How would you rewrite Endgame?

[Ghislaine H. B. BRAEME]

I would have had them get home in the first two minutes instead of the end. A group of Starfleet security officers beams aboard and immediately arrests Chakotay, Belanna and the other Maquis and ships them off to prison for their time as Maquis. Just because the crew had to forgive and forget in order to survive doesn't mean Starfleet is going to. They also send Paris back to prison to finish his term there. The Doctor is taken out of sickbay and sent to a lab somewhere so the scientists can see the effects of his program having been on so long. Seven is also arrested, but sent to a lab to be dissected so Starfleet can learn how to beat the Borg once and for all. Janeway, Tuvok and Kim spent the episode trying to get their friends out of trouble. In the end, they get their friends off, Janeway reassembles the crew on the Voyager and they fly off to have normal Star Trek type adventures.

The End

As dark and sad RandyS 's scenario is, it is certainly realistic.
Indeed, we must not forget that it is not because Janeway and her crew have become accustomed to see Chakotay and his Maquis crew, the Doctor and Seven as friends that the situation had to be imposed on Starfleet/the Federation. That's why I truly think that the "after-Endgame" could not necessarily mean a happy end for everyone (after the Voyager's reunion party, of course! ). Never underestimate the force of resentment that people can have sometimes, especially in high spheres like Starfleet and the Federation were.

As for Harry Kim, I don't know why but I don't see him live (and prosper) a longtime in Starfleet institution!
No doubt he has many qualities (smart, kind, courageous, for ex.) to become a perfect gentleman for any women (even if until now, his experiences women and capable man and a brilliant officer but he is very ambitious too and to quickly advance to more senior roles, he would easily embark on challenges, without
without weighing all the consequences. => or he would be killed in a mission or he would resign further to a mission which would gone wrong because of an error of assessment/miscalculation from his part, causing many casualties.
Indeed, he will not always have a Janeway, Paris, Torres or Seven with him for reason him, when the situation will be complicated!

 

[RandyS]

As dark and sad RandyS 's scenario is, it is certainly realistic.
Indeed, we must not forget that it is not because Janeway and her crew have become accustomed to see Chakotay and his Maquis crew, the Doctor and Seven as friends that the situation had to be imposed on Starfleet/the Federation. That's why I truly think that the "after-Endgame" could not necessarily mean a happy end for everyone (after the Voyager's reunion party, of course! ). Never underestimate the force of resentment that people can have sometimes, especially in high spheres like Starfleet and the Federation were.

Sigh.....

I didn't mean that their circumstances had to be "dark and sad" forever, only that their pre "Caretaker" circumstances had to be adressed before they could move on. Whch is why Janeway's part in the episode would be to get them off, and she would succeed.

I was basically appealing to the Ron Moore--"everything in life is a downer-negative" fans.

 

[Ghislaine H. B. BRAEME]

Sigh.....

I didn't mean that their circumstances had to be "dark and sad" forever, only that their pre "Caretaker" circumstances had to be adressed before they could move on. Whch is why Janeway's part in the episode would be to get them off, and she would succeed.

I was basically appealing to the Ron Moore--"everything in life is a downer-negative" fans.

Make her friends out of jail permanently is one thing and I'm sure that Juneway will succeed in this task, that they may have life of their dreams is another one. Let's be honest, their past (Maquis in particular for Chakotay and Torres => as during WWII, there was people who supported the Maquis and their activities and others who despised them) and/or differences (Borg implants for Seven : given all the harm inflicted by the Borg in different quadrants, there would be nothing surprising to see people wanting to keep their distance. As for being a hologram and enjoys the same rights as living being, there will always be opponents) will always haunt them because there will always be people/medias around to remind them. Janeway cannot force people to accept her friends, right? And it is not being negative but realistic!

(And if you don't believe me, look at the fate of criminals out of prison, for who only a few people want to give another chance AND / OR people who are different and can not find their place in society!)

 

[Six of Twelve]

I wouldn't change much. I'd just show a bit of what happens after they all return home and some hints of what they plan to do next.

 

[DarKush]

I didn't love Endgame, and part of the reason why was it felt very selfish on Admiral Janeway's part to upend reality just to bring Seven of Nine home. Plus, I didn't like the out-of-the-blue Seven and Chakotay romance either. I did think the Janeway-Tuvok scenes were touching and well-done, and I was fine with the futures of the other Voyager crewmembers, though "Joe" as the Doctor's name wasn't that funny to me.

All that being said, if I stay with the Borg idea and not change too much, I would have had Seven of Nine as the person who goes back in time to save Janeway. Janeway doesn't make it out of the Delta Quadrant in the past and Seven is forever haunted by that. Admiral Janeway's actions felt more like something Seven would have done.

I also wouldn't have made future tech Voyager so powerful. The 1989 Batmobile look was a bit too much.

Other thoughts I've had were to bring them home in Season 6 and have Season 7 deal with the aftermath of that. And perhaps do something with Species 8472, the Vaadwaur, or another opponent coming to the Alpha Quadrant. The Voyager crew back home for a season allows them to explore new relationships, but also could be a way we could learn what happened after the DS9 series finale as well.

