"Star Trek" is known for its continuity errors, and one of the most talked about on "Voyager" is the number of Vulcans onboard.
The Season 3 episode “Blood Fever” left many with the impression that there were no female Vulcans onboard Voyager. In Season 5’s “Counterpoint,” when Voyager’s telepaths must hide in stasis, Tuvok and Vorik are treated like the only Vulcans onboard. But in Season 7’s “Repression,” there is suddenly a Vulcan woman among Chakotay’s Maquis crew!
Several other episodes mention multiple Vulcans onboard Voyager, all the way up to the series finale “Endgame." In that final episode, Janeway asks Tuvok if his condition can be helped by one of the other Vulcans on Voyager, and Tuvok says, “None of them are compatible.” He doesn't say "neither of them are compatible," but "none of them," indicating that there are more than two other Vulcans.
So where have they been all this time?
We all know the real reason for this is simple writing blunders. But let’s try to make sense of it anyway.
Why they weren't mentioned in "Counterpoint."
In “Counterpoint,” Janeway was already lying to the Devore. She lied about Tuvok and Vorik being dead, so she may also have lied about them being the only Vulcans to begin with. For the record, Janeway also failed to mention Kes, Stadi, or the Vulcan nurse from “Caretaker," even thought she did mention Lon Suder and Jurot. We can only guess at why Suder came up, but not Kes, Stadi or that original nurse. But if Janeway could neglet to mention those three, for whatever reason, then she certainly could have also neglected to mention other Vulcan crewmembers.
Regarding why those other Vulcans weren’t mentioned: maybe it was just easier to hide their existence in the ship’s records and log entries, if they didn’t play as pivotal a role in any major events like Tuvok and Vorik did. If all the other Vulcans had done was menial work up to that point, Janeway could probably just tweak their names and listed species in the records.
As for where they actually were during that episode, maybe they were hiding in stasis, and we just didn’t see them. When Tuvok, Vorik, and the other telepaths beamed back into the cargo bay, maybe there were also some other Vulcans beaming back, just off-camera.
Or maybe, for some reason or another, those other Vulcans were able to conceal their telepathic status more easily than Tuvok and Vorik were, so the Doctor simply made them look human while passing through Devore space.
Going off the second option, I can think of two reasons why the other Vulcans might have an easier time hiding their telepathy than Tuvok and Vorik.
Possibility #1: Maybe Tuvok and Vorik were just the only Vulcans who had used their telepathy within the last few years.
Vulcans aren't implied to regularly hold telepathic conversations every day, like Betazoids and Ocampa. Vulcan telepathy seems to be reserved for specific situations. Tuvok uses his telepathy at least once or twice per season, either with a mind-meld, or communication with some alien. Vorik used his at least once, when he briefely melded with B'Elanna in "Blood Fever." Maybe the other Vulcans on Voyager haven't used their telepathy at all since being separated from their families back home, and thus could hide their abilities from the Devore scans. So the Doctor just made them appear human temporarily.
Possibility #2: Tuvok and Vorik are the only full-blooded Vulcans aboard Voyager.
The other Vulcans might be hybrids. This could definitely contribute to why they weren’t compatible for Tuvok in “Endgame.” If mixed heritage can delude telepathic abilities, it might also have made it easier for part-Vulcans to hide their telepathy from the Devore.
What about the rest of the series?
As far as I know, the only time "Voyager" explicitly showed us a Vulcan crewmember besides Vorik and Tuvok was that doomed nurse in "Caretaker," and that Maquis in "Repression." But we can look at various crewmembers in the background, whose ears and eyebrows are either out-of-focus, or hidden by hair, and presume some of them are Vulcans, or part-Vulcan hybrids.
"But WarpTenLizard," you say, "some of those actors are in other episodes where they do have their human ears and eyebrows showing, and/or are smiling and laughing, so they can't be Vulcans!"
To which I say, "Star Trek" reuses background actors for different characters all the time. Besides, some Vulcans reject the teachings of Surok and show emotion. Also, Saavik in "Wrath of Khan" and T'Pol in the first two seasons of "Enterprise" did not have Vulcan eyebrows, for whatever reason. So maybe some of the Vulcans on Voyager don't either. Also, hybrids.
Talking about hybrids...
Ensign Swinn from “Resolutions” (Season 2) has somewhat pointed ears, that might indicate some Vulcan heritage. I realize this wasn’t deliberate, that’s just how the actress’s ears look. But in-universe, she might be one of the “other Vulcans” who couldn’t help Tuvok in “Endgame,” and who didn’t have to hide from the Devore, both due to her mixed heritage.
Then there's this guy. I found him on Memory Alpha's list of unnamed Voyager personnel. Again, I know this is just how the actor looks. But in-universe, he looks like he could have mixed human/Vulcan ancestry.
