voyager star trek chakotay

Today Chakotay looks to his spiritual Mayan background for inner comfort - and doesn't mind sharing that belief with others, when asked, or even enduring some good-natured ribbing about it from Torres and Paris, among others. He uses a spririt guide summoned by his medicine bundle, prays to speak with his father for guidance, and uses a Mayan-descended medicine wheel for self-healing. With amother suffering from ongoing neck muscle spasms, he is also reportedly an excellent masseuse.

However, he didn't always have such reverence for his ancestors' ways. His father Kolopak was insistent upon finding their peoples' ancestral home and did so in the Central American jungle in 2350, when Chakotay was 15. But the young man had already been casting his lot with Starfleet crews patrolling the border, and stunned his father on that trip with the news he'd be leaving the tribe to attend Starfleet Academy after his newfound aquaintance Captain Sulu agreed to sponsor him at Starfleet Academy, even at his young age. Despite that resistance, Chakotay dis learn many survival skills from his father, such as building log cabins and fire-starting.

Chakotay's piloting skills trace back to extensive and early Starfleet Academy training. From a freshman course over adjacent North America, he went to Venus to master atmospheric storms and had yet another semester dealing with asteroids in the Sol asteroid belt.

The virtual estrangement between father and son lasted until 2371 when Kolopak died defending his home in the early days of Cardassian harassment, even as the final border treaty was being signed. Chakotay took to wearing his tattoo, a symbol of those jungle descendants, to honor his father, who wore it also; even his own name is a cherished gift from his tribe. Later Chakotay reported considering archeology as a second occupation, either in the field or in academics.

Chakotay's people, tracing their lineage back past Mayans to the Rubber Tree People of Central America, resisted the intrusion of more technological societies until the devleopment of warp drive in the 21st century allowed them to leave Earth and find their own home for good. One 20th century forebear he knows of was a schoolteacher in Arizona.

Even today its members avoid modern devices such as transporters wherever they can, and he was taught that nothing is personally owned save the courage and loyalty in one's own heart. Despite his tribe's move, the adult Chakotay means Earth when he thinks of "home" - from the Arizona desert and the Baja California peninsula over to the Gulf of Mexico.

Known members of Chakotay's Maquis crew include B'Elanna Torres, Lon Suder, Kurt Bendera, Kenneth Dalby, Mariah Henley, (First Name Unknown) Ayala, (FNU) Hogan, (FNU) Jackson; Bajoran nationals Seska, Gerron and Jarvin; and a Bolian, Chell.

With an undercover agent from the crew of Captain Kathryn Janeway aboard, Chakotay's craft disappeared in the Badlands a week before Janeway's new U.S.S. Voyager itself was lost on SD 48307.5 and presumed destroyed.

The former Maquis leader has had his share of pains before: the revelation that Tuvok was Janeway's spy; the death of Kurt Bendera in a Kazon battle, after he'd helped in out in a brawl on Telfas Prime; and the defection of his former lover Seska - whom he's further shocked to realize was a Cardassian spy all along in his Maquis crew, and who continues to manipulate that guilt.

Despite such trials, and his Maquis sympathies, Chakotay's own moral courage rings out as strongly as mine when the chips are down - and it is to his credit that he has accepted my command and enforced the embracing of Starfleet ways among his old crew fully and with vigor, including assuming equal discipline - and, I've heard, a right cross if necessary. And I am especially indebted that he convinced me to gamble on his nominee for chief engineer - although I must take the blame in overriding my convictions in seeking an alliance with the Trabe or Kazon as he'd suggested.

The convictions of both his people and Starfleet served him well when keeping his life and dealing with the Kazon boy Kar and his elders - and putting his own safety on the line to fake his death, saving Kar's naming honor. He apparently has more than one medicine bundle made up, or else he thought to take it with him in the rush to beam out with Kar.

Chakotay had seemed to be on the way to mending fences with Tom Paris when our ruse that couldn't include the commander had to be hatched to trap our Maquis informant to Seska; I know he was not only annoyed at the act but miffed that he was left out of the loop, but it did further the performance beautifully.

Seska is dead. Having secured our vessel once and for all from the recent short-lived Kazon take-over, I note not only Chakotay's heroics in securing our planetside position with the suspicious but sentient natives, but also his mixed mood in learning that Seska's child, presumed to be his, proved not to be. I only trust that Seska's demise will allow the commander to leave this phase of his life behind without guilt and manipulation.

I write this after having spent six weeks quaratined alone with the commander on an immunizing Class M planet under threat of carrying a viral epidemic to the crew. While personal log are not the purview of this file entry, I feel compelled to comment on Chakotay's survival skills and his commitment to easing our personal burdens alone, before we had any hope of seeing our ship again. We likely have a long journey ahead of us, and I feel somehow invigorated that he and I have fostered such a smooth relationship. Where our personal feelings lie beyond that is an issue that must not interfere with crew safety and security, but there are times when I believe the commander, depite his best effort, gets downright jealous or giddy. --KJ

Nemesis (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Production history
• 4.2 Story and script
• 4.3 Cast and characters
• 4.4 Production
• 4.5 Continuity
• 4.6 Reception
• 4.7 Video and DVD releases
• 5.1 Starring
• 5.2 Also starring
• 5.3 Guest stars
• 5.4 Co-stars
• 5.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 5.6 Stunt doubles
• 5.7 Stand-ins
• 5.8 References
• 5.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Commander Chakotay is captured walking at night in a jungle on a Delta Quadrant world by the Vori when his shuttle is shot down during a survey mission .

Act One [ ]

They quickly decide he is not a threat to them and decide to integrate him into their team. They tell Chakotay of the "Beast", the enemy they are fighting against. Chakotay explains to the soldiers that he needs to contact his vessel, the USS Voyager . He cannot reach the ship using his combadge , as the Kradin , the species hostile to the Vori, have disabled communications in the battle zone. Brone , the leader of the Fourth Vori Defense Contingent , assigns Namon to guide Chakotay to the wreckage of his downed shuttle. Brone advises Chakotay to wait for the dawn or the "new light", as he calls it before leaving.

The Vori speak an odd language which Chakotay easily picks up, mostly from engaging in conversation with a Vori youth named Rafin , who is teased by Namon on his inexperience in combat, as well as his nervousness in battle. Chakotay tries to relate Rafin to a young Kradin soldier out there who might be as afraid as he is to fight. During this, Rafin informs Chakotay on why the Vori hate the Kradin so much, such as their appearance, the burning seen in their eyes. Rafin's motivation for hatred of the Kradin stems from the destruction of Rafin's home village as well as their killing of Rafin's relatives.

The next day, while walking with Namon to search for the shuttle's wreckage, Chakotay tells him of his battles back in the Alpha Quadrant with the Cardassians , when he asks the commander if he has ever killed before. Chakotay tells the soldier that it was the worst thing he has ever had to do. Namon tells Chakotay that if he were a Vori, he would crave to drive off the Kradin from their world just as he does. Chakotay and Namon discover a small piece of the shuttle on the ground, and Voyager 's first officer remarks that there does not seem to be much left of his shuttle. Just then, he and Namon come under attack from two Kradin. Namon is hit, but he fires off a shot before falling which happens to kill one. Chakotay rushes the other and manages to take his weapon. " Don't make me kill you! ", he shouts at the Kradin soldier. The Kradin is shot anyway shortly after by Brone and Namon is declared "nullified".

