voyager transwarp episode

Why Star Trek: Voyager's Threshold Episode Ignited An Army Of Outraged Fans

In the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Threshold" (January 9, 1996), the U.S.S. Voyager discovers a rare, extra-powerful version of dilithium, the crystal that is required to run starship engines. Using this new dilithium, the Voyager crew figure they can build an engine capable of passing the mythic warp-10 barrier, essentially allowing them to reach infinite velocity, passing through every point in the universe simultaneously. Such a breakthrough would allow the Voyager to return to Earth in a moment. 

When testing their new engine, however, something goes awry. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) returns from a test flight ... altered. He begins to mutate and change, losing skin and spitting out his tongue. It seems that the infinite velocity flight somehow triggered his body's evolutionary genes and he is rapidly transforming into whatever creatures humans will evolve into in the next hundred million years. When Paris becomes an amphibian-like frog man, he kidnaps Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and forces her to take the infinite warp flight while unconscious. 

The episode ends with the Voyager crew locating Paris and Janeway, and discovering that they had evolved into fleshy, outsize newts. Also, they mated, spawning several efts. This was the apex of evolution. Big, weird newts. The Voyager's doctor (Robert Picardo) transforms them back into humans. 

It seems the newts weren't well-received by fans. In the 1996 book "Captains' Logs Supplemental: The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages" by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, "Voyager" producer Jeri Taylor talked about the negative fan mail the show received for "Threshold," and how awful those newts were. Fans were also angry at some of the technical details, feeling that "Voyager" crossed a line. 

The Warp 10 Barrier

Taylor, firstly, remembered the backlash over the warp-10 barrier, and it's easy to see why. While the ships on "Star Trek" can travel at tremendous speeds, even their fictional warp engines have to contend with the real-life enormity of space. Even the U.S.S. Voyager, one of the fastest ships ever built, requires 70 straight years of traveling at its top speed just to cross the Milky Way. The idea of a ship breaking that barrier and reaching infinite velocity would remove all the trekking from "Star Trek." It would be as if a starship could teleport, and what dummy would think to write a "Star Trek" series about a ship that can teleport?  

Taylor recalled hearing from angry Trekkies on the matter, saying:

"We're taking a lot of flak for that [...] There's been a real lashing out. I recognize that people who are on the Internet and who write us letters are a tiny portion of our audience, but when it is as overwhelming as it was on this episode, you begin to take notice. Some of this anger was misplaced, I thought. A lot of the ire seemed to be caused by the fact that we stated that no one had ever gone warp ten before, and people flooded us with letters saying. That's not true, in the original series they went warp twelve and warp thirteen." 

Taylor, of course, knew all about the history of Trek, and calmly pointed out the recalibration done with the franchise's lore. Ultimately, she was more concerned with the story than with explaining the history of Trek tech. Indeed, Trekkies would know about the recalibration anyway. Fans were just being snotty, it seems.

Staying away from big heads

She continued: 

"[I]t really was a recalibration of warp speed. Gene [Roddenberry] made the determination at the beginning of 'Next Gen' that warp ten would be the limit, and at that point you would occupy all portions of the universe simultaneously, which always seemed like a wonderfully provocative notion. Then the question is 'What happens if you do go to warp ten, how does that affect you?'"

That focus on the story led to some fun postulations about evolution. In many sci-fi stories, when humans find themselves suddenly evolving — at least to Taylor's recollection — they suddenly have larger heads and spindly bodies. Taylor and the show's writers wanted something different and unexpected. Hence the newts. Taylor said: 

"[We] came up with this idea of evolution and thought that it would be far more interesting and less expected that instead of it being the large-brained, glowing person, it would be full circle, back to our origins in the water. Not saying that we have become less than we are, because those creatures may experience consciousness on such an advanced plane that we couldn't conceive of it. It just seemed like a more interesting image. But it is not one that took with the audience."

A fine idea, but in execution, it seems that Trekkies were put off. At the end of the day, one is pointing a camera a giant newt puppets. Trekkies weren't happy with that. "The fact that we were turning people into salamanders," Taylor said, "was offensive to a lot of people and just plain stupid to others."

Braga's opacity

"Threshold" was credited to longtime "Star Trek" veteran Brannon Braga, notorious for writing the headier, more psychedelic episodes. Braga recalled the scientific notions behind the newts, but that he didn't bother to explain them with clarity. In an episode that was already hefty with technobabble and scientific dialogue about velocity and evolution, Braga felt he needed to pare things down a little bit. Sadly, in so doing, he chopped out something that would have made ultra-evolved space-newts more acceptable. He said: 

"['Threshold' is] very much a classic 'Star Trek' story. But in the rewrite process, I took out the explanation, the idea behind the ending; that we evolve into these little lizards because maybe evolution is not always progressive. Maybe it's a cycle where we revert to something more rudimentary. That whole conversation was taken out for various reasons, and that was a disaster because without it the episode doesn't even have a point. I think it suffered greatly. I got the note that it wasn't necessary, but in fact, it really had a lot to do with what the episode was about. Big mistake taking it out."

Indeed, evolution is a long-term transformation wherein organisms adapt to a changing environment. It is not necessarily a gradual movement toward a type of pre-determined complexity. "Threshold" possesses that idea, but it's not part of the dialogue. Not having a character speak it aloud leaves the episode's themes murky. Instead, audiences simply have to accept the absurd notion that two main cast members turned into amphibians. 

