Darkling story

voy3x18 · 1997-02-19

The Doctor tries to graft other personalities into his program, but the resulting 'upgrade' causes him to develop an evil alternate personality. Directed by: Alexander Singer. Story by: Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky.

16 total · 4 choice · 4 major · 8 minor

ThemeLevelMotivation
if it ain't broke don't fix it choice The Doctor tried to improve his program with disastrous consequences even though he was already a perfectly good doctor by all accounts save for his own.
love vs. career choice Kes over leaving Voyager to adventure around with Zahir
the desire for personal development choice The Doctor reprogrammed himself to with the aim of improving himself
the human capacity for good and evil choice the geniuses The Doctor incorporated into his programming had good and evil inclinations
facing one's darker side major The Doctor struggled to come to grips with the fact that his programming imbued in him both good and evil inclinations.
human vs. self major The Doctor faced his evil self
infatuation major Kes and Zahir
out of control technology major The Doctor accidentally created an evil split personality. This evil version of the Doctor attempted to murder an alien, and succeeded in temporarily paralyzing B'Elanna. Note that “out of control AI” is not used here on account that the Doctor is actually a human personality that was copied into a machine and tweaked, rather than conventional AI.
belonging minor Kes about leaving Voyager
coping with being tortured minor B'Elanna being tortured b The Doctor