Fabula
Object
Object

Corroded Iconian Device

Iconia appears in shipboard reports as an ancient, remote world or archaeological site reported by Varley aboard the USS Yamato. The scene supplies only fragmentary sensor logs and mission notes; no direct visual or material description is shown. Characters receive Varley’s terse data as an alarmed briefing: crew members tighten, orders snap into place, and the Yamato’s subsequent malfunction and explosion follow immediately. The object functions as an off-screen locus — hinted to hold extraordinary, possibly Iconian, artifacts or installations — that characters respond to with tactical urgency and geopolitical dread.
6 appearances

Purpose

Unstated in the material; implied to be a repository of advanced Iconian technology or artifacts whose retrieval or control would confer strategic advantage.

Significance

Serves as the episode’s central MacGuffin: Varley’s discovery of Iconia transforms a scheduled rendezvous into an urgent rescue and geopolitical flashpoint, precipitating the Yamato’s catastrophe and raising the stakes for potential Romulan escalation.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

6 moments
S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Varley's Last Transmission — Yamato Explodes, Iconia Revealed

Iconia is spoken-of as the discovered world whose technology Varley hid; though off-screen, the planet functions as the strategic MacGuffin whose existence converts a technical emergency into a potential geopolitical flashpoint.

Before: Undisclosed and off-screen; newly located by Varley, its existence unknown to Romulans according to Varley.
After: Now newly revealed to the Enterprise via Varley's confession and therefore becomes a subject of immediate strategic concern following the Yamato's loss.
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S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Varley's Last Log — Iconia Identified

A corroded, alien device is the focal object of Varley's log: he handles it on camera, deciphers its starfield after accounting for two hundred millennia of stellar drift, and identifies it as Iconian. In the event the device functions narratively as the MacGuffin that converts a rescue mission into a strategic contest over Iconian technology.

Before: In Varley's possession aboard the USS Yamato at the time of his recorded log; physically corroded but intact and under engineering examination.
After: Its physical status is not changed by the playback; Picard only sees the device via recording and its present location/condition is unknown to him (implicitly still with Varley/Yamato at time of recording).
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S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Varley's Final Log — Iconia Identified, Yamato's Systems Fail

A corroded, alien-looking device (identified by Varley as Iconian) is shown on the viewscreen being turned and studied. It functions as the central McGuffin: proof of Iconian origin, the trigger for the probe scan, and the reason Varley violated the Neutral Zone.

Before: In Varley's physical possession on the USS Yamato after being removed from the Denius Three archaeological dig.
After: Exists only as recorded footage onscreen to Picard; its physical whereabouts are implied to remain aboard the Yamato (whose fate is unknown to Picard at this moment).
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S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Choosing the Sacrifice — Picard Claims the Away Mission

Iconia is invoked as the launch origin of the hostile probe and the likely repository of launch records. Picard identifies Iconia as the only plausible source of data that could neutralize or explain the probe's behavior, making the planet the target of the proposed away mission.

Before: Remote, offscreen archaeological/strategic target suspected to house Iconian technology and launch records.
After: Designated implicit target for a high‑risk retrieval away mission led by Picard; becomes the immediate focus of Starfleet action.
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S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Picard Volunteers for the Away Mission; Riker Assumes Command

Iconia is named as the origin of the probe; it functions narratively as the off-screen locus and objective for the away mission. The planet's artifacts or records at its launch site are presented as the only plausible source of a solution to the probe's system‑rewriting behavior.

Before: Distant, off‑screen object of study and suspicion; presumed to contain automated launch records and dangerous relics.
After: Designated as the target destination for Picard's impending away mission; its significance and danger are affirmed but unchanged physically in this scene.
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S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Escape, Purge, and the Cost of Victory

Iconia is invoked through Data's sensor readout: its surface has produced a force‑twelve hydrogen explosion whose fallout will dim sunlight and lower average temperatures. The planet functions as the off‑screen victim of the episode's technological hazard — the irreversible cost the crew must acknowledge.

Before: A remote, archaeologically interesting world with localized anomalous energy detected by the Yamato; effectively unbroken but containing dangerous artifacts.
After: Suffered a catastrophic explosion, with widespread atmospheric dust, months of stratospheric fallout, and a significant, long‑term reduction in surface temperatures — effectively devastating large surface regions and losing accessible Iconian infrastructure.
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