Act Two [ ]

During Namon's memorial , Chakotay learns about the Vori's culture, specifically their burial rituals, like how they bury their bodies downturned. Afterwards, Chakotay is given Namon's uniform, as his Starfleet uniform is noticeable enough to draw attention by the Kradin. Chakotay hesitates, as it isn't his conflict, but Brone insists.

Brone then has Chakotay go through some basic training from Rafin, particularly in Vori firearms. Chakotay tries to talk to Rafin, saying it's all right to be afraid. He also suggests the "nemesis" is just as afraid of him, but Rafin seems to take a lot of offense. He's obviously been hardened like the rest, and reminds Chakotay of what their enemy has done to them. Rafin is a good shot, and takes his anger out on the targets before cutting the lesson early.

Later, the group sets off to meet a second group, the Seventh Defense Contingent . When they arrive at the rendezvous point, however, they discover that the other group has been slaughtered and desecrated. Brone then makes a speech to the group and challenges Chakotay on his neutral stance. Just then, the Kradin arrive and quickly kill most of the group, including Rafin. Chakotay tries to save him, but he's hit in the process and Rafin dies. Respecting his wishes, Chakotay turns him over and manages to escape to a nearby village. There, he is greeted and treated as a hero by some Vori before he collapses.

Act Three [ ]

On Voyager , Janeway reviews the information on what happened. Chakotay was indeed shot down by enemy fire, and the interference from the weapons is interfering with transporters and sensors . It appears there is a long war going on, and Neelix has contacted an ambassador named Treen with the details. He's willing to help Chakotay, but is unable to divert any resources to do so. Lieutenant Paris wants to take a team down, regretting not going with him in the first place, but Janeway says they need to talk to Treen more and consider options.

Meanwhile, Chakotay is awake and explains he is not really part of the Defenders. Regardless, the villagers insist on getting information on what is going on. He starts to tell them he was with the Fourth, and they are encouraged. Chakotay asks for communications equipment, but the only place is far away, and the villagers insist he stay the night and rest first. He agrees, and becomes friends with a young Vori girl named Karya . She asks him to deliver a letter to her brother, Daryo , who is fighting in the seventh defense contingent, which was ambushed and annihilated by Kradin forces. Chakotay agrees to drop off her letter at a restock unit despite this.

The next day the Vori village is attacked by the Kradin and most of the villagers, including Penno , Karya's grandfather, are marched off to extermination centers. After Karya is taken away herself, this enrages Chakotay and raises his weapon, but a group of Kradin is right behind him and disarm him. The villagers seem doomed.

Act Four [ ]

Meanwhile, the crew of Voyager is concerned about the fate of Chakotay on the planet 's surface after finding the wreckage of the shuttle inside enemy territory. Tuvok relates that Ambassador Treen has told him that his people's enemies are ruthless in their methods, using biochemical weapons and massacring innocent civilians. Janeway now wants a team to go to the surface. Paris is enthusiastic to join, but Lieutenant Tuvok suggests that he should go down to the planet to search for Chakotay on his own, despite Paris' objections. Tuvok alone will join a commando group provided by Ambassador Treen to expedite his search for Chakotay.

Chakotay is brought to the other Vori after being interrogated. Karya is there too, and says her grandfather is not well. Chakotay demands to talk to the guard, but he is knocked back. With nothing else to do, he sleeps next to Karya. The next day, they wake up to gunfire while the Kradin lead the older villagers to be killed while the younger ones are forced to work. Karya sees Penno and cries out for him to be let go, but eventually the Kradin take them both. Enraged, Chakotay knocks down a guard and jumps on the leader, only to be knocked down himself soon.

On Voyager, Ambassador Treen and his soldiers arrive to help with the search for Chakotay. It is then revealed that Treen is not Vori, but Kradin. Janeway thanks him for his help but Treen assures her that any enemy of their merciless nemesis, the Vori, is a friend of his.

Act Five [ ]

Chakotay is left upturned, but not for long as Brone is nearby and helps him. Brone says he will take Chakotay to the command post to contact Voyager , but Chakotay is now invested in the war, and insists he go with him to the Fifth Contingent. There, the Vori group come under attack and soon they are surrounded. A loud booming voice orders them to lower their weapons, but Chakotay refuses and keeps shooting. Then, Chakotay is approached by a single Kradin and almost shoots him but he discovers that the Kradin is actually Tuvok. Brone, injured and being taken away, shouts to Chakotay to ignore this, as it is a Kradin tactic. Eventually, Chakotay sees through the deception, but only a little. To prove that everything Chakotay had experienced was a delusion, Tuvok then leads him back to the village, where Chakotay is greeted by the people who should have been exterminated earlier that day and in a scene that was nearly identical to his first experience there.

Back on Voyager , The Doctor reveals that Chakotay has undergone extensive psychological conditioning and training to hate the Kradin. Everything he had experienced up to that day had been an illusion as part of the training. Apparently, risking his life to attack a Kradin officer was enough to promote him to active duty in the Vori's conditioning. Although no-one knows if the Kradin are actually guilty of the type of atrocities Chakotay was led to believe, Janeway states that the Vori are accused of the same. Kradin ambassador Treen enters sickbay to talk to Chakotay, but Chakotay says nothing and after a tense, angry silence storms out of the room. In the corridor outside sickbay, Chakotay remarks to Janeway, " I wish it were as easy to stop hating as it was to start. " He continues to walk away.

Log entries [ ]

• "Captain's log, stardate 51082.4. After searching for more than two days, we finally located what's left of Commander Chakotay's shuttle. I can only hope the commander has fared better than his vessel."
• "Captain's log, stardate 51096.5. Although Lieutenant Tuvok has managed to bring Commander Chakotay safely back to the ship, it may be some time before his psychological wounds are fully healed."

Memorable quotes [ ]

" How is he? " " Nullified. "

" Welcome aboard, Ambassador. Thank you for agreeing to help us find our crewman. " " Your thanks are unnecessary, Captain. Any victim of our bloodthirsty nemesis, the Vori, will always find friends among the Kradin people. "

" If we greet the nemesis in the trunks, you'll fire like the rest. As long as you're with us, you do my tellings. Fathom? " " Fathom. "

" Motherless beast! "

" From the condition of your hypothalamus, I'd say they had you so mixed up they could have convinced you your own mother was a turnip. "

" I wish it were as easy to stop hating as it was to start. "

" You are a scientist, an explorer. You are not a killer. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

• Production number: 011-40840-171
• Final draft script: 13 June 1997 [1]
• Working title : "The Recruit"
• Day 1 – 17 June 1997 , Tuesday – Paramount Stage 8 : Captain's ready room , briefing room ; Paramount Stage 9 : Corridor , sickbay , transporter room
• Day 2 – 18 June 1997 , Wednesday – Paramount Stage 16 : Ext. Forest
• Day 3 – 19 June 1997 , Thursday – Paramount Stage 16: Larhana settlement , alien campsite, int. caves
• Day 4 – 20 June 1997 , Friday – Paramount Stage 16: Commando campsite
• Day 5 – 23 June 1997 , Monday – Warner Bros. backlot : Larhana settlement, ext. woods
• Day 6 – 24 June 1997 , Tuesday – Warner Bros. backlot: Larhana settlement
• Day 7 – 25 June 1997 , Wednesday – Paramount Stage 16: Ext. Forest/woods
• Day 8 – 26 June 1997 , Thursday – Paramount Stage 16: Ext. Woods, commando campsite, ext. forest
• 2nd Unit – 29 July 1997 , Tuesday – Paramount Stage 9: Ext. Forest (blue screen)
• Airdate: 24 September 1997

