The Loss

Troi collapses during a session, and when she wakes her empathic sense has vanished. At the same moment the Enterprise is caught in a mass of two-dimensional life forms and pulled helplessly along with them. Troi, who has always counselled others through loss, reacts badly to her own: she denies it, lashes out at friends, struggles to work with her patients and finally resigns as counsellor. Meanwhile Data and Riker discover the creatures are heading for a cosmic string, which will tear the ship apart. Picard asks Troi for help. Reasoning like any counsellor, she realises the creatures are drawn to the string like moths to a flame. Data uses the deflector to mimic the string's vibrations and lure them aside, and the Enterprise breaks free. Her powers return, along with a new humility.