one phaser shot to disable Chorgan's ship.

* ProudWarriorRace: The Acamarians used to be this. According to Marouk, they're no longer proud of it.

* NotSoDifferent:
** Invoked by Picard during the talks between Marouk and Chorgan, as he points out that the two are more alike than they care to admit.
** He also points out the similarities between the histories of Acamar and Earth.

Negotiations between Marouk and Chorgan are stormy, but with Picard's help are gradually progressing. Just as Yuta goes to serve drinks, Riker beams aboard, with a phaser aimed at Yuta. He reveals the full story: 80 years ago, the Lornak and Tralesta clans all but wiped each other out in a massive war. Yuta was one of a small number of survivors on the Tralesta side and was genetically re-engineered to age slowly and carry a virus that would [[FamilyExtermination kill any Lornak clan member she came into contact with]]. And wouldn't you know it, Chorgan is the last surviving member of the Lornak clan. Riker tries to talk Yuta down, but she refuses to be reasoned with, and Riker is forced to vaporize her. Chorgan is grateful, but it's of little consolation to Riker, who [[DrowningMySorrows drowns his sorrows]] in Ten Forward as the episode ends.

* BatmanGambit: Yuta took a position as the Sovereign's cook and food taster banking on the fact that the Sovereign wanted peace with the Gatherers and would take her along, thus allowing Yuta to get at the last of the Lornaks.
* BullyingADragon: Chorgan somehow thinks it's a good idea to open fire on a Galaxy-class starship on sight.

* ConvenientPhotograph: Riker and the crew use this trope and EnhanceButton on a decades old photo of a Gatherer's trial. They discover that the Girl of the Week was there because she's [[OlderThanTheyLook much older than she looks]].

* CycleOfRevenge: Marouk explains how in Acamar's past loyalty to one's clan was absolute and the slightest injury to one member resulted in violent retaliation that could start a decades long bloody feud.

* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: A non-villainous example--Riker pleads with Yuta to not try to kill Chorgan so he won't have to kill her first.

* DullSurprise: The director opted to film Picard, Marouk, and Chorgan sitting behind Yuta as she's vaporized, but didn't realize the special effects would require the three to just sit there, not reacting at all to her death.

* FacialMarkings: The Acamarians have these. It unclear if they're natural or not, but different characters have different markings. They don't appear to indicate clans.
* FamilyExtermination: A century earlier, the planet Acamar was caught up in an endless series of [[FeudingFamilies blood feuds]] between rival clans, one of which, the Tralesta, was nearly completely destroyed by another clan, the Lornak. The handful of survivors agreed to turn one of their own into a biologically immortal assassin so that she could hunt down ''every single Lornak'' no matter how long it took. By the time the episode takes place, the few other remaining Tralesta are all long dead, only the assassin, a mild-mannered [[OlderThanTheyLook "young"]] woman named Yuta, remains. While she's long since grown weary of the killing and death, the process that made her stop aging also seems to have locked in the state of grief and pain over losing her clan and she's ''very'' close to completing her mission. As she puts it to the penultimate Lornak, "I am the last of my line, but my clan will outlive yours!". Her chemistry with Riker is ''almost'' enough to convince her to give up on the vendetta, but not quite and he is forced to vaporize her before she can finish off the last survivor (an important political leader engaged in peace talks).

* LastSecondChance: Riker tries to persuade Yuta to give up her quest for vengeance, saying that the wars are over and she doesn't have to kill anymore, but Yuta says she has no choice. Even after hitting her with stun beams twice and pleading one last time, she still tries to kill Chorgan.

* RevengeBeforeReason: This is almost the Acamarians' [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. Marouk explains that for centuries, loyalty to one's clan was the most important consideration, and "The slightest injury to one member demanded violent retaliation." Vengeance would then be passed down through generations. In the episode, Yuta throws her life away for revenge.
* ReverseWhodunnit: The audience knows Yuta is the killer from the start, but is still privy to the crew's attempts at solving the murder.

* RevengeBeforeReason: Yuta throws her life away for revenge.

* EnhanceButton: The ''Enterprise'' computer is able to "magnify" a small portion of an image and maintain crystal-clear detail. That would be possible on an extremely high-resolution image. However, the computer is also able to "extrapolate" the rest of a face that is only 20% visible, leading to an exact duplicate of the real person's appearance.

* ConvenientPhotograph: Riker and the crew use this trope and EnhanceButton on a decades old photo of a Gatherer's trial. They discover that the Girl of the Week was there because she's OlderThanTheyLook.

* BatmanGambit: Yuta took a position as the Soverign's cook and food taster banking on the fact that the Sovereign wanted peace with the Gatherers and would take her along, thus allowing Yuta to get at the last of the Lornaks.

The ''Enterprise'' arrives to help the crew of a Federation outpost, who have been attacked by an unknown assailant. Investigation finds that the attackers were members of the Acamarian species, and likely members of the Gatherers, a notorious group of nomadic pirates. Fortunately, this week the Prime Directive allows the ''Enterprise'' to get involved in the affairs of other species, and Picard tells the leader of the Acamarian government, Sovereign Marouk, that she needs to get their shit in order and stop the Gatherers from going after other galactic powers. Marouk is unconvinced that they can actually achieve anything, but agrees to come along and try to get something done. She comes aboard the ''Enterprise'' along with her delegation, including her personal cook, a young woman named Yuta.