Story and script [ ]

• This episode had the working title "The Recruit". [2] The episode's ultimately-used title (along with TNG : " First Contact ") later served as the subtitle of one of the Next Generation motion pictures (namely, Star Trek Nemesis ).
• During the first day of production on this episode, executive producer Jeri Taylor stated, " It's a story about how people can be taught to hate, about propaganda, and about how wars can come out of a conscious attempt to impose hate in people. It's one of those stories that is supposed to make you think a little bit. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 31 , p. 14) Writer Kenneth Biller himself remarked, " We set out to explore the whole nature of propaganda. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81)
• The Vori language seems strange, but it merely substitutes various words with lesser-known synonyms (e.g., "glimpses" instead of "sees" or "eyes"). Janeway actress Kate Mulgrew commented about the Vori's vernacular, " Almost Chaucerian , they speak in what is like Old English. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 32 , p. 9) Regarding the creation of this communication style, Ken Biller commented, " I tried to create an interesting language for the aliens. Our aliens either sound too Human or they sound kind of hokey, and it's tough to find a balance. I decided to try to do something that was more stylized, where the language itself became part of the indoctrination, so that they spoke differently than our people do, and Chakotay began to speak with their language as he became more and more indoctrinated into this culture. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81)

Cast and characters [ ]

• In the interview that Jeri Taylor gave on the first day of this episode's production period, Taylor noted that the installment presented an opportunity to remedy a feeling that the character of Chakotay (as played by Robert Beltran ) was not utilized enough at the end of the previous season: " Chakotay is a wonderful character played by a wonderful actor and, in the second half of the [third] season , we didn't find enough good stuff for him to do. So we are addressing that early on this season with a very strong episode for him. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 31 , p. 14) Indeed, the episode so centrally features the character of Chakotay that Kate Mulgrew once described the installment (referring indirectly to the Vori) by stating, " 'Nemesis' is just Robert Beltran alone, with a very bizarre species. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 32 , p. 9)
• Kate Mulgrew had high hopes for this episode. She predicted, " It should be interesting. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 32 , p. 9)
• Jeri Ryan ( Seven of Nine ) does not appear in this episode. It is the only episode, after she joined the cast of Star Trek: Voyager , in which she does not appear. Though Ryan was not part of this episode, she was on set on the first day of production, 17 June 1997 , to film additional scenes for " Scorpion, Part II " on second unit. The call sheet listed her makeup call at 5:30 am.

Production [ ]

A moment from the production of this episode

• Director Alexander Singer spent hours thinking about how to depict the episode's elaborate planet setting and how to overcome the related limitations. " We had to create a wooded forest that had many different aspects in both day and night, " he recalled. " There were many scenes that each had to look special and different. I spent many hours studying the possibilities. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 119 , p. 64)
• Ultimately, Ken Biller was pleased with the creation of the planet's jungle environment. " We did two location days on that show (on the Warner Bros. backlot ), and then built a great jungle set, " Biller explained, " so you can't really tell what's on the stage and what's on location. (Production designer) Richard James did a really great job. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81)
• Makeup supervisor Michael Westmore was conscious of making the Kradin physically similar to Nausicaans , first seen in TNG : " Tapestry ". " The bad-looking good guys of ST:VOY's 'Nemesis', the Kradin, resembled the Nausicaans from ST:TNG but in a nastier way, " Westmore commented, " with the mouth opened a little more and the hair not quite as beaded and braided. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 42 , pp. 82-83)
• The Kradin uniforms were reuses of Mokra Order uniforms from the second season installment " Resistance ". ( Delta Quadrant , p. 200)
• The PADD that Karya gives to Chakotay, with a letter for her brother, Daryo, is a reuse of a PADD containing schematics for the Etanian Order starship, from the third season episode " Rise ".
• The Kradin and the Vori are armed with contemporary weapons. ( Delta Quadrant , p. 200)
• According to the unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 200), the Kradin aircraft were Harrier Jump Jet s modified with CGI .

Continuity [ ]

• The makeup of the Kradin resembles not only that of the Nausicaans but also that of Fek'lhr from TNG : " Devil's Due ", as well as the aliens from the Predator movies, giving the Kradin an archetypal vicious and untrustworthy appearance despite their good intentions.
• This is the third episode in a row wherein a Voyager shuttlecraft is lost, for a total of seven up to this point, after having previously lost six shuttles in " Initiations ", " Non Sequitur ", " Parturition ", " Unity ", " The Gift ", and " Day of Honor ". In " The Gift ", a Class 2 shuttle is lost when Kes evolves; in " Day of Honor ", the Cochrane is destroyed by the Caatati ; and here, Chakotay loses a third , of unknown type.
• Chakotay mentions his fight against the Cardassians as part of the Maquis in this episode, a conflict which is explored in many episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
• The firearm used by the Vori is a Ruger Mini-14 fitted with a Muzzelite bullpup stock, model MZ14. [3] The Kradin firearm is also a modified assault rifle, the AKU-94 modification of a Kalashnikov. [4]

Reception [ ]

• Jeri Taylor once enthusiastically described this episode as "a script by Kenneth Biller that I love." Taylor then said, " He's written it in a very interesting and original fashion. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 31 , p. 14) She also cited this episode as "one of the strongest" of "some very interesting [Chakotay] shows" in the series and went on to say, " I was terribly pleased with that. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 36 , pp. 12 & 13)
• Ken Biller himself was very proud of this episode. Regarding the task of setting out to explore the issue of propaganda, Biller enthused, " [We] did it fairly successfully. " Speaking more generally about the installment, he continued, " Disappointments with it were [that] I think we shouldn't have said at the end that everything was a simulation. It should have been clear that some of these other young soldiers were also being recruited in the same way that Chakotay was. 'Nemesis' was probably, of what I did, my favorite of the year. It came out really pretty well, and it had a good twist. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 81)
• This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 4.5 million homes, and a 7% share. [5] (X)
• Cinefantastique rated this episode 2 and a half out of 4 stars. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 80)
• Star Trek Magazine scored this episode 3 out of 5 stars. ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 37 , p. 61)
• The unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 201) gives this installment a rating of 7 out of 10.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 4.2, 2 March 1998
• As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

• Robert Beltran as Chakotay
• Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Tim Russ as Tuvok
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
• Garrett Wang as Harry Kim

Guest stars [ ]

• Michael Mahonen as Brone
• Matt E. Levin as Rafin
• Nathan Anderson as Namon
• Peter Vogt as Kradin Commandant
• Booth Colman as Penno
• Meghan Murphy as Karya

Co-stars [ ]

• Terrence Evans as Ambassador Treen
• Marilyn Fox as Marna
• Pancho Demmings as Kradin Soldier

