VOY Homecoming plot-hole

[BrotherBenny]

At the end of "Endgame", Voyager appears to be almost in orbit of Earth.

In Homecoming, there is talk of taking several days to reach Earth to give the crew time to adjust. Were they travelling at something like 200 kph or is this just another gaping hole on the road of plot?

 

[Timo]

Oh, we might argue that in "Endgame", the ship emerged right on top of Alpha Zeta IV, a Class M planet known for its beautifully Earth-like oceans, its vaguely North Americanesque stretch of coastline, and its major Starfleet base. The dialogue never specified that the Borg corridor would lead to Earth, after all (only that it would pass about 1 ly from Earth), and the planet was extensively covered in clouds.

Or then we could say that there is a cut of several days between the penultimate scene where Janeway looks stalwartly ahead from her command chair, and the ultimate scene where the ship, escorted by the mighty combat fleet, finally arrives at Earth.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

Oh, we might argue that in "Endgame", the ship emerged right on top of Alpha Zeta IV, a Class M planet known for its beautifully Earth-like oceans, its vaguely North Americanesque stretch of coastline, and its major Starfleet base. The dialogue never specified that the Borg corridor would lead to Earth, after all (only that it would pass about 1 ly from Earth), and the planet was extensively covered in clouds.

...

Timo Saloniemi

Barclay said that the transwarp corridor was less than a light year from Earth.

 

[Christopher]

It's not a plot hole, it's poetic license. Indeed, it's pretty clear that the episode took poetic license, because if it were close to a light-year away, obviously Earth wouldn't be visible from right next to it. As Timo said, the final shot of the fleet approaching Earth was presumably a jump forward in time from the final bridge shot.

Keep in mind that at warp 1, the speed of light, it would take nearly a year to travel nearly a light-year. So covering that distance in a few days would require going at dozens of times the speed of light. Hardly a crawl.

 

[BrotherBenny]

It's not a plot hole, it's poetic license. Indeed, it's pretty clear that the episode took poetic license, because if it were close to a light-year away, obviously Earth wouldn't be visible from right next to it. As Timo said, the final shot of the fleet approaching Earth was presumably a jump forward in time from the final bridge shot.

Keep in mind that at warp 1, the speed of light, it would take nearly a year to travel nearly a light-year. So covering that distance in a few days would require going at dozens of times the speed of light. Hardly a crawl.

I didn't realise they handed out poetic licenses so easily. Maybe I should apply

 

[Therin of Andor]

I didn't realise they handed out poetic licenses so easily. Maybe I should apply

You wanted the episode "Endgame" to last about ten months?

 

[BrotherBenny]

I didn't realise they handed out poetic licenses so easily. Maybe I should apply

You wanted the episode "Endgame" to last about ten months?

I'd rather not have had it at all, and had a double ep that took the crew close to home, but not too close and have Janeway say her usual at the end. "Mr Paris, set a course, for home." I didn't want them to reach Earth. I thought the premise of the show was supposed to be about the journey, not the destination.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Wasn't there a line in the VOY relaunch which said that the ship was intentionally slowing down as it approached Earth, to give the crew time to adjust before getting there?

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Wasn't there a line in the VOY relaunch which said that the ship was intentionally slowing down as it approached Earth, to give the crew time to adjust before getting there?

Yeah, and they had Deanna aboard the ship to help facilitate that adjustment.

 

[doublegood]

That's kind of messed up. Except for the few that had been born or picked up along the way, everyone on the ship had only been gone from the general vicinity of Earth for seven years. Sure, a lot had happened in that time, but nothing that would blow anyone's mind.

 

[Therin of Andor]

That's kind of messed up. Except for the few that had been born or picked up along the way, everyone on the ship had only been gone from the general vicinity of Earth for seven years. Sure, a lot had happened in that time, but nothing that would blow anyone's mind.

I dunno. They could have been stuck on an island for a few months like in "Lost". Seven years of isolation from family and friends is still a long time.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Seven years of being on your own, dealing with a completely alien environment, with no real contact with home and with all the trauma that they had to deal with along the way, repeated Borg attacks and encounters...all of that causes stress and grief. And Voyager was returning after the Dominion War, meaning that it sure as hell wasn't the same Alpha Quadrant when they left.

It's really not all that messed up, since it wouldn't do to have an entire crew suffer PTSD upon immediately returning. And this gives Starfleet time to determine how much support staff can/should be given to the crew.

 

[doublegood]

I dunno. They could have been stuck on an island for a few months like in "Lost". Seven years of isolation from family and friends is still a long time.

That's true, but these people were used to not being at "home," having been spacefaring individuals. But a lot had changed in seven years, so I guess reorientation would be a "better safe than sorry" type of thing.

 

[doublegood]

It's really not all that messed up, since it wouldn't do to have an entire crew suffer PTSD upon immediately returning. And this gives Starfleet time to determine how much support staff can/should be given to the crew.

As depicted on the show itself, I fail to see how many people on that ship could have suffered from PTSD. I would imagine that many exploratory ships in the Alpha Quadrant go out for long periods of time. For a civilization spread out against hundreds or even thousands of light years, seven years should be nothing. And it isn't like the crew weren't aware of events transpiring in the Federation.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I would imagine that many exploratory ships in the Alpha Quadrant go out for long periods of time.

By choice.

But the VOY crew was under the impression that the journey home would take over 70 years, so many would have assumed they would not be returning to fiancees, husbands, etc. Even when they did find a way to communicate with the Alpha Quadrant, it was still thought that the journey would take much longer than seven years.

From the other side, many of the loved ones had also moved on, including Janeway's significant other, Mark. That kind of thing - partners remarrying, assuming their loved ones were dead - would also be very traumatic.

Gee, I'm glad you weren't their unsympathetic counselor.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Seven years *is* a fairly long time, especially when for most of those seven years you had to live with the fact that you probably wouldn't see your home or family ever again.

And when during those seven years you've had two wars (Federation-Klingon and Dominion), not to mention the uncertainty and despair that brings with it. It's a huge amount to deal with. The crew would have to adapt from being forced to realize that they couldn't go home again and spent most of the seven years dealing with hostile forces on their own to the fact that they are home and that home is being rebuilt after a devastating war.

ETA: Dammit, Therin made the same point, only better.

 

[doublegood]

Gee, I'm glad you weren't their unsympathetic counselor.

They need tough love, not Betazoid touchy-feely mambo-jambo!

If I were the crew, though, I would say screw the counseling and let me get back to Earth, or, in Tuvok's case, Vulcan. If I came back to the US after seven years in, I dunno, Zanzibar, I wouldn't want to talk about my feelings...I'd want to go home.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

It's not about "talking about feelings", but about getting a psych evaluation before being integrated back into the society you once were a part of.

The Maquis crewmembers are one reason as to why the delayed arrival on Earth is probably a good idea.

 

[doublegood]

Didn't Starfleet give Chakotay the ship after they did arrive home? How much time elapsed between their arrival and that event, I wonder?

 

[Dancing Doctor]

A few weeks, I believe. And if I remember correctly, only a ton of prodding by Janeway actually made them give Chakotay the captaincy of Voyager.

And that would have been after the debriefing and analysis of all the Maquis crewmembers.