Fun trivia: "Threshold" was initially pitched by longtime Trekkie Michael De Luca, who, at the time, was best known for writing the screenplays for "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" and John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness."  

Star Trek | Voyager’s ‘Threshold’ and Why Janeway Can’t Evolve into a Newt

Star Trek: Discovery science consultant Mohamed Noor and biologist Dr. Charles Foster help us to understand the Star Trek: Voyager episode ‘Threshold’.

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Say “Threshold” to any Star Trek fan, and you’re bound to get a reaction—a laugh, an eye roll, a scream, an exasperated sigh so loud you could hear it from the outer edges of the Alpha Quadrant.

Fans celebrate its anniversary on social media—#ThresholdDay is on January 29—and have had tattoos honoring it. When I asked people I know their opinions, I heard the whole gamut, from “oh, it’s fun” to “it’s annoying”, “it’s the worst kind of Star Trek ,” and “You can never truly recover after seeing it,” and “I remember yelling.”

For the uninitiated, ‘Threshold’ (S2, Ep15) is the name of a Star Trek: Voyager episode that’s bonkers, divisive, and appears on almost every ‘the worst episodes of Star Trek ’ list I’ve read.

Transwarp Speed and Infinite Velocity

In ‘Threshold’, Lieutenant Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) takes an experimental shuttle for a spin. He hits Warp 10, a speed so mind-bogglingly fast that it breaks the ‘transwarp barrier.’

Transwarp is discussed several times throughout Star Trek ’s history, but the meaning changes a bit each time. If we dissect the word, it simply means the other side of warp—but what’s there?

Going by the explanation in ‘Threshold’, Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) says that achieving transwarp speeds would mean you’ve reached “infinite velocity”.

Paris further explains—or confuses—things by saying: “It means that you would occupy every point in the universe simultaneously. In theory, you could go any place in the wink of an eye. Time and distance would have no meaning.”

As you might expect, smashing the laws of Star Trek physics to pieces with your shiny ship has some unexpected consequences.

Upon returning to Voyager, Paris begins to change—he can’t drink water or process oxygen, dies briefly, comes back to life, has two hearts, loses his hair, his skin is peeling, vomits out his tongue, and becomes really aggressive.

Paris breaks free, attacks Janeway, and takes her with him back onto the shuttle before whizzing off again at Warp 10.

A little while later, the crew finds the shuttle abandoned on a planet with no sign of Paris or Janeway. All they see are two huge space newts. Yep, you guessed it. That’s what they’ve turned into. And, if that wasn’t daft and deranged enough, they’re surrounded by what appears to be their offspring. (The Vagina Museum in London once published a fantastic Twitter thread about the details of space newt mating.)

On 29th January 1996, "Threshold", the Star Trek: Voyager episode where Captain Janeway and Tom Paris turned into giant space newts and had babies first aired. In advance of #ThresholdDay we aim to answer a burning question: did Paris and Janeway fuck? If so, how did they fuck? pic.twitter.com/Hp3sA4Ix2W — Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) January 28, 2022

I know what you’re thinking. Was it a mutating disease laying dormant in the shuttle’s environmental systems activated by transwarp travel? Or maybe aliens lurk in the bits between space and time, waiting to replace the two Voyager crew members?

Nope, it’s revealed that all of the transwarp adventurings accelerated the natural course of evolution—those giant amphibious creatures Paris and Janeway become are all of us in the future.

“The mutations we observed are natural,” The Doctor (Robert Picardo) explains. “The changes within his DNA are consistent with the evolutionary development of the human genotype observed over the past four million years.”

I’m confident I could write a whole book unpicking this one episode’s many confusing and nonsensical threads and still wouldn’t get anywhere. Asking questions like, why did they evolve into space newts? Isn’t the delicate balance of life on the planet that big space newt Janeway and big space newt Paris were found on fundamentally destroyed? And, crucially, what about their damn kids?

Before my blood pressure hits Warp 10, let’s bring things back down to a more manageable Warp 3 and find out the answer to the question at the core of ‘Threshold’. Is it really possible to speed up our evolution?

The Speed of Evolution

I spoke to Mohamed A. F. Noor, the Professor of Biology and Dean of Natural Sciences at Duke Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, author of Live Long and Evolve: What Star Trek Can Teach Us about Evolution, Genetics, and Life on Other Worlds , and a consultant on Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 3 and 4, who told me that first, we need to clear up a few things about evolution. “Evolution does not occur in an individual,” he explains. “So I didn’t ‘evolve’ from a baby into an adult – that’s just development.”

So what we see in ‘Threshold’ isn’t really evolution. But, fascinatingly, evolution, which is the spread of new inherited forms throughout a population, can happen pretty quickly—well, pretty quickly by real-world standards.

“Many people are aware of the classic example of the peppered moth in England,” Noor tells us. “In the early 1800s, all the moths were white-peppered colors, but following the blackening of trees and lichens on which they hid, fully black forms became much more common by 1900.

“The opposite then happened after the passage of the clean air acts in the 1950s and 1960s—now, the white-peppered form is by far the most common,” he explains.

Granted, the moths didn’t evolve to become a different color as quickly as Paris evolved to become a different species, but the changes happened within human lifetimes. By Trek terms, that’s slower than one-quarter impulse. In real-world terms, it’s remarkably fast.