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• B'Jahn as Vori villager
• Tulsy Ball as Vori commando
• Millie Baron as Vori villager
• Mac Beers as Vori villager
• Linda Bell as Vori villager
• Angela Bertolino as Vori villager
• Kradin commando
• Kradin soldier
• Michelle Butler as Vori villager
• George Cambio as Vori commando
• Mary Cervantez as Vori villager
• Carol Cetrone as Vori villager
• Louis Coleman as Vori villager
• Misty Dickinson as Vori villager
• Torrey Dickinson as Vori villager
• Maureen Flaherty as Vori villager
• Tom Gianelli as Vori commando
• John Gipson as Vori villager
• Glenn Goldstein as Vori commando
• Linda Gucciardo as Vori villager
• Brian Hall as Vori commando
• Norman Joseph as Vori villager
• Tam "Egypt" Lee as Vori commando
• Mark Major as dead Vori
• Cazimir Milostan as Vori commando
• Kradin guard
• Monica Peterson as Vori villager
• Steve Race as Vori commando
• Jerry Sherman as Vori villager
• Joey Spagnola as Vori villager
• Kristen Wong as Vori villager

Stunt doubles [ ]

• David Balcorta as stunt double for Robert Beltran
• Johnny Martin as stunt double for Matt E. Levin
• Paul Short as stunt double for Peter Vogt

Stand-ins [ ]

• John Austin – stand-in for Terrence Evans
• Debbie David – stand-in for Robert Beltran
• Sue Henley – stand-in for Kate Mulgrew and utility stand-in
• June Jordan – stand-in for Meghan Murphy
• Susan Lewis – stand-in for Roxann Dawson
• Lemuel Perry – stand-in for Tim Russ and Pancho Demmings
• J.R. Quinonez – stand-in for Robert Picardo , Nathan Anderson , Michael Mahonen , and Matt E. Levin
• Keith Rayve – stand-in for Robert Duncan McNeill , Nathan Anderson, and Peter Vogt
• Jennifer Riley – stand-in for Marilyn Fox
• Ron – stand-in for Matt E. Levin and Booth Colman
• Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Robert Beltran
• Simon Stotler – stand-in for Ethan Phillips and Michael Mahonen
• John Tampoya – stand-in for Garrett Wang

References [ ]

2364 ; 2374 ; accusation ; aggressor ; ambassador ; bad breath ; basic training ; biochemical weapon ; blanket ; blister ; blossom ; brainwashing ; brother ; cadaver ; canteen ; Cardassian ; Chakotay's shuttle ; clash ; clash zone ; clay mark ; color ; conscript ; command post ; commando unit ; contingent ; crash landing ; Daryo ; dawn ; defender ; dozen ; driller ; elder ; extermination facility ; Fifth Contingent ; flower garland ; flaming ; footfall ; Fourth Vori Defense Contingent ; fuming ; gag ; girl ; Gloried Way After ; graduation ; grandfather ; gray ; Grove Yellow ; health ; hypothalamus ; intelligence report ; Kradin ; Kradin fighter ; " Krady beast "; Larhana settlement ; letter ; logic ; mind control ; neck-strapping ; nemesis ; new light ; novice ; omicron radiation ; photometric projection ; propaganda ; psychotropic manipulation ; radiation ; Rafin's uncles ; restock unit ; rotting ; scout walker ; Seventh Defense Contingent ; shuttlecraft ; stake ; tactical analysis ; team leader ; turnip ; village ; Vori ; Vori Defense Contingent ; Vori homeworld ; Vori homeworld star ; Vori language ; Vori village ; Vori/Kradin planet ; walk ; war ; warrior ; Way After

External links [ ]

• "Nemesis" at StarTrek.com
• " Nemesis " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Nemesis " at Wikipedia
• " Nemesis " at the Internet Movie Database
• " "Nemesis" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired May 1, 1995

An encounter with a peculiar nebula suddenly leaves Chakotay brain dead and unconscious. The crew is left with a mysterious but powerful force of energy onboard that can take over the minds ... Read all An encounter with a peculiar nebula suddenly leaves Chakotay brain dead and unconscious. The crew is left with a mysterious but powerful force of energy onboard that can take over the minds of the crew members. An encounter with a peculiar nebula suddenly leaves Chakotay brain dead and unconscious. The crew is left with a mysterious but powerful force of energy onboard that can take over the minds of the crew members.

• Kim Friedman
• Gene Roddenberry
• Rick Berman
• Michael Piller
• Kate Mulgrew
• Robert Beltran
• Roxann Dawson
• 12 User reviews
• 5 Critic reviews

• Capt. Kathryn Janeway

• Cmdr. Chakotay

• Lt. B'Elanna Torres
• (as Roxann Biggs-Dawson)

• Lt. Tom Paris

• Ensign Harry Kim

• Lieutenant Peter Durst

• Lord Burleigh

• Mrs. Templeton

• Voyager Computer
• Command Division Ensign
• (uncredited)
• Lt. Susan Nicoletti

• Kurt Bendera
• Ensign Brooks
• Michael Piller (showrunner)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia First appearance of Captain Janeway's "Ancient English Holonovel," which seems to be a mash-up of Charlotte Brontë 's Jane Eyre and Henry James ' Turn of the Screw. The latter was also the basis for a previous Star Trek production Sub Rosa (1994) . The Holonovel returns in Learning Curve (1995) and Persistence of Vision (1995) .
• Goofs Ranks change arbitrarily: Tuvok's rank insignia changes between Lieutenant and Lt Commander several times. Tom Paris' rank insignia changes between Lieutenant JG and Lieutenant several times.

[Torres tries to bring Chakotay back with his people's medicine wheel]

Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres : The wheel represents both the universe outside and the universe inside our minds as well. They believe each is a reflection of the other. When a person is sleeping or, or on a vision quest, it's said that his soul is walking the wheel. But if he's in a coma or near death, it means that he's gotten lost. These stones are signposts... to help point the way back.

[she places one stone on the wheel; the Doctor sighs]

Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres : Not exactly standard medical procedure, I know, but...

The Doctor : You've placed the coyote stone at the crossroads of the fifth and sixth realms, which would divert Commander Chakotay's soul, that is his consciousness, into the mountains of the antelope women - according to his tradition an extremely attractive locale. He might not want to leave.

• Connections Referenced in Star Trek: Voyager: Virtuoso (2000)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: Voyager - Main Title Written by Jerry Goldsmith Performed by Jay Chattaway

User reviews 12

• planktonrules
• Feb 5, 2015
• May 1, 1995 (United States)
• United States
• Official Site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Character Analysis

(Avoiding Spoilers)

Grew Up... on a Native American colony world near what would become the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone. Chakotay did not at first embrace the traditions and beliefs of his people, which were instilled upon him by his father. Chakotay’s desire to join Starfleet signified a departure of the old ways in favor of the new. After the signing of a treaty, however, and the subsequent death of his father at the hands of Cardassians, Chakotay left Starfleet, embraced his heritage and also joined the Maquis: a radical group of resistance fighters that opposed the Federation-Cardassian alliance.

