Captain Jean-Luc Picard is not a man of few words. He's prone to grandiose speeches about morality, ethics, and the nature of humanity. To put it bluntly, this dude loves to hear himself talk. But sometimes, the situations the Enterprise-D finds itself in are so dangerous that it requires brevity and stern command. That's when Captain Picard unleashes his ultimate rhetorical tool - three little words that Picard (and an evil Picard clone) uttered 77 times over the course of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series: "Make it so."
From main cast members like Commander Riker (aka "Number One"), Lieutenant Commander Data, and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge to guest stars we never see again, a variety of characters are told to "make it so" in the seven seasons of TNG. There's even an episode in which Picard tells someone to make it so five times in the span of an hour!
How well they made it so is up for debate. Sometimes, the orders are carried out perfectly, and all is well on the Enterprise. Other times, the making it so is totally bungled - or worse, causes an inadvertent calamity on board the ship. Vote up all the times Picard's trademark order was followed properly.
- 1
To Data, A Final Time, In 'All Good Things...'
What Was The Situation? After all that trouble, the Pasteur can't find any anomaly. Klingon birds of prey and battle cruisers have been dispatched to the area after receiving reports of a rogue Federation vessel entering their territory. Crusher wants to return to Federation space while there's still time, but Picard is adamant about continuing the search for the anomaly. Data says he can modify the main deflector to emit an inverse tachyon pulse, which would allow them to scan beyond the subspace barrier.
Did He Make It So? Data says it will take 14 hours to complete the modifications and the scans. Knowing the danger her crew is in, Captain Crusher orders Data to complete his scans in six hours. If nothing is found, they return to Federation space.
Made so? - 2
To Castillo In 'Yesterday's Enterprise'
What Was The Situation? In an alternate 24th century, Lieutenant Castillo of the Enterprise-C declares his willingness to take over for his dearly departed Captain Garrett and lead his ship back in time to certain demise in an entanglement with the Romulans that will bring peace to the galaxy and restore the timeline.
Did He Make It So? Castillo and Lieutenant Tasha Yar escape a Klingon onslaught and travel back in time to the 23rd century, where they make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the Klingon outpost on Narendra III from a Romulan incursion. Peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire is achieved. The timeline is restored.
Made so? - 3
To Data In 'The Pegasus'
What Was The Situation? Starfleet has located the long-lost USS Pegasus in the Devolin system, which is perilously close to the Romulan Neutral Zone. Admiral Erik Pressman, former captain of the Pegasus, orders Picard to either recover the remains of the ship or wipe it out to prevent the Romulans from finding it.
A sensor sweep reveals the Pegasus is deep inside an asteroid. Pressman would prefer to salvage the ship, so Geordi suggests blanketing the asteroid with high levels of ionizing radiation. Because there is so much of that type of radiation in the area, the Romulans won't be able to discover the whereabouts of the ship.
Did He Make It So? Data initiates an ionization field pulse. The deception works, giving the Enterprise enough time to begin its salvage operation.
Made so? - 4
To Riker, Again, In 'The Most Toys'
What Was The Situation? Commander Riker and the crew correctly deduce that Kivas Fajo staged Data's destruction in order to capture him. To find his ship, Riker advises Picard to put out a coded level two query to all Federation outposts in the area that might have traded with Fajo in the hopes of deducing his whereabouts.
Did He Make It So? The Enterprise finds Fajo, rescues Data, and Fajo is put into custody.
Made so? - 5
To O'Brien In 'The Wounded'
What Was The Situation? Chief O'Brien's former commanding officer, Captain Benjamin Maxwell, has gone rogue, firing on a Cardassian science station, a freighter, and a Galor-class cruiser. Picard feels he has no choice but to retaliate against Maxwell's ship to maintain the fragile peace between the Federation and the Cardassians, but O'Brien believes he can reason with his former captain if given the chance to beam aboard his vessel, the USS Phoenix.
Riker reminds O'Brien that Maxwell will never lower his shields to allow anyone to transport over, but O'Brien knows there is a window of 1/50 of a second between the Phoenix's high-energy sensor sweeps where the shields drop and he can (theoretically) transport over. It's a risk O'Brien is willing to take.
Did He Make It So? O'Brien successfully beams over to the Phoenix and gets Captain Maxwell to stand down.
Made so? - 6
To La Forge In 'Time's Arrow, Part I'
What Was The Situation? Data, along with two malevolent alien beings, has traveled back in time to August 11, 1893. Picard implores his crew to come up with a way to replicate the time portal Data and the aliens traveled through so they might rescue him and preserve the timeline. Geordi explains that it won't be easy to replicate what Data did. At best, they can create a contained subspace field, but they'll require a phase discriminator to get the .004 variance they need.
Did He Make It So? Geordi builds a phase discriminator that creates a subspace field large enough to encompass the entire away team. They travel back to 1893 and rescue their friend.
Made so?
