The Inner Light - Picard at the end of "The Inner Light"

[BJWoodcock]

Yeh, this is a truly profound scene, when television serial reaches the level of true art.

[matthewjsharpe]

I remember watching this almost 20 years ago as a teenager and being deeply moved by it. One of Star Trek's finest moments.

[552mustang]

This episode, this ending, brings tears to my eyes every time. That the flute is his only link left to a lifetime of memories. A daughter, a son, a wife, grandkids. That the people of that civilization were generally so kind until their demise because of the Nova. Just hearing this tune again brings back every memory of watching this episode the first time.

[sapherno11]

@552mustang And it gave Picard something he never had before. It gave him a full lifetime with a family, which Duty always kept him from.

[anetchi]

Thanks Seth Macfarlane, cause you exist I am here! Listening to this fine man play his flute. Thank you

[PMeridian1]

One person was caught in the Enterprise's warp field and mercilessly torn apart.

[mawtin0]

Ok, so this episode was written based on a Beatles song. Which, in turn, was written based on a verse from the Tao Te Ching. Here's the song: /watch?v=wjEgX1ptxh8

[DOSRetroGamer]

one of the best moments in Star Trek history.

[kain666clone]

I second that. This was truly a memorable moment that remains in all our hearts who have watched Star Trek. Wonderful playing by Patrick Stewart as Jean Luc Picard who reminisces on the lifetime lived on Kataan, a planet whose sun went nova a 1000 years passed.

[AnteyPL]

@kain666clone

For some reason - I find almost equaly touching "Tamarian salute" performed by Picard at the end of episode "Darmok".

[ajepon5229]

This Episode is one of the best in Star Trek History... and also one of the saddest. He plays the song in sadness to the lifetime that he lived and all the wonderful people he met and lived with... that disappeared in an instant. The flute was put into the probe as a reminder to him of the life he lived, and so that he would never forget them. This is my favorite star trek episode of all time. God I wish TNG Was still making new episodes. It was such a better series than Enterprise.

[AnteyPL]

@ajepon5229

Well... like Q said... "All Good Things..." ... you know the adage. As JLP once famously put it "what we leave behind is not as important, as how we've lived. After all, number one, we're only mortal".

Speaking of ENT - Brent Spinner saved the day.... AGAIN.

[TheAltoSuperior]

I want to learn to play this on Ocarina but I can't find any tabs... T^T

[crizz20]

this is one of the most desirable moments in star trek and the most indicatory example for human behavior and societal balance in our common future...thank you

[bobgminter]

my daughter can play this on her recorder it sounds amazing on here to

[Jokis]

This is still my favourite Star Trek episode of all time..

[Unreal786]

No dislikes, perfect!

[JRS1982]

aw.

[nittany272]

The part where he holds the flute to his heart is easily the most beautiful thing I've ever seen on screen.

[howiescream]

Along with this and being assimilated by the borg,Picards really been through it LOL

[Cryuss90]

is this tuned in C? whats the tuning!!!

[DSYoungEsq]

@Cryuss90 It's tuned in E-flat. Plays as kind of a c-minor sounding piece, and ends on C.

[Cryuss90]

@DSYoungEsq thanks... even though don't know if theres a tin whistle in that tuning but thanks!

[Johnnygiggles]

One of the most touching moments in all of television.

[asuch874]

Looked like picard 4got about this flute and other things @ the end of generations.

[shopwreckin]

I wish the clip went back 20 seconds more. It misses the part where Picard opens the flute case, picks it up, and then clenches it close to his heart. The look on his face when he clenches it is both one of great love and great sorrow at the same time. Heartbreakingly beautiful moment and by far my favorite TNG episode.

[DSYoungEsq]

@shopwreckin youtube.com/watch?v=IjCxl9JL6U­g&feature=related Has the whole thing.

[flx4756]

No human being should ever press the dislike-Button here...

This episode and ending is great (and a real spiritual lesson for me).

Beautiful.

[coperone2]

By far my favorite episode!

[TheBackOfTheBoat]

This breaks my heart. And is so beautiful at the same time. I like to think of myself as a guy who's able to reign in his emotions, and I've never cried from anything on TV, but this made me come damn close.