When evolution happens rapidly, it’s often due to an external factor—in this case, the color of the trees. I spoke to Dr. Charles Foster , a Bioinformatics Research Associate in the Virology Research Lab at the University of New South Wales and Prince of Wales Hospital. He explains that evolution occurs more ‘neutrally’ in a stable and safe environment—changes are not good or bad for the species, they just happen.

“But if strong external pressures are applied to a population—or experienced by a population—one would expect there to be ‘sped up’ evolution,” he says. As well as the moths, Dr. Foster points to examples of domestication, where species of animals have changed over time based on human intervention.

Other examples of rapid evolution here on Earth tend to be problematic. “Some of the best examples come from pathogenic bacteria and viruses,” Dr. Foster says.

“When these organisms are treated with antibacterials and antivirals, it’s possible for ‘superbugs’ to emerge because of acquired immunity and resistance to the treatments,” he explains. “This process can also arise when treatments are applied at a suboptimal dose, so the ‘bugs’ are not all killed.” Individual organisms then develop beneficial mutations, and that’s how we get antibiotic-resistant bugs.

Evolution vs Mutation

‘Mutation’ and ‘evolution’ are words often used interchangeably in movies and TV shows. But Noor urges us to be cautious when mapping science fiction onto real-world science.

“Yes, it is true that new mutations are the raw materials for adaptive evolution across generations,” Noor explains. “But the fraction that allows this is extremely low, and any process just accelerating mutations overall in an individual is far, far more likely to be bad than good.”

He also tells us that mutations wouldn’t be “coordinated” among all of the cells in your body. “So, if Dr. Crusher or the EMH or whoever says ‘they’re experiencing a high rate of mutation’, best not to expect any superpowers or transformation to alien form,” Noor says, bringing our hopes of developing X-Men -like mutations crashing back down to our boring old Earth.

“If someone suddenly has a high rate of mutation in their body, it’s FAR more likely they’ll die or have terrible cancers than acquire any fantastic ability,” he says.

But Why Space Newts, Though?

Those incredibly stressed out by ‘Threshold’ might be comforted to learn that the creators knew they were doing something unconventional with this episode—but claim it was intentional.

In Captains’ Logs Supplemental: The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , Jeri Taylor, a Star Trek scriptwriter and producer, explains that the inspiration for ‘Threshold’ was breaking the Warp laws and asking: “What happens if you do go Warp 10, how does that affect you?”

“So we all sat in a room and kicked it around and came up with this idea of evolution and thought that it would be far more interesting and less expected that instead of it being the large-brained, glowing person, it would be full circle, back to our origins in the water,” Taylor explains. “Not saying that we have become less than we are because those creatures may experience consciousness on such an advanced plane that we couldn’t conceive of it. It just seemed like a more interesting image.”

I hear you if you still fundamentally hate this episode and everything it stands for. But it did show us a kind of evolution we’ve not seen much of before—there were no large-brained, glowing people with superpowers, that’s for sure.

And Taylor’s right. Who’s to say space newts don’t have some inconceivable, advanced consciousness beyond our wildest dreams? And who knows how we’d evolve if we were simultaneously at all points in space—talk about external pressure.

After all, some theories suggest that our futures won’t be filled with super-advanced creatures, space newts, or humans with superpowers and big brains, but due to a process called carcinization, everything on the planet might one day become a crab.

This reminds me of a scene in The Time Machine (the book, not the movie) when H.G. Wells’ traveler takes a trip tens of millions of years into the future. What does he find at the outer limits of time? Crabs, loads of them.

Although ‘Threshold’ might not rate highly for what we know about evolution today—or, for many, enjoyment—I don’t think we can knock this fresh and creative approach to evolution too hard.

This article was first published on June 29th, 2022 on the original Companion website.

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Recap / Star Trek: Voyager S2E15 "Threshold"

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Here lies Thomas Eugene Paris. Beloved mutant.

This episode provides examples of

• Aliens Made Them Do It : Paris and Janeway are accidentally transformed into nonsapient animals, mate and produce a litter of offspring. Probably the most bizarre way of getting two main characters to make out in sci-fi history!
• Artistic License – Biology : The episode features a notoriously bad depiction of evolution . According to the script, not only can individual beings evolve into a completely different form, but the path of that evolution is laid out by fate.
• The Atoner : Tom thinks that being the first to breach the Warp 10 barrier will make up for his being a failure in life.
• Big "NO!" : Tom shouts one as he begins his transformation.
• Body Horror : Paris's mutation causes his DNA to break down, gradually making him look less human and more alien. At one point, he spits out his tongue , thus making talking difficult for him. Unsurprisingly, the episode won the Emmy for Best Makeup Effects.
• Contrived Coincidence : Warp 10, according to this episode, makes you somehow everywhere in the universe at once. So how convenient that Tom rematerializes right back near the ship! And on mutant!Tom's second attempt with Janeway, they just wind up on a nearby planet, makin' salamander babies.
• Cool Ship : The squat Type 6 shuttlecraft is replaced by the sleek Class 2, dubbed the 'Speedboat Shuttle' by the production staff and fans.
• Creator Provincialism : Janeway says Tom will be joining the likes of Orville Wright, Neil Armstrong, and Zephram Cochrane. Many viewers noted the oddity of her not mentioning the actual first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. Not to mention that all of these are Humans.
• Danger Room Cold Open : The episode opens with Tom in a shuttlecraft that breaks up as he hits the Threshold. We then cut to Tom sitting on the floor of the holodeck . B'Elanna: You're dead.
• Death Is Cheap : Tom dies, his cells so damaged the Doctor doesn't try to revive him past the first attempt . Then he comes back to life again. He and Janeway mutate into lower lifeforms and are brought back to perfect health.

