Riker is offered a possible command of his own and in the process encounters his estranged father who brings him the news. Lt. Worf starts having emotional issues and Wesley digs into Klingon traditions to discover the cause.

After Picard refuses to let Q join the crew, Q hurls the Enterprise into a far quadrant of space where they have a encounter with a unknown cybernetic race. A little bit of Guinan's past is revealed when she senses something is wrong on board Enterprise.