The Vengeance Factor

Did You Know?

• In 2019, Den of Geek noted this episode for featuring romantic elements.
• The Tor rewatch commentary termed it "Perfectly average."
• The A.V. Club rewatch commentary rated it a "B."

Plot

When the Enterprise detected Acamarian blood at a looted Federation outpost, it set course for Acamar III. There, Sovereign Marouk blamed the theft on the Gatherers, descendants of Acamarians who turned to piracy a century earlier. Marouk wanted Starfleet's help to hunt them, but Captain Picard persuaded her to try peaceful talks instead. Marouk and her aide Yuta came aboard. Commander Riker was drawn to Yuta, but she kept her distance emotionally. The crew contacted a Gatherer band led by Brull, who agreed to relay a negotiation offer to their leader, Chorgan. While aboard, Yuta met an elderly Gatherer alone, touched his cheek, and he died of a heart attack. As he perished, she declared that she, the last of the Tralesta clan, would outlive the Lornak. Dr. Crusher later found the death was caused by a fast-acting micro-virus engineered to target a specific Acamarian DNA profile, confirming it was a genetically tailored murder.

Releases

"The Vengeance Factor" first appeared on LaserDisc in the U.S. on June 6, 1995, paired with "The Defector" from Paramount Home Video. Japan followed on July 5, 1996, as part of CIC Video's half-season set Log. 5: Third Season Part.1, which included episodes through "A Matter of Perspective" on double-sided 12-inch discs in NTSC with English and Japanese audio. The episode later joined the complete third-season DVD box set in the U.S. on July 2, 2002, featuring 26 episodes across seven discs with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. A high-definition Blu-ray release arrived in the U.S. on April 30, 2013.