Living... aboard U.S.S. Voyager, 70,000 light years away from home. Chakotay’s Maquis ship was stranded in the Delta Quadrant along with Voyager and, following its destruction, both Chakotay and his surviving Maquis crew members joined the Voyager crew, united in their goal of attempting to return to the Alpha Quadrant.

Profession... commander of Starfleet, and First Officer of U.S.S. Voyager. Chakotay serves beneath Captain Janeway as the ship’s second-most in-command officer. His strong but fair demeanor suits the position well, as does his unique way of seeing the world.

Interests... anthropology, archaeology, and the traditions of his own people. The indifference towards his Native American culture that Chakotay had in his youth has evaporated, and Chakotay has found a way to completely embrace tradition while serving Starfleet and living onboard a starship. Chakotay often meditates and communes with higher spirits of the universe when seeking direction in his duties or life affairs.

Relationship Status... single. With Chakotay, duty comes first. The immeasurable odds and tough challenges that face Voyager in the Delta Quadrant ensure that Chakotay’s hands are full with solving crew dilemmas, leaving little time for romance.

Challenge.... upholding Federation ideals while still doing what’s necessary to survive the many perils of the Delta Quadrant. There are many enemies who would seek to destroy Voyager, or raid it for its unusual technology, and Chakotay is committed toward preventing that from happening. Also, Chakotay struggles to facilitate relations for his former Maquis crewpersons who are now being asked to conform to Federation life in space. 

Personality... loyal, intelligent and emotionally stable. Chakotay is a rock who all crewmembers rely on for strength. His peaceable attributes work well to combat the stubborn and, at times, destructive ones of his crew. As Chakotay has observed, “Not every problem has an immediate solution.” Chaokay is a strong and admirable person thanks to his dedication to Captain Janeway and what she is trying to accomplish in the Delta Quadrant, his reliance upon traditions of his own culture when lost or uncertain, and his interest in bettering the lives of not only his crew but everyone he meets (including enemies).

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The USS Voyager was meant to complete missions in Federation space. But it ends up stranded in the unexplored Delta Quadrant, 75 light years from Earth. Not only does Kathryn Janeway have to manage her own crew, she's also in charge of the Maquis—as well as a few local aliens—who were similarly stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Together, Janeway is sure that the crew will be able to find wormholes, spatial rifts, or new technologies that can serve as a shortcut back to Earth.

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8 Alpha Quadrant Things Star Trek: Voyager Found In Delta Quadrant

• Star Trek: Voyager finds familiar things from the Alpha Quadrant in the Delta Quadrant, sparking important questions and connections.
• Encounter with Ferengi negotiators leads Voyager crew to stop their interference in a pre-warp civilization for profits.
• Janeway and crew discover humans abducted by aliens in the 1930s living in the Delta Quadrant, including Amelia Earhart.

For a show with the conceit of being so far from home, Star Trek: Voyager found a surprising number of things in the Delta Quadrant that originated in the Alpha Quadrant, including several from Earth itself. The USS Voyager, commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and Commander Chakotay's (Robert Beltran) Maquis raider Val Jean were both brought to the Delta Quadrant in 2371 by the Caretaker (Basil Langton). After Janeway destroyed the Caretaker's array to save the Ocampa , Voyager and the Val Jean were left without a ticket back to the Alpha Quadrant, and banded together to make the long journey.

Finding something familiar in an otherwise totally alien corner of the galaxy brought a sense of familiarity to the USS Voyager crew and viewers at home alike, but the presence of something from the Alpha Quadrant in the Delta Quadrant inevitably raised important questions , like how familiar people and objects traveled 70,000 light years from home in the first place, and whether the find could lead Captain Kathryn Janeway towards a quicker path home to Earth.

Star Trek: Voyagers 20 Best Episodes Ranked

A pair of ferengi negotiators, arridor and kol, star trek: voyager season 3, episode 5 "false profits".

The USS Voyager encounters a pair of Ferengi negotiators, Arridor (Dan Shor) and Kol (Leslie Jordan), who claim to be the prophesied Great Sages of the Takarians, a society with Bronze Age level technology. The Ferengi have no Prime Directive to deter them from interfering with the Takarians' development , so they're performing "miracles" with a standard replicator to reap the monetary benefits of the Takarians' worship. Voyager's crew know the Ferengi reputation well enough to know they're no Sages, so they must figure out how to put a stop to Arridor and Kol's grift.

"False Profits" serves as a Star Trek sequel episode to Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 8 "The Price", as Voyager catches up with Arridor and Kol (formerly played by J. R. Quinonez) seven years after their Delta Quadrant arrival. The Ferengi took a test flight through the supposedly stable wormhole near Barzan II, which was supposed to emerge in the Gamma Quadrant, but instead stranded the Ferengi in the Delta Quadrant, where they made the best of their situation as only Ferengi can.

Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 23 "Distant Origin"

"Distant Origin" opens on Forra Gegen (Henry Woronicz), a scientist who discovers that his people, the Voth, share certain genetic similarities with the humans aboard the USS Voyager. While this confirms Gegen's theory that the Voth are the descendants of a species brought to their homeworld millions of years ago , religious leader Minister Odala (Concetta Tomei) refuses to accept the truth. Even with Commander Chakotay present as a living specimen of humanity, Odala pushes Gegen to recant, because Gegen's theory goes against the Voth Doctrine that keeps Odala in power.

After meeting Gegen's assistant, Tova Veer (Christopher Liam Moore), Janeway and the Doctor use the holodeck as a research guide to extrapolate how hadrosaurs might look in the 24th century if they'd been able to evolve into a humanoid form with comparable intelligence. The result resembles Veer, so Janeway and the Doctor conclude, like Gegen, that the Voth evolved from hadrosaurs into a highly advanced species on Earth , then fled to the Delta Quadrant in spacefaring vessels instead of being wiped out with the other dinosaurs.

The Friendship One Probe

Star trek: voyager season 7, episode 21 "friendship one".

By Star Trek: Voyager season 7 , the USS Voyager is in regular contact with Starfleet Command, and Starfleet gives Voyager a mission to retrieve a 21st-century Earth probe, Friendship One . The probe proves difficult to find, but once discovered on an alien planet suffering devastating climate collapse, the implications of Friendship One's launch become clear. Besides the irreversible damage to the planet's climate, the inhabitants are all suffering from radiation sickness, and bear understandable hostility towards Earth, because the aliens believe humans orchestrated their destruction with the Friendship One probe.

The United Earth Space Probe Agency was one of the early names for the organization the USS Enterprise belongs to in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Charlie X".

Friendship One was launched in 2067 by the United Earth Space Probe Agency with the intention of making friends with whomever found it, as the name implies. Although Friendship One, the 400-year-old Earth probe, traveled for centuries carrying messages of peace, musical recordings, and ways to translate languages, the people who discovered Friendship One in the Delta Quadrant took a greater interest in the antimatter it used to travel across space. Without the proper knowledge of its use, antimatter proved devastating to the planet and its people, resulting in death and disease for generations.

Dreadnought, a Cardassian Missile

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 17 "dreadnought".

The USS Voyager discovers a dangerously powerful, self-guided Cardassian missile in the Delta Quadrant, which Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) recognizes as one nicknamed "Dreadnought" . When B'Elanna was with the Maquis, Torres had actually reprogrammed the missile herself, with the intention of turning the Cardassians' own weapon against them. Without a Cardassian target in sight, the artificially intelligent Cardassian Dreadnought targets a heavily-populated Class-M planet , Rakosa V. B'Elanna determines she must be the one to keep Dreadnought from hurting anyone else, and boards the missile to convince it to stand down.

