Star Trek: Every Failed Romance (& How They Ended)

[Nergal]

 

Star Trek has had its fair share of great romances, but not all of them have ended in happily ever after. There are at least one or two big love stories in every Star Trek series, and a host of small one-off romances throughout various episodes. The smaller romances usually last one or two episodes, and while some of them are memorable, the relationships with more time invested in them are the ones that stick in fans' minds.

Sadly, many of these relationships have ended in tragedy. There are a few notable exceptions to this, such as William Riker and Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, or Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager. Both couples ended up getting married and eventually having children together, but unfortunately, their happy endings are exceptions to the rule.

Many great relationships in Star Trek have ended up being doomed to fail. Endings have often come with either one of the characters dying, a forced separation because of circumstances beyond their control, or the simple dissolution of the romance. As of now, the franchise has had ten major relationships that have all ended in heartbreak, spanning across almost every series.

James T. Kirk And Edith Keeler


Captain Kirk from Star Trek: The Original Series has a reputation for being a philanderer, but there were a few memorable occasions where he actually fell in love. One of these occasions was in the classic Original Series episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever", where Kirk and his first officer Spock traveled back in time to 1930 to stop Doctor McCoy from drastically altering the timeline. There, Kirk met and fell in love with a woman named Edith Keeler. The two only knew each other for a short time, but the feelings they had developed very quickly.

Sadly, to preserve the timeline, Edith Keeler had to die, preventing her from instigating events that would allow the Nazis to win World War II. Kirk wasn't sure he would be able to stand by and watch Edith perish, but when the time came he allowed the accident to happen and history to return to its correct course. His grief was palpable, however, and his and Edith's relationship is part of the reason the episode is still so popular among fans.

Data And Tasha Yar


Commander Data and Lieutenant Tasha Yar served together aboard the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and although their romance was brief, it endures in the memories of many fans. While under the influence of an alien intoxicant called polywater, Yar and Data had a brief sexual encounter. Yar was later embarrassed by the encounter and told Data to forget about it.

Data, however, continued to feel a special connection to Yar even when their relationship resumed a more professional nature. Unfortunately for him, Yar was killed in a later episode by an alien who drained her life force while she was attempting to rescue members of the Enterprise's crew. After her death, Data carried around a hologram of her as a remembrance and maintained that Yar had been special to him despite the brief nature of their relationship.

Worf And Deanna Troi


Commander Worf and Counselor Troi seemed like an entirely unlikely pair when their romance first began on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the two did enjoy some sweet moments together throughout TNG's final season. After encountering an alternate reality where Troi was his wife, Worf became interested in pursuing a relationship with her, and Troi reciprocated. The two had been good friends before, with Troi even becoming godmother to Worf's son Alexander, so romance seemed like the next logical step.

Despite relatively smooth sailing, Troi was seemingly always destined to rekindle her relationships with Commander Riker, which happened after an amicable split from Worf during the TNG movies. Fans were not privy to what caused Worf and Troi's romance to end, but Worf seemed to harbor no ill feelings towards Troi or Riker and attended their wedding during Star Trek: Nemesis. Even though Worf and Troi were not meant to be, the end of their relationship was not nearly as tragic as the end of some other Star Trek romances.

Odo And Kira Nerys


Although Odo and Kira only became a couple at the end of the 6th season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, their romance had been building for quite some time. Odo fell in love with Kira early on, although he concealed his true feelings from her for many years and supported her while she entered into other relationships, some of which also ended in tragedy. Finally, with the help of Vic Fontaine, Odo was able to express his true feelings for Kira which she reciprocated, and the two had a romance that lasted the whole of Deep Space Nine's final season.

Sadly, the romance ended when Odo decided to return to his people, the Changelings, to heal them from a virus that was ravaging their population through the Great Link. Despite his love for Kira, Odo decided to stay with his people after the virus was cured, a decision Kira accepted even though she was clearly heartbroken to lose him. Odo and Kira's relationship was relatively short-lived, but it endures as one of Deep Space Nine's pivotal romances.