On arrival at a Gatherer outpost, an away team beams down, only to end up in a firefight with the residents, which is ended when the away team pretends to beam out, then ambushes the unsuspecting Gatherers. As formal of a meeting as possible is then held with the uncouth Gatherers, who initially scorn Marouk's attempts at diplomacy. However, the leader of this particular cell, Brull, eventually agrees to relay the offer to the Gatherer leader, Chorgan, promising a reply within twenty days. Picard flatly tells Brull that he has much better things to do than stick around for three weeks waiting for the reply, and offers to fly Brull and Marouk to Chorgan himself. While this is going on, Yuta takes an interest in an elderly Gatherer. Announcing that she is "Yuta, of the clan Tralesta," she touches the Gatherer, who immediately falls over dead. The other Gatherers shrug off his death as being the result of his age, but Riker has Dr. Crusher beam down and do a quick autopsy; she finds that he died of a heart attack, but that something about it seems odd.

As the ''Enterprise'' travels to the rendezvous with Chorgan's ship, Brull very briefly becomes VitriolicBestBuds with Wesley of all people, while Crusher continues her investigation into the death. Riker, meanwhile, has a private dinner with Yuta, who seems oddly devoted to carrying out her "duty." Riker is able to work out that she probably isn't talking about her cooking, but she isn't very forthcoming with information. Meanwhile, Crusher discovers that the old Gatherer's heart attack was induced by some sort of genetically engineered virus. Further investigation reveals that the virus has likely been [[FamilyExtermination designed to target members of the Lornak clan of Acamarians]].

Before they can work out anything else, the ''Enterprise'' arrives at the co-ordinates of Chorgan's ship. Unfortunately, Brull evidently forgot to call ahead, and the ship attacks the ''Enterprise'', which is forced to disable it. Picard makes it clear that while he's here to facilitate negotiations, he's not going to put up with any crap, and he beams aboard with Marouk and her delegation, including Yuta. Riker and Crusher continue their investigation with Data's help, and discover that the last death by the virus was caused 53 years ago. Examination of an old photograph reveals that the likely assailant was none other than Yuta, who appears to have not aged a day since then.

Negotiations between Marouk and Chorgan are stormy, but with Picard's help are gradually progressing. Just as Yuta goes to serve drinks, Riker beams aboard, with a phaser aimed at Yuta. He reveals the full story; 80 years ago the Lornak and Tralesta clans all but wiped each other out in a massive war. Yuta was one of a small number of survivors on the Tralesta side, and was genetically re-engineered to age slowly and carry a virus that would [[FamilyExtermination kill any Lornak clan member she came into contact with]]. And wouldn't you know it, Chorgan is the last surviving member of the Lornak clan. Riker tries to talk Yuta down, but she refuses to be reasoned with, and Riker is forced to vaporize her. Chorgan is grateful, but it's of little consolation to Riker, who [[DrowningMySorrows drowns his sorrows]] in Ten Forward as the episode ends.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Some find Yuta's trauma to be similar to RapeAsBackstory.

* EnhanceButton: One of the most glaring examples in any medium; the ''Enterprise'' computer is not only able to extrapolate a perfectly clear image from a small portion of a photograph, but is able to reconstruct Yuta's full face when maybe just a ''fifth'' of it is visible in the unaltered image.

* GetOut: Brull, Marouk, and Picard dismiss their entourages so they can negotiate in private.
* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The episode initially seems to be an action piece pitting the ''Enterprise'' against a bunch of SpacePirates. That all changes when Yuta kills the elderly Gatherer.

* IfIWantedYouDead: Chorgan accuses Brull of betraying him to the Federation so they could find and destroy him; Picard points out that if he wanted to destroy Chorgan's ship he would have already done so.

* LeftHanging: While the Gatherer raids and possible reconciliation with the rest of the Acamarians is the story's driving force for the most part, the actual results of the negotiations are left rather vague. However, Picard mentions that a truce was reached, and future materials eventually confirmed that the gatherers did indeed re-integrate into Acamarian society.

* EnhanceButton: One of the most glaring examples in any medium; the ''Enterprise'' computer is not only able to extrapolate a perfectly clear image from a small portion of a photograph, but is able to reconstruct Yuta's full face when maybe just a ''fifth'' of it is visible in the unaltered image. The image could actually be a holographic sensor reading stored from a fixed point of reference, which would mean that elements of the photo could be removed and possibly even rotated.

* FeudingFamilies: One century ago, the planet Acamar had blood feuds between clans, among them the Tralesta-Lornak war, and the vendetta was still going, and in fact was the moving factor of the episode.

* IOweYouMyLife: Chorgan declares himself in Riker's debt. Not that it ever comes up again.

* {{Determinator}}: Yuta's so determined to get to Chorgan that she stands up to two stun blasts from Riker's phaser before he's forced disintegrate her. This may at least partly be due to her enhancements.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Acamarians used to be this. According to Marouk, they're no longer proud of it.

'''Wesley:''' This is the locally Euclidean metrisation of a k-fold contravariant Riemannian tensor field.\\