Janeway: Hero Or Villain?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Voyager' started by Taylirious, Oct 27, 2013.

?

Hero Or Villain?

Poll closed Jan 25, 2014.
  1. Hero

    71.1%
  2. Villain

    7.9%
  3. Other. Explain.

    21.1%
  1. Taylirious

    Taylirious Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Vote! :borg:

    Did Kat have the best interest of her crew and The Federation in mind?
     
  2. Taylirious

    Taylirious Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I went with Hero. :bolian: She did the best she could.
     
  3. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    As much crap as I give the character, I can't say villain so I voted other. A well intentioned person, who made a lot of morally questionable calls.
     
  4. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    A total BAMF who got her people home and brought back the dead!

    (the important ones, that is)
     
  5. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    [​IMG]

    Why didn't you just kill me in season 2 you tease!
     
  6. Lynx

    Lynx Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Hero!

    She did she best she could in a very difficult situation.
     
  7. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    She continually tried to sacrifice the Galaxy, and sometimes even the Universe to save 140 people.

    The same hundred and 40 people she also constantly tried to sacrifice to save her Borgette.
     
  8. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^:adore: it's true! She's just that wonderful.
     
  9. Captain Jed R.

    Captain Jed R. Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Other.

    She was a flawed human being: she had a caffeine addiction, she was stubborn, she had some obsessive tendencies when certain instances occurred, and over the course of the seven years we saw hints of a self-destructive streak. She coped by making "getting the crew home" her anchor, the thing that drove her on - her primary obsession, so to speak. It became more important to her than her own life, as shown.

    For all that, she's a far more interesting character than is superficially shown. She's almost pretending to be a perfect Starfleet Captain even though she isn't, and even though she's almost emotionally crippled by self-imposed expectations. It's a more nuanced performance, more nuanced writing, than I think even it is trying to be. And that's why I love the character.
     
  10. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The fact is that she's BOTH of the above. That's what makes her so badass. :devil: ;)
     
  11. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Caffeine addiction is listed as a flaw?

    And the nuances, I give most of the credit to Mulgrew's performance :)
     
  12. BruntFCA

    BruntFCA Commander Red Shirt

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    I had to go with villain do to that whole murdering a guy thing.
     
  13. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    May I vote more than once please?
     
  14. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    This is very true. I have always found Mulgrew's performance compelling for this reason. One gets the idea that Janeway is kind of holding it together for her crew's sake but the cracks do show at times.

    She's not a seasoned leader in the Picard mold, or even a born leader like Kirk. She's something completely her own, an ordinary human being in an extraordinary situation, and Mulgrew just owned the role from the very first frame of "Caretaker", IMO. :techman:
     
  15. Captain Jed R.

    Captain Jed R. Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I have caffeine addiction, badly. It's a flaw.
     
  16. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Hero. She did everything in her power to ensure that she and Borg Babe would live happily ever after together. And Mulgrew rocks.
     
  17. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    The only thing that keeps me from voting 'Hero' is the way she helped the Borg in Scorpion. She hung entire worlds out to dry there.
     
  18. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    You think the 8472 wouldn't have slaughtered those people?
     
  19. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Uh, the only thing 8472 is guilty of is maybe using excessive force in defending themselves. Maybe. They had every right to tear the Borg a new one for attacking them. They had every right to assume Voyager was an enemy when they boarded their ship, tried tractoring it, and beaming it away in their first encounter and then were seen collaborating with their enemy from that point on. Then invading their realm and using biological weapons didn't help either.

    And before you throw out that "the weak shall perish" or "your galaxy will be purged" just remember... front line soldiers say crap like that all the time. Not to mention we have only Kes' admittedly sketchy telepathy to go on with that. If an American solider says "Kill em all!" that doesn't mean we're a nation of genocidal manics bent on exterminating all other nations. When an important 8472 showed up later on they were quite reasonable actually.

    So yes... Janeway basically aided the Borg in fighting an enemy just to get what she wanted. And they betrayed her, surprise, surprise. I'd be pissed off at her too if I was Arturis.
     
  20. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    Janeway had bad intelligence.

    8472 turned out to be not that bad, who were not going to purge the galaxy, but at the time she was taking the word of a 5 year old to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2013