While no concrete reason is given for exactly how the Dreadnought wound up in the Delta Quadrant, its last known location in the Alpha Quadrant was the Badlands, the same rough patch of space where Voyager and the Val Jean, Chakotay's Maquis raider, fatefully met. Because of this, Torres theorizes that Dreadnought arrived in the Delta Quadrant the same way that Voyager and the Val Jean did , courtesy of the Caretaker.

Star Trek: Voyagers BElanna Is More Klingon Than TNGs Worf Ever Was

A klingon d-7 class cruiser, complete with klingons, star trek: voyager, season 7, episode 14 "prophecy".

The USS Voyager certainly never expected to find a Klingon ship in the Delta Quadrant, but more surprising is the fact that the crew of the Klingon D-7 Class Cruiser believes their savior, the prophesied kuvah'magh, is aboard Voyager . Janeway assures the Klingon captain, Kohlar (Wren T. Brown), that the Federation and Klingon Empire have been allies for the past 80 years, and offers Voyager's own half-Klingon, Lt. B'Elanna Torres, as proof their societies are working together now. The kuvah'magh is Torres' unborn daughter, who does save the Klingons, but not the way they expected.

Centuries ago, Kohlar's great-grandfather set off on a quest to find the kuvah'magh, and the Klingon D-7 Cruiser became a generation ship that is now crewed by the descendants of its original crew . The quest begun by Kohlar's great-grandfather brought Kohlar and his crew to the Delta Quadrant after four generations of searching. Whether B'Elanna's child is actually the kuvah'magh or not, Kohlar desperately wants the baby to be their savior, so that his people may finally rest.

Amelia Earhart

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 1 "the 37s".

The discovery of a 1936 Ford truck, seemingly disconnected from any parent vehicle, leads the USS Voyager to a nearby Class-L planet, where they find eight humans who have been in cryo-stasis since they were abducted by aliens in the 1930s. Among them are one of Janeway's personal heroes, legendary American aviator Amelia Earhart (Sharon Lawrence) , who disappeared without a trace while attempting to fly around the world, and Earhart's navigator, Fred Noonan (David Graf). Earhart and the other preserved humans are known by the planet's inhabitants as "The 37s", and revered as sacred.

Originally thought to be aliens, the natives of the unnamed planet are the descendants of humans. A species called the Briori abducted the natives' ancestors, along with Earhart and the other 37s, from Earth centuries earlier , and took them to the Delta Quadrant. Once held as slaves, the humans who weren't in stasis revolted to free themselves from the Briori, and developed a thriving, Earth-like civilization in the Delta Quadrant. Voyager's crew consider staying with the humans in their little slice of home, while Janeway also offers a ride back to Earth to anyone who wants it, including Amelia Earhart.

The USS Equinox

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 26 & season 6, episode 1 "equinox".

The crew of the USS Voyager believe they're the only Starfleet vessel in the Delta Quadrant until they find the USS Equinox, five years into their journey home. Captain Rudolph Ransom (John Savage) and the Equinox crew have had a harder time in the Delta Quadrant than Voyager, with more damage, fewer starting resources, and fewer opportunities to make friends along the way. Ransom's survival tactics include sacrificing innocent nucleogenic life forms for a more efficient form of fuel, which Janeway finds hard to stomach, and decides that Ransom needs to be held accountable for defying Federation ideals, regardless of how badly the Equinox is damaged.

Although Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) suggests that the Equinox might be in the Delta Quadrant on a rescue mission to find Voyager, the USS Equinox's specs don't fit the profile of a starship that would be assigned to a long-range mission. The explanation of how the Equinox arrived in the Delta Quadrant in the first place seems fairly simple, because Captain Ransom tells Janeway that the Equinox was also abducted by the Caretaker , just like Voyager, but the Equinox has only been in the Delta Quadrant for 2 years, and Janeway destroyed the Caretaker's array 5 years earlier.

Seven of Nine

Debuts in star trek: voyager season 4, episode 1 "scorpion, part 2".

When Captain Kathryn Janeway allies with the Borg in order to secure safe passage across Borg space, Janeway refuses the cursory assimilation that the Borg want to use to communicate with Janeway and Voyager's crew, and instead requests a speaker for the Borg, citing the existence of Locutus (Patrick Stewart) as precedent. Seven of Nine , Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, is selected as the Borg drone to act as liaison between the Collective and Voyager, likely because Seven of Nine had once been a member of Species 5168, like most of Voyager's crew -- in other words, human.

Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16, "Dark Frontier" provides even more detail of the Hansens' fateful journey.

After Seven's link with the Collective is severed, more information about Seven's human origin comes to light. In Voyager season 4, episode 6 "The Raven", when Voyager nears the Hansens' ship, the USS Raven, memories of Seven's early life surface, revealing that Seven had been six-year-old human Annika Hansen , the daughter of Magnus Hansen (Kirk Baily) and Erin Hansen (Laura Stepp), Federation scientists who were studying the Borg when they were assimilated. Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16, "Dark Frontier" provides even more detail of the Hansens' fateful journey, showing the Raven arriving in the Delta Quadrant by following a Borg Cube through a transwarp conduit.

10 Ways USS Voyager Changed In Star Treks Delta Quadrant

Star Trek: Voyager links back to the greater Star Trek universe with people and starships from the Alpha Quadrant. Connections to the familiar were especially important early on, because Voyager 's place in the Star Trek franchise was established and aided by the legitimacy these finds offered. Later, when the USS Voyager used the Hirogen communications array to communicate with Starfleet Command, links back to the Alpha Quadrant were plentiful again, not only to prove that the USS Voyager was closer to home, but to help Star Trek: Voyager maintain connections to Star Trek and carry the franchise in its final years.

Star Trek: Voyager is available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Voyager

Cast Jennifer Lien, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson, Robert Beltran, Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo

Release Date May 23, 1995

Genres Sci-Fi, Adventure

Network UPN

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Michael Piller, Rick Berman

Showrunner Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Rating TV-PG

Why Robert Beltran Has Regrets About His Star Trek: Voyager Romance!

Robert Beltran (“Eating Raoul”) played Chakotay, a Native American member of The Maquis, an anti-Federation resistance force that was established when the Federation colonised its home worlds as a result of a shaky agreement with the Cardassian Empire, at the commencement of “Star Trek: Voyager” in 1995. He and a number of his fellow countrymen were fleeing the show’s namesake ship when the series’ action launched them all across the galaxy, depositing them 70 years from Earth. The Maquis fighters were forced to transfer to the Voyager. The captain appointed Chakotay as the ship’s first officer in an effort to improve ties between the Starfleet officers and the Maquis.

Chakotay adapted well to the job, giving Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) advice when she was acting recklessly (which she frequently did), and making an effort to take on more of a father figure role for the rest of the crew. However, Chakotay’s position allowed for limited social interactions. There were a few memorable bonding moments between him and the captain on “Voyager,” but Chakotay wasn’t frequently seen forming any other special close bonds with the other characters. Although he may have served as a background authority figure, other characters were responsible for the quarrelsome exchanges, the scenes of intense regard, and the romantic exchanges.