• Easily Forgiven : Tom Paris because he was literally Not Himself at the time, what with being a catfish and all. As for the kids, Janeway jokes that it might have been her idea.

• Famous, Famous, Fictional : Janeway tells Tom that by being the first man to breach the Warp 10 barrier, he'll be joining the ranks of Orville Wright, Neil Armstrong, and Zefram Cochrane. This case differs from the usual trope in that Cochrane is from already established Trek canon (he invented the warp drive on Earth, and thus the Vulcans decided it was time for First Contact ), rather than a completely made-up name.
• Foreshadowing : Janeway says that the ability to fly at warp 10 will change the nature of humanity's existence. Yeah, turning into a catfish will do that...
• Forgotten Phlebotinum : Even ignoring the lizard-fication, it's mentioned that the experimental shuttle's computers were jam-packed with helpful navigation aids and maps — which are never mentioned again.
• Formerly Sapient Species : Tom Paris's "accelerated evolution" into a non-sapient salamander-like creature. The writer of this episode has stated that his idea was that in the distant future, humanity would evolve beyond the need for sapience due to technology providing for all our material needs.
• FTL Test Blunder : Paris figures out transwarp traveling, which might get the ship back to the Alpha Quadrant. After a seemingly successful test, he has an allergic reaction to water and starts de-evolving into a salamander/lizard/catfish creature. And then things get very weird.
• Golden Moment : At the end of the episode, Tom realises that doing something famous is not going to solve his issues.
• Gone Horribly Wrong : Just for starters, Tom, upon returning to the ship, becomes allergic to water. Somehow, it goes downhill from there.
• If I Do Not Return : Tom's last words before he (temporarily) dies. Tom: Do me a favor. When I'm gone, call Starfleet Headquarters and tell Dad that I did it. Tell him...
• I Just Want to Be Special : What drives Tom into this whole mess.
• Impossible Genius : Quite a few reviewers wondered why the crew didn't just transwarp back to the Alpha Quadrant regardless , given the Doctor's miraculous ability to restore them from an amphibious state. Though given the stress the transwarp flight put on the shuttle, it's possible Voyager wouldn't have survived.
• The Infinite : Tom Paris designs and builds an engine to go To Infinity And Beyond!! As a drive the infinite turns out to be improbable though.
• Just Think of the Potential! : Why, they could get home instantaneously, change space travel forever, but most of all, let Tom work out his daddy issues!
• Last Kiss : Tom asks for a last kiss from Kes, but she points out that he'll die if they let down the medical forcefield. After Tom dies anyway, a distraught Kes kisses him on the cheek.
• Subverted when we find the reason Tom found Neelix's special blend so disgusting is that he's allergic to the water due to the changes in his body.
• Ludicrous Speed : Doesn't even begin to describe it.
• Men Don't Cry : According to Admiral Paris, apparently. Tom doesn't buy it.
• Mistaken for Gay Tom: Kiss me! Doctor: What?! Tom: (indicating Kes) Not you! Her!
• The Mole : Judas...err Jonas transmits details of the Warp 10 experiments to the Kazon. Unfortunately they didn't turn themselves into catfish trying it out.
• Tom is shouting "I'm breaking up!" accompanied by Explosive Instrumentation , then we Smash Cut to B'Elanna and Harry looking bored on the holodeck, with Tom sitting on the floor.
• Tom himself is this In-Universe ; he goes from afraid to angry, to meek and pleading then back to belligerent again, sometimes mid-sentence.
• Mundane Solution : After the Doctor confirms Tom is only unconscious, Janeway says to wake him up. Instead of the expected hypospray of stimulant, Doc leans down to his ear and shouts, "Wake up, Lieutenant!"
• Not Himself : Mutant!Tom lashes out verbally at Captain Janeway, accusing her of wanting him dead as he's an embarrassing failure.
• Ominous Hair Loss : Right after coming back from the dead, Tom finds himself losing clumps of hair, the prelude to the next stage of his mutation.
• Our Dark Matter Is Mysterious : One of Neelix's anecdotes about losing a nacelle passing through a dark matter nebula gives Tom and Harry inspiration to finish their transwarp drive.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here : Chakotay, having retrieved Janeway and Paris, apparently decides this about the lizard babies.
• Ship Tease : This episode marks the first time its hinted that B'Elanna may be starting to consider Tom more than a crewmate.
• Passing through all points of the universe simultaneously, causing ridiculous things to happen, sounds a lot like the Infinite Improbability Drive . Well, it did turn Ford into a penguin... but he got better.
• Tom comes back to life with a changed face and two hearts .
• Snark-to-Snark Combat Paris: You're losing me, aren't you? I'm going to die. Doctor: You're too stubborn to die, Mr Paris. Paris: Here lies Thomas Eugene Paris. Beloved mutant. Doctor: A fitting epitaph, but I don't intend to let you use it just yet.
• Snowy Screen of Death : Mutant!Tom's escape is only shown by Doc and Kes watching it on the viewscreen . Phaser beams can be seen cutting across Engineering until one knocks out the screen.
• Swiss-Cheese Security : Tom is able to break out of his chamber, take out the security officers guarding him, screw up the internal sensors, abduct Captain Janeway and steal the Warp 10 modified shuttle without any problems. And all this after Tuvok promised Janeway there wouldn't be any more shuttle-stealing incidents in " Maneuvers ".
• Tainted Veins : When Tom first collapses in the canteen.
• Take Our Word for It : The mutated Tom breaks out of his restraints and starts a huge fight with the security team. None of this event makes it on-screen. Instead we have Torres telling the Doctor what is happening.
• Techno Babble : When Tom and Harry have their "Eureka!" Moment . Neelix: I have no idea what they just said.
• That Didn't Happen : Chakotay wonders how the hell he's going to explain in the log that a Starfleet officer abducted the captain, evolved into a lower lifeform and had babies with her. Captain Janeway however takes the matter in stride, suggesting the sex might have been her idea.
• Timey-Wimey Ball : Implied with Tom's incoherent explanations. "The present, the past, they're both in the future. The future is in the past."
• Title Drop : "I'm approaching the Threshold!"
• Too Much Information : Tom discusses how he lost his virginity at 17 while his parents were out of the house. Doctor: I'll...note that in your medical log.
• Too Strange to Show : What Past-Warp-10 looks like. We only see Tom's face when he does it the first time, and the second time, we only see the multi-colored streaks of hundreds and thousands of stars streaking by at super-warp, before the screen fades entirely to white.
• Touch of the Monster : Mutant!Tom carrying Janeway in his arms as he places her in the shuttle.
• Unable to Cry : Tom says that B'Elanna won't be crying at his funeral as she never cries.
• Weaksauce Weakness : Super-evolved catfish things get put down pretty quickly by basic phaser fire.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy : Tom's last words before he dies are to let his father know he crossed the Threshold.
• What Happened to the Mouse? : We see the mutant children of Tom and Janeway enter the slimy pool and...they're never mentioned again.
• Whole-Plot Reference : Brannon Braga wrote the episode as a homage to David Cronenberg 's The Fly .
• You Cannot Grasp the True Form : Tom finds it difficult to explain what traveling through every point in the universe is like.
• You Talk Too Much! : Not imminent death, mutation, or even the loss of a tongue stops Tom from rambling away. Tom: Doctor, I need to talk! Doctor: So I've noticed.

