Birthright (''Star Trek: The Next Generation'')

Part I

While the Enterprise is docked at Deep Space Nine, providing assistance in repairing the Bajoran aqueducts, Worf is approached by an Yridian information broker, Jaglom Shrek (James Cromwell), who claims that Worf's father was not killed at Khitomer, but is instead alive at a Romulan prison camp. Since Mogh's capture would dishonor Worf and his own son, Worf is reluctant to believe the alien's claim but it upsets him. However, following an accident, Data has a dream-like experience that involves his creator and Data approaches Worf to ask about a time Worf himself had a hallucination during a Klingon ritual. Worf realizes that it is important to learn the truth about his father.

Data continues to pursue the meaning behind his dream. Geordi and Dr. Julian Bashir (DS9's Chief Medical Officer) reluctantly recreate the experiment that caused the dream (a dangerous venture that could damage Data permanently). Data has the same experience, which continues on to a conversation between Data and Dr. Noonien Soong, his creator. Soong encourages Data to continue dreaming. Awake, Data comes to the conclusion that Dr. Soong pre-programmed the ability to dream in anticipation of activating it himself. The energy charge from the experiment simply activated this feature. Data then plans to henceforth spend a brief period each day experiencing these dreams.

Worf suspects the information about his father to be a trick and forces the reluctant Yridian to take him to the prison camp himself. Because of the danger involved, Worf makes the final leg of the journey alone on foot, where he finds the Klingons moving about freely with Romulans. He corners one of the Klingons, who informs him that his father fell in battle at Khitomer as he thought, meaning that Worf's family honor is intact. When Worf offers to free the Klingon prisoners, they insist on staying. Since he is aware of the camp's existence and location, they insist that he must also stay. Two armed Romulans show up to prevent Worf from leaving.

Part II

Part two deals entirely with Worf at the Romulan prison compound. Worf is puzzled by the Klingons' lack of desire to escape, but the elders explain that it is not a prison in the conventional sense: they have chosen to stay, since returning would be a great dishonor to their families, who have assumed the warriors died in battle. Worf is not allowed to leave, however, to keep the compound's secret. He discovers, to his disgust, that some Romulans and Klingons have even inter-married and had hybrid children.

Worf inspires the young Klingons, who were born in the compound and know nothing of their heritage, to be curious. He teaches them Klingon myths, martial arts, hunting, and other elements of their culture. Eventually the head Romulan, Tokath, offers Worf a choice: to live among them according to their rules, or to be executed. Worf chooses death, which is honorable in its defiance. The next morning, at Worf's execution, the young Klingons he has inspired suddenly decide to stand and die with him. Unwilling to kill them all, Tokath allows Worf and the young Klingons to leave. A Romulan warbird delivers them to the Enterprise, which had been searching for Worf since his disappearance from DS9.