The stories were good, but I do still have some questions about Rok-Tahk origins. Who were her parents (if such a concept is applicable to her species)? Is her species native to the Delta Quadrant? How did she end up in the arena in the first place?
Rok-Tahk is a Brikar, and her species is native to the Alpha quadrant. Her story tells us the least in some ways (though it is an extra explanation for her reluctance to fight, on top of being the equivalent of an 8-year old girl who just wants to hug, that is), because it merely changes the question from "how did she end up in Tars Lamora" to "how did she end up in that show".
I've noticed the Prometheus sillhouete being upside down too... that was another thing that was odd about the whole recount.
It could have been intentional for the purpose of showing the warped perspective of the Vindicator, but it could have also been a mistake from the art dept. (which would kinda be a big mistake for something like this... but these ARE the same people who portrayed the Diviner at the end of the 10th epiosoe without his suit alone on Tars Lamora, and then in a coma in his suit when the Dauntless found him).
I don't think the Diviner on Tars Lamora was a mistake - it was showing his own mind, what he was thinking/imagining inside. A metaphor for being "left in the ruins of a world of his own making".
As for a four-nacelle starship being shown: this makes it clear that it wasn't the Protostar who made first contact (in the original timeline). I liked the explanation about the unstable wormhole, establishing that the Vau N'akat had no control over the time travel and leaving open the possibility for other agents of the "The Order" to turn up along the way.
Otherwise, contrary to what seems to be the majority sentiment, I think this episode was not quite as good as the strong run of episodes before it, maybe because they chose to group the stories all together in one episode. I also thought that the more serious tone of Ascencia's part contrasted strongly with the playful tone of Jankom's story.
This episode confirms, I think, that Gwyn was not aware of Rok (especially not of her being a young child) as she shows no (extra) guilt over her part. I'll bet that Brikar is one language she doesn't understand/speak and maybe couldn't possibly speak due to they way a Brikar produces sound. Loved the touch of Gwyn being there with Zero and showing guilt over it, I think she was supposed to be 3-4 years younger there.
We learn a lot from the episode, but at the same time many questions remain. We now have the backstories of Jankom and Zero (and earlier Gwyn) pegged, but the question remains how Rok-Tahk ended up alone in that arena. Dal's story has been half-resolved, we still don't know who exactly created him (and with what purpose) and how he ended up with Nandi.
As for the Vau N'akat, Asencia remains very vague about why the civil war erupted. It does seem like the Vau N'akat were already pretty advanced at the time of first contact, though the fleet of ships (Rev-#) may be a later creation (and those are possibly dedicated warships). An interesting point was that the Diviner originally was part of a faction that was pro-Starfleet, later turning against it. It also seems clear that there were still some Vau n'Akat left alive on Solum, when the 100 ships left (it does seem extremely unlikely there would be exact one surviving Vau n'akat per vessel). The exact nature of the relationship between Asencia and Diviner is left open, though so far it seems they are simply colleagues in "the order". A third prominent Vau n'Akat was shown in this episode, we may see that one again, later.
Interesting about developments on the Dauntless: Tysess has intercepted one of the bounty calls of the Diviner (clever; hadn't thought of that as an option for the Dauntless crew to get meaningful info on the Protogies) and Asencia didn't seem to have much of a plan for what to do when someone wants to visit the Diviner. I'm guessing they won't be able to just take over the Dauntless (lots of crew to overpower) and they may take Janeway hostage instead.
As for "
why did she betray us": while "
she met a boy" was funny and not incorrect, the Diviner did leave out that he was enslaving children and that he left her to die on murder planet. That played a bit of a role, too
Asencia infiltrated Starfleet at most 3 years ago, so she probably skipped Starfleet Academy and merely did some hacking to give herself a backstory and credentials (or maybe there was/is a real Trill Ascencia taken captive). She specifically sought out Janeway, since she would be searching for Chakotay.