Chakotay: I... don't know how I'm going to enter this into the log. Tuvok: I look forward to reading it.

• Star Trek Voyager S 2 E 14 "Alliances"
• Recap/Star Trek: Voyager
• Star Trek Voyager S 2 E 16 "Meld"

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Star Trek: Voyager's Most Bizarre Episode

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Star Trek Voyager’s Most Unexpectedly Sad Moment

This star trek voyager episode explores huge questions about identity & individuality, chris pine gives uninspiring (and unsurprising) update on star trek 4.

The Star Trek franchise has over 900 episodes stretched across almost 50 series. While most fans tend to mark their favorites, their least-favorite entries sit in a messy collection with those they may skip on a rewatch. Star Trek: Voyager has a legendarily unhinged, widely-despised outing in its second season. Though most disliked "Threshold," its bizarre narrative and complete abandonment of a solid premise are worth examination.

Star Trek: Voyager tends to be fans' fourth or fifth favorite series in the franchise. It'll never be as iconic as The Original Series or The Next Generation , but it earns some praise among its later cohorts. Voyager contains a few fascinating mistakes that taint its legacy. Though the show regularly misstepped, its flaws should offer lessons to the ongoing series.

From joy to trauma all in the space of a few moments, this episode contains a much darker meaning.

What Happens in "Threshold?"

Voyager season two, episode fifteen, "Threshold," starts with a compelling and unique premise it unfortunately abandons. Lieutenant Tom Paris sets out to break the seemingly impenetrable "transwarp barrier" to make his mark on history. Transwarp has several definitions in the Star Trek canon, but it generally refers to speeds that exceed warp factor 10, a velocity thought to be infinite. The show follows the Voyager and her crew as they endure a seemingly endless journey across light years to return to Earth. Paris believes he can cut years off their travel time by reaching transwarp speeds. The crew finds a rare form of dilithium, prompting Paris to run countless simulations. Each attempt ends in disaster, but a conversation with Neelix leads Paris to devise a new strategy. The Doctor notes a rare medical condition in Paris that could cause fatal side effects after breaching the transwarp barrier. Paris ignores the risk, begging Captain Janeway to let him achieve his dream. She lets him fly the shuttle, the Cochrane , and he breaks the transwarp barrier.

The Cochrane disappears briefly before reemerging. Paris is unconscious behind the wheel. He explains that by surpassing infinite speeds, he's experienced every extant point in space simultaneously. He suffers bizarre medical complications, forcing the Doctor to quarantine Paris in the sick bay. Paris seems to mutate, developing allergies to clean air and water. He develops orange scales and new eyes. His personality also shifts, flitting between his usual tone and unhinged aggression. The Doctor suspects Paris might be evolving into a new life form, experiencing the potential genetic path humans might find hundreds of years in the future. Before the Doctor can treat Paris, the altered being kidnaps Janeway and steals the Cochrane . It's up to the Voyager crew to save Paris and Janeway before they become something new.

