Abandoned ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ Finale Ideas Could Have Given the Sendoff It Deserved

[Farscape One]

We also have no idea how much more she learned about the Borg in those now erased 16 years heading home.

Or what other technology they gained. For all we know, there was a major power out there they encountered that was hostile and had designs on the Alpha Quadrant, but Voyager encountering them not only gained intelligence that would be passed on to Starfleet so they can prepare, but maybe they found some tech that could be reverse engineered for Starfleet's use.

One other issue I had... in those 16 years, based on how much left they had to go to get home, it seems like Voyager got no more shortcuts to get closer to home. If they did, it was small. That just seems highly unlikely, given how many shortcuts they got in seasons 4, 5, and 6.

 

[dupersuper]

As I said earlier, what happened after Voyager made it home wasn't important

Unless you - almost despite a lot of Voyager's writing - had any attachment to the characters at all.

And they identified Earth as 'home' because that's where Starfleet and Federation HQ are.

Some fans make me agree with the Klingons at dinner in Star Trek 6...

 

[suarezguy]

Would it be a really be a big deal to see a two or three minute scene(s) of Janeway convincing admirals to pardon the Maquis and then it happening or it just happening without any convincing? Or of the Doctor being on Earth and deciding he will continue to be a doctor?

I also think some of the complaints of we didn't see consequences/aftermath were from people who didn't really like Voyager, especially the idea that Janeway's controversial decisions should have been examined and maybe punished.

 

[DonIago]

I'm not sure whether Janeway should have been punished for some of her more arguable decisions, but I think realistically there would have been a board of inquiry to determine whether a court-martial was warranted.

That's not even saying Janeway did anything wrong; it's simply standard practice under extraordinary circumstances.

 

[Farscape One]

I really did like VOYAGER, and I still am in the camp of wanting to see some of those conversations, reunions, possible court-martial, etc.

 

[Oddish]

Well, let's look at Janeway's declared worst actions, according to Whatculture:
1. Initiating a Q civil war. This was essentially an unintended consequence of Quinn's death. Could be tried as a Prime Directive violation, but hard to justify.
2. Stranding Voyager in the first place. Yes, she could be tried for this.
3. Shutting herself away in "Night". Given that there was no threat to the ship, I doubt this one would stick.
4. Picking Torres over Lt. Carey. This was a personnel decision, one that it was her right to make.
5. Making a deal with the Borg. This was a severe offense, especially given that the Borg were enemies of the Federation. Luckily for Janeway, both sides reneged on the deal.
6. Neglecting her lower decker crew, according to "Good Shepherd". This more fell to Janeway's subordinates, and maybe Chakotay.
7. Going nuts with the Equinox. I could definitely see a court martial in this one. Janeway is lucky that Chakotay stopped the worst incident before it proved fatal.
8. Splitting Tuvix. Given that Starfleet probably has no laws regarding separating beings fused in a transporter accident, I don't see any charges sticking.
9. Never promoting Harry Kim. The only long term decision on the list. This was a personnel decision, Janeway's to make. There may be no rational justification for this one, but it's not a crime.
10. Destroying the timeline in "Endgame". This crime was committed by an alternate version of Janeway in a timeline that ceased to exist. "Our" Janeway cannot be held accountable.

Final tally:
Acceptable command decisions: 5
Questionable actions: 2
Serious offenses: 3 (#'s 2, 5, and 7)

 

[DonIago]

Given Picard's vehement defense of Data as representing new life in "Measure of a Man", I imagine he might feel rather differently on #8.

As for #10, it's not as though Admiral Janeway seized the ship. Captain Janeway went along with her plan, and knew she was changing the 'natural course' of time in the process (as evidenced by the fact that she was talking with Admiral Janeway to begin with). I imagine a lengthy conversation with Temporal Investigations would ensue (and did in one of the novels).

 

[Oddish]

Given Picard's vehement defense of Data as representing new life in "Measure of a Man", I imagine he might feel rather differently on #8.