There were a couple significant turning points for Chakotay in that final component—the romance. He had a relationship with Ensign Seska (Martha Hackett) early on in the show, who turned out to be a traitor, and was compelled to date Seven of Nine later on (Jeri Ryan). The later romance didn’t excite Trekkies, and it turns out Beltran wasn’t either. Beltran discussed his regrets in a StarTrek.com interview.

When questioned in the interview about his favourite features of Chakotay, Beltran expressed some ambivalence about interpersonal moments or their absence, particularly as the series developed in its later seasons:

“I believe that what worked was that it was exciting to witness any form of human contact,” said the speaker. Chakotay and the captain, Chakotay and Seska, and the hastily formed bond between Seven of Nine and Chakotay are just a few examples. Other than those connections, Chakotay, at least from seasons four to seven, was somewhat of a loner. Beltran credited writer and co-creator Jeri Taylor, a fixture in the “Star Trek” writers room since the “Next Generation” era, with the early show’s strong sense of human connection. For the third and fourth seasons of “Voyager,” Taylor took over as showrunner from Michael Piller. She gave Brannon Braga the reins before departing:

After Jeri Taylor’s departure, I believe the show underwent a change. “I think the first three seasons had a lot of great themes. I believe that any time a character develops in their interpersonal interactions, and you could say that about Chakotay and the captain without a doubt. But after Seska left, the only connection that remained solid was the one with the captain. Tuvok and Chakotay didn’t have much. Paris and Chakotay didn’t have much. There was little interaction between Chakotay and the other characters. It was something I constantly regretted because there was so much to discover.

The Seven of Nine Show

Seven of Nine, an attractive Borg who was added to “Voyager” for its fourth season to boost ratings, made his debut. She quickly became popular with the writers, notably Braga, who created numerous episodes that were centred on her (Braga and Ryan were, it should be noted, romantically involved). Beltran believes that other characters were neglected as well, in addition to one of the key cast members being written off to make room for her (the sad story of Jennifer Lien’s Kes).

They paid close attention throughout the Michael Piller-Jeri Taylor years. After that, it was… I suppose the focus shifted when Brannon Braga took charge and the Seven of Nine figure entered. I didn’t mind at all. That was okay with me, but if characters are regulars on a series, I believe authors must give them all backstories. I believe that several of the characters, including Chakotay, Tuvok, Kim, and Neelix, were underdeveloped. I believe it was simply simpler for the new authors who joined the industry to write stories about the captain and fictional characters like Seven of Nine and the Doctor. A hologram of The Doctor (Robert Picardo), this artificial intelligence appeared to be unstoppable. You have what Beltran called “omnipotent” personalities between him and Seven of Nine, which he believes aren’t really intriguing to write about:

“Those three characters were somewhat omnipotent, all-seeing, and all-knowing, and I believe that much of the tension and drama that may have been present was missed because it takes a lot of effort to locate tension in characters that had these qualities. They have all the answers, right? They know all the solutions. Otherwise, you would have redundant scenes that were written with little differences over and over again. There were seven seasons of “Voyager.” Chakotay subsequently rose to the position of captain of the U.S.S. Protostar, the main ship in “Star Trek: Prodigy,” while Seven of Nine eventually made appearances as a regular character on “Star Trek: Picard.”

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Published Apr 24, 2024

Stuck in a Loop: The Best of Star Trek's Time-Jumping Episodes

From The Next Generation to Discovery, going around and around is sometimes very revealing.

StarTrek.com

In the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 episode, " Face the Strange ," Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner find themselves both stuck in a loop, but also, jumping all around the timeline of the titular starship. From the point before the U.S.S. Discovery was launched, to pivotal moments in Season 4, Season 3, Season 2 and even very early in Season 1, Rayner notes at one point that, "We’ve gone back in time to when you went forward to the future. That’s a little confusing."

Throughout all of Star Trek 's history, time travel has been just as propulsive to the narratives as space travel. But, within the various time travel stories of Trek , there is a special kind of time-skipping episode — the time loop story. Discovery has recently shaken-up this formula with "Face the Strange," but many elements of this episode pay homage to a proud Star Trek tradition. Here’s the history of the best time loop, and time-jumping episodes across the entire Final Frontier.

" Cause and Effect ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 5, Episode 18)

"Cause and Effect"

Perhaps one of the greatest science fiction episodes of all time, The Next Generation set the gold-standard for how to do time loop episodes.

When the Enterprise collides with another starship in the first scene, this episode poses one question right off the bat: What happens after you blow up the ship — and everyone on it — before the credits roll? The answer is mostly connected to whether or not we can even remember when we're stuck in a loop. Without actually spoiling this classic episode, let's just say thank the stars for Dr. Crusher and Data.

The brilliance of "Cause and Effect" cannot be overstated, but the 21st Century legacy of this episode is utterly appropriate. When Geordi reveals how the time loop works, Riker says, "You mean we could have come into this room, sat at this table and had this conversation a dozen times already?" This scene has become a popular meme format across various social media platforms, satirizing the time loop of some aspects of the internet experience.

" Parallels ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7, Episode 11)

"Parallels"

Arguably, when Worf starts slipping between realities in "Parallels," the story is more focused on other dimensions, rather than a true time loop. But, each time he pops into a new reality, Worf does tend to reply to his own personal log, which is what began the episode.

Obviously, in each new timeline, Worf's personal log is different, and because he checks it so often in the episode, this gives "Parallels" the feeling of a time loop story, even though Worf is technically moving both forward in time, and also, side-to-side.

On top of all of this, "Parallels" feels time-loopy because so many ideas and plot points from previous seasons of The Next Generation are revisited here. From references to " The Best of Both Worlds ," to the return of Wesley Crusher, "Parallels" brings all the good things of TNG back around again for another look, from a different point of view.

" All Good Things... ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7, Episode 25)

"All Good Things..."

Speaking of the best of The Next Generation , the immortal series finale is, from a certain point of view, one big time loop. As Jean-Luc Picard shifts between past, present, and future, the biggest mystery of "All Good Things…" is what caused the anomaly in the Devron system? Eventually, we learn that the ending and the beginning of this story are inextricably connected, a paradox that creates a kind of loop that must be broken.

Twenty-nine years later, in the Star Trek: Picard episode, " Imposters ," Captain Liam Shaw references this moment, and notes that Picard and Riker have a "real chicken and egg thing going on." It doesn’t get any more time-loopy than that!

" Visionary ," Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 3, Episode 17)

"Visionary"

When O'Brien starts seeing another version of himself appearing randomly throughout the station, Dr. Bashir briefly floats the idea that he's just having really boring hallucinations. But, as the episode goes on, it becomes clear that O'Brien is actually seeing brief moments in the future, and then, catching up to those moments in the present.

"Visionary" messes with what we expect from a time loop episode, because in all instances of future occurrences, there are literally two O'Briens present, and, when the past O'Brien catches up to the future moment, the duplication effect happens again, creating a kind of visual loop for the audience. The funny thing is, in several instances, the future doesn't play out exactly the way past O'Brien saw the first time, making this one of the wobblier time loops in all of Star Trek .

