Would Neelix have been happy if he had stayed with Voyager?

As unlikely a scenario as finding a Talaxian colony so far from Talax was, I suppose it was good that Neelix found some of his own people. If he had continued on to the AQ with Voyager he most likely would never have seen any of his people again.

Would he have found himself lonely on Earth or wherever he chose to settle in Federation society? His friends on Voyager would either be reuniting with loved ones or facing unknown futures* or both.

*Unknown futures like the status of the Maquis or whether Janeway was in trouble with Starfleet because of some of the decisions she made.

However I do believe that the crew of Voyager became like a surrogate family to him. He genuinely loved them and they loved him.

 

Starfleet Intelligence might have conducted a series of interviews with him, before realizing his factual knowledge was limited. Starfleet Medical might be interested in him for various reasons. He might get his 15 seconds of fame on Federation news and entertainment programs, perhaps noteworthy as a Delta Quadrant representative. He might enjoy the newfound attention, telling embellished tales of his exploits. Inevitably, the requests for interviews would stop coming, and out of boredom he would perhaps buy a new ship to return to space, as a junk man.

 

A part of me says yes, because the crew really was a second family to him for those seven years. It was probably the first time since losing his parents and sister, that Neelix felt like he belonged somewhere.

But if he had stayed, I think he would have started to feel very lonely, and really miss being with his own kind.

 

I think he would have done fine provided he hooked-up with a Klingon female.

 

I'm sure he would have ended up in a secret facility being researched by "top men".

 

What do you think Janeway was just joking when she named him de facto ambassador to the DQ for the Federation? His talents as someone who could facilitate deals and further, likely be able to successfully negotiate disputes between enemies had to be well known by Starfleet. He certainly would represent the virtues of the Federation as effectively as any mealy mouthed Terran back in the AQ.

Please tell me that this vision is substantiated by his portrayal in the novels and that Janeway wasn't just putting a generous, but fanciful shine on a goodbye to a much cared for friend.

 

Neelix is treated very decently in the novels. Like a lot of the characters he has 'grown up'.

And yes, he sent reports to Admiral Janeway and kept in regular touch with members of the crew.

 

Yes, he would have been happy if he stayed on Voyager.

I think that it didn't take too long before he regretted his decision not to follow his friends on the ship to Earth and I'm toying with an idea for a story here.

 

That's good to know. I'm glad he's still a part of Voyager in some way.

 

It's not quite black and white. The crew (not speaking strictly the senior staff) split and take different assignments and he was social but the lone talaxian. I think there is a good chance he'll adapt. He always has but I think he's spun himself I to a situation where he has his heart on Talax and Voyager.

 

That's heartening to hear. Still, does he ever actually act officially on behalf of the Federation or is simply a conduit of significant information on DQ goings on directly to Janeway and no one else?

 

I'm glad to hear that as well. I've not read much of the post Endgame Trek Lit.

 

Neelix was in love Janeway.

An imaginary relationship with the Captain is good enough, unless someone throws themselves at him.

Oh.

Dexa was played by the same girl who knocked up Trip in Enterprise.

I'm seeing some trending behaviour there.

 

I am sad that Neelix did not go to Earth with the crew.

He had been with them for 7 years through some really difficult times. He came from being a lone scavenger to becoming part of the Federation crew. It would have been nice for him, after such a long time living in the chaotic and dangerous Delta Quadrant, to see the Federation and what it was all about. Neelix will spend the rest of his life scrapping and scrounging, and will always wonder how his friends are doing and what their world is truly like.

At least that is how I feel, and it makes me feel sad.

 

I agree. Like I said before, Voyager became his family. In one of the Voyager novels, "Marooned", he refers to Janeway as his beloved Capt. Janeway. Well, in his own mind at least.

Although he will have a family (Dexa and Brax) and the company of other Talaxians. It does seem like they will spend the rest of their lives scrapping by because they are digging their heels in to remain on an asteroid. I haven't seen this one in a while, so I don't remember why they were not trying to find an actual class M planet to settle on. The people who wanted the asteroid field they settled on wanted them gone because they wanted to mine the minerals.

 

I wonder why he didn't go after the Captain. She wasn't taken (at least not in Kate's head) :-) I cried when he bailed on going to Earth

 

He's still sat waiting for Seven to make her Kadis-kot move.

Every day he returns to the screen in the hope that she'll be there. Like a sad puppy.

 

She was still holding on to Mark until season 4.

Neelix speechified to Q that Q wasn't good enough to bed the Captain, which Q rightly accessed that Neelix was really saying was that Neelix wasn't good enough to bed Kathryn.

 

Not the Talaxian colony specifically, but I think that sort of ending was inevitable for the character. Neelix at his core was always a nurturing soul, and in search of someone to care for as best he could. First it was Kes, then it became the crew of Voyager. Once they got home, I think he would have found someone else or some cause to latch onto whom he thought he could help.

Voyager coming home is almost like a school graduation. All your friends disperse and the world you inhabited with them, no matter how much you may (or may not) have liked it, has dissolved. Just like every graduate, he has to adapt to the next phase of life, so I don't think he'd stay on Voyager for very long anyway.

 

To me, Neelix comes across as a character who will always find a way to feel happy and cheerful.

I guess he would have opened up his own reasturant here on Earth. He may have teamed up with Sisko's father ... or something.