Undoubtedly. But he was operating in a legal gray zone. Phillipa still could have ruled that Data was property. Tuvix, at the time of Janeway's action, was in a similar state. Until it was established legally that a transporter fusion had the right to live, even at the expense of his "parents", Janeway's actions were morally questionable, but not a crime.

 

[DonIago]

Undoubtedly. But he was operating in a legal gray zone. Phillipa still could have ruled that Data was property. Tuvix, at the time of Janeway's action, was in a similar state. Until it was established legally that a transporter fusion had the right to live, even at the expense of his "parents", Janeway's actions were morally questionable, but not a crime.

I don't think we know enough about Starfleet regulations regarding such situations to say that for certain.

 

[Farscape One]

One thing we should consider is that Tuvix technically wasn't a Federation citizen... Tuvok obviously was. Neelix, quite likely by default as a crewmember of Voyager, probably enjoyed the same status.

 

[dupersuper]

2. Stranding Voyager in the first place. Yes, she could be tried for this.

Final tally:
Acceptable command decisions: 5
Questionable actions: 2
Serious offenses: 3 (#'s 2, 5, and 7)

I'm not a big Janeway fan, but sacrificing the ship to save innocent people is the Starfleet way...

 

[Oddish]

I actually am a Janeway fan, and I agree that she made a selfless moral decision... but it could still be considered a Prime Directive violation.

EDIT: Remember, I'm tabulating potential crimes, not things that I personally find distasteful. Do you think I would have actually defended Harry's seven-year ensignhood otherwise?

 

[Dryson]

I think a good catch ending to Voyager should have been that the Borg lose interest in the Voyager at the last moment and turn away from following Voyager through the Transwarp Corridor. The Voyager emerges from the conduit and hails the defense fleet. A quick salute to the crew of the Voyager turns into a tense few hours of the fleet waiting for the Sphere to emerge. Like a Venus Fly Trap on a Summer day, the conduit quietly collapses and closes around Starfleet. Apprehension mounts in the Federation and continues to mount resulting in a permanent monitoring station being built within range of the conduit.

A fleet of ten specialized ships, built around the Borg Transwarp Coil, are sent back along the flight path between the conduits entrance and exit points looking for the Borg to ascertain what happened to them before the Borg decide to launch a sudden and all surprise attack using the same Transwarp Coil design that Voyager used.

 

[suarezguy]

It would have probably been underwhelming and weird, but what if the ending had been Q decides to transport Voyager home?

 

[DonIago]

^Rather a literal deus ex machina.

I'd have been okay with Our Heroes finding a way home that didn't show such blatant disregard for the rest of the universe (perhaps involving the reappearance of Suspiria, or alien races that Our Heroes have helped in the past combining their efforts to get the ship home).

Alternately I would have been okay with Our Heroes realizing that they were doing real good in the DQ and willingly sacrificing an attempt to return home in favor of helping others rather than themselves.

 

[Oddish]

Or Q reveals that the whole Delta Quadrant experience was a dream Janeway was having. And Janeway reports to her new command, the USS Voyager, the next morning.

 

[Mogh]

Or Q reveals that the whole Delta Quadrant experience was a dream Janeway was having. And Janeway reports to her new command, the USS Voyager, the next morning.

I think they tried this on the next show with making it a holographic simulation, and it didn't go down too well...

 

[Oddish]

I think they tried this on the next show with making it a holographic simulation, and it didn't go down too well...

I never said it wasn't a bad idea.

 

[gweeps]

I think the episode was mostly fine, except maybe past Janeway convinces future Janeway to go back to her time, although after being given the Borg Hub tip.

Still, the actual return to Earth was anticlimactic maybe because they were so shocked they actually made it home? (Or it was just a poorly scripted part of the episode...)

Maybe the whole episode should have taken place in the future and dealt with Janeway's struggle about whether or not to time travel back in order to change the present e.g. the episode ends with her making a decision.

 

[Oddish]

"All Good Things" was something old and something completely new.
"What you Leave Behind" was the culmination and completion of a massive series of story arcs.
"Endgame" was more of something that had been done better before: the television equivalent of lukewarm leftovers.