 

[TigerCat]

Get rid of the time travel part of it, for 2 reasons. Well, 3 actually.
1 - The original Voyager made some changes to the Delta Quadrant around them by the time they reached home. They changed some lives perhaps (maybe Harry Kim even found a girlfriend!). Is it right to undo those changes just because Admiral Janeway wants to save a few of her crewmembers?
2 - I half expected Captain Braxton or some other time policeman to stop them and send them back to where they were supposed to be no matter how close to Earth they appear to be in the final shot.
3 - If Admiral Janway could time travel, why pick that point in time? Why not go earlier and save more crewmen or go back to the beginning and undo it all or later or whenever? Was that Borg warmhole/corridor/whatever it was the only one in existence? Couldn't there have been another they could have taken far earlier had they known about it?

Instead, I'd prefer it if when contact with Starfleet was established, a gradual "Steafleet comes up with an idea to bring them home. Voyager tries it. Doesn't work fully but it brings them a bit closer" until they're practically at the gate. Do the writers want a Borg fight? Let's keep it, with the Voyager hitting them from behind while Starfleet hits them from the front and let Voyager emerge victorious like it did in the show.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

Mostly I would just build up to it in previous episodes. And find a better reason for Janeway to change history than "her three favorite people got screwed by life but everyone else is fine."

 

[DonIago]

That's what cheesed me off most about the episode...the utter disregard for anything Voyager might have accomplished after the point where Janeway chose to jumpstart the trip. Are we supposed to believe that nothing else they did mattered to anyone?

More snarkily there's the "Why not go back a week earlier and keep Carey from dying pointlessly?" argument, but I digest.

 

[Crazyewok]

Turns out that "subspace divergence field" in Deadlock was actually an opening into the Mirror Universe. New Harry is in fact 100% pure evil. As soon as they get back to Earth he seizes control of Voyager and quickly conquers the unsuspecting planet.

At this point a triumphant Kim finally finally promotes himself to Lieutenant (jg).

Oooh the ambition....

 

[TigerCat]

find a better reason for Janeway to change history than "her three favorite people got screwed by life but everyone else is fine."

That's what cheesed me off most about the episode...the utter disregard for anything Voyager might have accomplished after the point where Janeway chose to jumpstart the trip. Are we supposed to believe that nothing else they did mattered to anyone?

More snarkily there's the "Why not go back a week earlier and keep Carey from dying pointlessly?" argument, but I digest.

Not to mention the lives both Maquis and Starfleet lost in getting to the Delta Quadrant. No one cares about them either....

 

[DonIago]

They were a sacrifice The Island Voyager demanded.

 

[TigerCat]

Or the sacrifice needed for the Maquis to plug in good/vital positions of the ship and make them work together easier. The scene in the bridge was like musical chairs! Janeway sat and was saved, Tom sat and was saved, Cavitt was without a chair and oops,he died!

 

[Captain Pike Fan]

More closure would have been nice. People getting back together with their families.

 

[Sakonna]

I always thought the entire concept behind "Endgame" was fatally flawed. The only thing I would definitely retain is a final confrontation with the Borg and the Queen.

I wish they had ended DS9-style, with an arc. I wish they had gotten home not just earlier in the finale, but 4 or 6 or 10 episodes before the series ended. There is SO MUCH story to tell with what happens when they get home, and they left it all on the table (they did show us some of this in the future timeframe, but it felt empty once the time travel erased it).

They could have even split the crew up -- half of them get home with several episodes to spare via Insert Technobabble Here, then they have to figure out the way to get the rest of the crew home while playing out whatever their personal "Return To Earth" drama is. At the same time they could have been waging a two-front final war with the Borg. It just feels like a more authentic approach to the story than the time travel gimmickry they opted for.

And it really seems like someone should have properly died in the finale. The setup of this show seemed to demand a climactic sacrifice of that nature.

 

[Dukhat]

That's what cheesed me off most about the episode...the utter disregard for anything Voyager might have accomplished after the point where Janeway chose to jumpstart the trip. Are we supposed to believe that nothing else they did mattered to anyone?

That's because the writers chose to focus on a completely contrived relationship between a young woman and a guy old enough to be her father, who were not even remotely interested in each other before this, along with Tuvok getting some weird disease that was also never even remotely hinted at before, culminating in a Janeway from the future who hates her life and yet doesn't seem to care that everyone else's life is just fine and for some reason feels the need to wipe out decades of history just so the aforementioned disturbing daddy-daughter relationship can continue.

You think that's a fairly good assessment of Endgame?

 

[chris of nine]

Daddy-daughter?

Oh, Doctor Joe and wife?

And she’s a soft core actress.

A hologram’s dream.

 

[Dukhat]

Daddy-daughter?

Oh, Doctor Joe and wife?

And she’s a soft core actress.

A hologram’s dream.

No. I was referring to Seven of Nine and Chakotay.

 

[chris of nine]

Trophies.

 

[tomalak301]

I would have put it midway through the season, or at least have it not be the last episode. Have the final three episodes deal with the aftermath.

 

[at Quark's]

Turns out that "subspace divergence field" in Deadlock was actually an opening into the Mirror Universe. New Harry is in fact 100% pure evil. As soon as they get back to Earth he seizes control of Voyager and quickly conquers the unsuspecting planet.

At this point a triumphant Kim finally finally promotes himself to Lieutenant (jg).

And so he will go in history as "The evil Lieutenant (jg) - Emperor"... though those revisionist scholars that don't recognise his authority to promote himself will stubbornly call him "the Evil Ensign-Emperor", or EEE for short.