How Does "Threshold" End?

Having thoroughly abandoned the "daredevil pilot with a dream" narrative they started, The Doctor hunts down Janeway and Paris. The Voyager crew finds the Cochrane on a swamp-laden planet . After searching the land, they find two large salamander-like creatures. The crew scans them, finding traces of Janeway and Paris' DNA. They also find three infants of the same species. Paris and Janeway transformed into cat-sized salamanders, mated, and spawned three children. The Doctor brings Paris and Janeway back to the Voyager and treats them, returning them to their human forms. They leave their kids to fend for themselves on their ostensible home planet. Janeway and Paris have some awkward banter after having morphed into animals, had sex, and raised children together. Everyone seemingly agrees never to speak of these events again as the credits roll.

The Episode's Impact On Star Trek

"Threshold" has appeared on several lists of Star Trek 's worst episodes. Several professionals involved in the production have spoken out against it. Robert Duncan McNeill struggled to understand the script and later called it "bizarre." Longtime Star Trek screenwriter Jeri Taylor acknowledged the terrible reception. When the second season of Voyager came to DVD, it launched with optional commentary tracks from the writer. In that context, the episode's writer, Brannon Braga, called it a "royal, steaming stinker." Though fans, critics, and the episode's creators hated "Threshold," it did earn one accolade. Celebrated makeup artist Michael Westmore earned a Primetime Emmy for his work on Voyager , and while the award didn't cite "Threshold" specifically, his mutated Paris creation was impressive. Westmore deserves his flowers, though that award wouldn't rank among his highest achievements.

"Threshold" goes off the rails in a way that feels like a gag at its own expense. The first act, depicting Tom Paris' genuine desperate urge to cement himself next to the Wright Brothers or Zephram Cochrane , is genuinely excellent sci-fi material. If the rest of the episode had followed its example, this would likely be one of Voyager 's most loved outings. As it is, "Threshold" feels like three or four episode concepts mashed together into a bizarre ride. If any fans are looking for a Star Trek experience that will deeply confuse their friends, look no further than "Threshold."

Examining the huge implications of Tuvix and his untimely demise results in some tricky moral quandaries.

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Episode list

Star trek: voyager.

S1.E1 ∙ Caretaker

S1.E2 ∙ Parallax

S1.E3 ∙ Time and Again

S1.E4 ∙ Phage

S1.E5 ∙ The Cloud

S1.E6 ∙ Eye of the Needle

S1.E7 ∙ Ex Post Facto

S1.E8 ∙ Emanations

S1.E9 ∙ Prime Factors

S1.E10 ∙ State of Flux

S1.E11 ∙ Heroes and Demons

S1.E12 ∙ Cathexis

S1.E13 ∙ Faces

S1.E14 ∙ Jetrel

S1.E15 ∙ Learning Curve

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The Rookie Season 7 Release Date Is Disappointing (But The Long Wait Will Be Worth It)

10 pieces of fourth wing fan art that make us want the next book even more, wednesday season 2 has a huge choice to make with its new addams family member after 60 years of confusion.

Star Trek: Prodigy episode "Mindwalk" sees Admiral Janeway reference one of the more ridiculous episodes of Star Trek: Voyager where she and Lieutenant Tom Paris devolved into salamanders. In an attempt to contact the crew of the USS Dauntless without activating the destructive weapon the Diviner has placed in the heart of the Protostar, Dal and Janeway end up in each other's bodies. While Dal clumsily attempts to conceal his identity aboard the Dauntless, Janeway learns the truth about the Protostar crew and promises to help the youngsters once she returns to her body.

Once Janeway and the Protostar crew realize Dal's augmented Organian DNA is the key to restoring them to their rightful bodies, they devise a daring plan that involves both Dal and Janeway exiting their respective ships while still traveling at warp speed. While Dal is somewhat hesitant about the risky plan, Janeway takes it in stride, mentioning that nothing could be as bad as being turned into a salamander. It's a sly reference to one of the strangest episodes in all of Star Trek .

Related: Star Trek Just Did Strange New Worlds' Comedy Episode Even Better

The Voyager Episode When Janeway Became A Salamander Explained

In the Star Trek: Voyager season 2 episode "Threshold," Lieutenant Tom Paris undertakes an experimental shuttle voyage in an attempt to reach Warp 10 and break the transwarp barrier. The shuttle manages to hit Warp 10, but Paris is rendered unconscious and the shuttle briefly shifts in and out of reality. Once brought back aboard Voyager, an insane Paris begins to transform into an amphibian-like creature. He eventually escapes sickbay and attacks Janeway, taking her with him back to the shuttle where he once again breaks the transwarp barrier.

Voyager's first officer Commander Chakotay manages to track Paris and Janeway to a distant jungle planet, where the pair have not only devolved into giant salamanders, they've also mated, leaving behind a brood of baby salamander creatures. Chakotay brings Paris and Janeway back to Voyager, where the Doctor is able to restore them to human form. "Threshold" is a genuinely bizarre hour of television, and even episode writer Brannon Braga has mentioned on more than one occasion he wishes it had never been made.