[LTDANMAN44]

how can you miss the part when riker gives him the flute and he he holds it before playing??? -1

[tysontomko]

Easily the best ending in all of Star Trek, and that's saying a lot. This is so damn peaceful and tranquil it's not even funny. As many others have said, he's oozing with feeling when playing this, and words can simply not express how badass this shit is.

Thanks!!

[Goatmon]

The slow passing of the enterprise, as Picard finishes the song....

Beautiful.

[phoenixpax]

Part of what makes this so haunting is that it would be easy to dismiss the things that happened, the life he lived, as only an imagination in his own head. But it /was/ real. If it hadn't been real, he would have lost his skill with the flute, which he couldn't at all play before. Fake memories don't give flute skill, and fake people can't be loved and grieved. All those years of living and loving are as real, matter as much, as his life on and before the Enterprise.

[Jshaw71]

Fing beautiful tune... moves me every time i hear it, i may have this played at my funeral...

[beatlific]

Best star trek moment.

[MrChosenone10]

@beatlific i agree

[Safetyleader]

This is my second favourite episode of all things Star Trek, my favourite is from the "real" Star Trek - For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky -

[DarknessZX211]

How sweet this song is!

[kingakad]

I can't say what of strong feeling always comes to me when i hear this clip,something that never effect me ever and the tears comes without even knowing>something i left behind the same as this

[elcap22]

What I love about this is that as he plays the solo flute, he remembers his life on the planet and all the people who have been dead for a thousand years and because he remembers all those people, they have all found life again

BEAUTIFUL

[gobears1987]

@elcap22 I think most of all he remembers the life he had where he had a family. Kamin had everything that Picard could never have as a Starfleet captain.

[datacipher]

@elcap22

I don't interpret it that way. It's a sad, bittersweet ending. It's not Picard remembering those people and bringing them to life...it's Picard playing for his lost family. The family he never knew he wanted, but now can't imagine living without. That's why the last few notes end on a minor key, and how, instead of the majestic shot of the ship, we sense that it can actually be very vast, cold, and lonely.

[piratebri]

My favorite part is when it pulls out to the outside of the ship. So haunting, reminds me of an old sea ballad

[Jshaw71]

I wish you wpuild have showed riker giving it to picard, and him almost breaking down when he opens the box...

thanks for the upload, i thought i commented on this a long time ago, but, i guess not...

[DonKid]

Uno de los mejores episodios de la serie, Patrick, el mejor.

[ayeroxor]

Si!

[lomeinie]

I love this episode and this tune is one of the most haunting I have ever heard! Thank you for posting it!

[sxyblkmn]

one of my favorite scenes in TNG ever!

i actually taught myself how to play that tune by stopping and rewinding the tape (back when it was all about VCRs) back and forth until i nailed it :)

[HappyJake100]

This whole connection with his past life and the future love intrest with the piano is great. Ive always loved th is song and story.

[theoneandonlyotaku]

Absolutely beautiful tune.

*sniff*

Kinda sounds like he's grieving for the Ressikans through the music.

[meloyellowduck]

I remember this episode. I always thought it was a very sad ending, but very touching.

[Finlandperkele]

Urgh, been listening and can play about halv of it, atleast he is moving the fingers right. But they get out of the view its annoying.

[sil40Drift]

Finlandperkele I have the notation for your if you want it. A G F# D2 D2 E2 A2 F#2 E2 B2 A2 G2 F#2 D2 B A G F# D2 D2 E2 A2 F#2 B3 C#3 D3 C#3 B3 C#3 A3 B3 B3 C#3 D3 C#3 B3 A2 F#2 B3 A3 D2 E2 B2 A2 G2 F#2 D2 B F# E D A B C#2 D2 E2 F#2 B B C#2 D2 C#2 B C#2 A A G F# D2 D2 E2 A2 F#2 E2 B2 A2 G2 F#2 D2 B A G F# D2 D2 E2 A2 F#2 B3 C#3 D3 C#3 B3 C#3 A3 B3 B3 C#3 D3 C#3 B3 A2 F#2 B3 A3 D2 E2 B2 A2 G2 F#2 D2 B a # 2 = that note on second octave, # 3= third octave.

[JRS1982]

ONLY sci-fi can have moments like this. The genre rarely gets its due.

