Summary
- The Borg Queen targeted Data in Star Trek: First Contact due to his brother Lore's history with the Borg and his ability to manipulate their behavior.
- Data's loyalty to his friends and his different nature from Lore prevented him from joining the Borg Queen willingly.
- In Star Trek: Picard season 3, the Borg Queen moved on from Data and Lore, forming an alliance with the Changelings instead and ultimately meeting her end.
Star Trek: First Contact introduced the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) in the Star Trek: The Next Generation films, and she immediately took a liking to Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), but his evil brother Lore may have been her true target. In First Contact, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-E must stop the Borg from time-traveling and assimilating Earth in the past. Upon arriving in 2063, the Borg invade the Enterprise and capture Data. The Borg Queen then reveals herself and begins trying to seduce the android Starfleet officer.
Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, Data's brother Lore (also Brent Spiner) was the opposite of Data in almost every way. He was deceitful, arrogant, and self-centered, and believed himself superior to all biological life. After stealing the emotion chip meant for Data, Lore returned with a plan to destroy the Federation. In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 26, "Descent," Lore returns to the Enterprise as the self-appointed leader of a group of Borg drones. He manipulates Data by deactivating his ethical subroutines and making him feel anger and hatred. Despite Lore's elaborate plans, Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew eventually stop him and save Data.
Why Star Trek: First Contact’s Borg Queen Seduction May Have Been About Lore, Not Data
The Borg Queen captured Data in Star Trek: First Contact in order to learn the encryption codes for the computer of the Enterprise-E, and she seemed confident in her ability to coerce him. The Borg Queen may have believed that Data would join her because she knew of Lore's history with the Borg. Lore had been able to alter the behavior of the Borg drones, making them kill rather than assimilate. He was also able to coerce Data into temporarily joining him, but he had to manipulate Data's emotions to do it. Lore understood Data better than the Borg Queen and knew that Data would never join him willingly.
It's possible that Lore's Borg alliance so impressed the Borg Queen that she wanted him to join her. However, since Lore was permanently deactivated after the events of the TNG two-parter "Descent," the Borg Queen settled for Data, incorrectly assuming that he would also want to work with her. Anyone who knows Data knows that he would never knowingly betray his friends. Even when offered the ability to feel physical touch, Data was only tempted by the Borg Queen's offer for 0.68 seconds. The Queen had no way of knowing how very different Data and Lore were, and she may have assumed that Data would have a similar interest in the Borg.
The Borg Queen Passed Up Data In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
By the time of Star Trek: Picard season 3, the Borg Queen seems to have moved on from Data and Lore. After being severely weakened by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) in the finale of Star Trek: Voyager, the Borg Queen formed an alliance with the Changelings in order to destroy the United Federation of Planets. Since Data died in Star Trek: Nemesis and again in Picard season 1, the Borg Queen may not even have known that Data had returned. Her plan with the Changelings was already in place and did not require anything from Data or Lore.
Perhaps the Borg Queen learned her lesson from Star Trek: First Contact, and chose to ally with other enemies of the Federation rather than try to coerce someone to switch sides. In Star Trek: Picard season 3, the Borg Queen had the chance to capture Data again using her Changeling minion Vadic (Amanda Plummer), but she showed no interest in the newly upgraded android. After receiving his new golem body in Picard season 3, Data would not have been tempted by anything the Borg Queen could offer anyway. Whatever the Borg Queen's reasoning may have been, she was finally destroyed in the finale of Picard season 3, bringing an end to one of Star Trek's greatest enemies.