" Relativity ," Star Trek: Voyager (Season 5, Episode 24)

"Relativity"

In a move very similar to Discovery 's "Face the Strange," this unforgettable episode of Voyager briefly takes us back to a point before the series even begins, showing us Janeway's first moments on Voyager before the ship left the Utopia Planitia Shipyards on Mars. (In "Face the Strange," Burnham and Rayner see Discovery in a drydock on Earth well before the events of Season 1.)

But, Voyager 's jaunt into its own prehistory is just the beginning of a very specific type of time jumping episode. Here, Seven of Nine isn't exactly repeating a loop, but, making several attempts at different times, to prevent a bomb from destroying Voyager . As Tuvok aptly puts it when encountering one version of Seven from the future, "Like many time paradoxes, it's improbable, but not necessarily illogical." Because this episode features multiple versions of Seven, and leaps to various eras of Voyager , it pairs very nicely with Burnham and Rayner's similar jumps in "Face the Strange." Especially the moment where Seven meets herself.

" Shattered ," Star Trek: Voyager (Season 7, Episode 11)

"Shattered"

Does Voyager have the best timey-wimey episodes in all of the Trek franchise? It's hard to say, but if there's another Trek episode that feels like an older sibling of Discovery 's "Face the Strange," it's almost certainly "Shattered," a fan-favorite episode from Voyager 's final season. Here, the captain and the first officer — Janeway and Chakotay — find themselves on a version of the ship that has been split into different time periods.

"Shattered" is one of Star Trek 's greatest retrospective episodes, touching on moments across all of Voyager 's story, and teaming past versions of characters with ones closer to the present. It's a touching story, and, structurally, it's wonderfully homaged in Discovery .

" Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad ," Star Trek: Discovery (Season 1, Episode 7)

"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"

One of Discovery 's stand-out moments from Season 1 fully set the stage for "Face the Strange" in Season 5. In "Magic to Make The Sanest Man Go Mad," Harry Mudd sets the ship on a true time loop, in which only Stamets can truly remember what is going on. Like in "Face the Strange," Stamets has a perception that exists outside of time, thanks to taking on the Tardigrade DNA in "Choose Your Pain."

This detail comes in handy in "Face the Strange," where Burnham and Stamets again have to re-team to get Discovery out of a time loop caused by nefarious enemies using time travel technology as a weapon. In Season 1, Burnham and Stamets barely knew each other, much like Burnham and Rayner's relationship in Season 5. But, if there's one thing a time loop or time-jumping episode can do, it’s make people who are just colleagues into best friends for life.

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Ryan Britt is the author of the nonfiction books Phasers on Stun! How the Making and Remaking of Star Trek Changed the World (2022), The Spice Must Flow: The Journey of Dune from Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies (2023), and the essay collection Luke Skywalker Can’t Read (2015). He is a longtime contributor to Star Trek.com and his writing regularly appears with Inverse, Den of Geek!, Esquire and elsewhere. He lives in Portland, Maine with his family.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Screen Rant

Star trek: ds9 foreshadowed voyager’s fate a year earlier.

In 1994, Star Trek began laying the groundwork for Voyager's 1995 premiere with a stark warning from Sisko about both the Maquis and the Badlands.

• DS9 set the stage for Voyager's fate, including the introduction of the Maquis and the crucial Badlands location.
• Commander Sisko's pursuit of the Maquis in DS9 foreshadowed Voyager's disappearance in the Badlands.
• The Badlands played a significant role in Voyager's pilot episode, setting the stage for the crew's journey to the Delta Quadrant.

The fate of the USS Voyager was foreshadowed by Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2. With Star Trek: Voyager slated to premiere in January 1995, DS9 season 2 and Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7 laid some of the groundwork for the new show. The biggest way that DS9 and TNG set up Voyager was the introduction of the Maquis, the terrorist organization that would provide the rogue element in Voyager 's cast of characters. The TNG episode "Journey's End" set up the political situation from which they originated, while DS9 's two-parter "The Maquis" formally introduced them to the Star Trek universe .

Several Maquis members, including Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) would later be forced to join the crew of the USS Voyager. However, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Maquis two-parter set up the plot of Star Trek: Voyager in other ways, too . Halfway through "The Maquis", Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) is captured by terrorists, forcing Sisko to give pursuit. Tracking the Maquis freighter, Sisko, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), and Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) enters the Badlands, a region of space that would play a crucial role in Voyager 's pilot episode, "Caretaker".

Star Trek: Voyager & DS9 Crossed Over In The Mirror Universe

Ds9 foreshadowed uss voyager's disappearance in the badlands, the maquis' use of the badlands as a hiding place and strategic location was seeded through ds9 seasons 2 and 3..

Briefing Dr. Julian Bashir, Kira reveals that the Badlands is beset by plasma storms, making it an incredibly dangerous region of space. To which Sisko adds that " a few ships have been lost there over the past year or two ", foreshadowing the loss of the USS Voyager a year later. DS9 would also later establish that the Badlands was a key strategic location for the Maquis in their resistance efforts against Cardassian occupation , further setting up the Star Trek: Voyager pilot. Not only was the Badlands a crucial hiding place for the Maquis, the region was also used as a staging ground for larger military operations.

The Badlands were likened to the Bermuda Triangle in an early outline of Star Trek: Voyager dated 17th August 1993.

In DS9 season 3, episode 9, "Defiant", Thomas Riker (Jonathan Frakes) hijacked the USS Defiant and took it into the Badlands to rendezvous with a fleet of Maquis raiders. "Defiant" aired a few months before Star Trek: Voyager 's pilot, in which Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the crew of the USS Voyager departed from Deep Space Nine to track down a missing Maquis ship in the Badlands . It was a fateful mission that ultimately resulted in the Intrepid-class Voyager being stranded thousands of lightyears from home, another starship " lost over there " in the Badlands.

While devising Star Trek: Voyager in August 1993, Jeri Taylor wrote that the Badlands were " a turbulent area of space where some ships have been lost (some of them might crop up during the series) "

Other Star Trek Starships Lost In The Badlands

"a few ships have been lost over there..." - commander sisko.

The USS Voyager was initially sent to track down the missing Maquis freighter, the Val Jean, aboard which Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) was undercover for Starfleet. The Val Jean was lost in the Badlands after being pursued by Gul Evek (Richard Poe), who was overseer of the Demilitarized Zone in place between the Cardassian and Federation territories. However, rather than being destroyed by the plasma storms that plagued the region, the Val Jean was actually captured by the Caretaker's coherent tetryon beam and brought to the Delta Quadrant . The Caretaker had also taken a Cardassian Galor-class warship, and a Cardassian Dreadnought missile.

In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The Voyager Conspiracy" it is suggested that it was Gul Evek's ship that was captured by the Caretaker, however this is later debunked.

The most notable starship taken by the Caretaker was the USS Equinox, which was encountered by Captain Janeway and the crew in Star Trek: Voyager 's season 5 finale . However, given that the Equinox was stranded in a different region of space, it seems that they weren't lost in the Badlands like Voyager was. The Badlands continued to be a key position during the Dominion War in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , until the Maquis were rooted out by the combined forces of the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar, a devastating loss for Voyager's Maquis crew members.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

Star Trek: Voyager

The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they've never faced before.