Prodigy Is Really A Sequel To Star Trek: Voyager

Despite the fact it poked fun at one of Voyager 's weirder moments, Prodigy is really a loving continuation of Voyager 's story. Chakotay's original Protostar mission was a direct followup to Voyager's exploits in the Delta Quadrant, while the reinvention of the villainous Kazon and the USS Dauntless have their origins in Voyager . Prodigy has even begun borrowing musical cues from Voyager' s soaring theme song.

More than anything, Prodigy is a rightly celebrated second act for Kathryn Janeway, one of Star Trek 's most beloved characters. The Protostar's Hologram Janeway has been a delightful addition to the character's legacy, but the return of the flesh and blood Admiral Janeway has been thrilling, and the notion that she might take Dal and friends under her wing as the series progresses is an exciting prospect. Star Trek: Voyager may have had its ups and downs, but Star Trek: Prodigy is honoring it in the best possible ways.

More: Janeway's New Ship Vs. Chakotay's: Which Star Trek Ship Is Faster

• SR Originals
• Star Trek: Prodigy (2021)
• Star Trek: Voyager (1995)

Enterprise Lab Group

Boldly going where no one has gone before.

Phone: 480-444-5555

Fax: NCC-1701D

Project Status: Active

Transwarp generally refers to speeds and technologies that are beyond conventional warp drives. The warp drive has a natural physical or economical limit beyond which higher speeds are no longer possible. The reference work  Star Trek Fact Files  indicates this limit at warp factor 9.99. This is the highest conventional warp speed mentioned for a spaceship (Borg cube). Also in the episode  Threshold  ( Star Trek Voyager ) the warp factor 9.99 is suggested as the limit. This is the last warp factor mentioned before the leap takes place in the transwarp state.

In the book  Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual  the authors describes the idea of Transwarp:

Finally, we had to create a back door for various powerful aliens like Q who got the knack of hurling the ship through the room for millions of light years during a commercial break.

The Transwarp concept itself is not tied to any particular technology or speed limit.

The first mention of a transwarp drive took place in the movie  Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . There, the Starfleet developed a new spaceship type, the USS  Excelsior  (NX-2000), which should have a superior engine. The Excelsior captain plans to break the speed record of the USS  Enterprise  (Warp 14.1 cubic scale). The principle of this drive is not explained. Later, in  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , the USS  Excelsior  had a normal warp drive. In  Star Trek Fact Files  it is stated that the experiment was a failure and the spaceship was converted to a normal warp drive.

The entire episode  Threshold  from  Star Trek Voyager  is about a transwarp experiment by the USS  Voyager  crew. To get home faster, a shuttle is modified with novel dilithium crystals. The crew is trying to break the transwarp threshold. This threshold is between warp factor 9.99 and Warp 10 and transwarp itself represented the infinite speed. The shuttle allegedly found itself at all points in the universe at the same time during the flight. However, the pilot suffers genetic mutations after the flight, so it is not repeated. Due to the shuttle’s limited memory, only a small portion of the sensor data was recorded. The entire experiment is described in the reference work  Star Trek Fact Files  .

Some episodes later, fictionalized a few months later, the crew of USS  Voyager  encounters a species called  Voth . This species has spaceships with transwarp drive. However, this drive does not work on the base of transwarp conduits, as the transwarp drive of the Borg, but is a further development of the conventional warp drive.

8 Alpha Quadrant Things Star Trek: Voyager Found In Delta Quadrant

• Star Trek: Voyager finds familiar things from the Alpha Quadrant in the Delta Quadrant, sparking important questions and connections.
• Encounter with Ferengi negotiators leads Voyager crew to stop their interference in a pre-warp civilization for profits.
• Janeway and crew discover humans abducted by aliens in the 1930s living in the Delta Quadrant, including Amelia Earhart.

For a show with the conceit of being so far from home, Star Trek: Voyager found a surprising number of things in the Delta Quadrant that originated in the Alpha Quadrant, including several from Earth itself. The USS Voyager, commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and Commander Chakotay's (Robert Beltran) Maquis raider Val Jean were both brought to the Delta Quadrant in 2371 by the Caretaker (Basil Langton). After Janeway destroyed the Caretaker's array to save the Ocampa , Voyager and the Val Jean were left without a ticket back to the Alpha Quadrant, and banded together to make the long journey.

Finding something familiar in an otherwise totally alien corner of the galaxy brought a sense of familiarity to the USS Voyager crew and viewers at home alike, but the presence of something from the Alpha Quadrant in the Delta Quadrant inevitably raised important questions , like how familiar people and objects traveled 70,000 light years from home in the first place, and whether the find could lead Captain Kathryn Janeway towards a quicker path home to Earth.

Star Trek: Voyagers 20 Best Episodes Ranked

A pair of ferengi negotiators, arridor and kol, star trek: voyager season 3, episode 5 "false profits".

The USS Voyager encounters a pair of Ferengi negotiators, Arridor (Dan Shor) and Kol (Leslie Jordan), who claim to be the prophesied Great Sages of the Takarians, a society with Bronze Age level technology. The Ferengi have no Prime Directive to deter them from interfering with the Takarians' development , so they're performing "miracles" with a standard replicator to reap the monetary benefits of the Takarians' worship. Voyager's crew know the Ferengi reputation well enough to know they're no Sages, so they must figure out how to put a stop to Arridor and Kol's grift.

