What if Seven had died instead of Janeway?

[Praetor]

See, I could also live with having Janeway having paid for her time-travelry in "Endgame" by having Admiral Janeway's death karmicly balance it out, especially if we take for granted that those actions were part of a predestination paradox.

So again, it feels like Janeway's death wasn't portrayed well-enough to feel necessary and therefore did indeed feel gratuitous. And, again, I'm not likely at all to read it, not as a boycott of this, but because I'm simply picky which Trek books and stories I choose to read.

Imagine if it had been Picard, a far less controversial (and ergo, probably more universally beloved) figure. The uproar would have been even more deafening.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I don't see Admiral Janeway's death being a 'karmic justice' death - her death was pretty much a given by having her show up on the Borg's doorstep, not to mention the fact that the pathogen she unleashes on the Collective is only done so by her assimilation. So she sacrifices herself to get the crew home. The karmic scales aren't balanced because she's done this incredibly selfish thing, and, though she herself isn't reaping the benefits, she's still managed it.

 

[Praetor]

^You may have a point. I think my acceptance of it is dependent on the notion that the Admiral essentially pays the price for both herself and her younger self, which may not work.