[NecrosisOfLight]

He's holding the only remnant of a dead civilization, an entire people gone. He listened, and lived, their last words. And now all he has to hold onto that is the flute, and his music.

That's supremely fascinating and awesome.

[nodnodwinkwinkV]

@JRS1982 I think you'll find that real life has something to say about that buddy. Search for ""Music From Space" DMI House " I'd link directly to it but Youtube thought it wise to ban usage of html links, even if it is to their own pages....

[xlerosx]

@JRS1982

True.

But it gets more than its due to the intelligent, the educated, and the dreamers.

And that is what really counts.

-Citizen Number 139,138,337

[phaedruslive]

@JRS1982 agreed. with the same poignance as a kurt vonnegut ending.

[kicktrick]

this scene, is the only one in all of star trek that brought a tear to my eye.

[sil40Drift]

Here here

*sniffle*.

Seriously, Its a wonderful scene. You are left with the realization that he lived an ENTIRE life time on that planet..had family..children..Friends..And all he had left from that entire life was the flute those long dead people left for him, who would be their legacy.

Its quite deep.

[adrius]

*cries*

[integral]

been trying to think of another scene in all of Trek that had an even similar effect

but nothing comes close

[psuedosurfer]

God bless the Treckies,

every one of em!lol(^\/^)

[snkaes251]

This had to be one of the most powerful endings of any episode I've seen. So simple, yet so moving.

[MarveIed]

Agreed. This and the ending to Darmok. I swear, I almost cried at both of these episodes.

[majik2hanz]

Doesn't Picard play a tune somewhere on the Enterprise (tube or such infrastructure space) in the episode about the Gift (Famke Jansen) that will bond with her intended mate? And inadvertantly bonds with Picard when the Ferengi break 'open' the gift. I recall some good scenes in that episode. Good TV moments stick with me.

[lucideyes]

He plays this again with Commander Darron in 'Lessons' in the sixth season. They play in a jeffries tube intersection. From what I remember of 'The Gift', he only plays a large xylophone in that episode.

[Aeon135]

this song is vaugly based on a scottish folk song, if anyone wants simple 1 handed notes for the piano PM me

[YieArKungFu]

I know where people can find the piano sheet music for this song. What I'd like to know is where to find the flute sheet music. That seems much harder (impossible) to come by.

[SgtSplatter782]

It's based off of "The Skye Boat Song"

[picardkid]

The first few notes sound similar, but I think it's mostly original.

[piratebri]

I like the part of the song when the camera switches to outside of the Enterprise. It sounds like a haunting sea melody from the 18th century.

[mirkolawe]

i cant stop to hear it

[jodecideion]

Don't mean to sound rude but,I wished you would posted just alittle bit early. I love the part when Riker gives Picard the flute. Then How he clinches it towards his chest. That one moment P. Stewart delivers a powerful acting gesture. I really feel the attachment he has with the flute, and that life.

[endlesspain1]

they auctioned off the flute and it sold for a bunch but afterword picard told the camara that the flute doesn't even play. it just surprised me

[tubertonic]

This song is one of the most beautiful pieces for tin whistle or flute it is also a wonderful keyboard piece. I'm trying to learn it especially the little skillful multi-note

at the end of the first stanza.

thank you for this peaceful melody.

[YieArKungFu]

Any idea as to where to get the flute sheet music?

[protomodelsdotcom]

Absolutely my favorite!!

[intorainbowz]

One of the best scenes from one of the best episodes ever.

Truely, Inner light is one of my favorite episodes.

[drevsdre9]

so true, one of the best episodes ever -

[musclecarbubba429]

yeah TNG really hit its stride from Season 3 onward. This was a great episode (not alot of action in space battles) just good story telling with a lesson. Trek at its best.

[MistressArmitage]

It's episodes like these that make me proud to be a Trek fan.

[enabrin]

Manly tears were shed during this scene

[kingakad]

the original of this wonderful music changed my life and took a lots of tears of my eyes everytime i hear it or see the seriers,just the simplisity and the love this gives when you hear it.

[piratebri]

This is exactly the part I was looking for. Thanks for posting!

My favorite part of the entire song was the very end, when it pulls out to a shot of the Enterprise; that ghostly ending.. reminds me of an old sea song.

[kodath2]

One of the best episodes of TNG. They just don't make Star Trek like they used to :(