I would love to hear any other ideas or observations that might go to fixing this plot-hole.
The Season 3 episode “Blood Fever” left many with the impression that there were no female Vulcans onboard Voyager. In Season 5’s “Counterpoint,” when Voyager’s telepaths must hide in stasis, Tuvok and Vorik are treated like the only Vulcans onboard. But in Season 7’s “Repression,” there is suddenly a Vulcan woman among Chakotay’s Maquis crew!
Several other episodes mention multiple Vulcans onboard Voyager, all the way up to the series finale “Endgame." In that final episode, Janeway asks Tuvok if his condition can be helped by one of the other Vulcans on Voyager, and Tuvok says, “None of them are compatible.” He doesn't say "neither of them are compatible," but "none of them," indicating that there are more than two other Vulcans.
So where have they been all this time?
We all know the real reason for this is simple writing blunders. But let’s try to make sense of it anyway.
Why they weren't mentioned in "Counterpoint."
In “Counterpoint,” Janeway was already lying to the Devore. She lied about Tuvok and Vorik being dead, so she may also have lied about them being the only Vulcans to begin with. For the record, Janeway also failed to mention Kes, Stadi, or the Vulcan nurse from “Caretaker," even thought she did mention Lon Suder and Jurot. We can only guess at why Suder came up, but not Kes, Stadi or that original nurse. But if Janeway could neglet to mention those three, for whatever reason, then she certainly could have also neglected to mention other Vulcan crewmembers.
Regarding why those other Vulcans weren’t mentioned: maybe it was just easier to hide their existence in the ship’s records and log entries, if they didn’t play as pivotal a role in any major events like Tuvok and Vorik did. If all the other Vulcans had done was menial work up to that point, Janeway could probably just tweak their names and listed species in the records.
As for where they actually were during that episode, maybe they were hiding in stasis, and we just didn’t see them. When Tuvok, Vorik, and the other telepaths beamed back into the cargo bay, maybe there were also some other Vulcans beaming back, just off-camera.
Or maybe, for some reason or another, those other Vulcans were able to conceal their telepathic status more easily than Tuvok and Vorik were, so the Doctor simply made them look human while passing through Devore space.
Going off the second option, I can think of two reasons why the other Vulcans might have an easier time hiding their telepathy than Tuvok and Vorik.
Possibility #1: Maybe Tuvok and Vorik were just the only Vulcans who had used their telepathy within the last few years.
Vulcans aren't implied to regularly hold telepathic conversations every day, like Betazoids and Ocampa. Vulcan telepathy seems to be reserved for specific situations. Tuvok uses his telepathy at least once or twice per season, either with a mind-meld, or communication with some alien. Vorik used his at least once, when he briefely melded with B'Elanna in "Blood Fever." Maybe the other Vulcans on Voyager haven't used their telepathy at all since being separated from their families back home, and thus could hide their abilities from the Devore scans. So the Doctor just made them appear human temporarily.
Possibility #2: Tuvok and Vorik are the only full-blooded Vulcans aboard Voyager.
The other Vulcans might be hybrids. This could definitely contribute to why they weren’t compatible for Tuvok in “Endgame.” If mixed heritage can delude telepathic abilities, it might also have made it easier for part-Vulcans to hide their telepathy from the Devore.
What about the rest of the series?
As far as I know, the only time "Voyager" explicitly showed us a Vulcan crewmember besides Vorik and Tuvok was that doomed nurse in "Caretaker," and that Maquis in "Repression." But we can look at various crewmembers in the background, whose ears and eyebrows are either out-of-focus, or hidden by hair, and presume some of them are Vulcans, or part-Vulcan hybrids.
"But WarpTenLizard," you say, "some of those actors are in other episodes where they do have their human ears and eyebrows showing, and/or are smiling and laughing, so they can't be Vulcans!"
To which I say, "Star Trek" reuses background actors for different characters all the time. Besides, some Vulcans reject the teachings of Surok and show emotion. Also, Saavik in "Wrath of Khan" and T'Pol in the first two seasons of "Enterprise" did not have Vulcan eyebrows, for whatever reason. So maybe some of the Vulcans on Voyager don't either. Also, hybrids.
Talking about hybrids...
Ensign Swinn from “Resolutions” (Season 2) has somewhat pointed ears, that might indicate some Vulcan heritage. I realize this wasn’t deliberate, that’s just how the actress’s ears look. But in-universe, she might be one of the “other Vulcans” who couldn’t help Tuvok in “Endgame,” and who didn’t have to hide from the Devore, both due to her mixed heritage.
Then there's this guy. I found him on Memory Alpha's list of unnamed Voyager personnel. Again, I know this is just how the actor looks. But in-universe, he looks like he could have mixed human/Vulcan ancestry.
I would love to hear any other ideas or observations that might go to fixing this plot-hole.
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