"False Profits" serves as a Star Trek sequel episode to Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 8 "The Price", as Voyager catches up with Arridor and Kol (formerly played by J. R. Quinonez) seven years after their Delta Quadrant arrival. The Ferengi took a test flight through the supposedly stable wormhole near Barzan II, which was supposed to emerge in the Gamma Quadrant, but instead stranded the Ferengi in the Delta Quadrant, where they made the best of their situation as only Ferengi can.

Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 23 "Distant Origin"

"Distant Origin" opens on Forra Gegen (Henry Woronicz), a scientist who discovers that his people, the Voth, share certain genetic similarities with the humans aboard the USS Voyager. While this confirms Gegen's theory that the Voth are the descendants of a species brought to their homeworld millions of years ago , religious leader Minister Odala (Concetta Tomei) refuses to accept the truth. Even with Commander Chakotay present as a living specimen of humanity, Odala pushes Gegen to recant, because Gegen's theory goes against the Voth Doctrine that keeps Odala in power.

After meeting Gegen's assistant, Tova Veer (Christopher Liam Moore), Janeway and the Doctor use the holodeck as a research guide to extrapolate how hadrosaurs might look in the 24th century if they'd been able to evolve into a humanoid form with comparable intelligence. The result resembles Veer, so Janeway and the Doctor conclude, like Gegen, that the Voth evolved from hadrosaurs into a highly advanced species on Earth , then fled to the Delta Quadrant in spacefaring vessels instead of being wiped out with the other dinosaurs.

The Friendship One Probe

Star trek: voyager season 7, episode 21 "friendship one".

By Star Trek: Voyager season 7 , the USS Voyager is in regular contact with Starfleet Command, and Starfleet gives Voyager a mission to retrieve a 21st-century Earth probe, Friendship One . The probe proves difficult to find, but once discovered on an alien planet suffering devastating climate collapse, the implications of Friendship One's launch become clear. Besides the irreversible damage to the planet's climate, the inhabitants are all suffering from radiation sickness, and bear understandable hostility towards Earth, because the aliens believe humans orchestrated their destruction with the Friendship One probe.

The United Earth Space Probe Agency was one of the early names for the organization the USS Enterprise belongs to in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Charlie X".

Friendship One was launched in 2067 by the United Earth Space Probe Agency with the intention of making friends with whomever found it, as the name implies. Although Friendship One, the 400-year-old Earth probe, traveled for centuries carrying messages of peace, musical recordings, and ways to translate languages, the people who discovered Friendship One in the Delta Quadrant took a greater interest in the antimatter it used to travel across space. Without the proper knowledge of its use, antimatter proved devastating to the planet and its people, resulting in death and disease for generations.

Dreadnought, a Cardassian Missile

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 17 "dreadnought".

The USS Voyager discovers a dangerously powerful, self-guided Cardassian missile in the Delta Quadrant, which Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) recognizes as one nicknamed "Dreadnought" . When B'Elanna was with the Maquis, Torres had actually reprogrammed the missile herself, with the intention of turning the Cardassians' own weapon against them. Without a Cardassian target in sight, the artificially intelligent Cardassian Dreadnought targets a heavily-populated Class-M planet , Rakosa V. B'Elanna determines she must be the one to keep Dreadnought from hurting anyone else, and boards the missile to convince it to stand down.

While no concrete reason is given for exactly how the Dreadnought wound up in the Delta Quadrant, its last known location in the Alpha Quadrant was the Badlands, the same rough patch of space where Voyager and the Val Jean, Chakotay's Maquis raider, fatefully met. Because of this, Torres theorizes that Dreadnought arrived in the Delta Quadrant the same way that Voyager and the Val Jean did , courtesy of the Caretaker.

Star Trek: Voyagers BElanna Is More Klingon Than TNGs Worf Ever Was

A klingon d-7 class cruiser, complete with klingons, star trek: voyager, season 7, episode 14 "prophecy".

The USS Voyager certainly never expected to find a Klingon ship in the Delta Quadrant, but more surprising is the fact that the crew of the Klingon D-7 Class Cruiser believes their savior, the prophesied kuvah'magh, is aboard Voyager . Janeway assures the Klingon captain, Kohlar (Wren T. Brown), that the Federation and Klingon Empire have been allies for the past 80 years, and offers Voyager's own half-Klingon, Lt. B'Elanna Torres, as proof their societies are working together now. The kuvah'magh is Torres' unborn daughter, who does save the Klingons, but not the way they expected.

Centuries ago, Kohlar's great-grandfather set off on a quest to find the kuvah'magh, and the Klingon D-7 Cruiser became a generation ship that is now crewed by the descendants of its original crew . The quest begun by Kohlar's great-grandfather brought Kohlar and his crew to the Delta Quadrant after four generations of searching. Whether B'Elanna's child is actually the kuvah'magh or not, Kohlar desperately wants the baby to be their savior, so that his people may finally rest.

Amelia Earhart

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 1 "the 37s".

The discovery of a 1936 Ford truck, seemingly disconnected from any parent vehicle, leads the USS Voyager to a nearby Class-L planet, where they find eight humans who have been in cryo-stasis since they were abducted by aliens in the 1930s. Among them are one of Janeway's personal heroes, legendary American aviator Amelia Earhart (Sharon Lawrence) , who disappeared without a trace while attempting to fly around the world, and Earhart's navigator, Fred Noonan (David Graf). Earhart and the other preserved humans are known by the planet's inhabitants as "The 37s", and revered as sacred.

Originally thought to be aliens, the natives of the unnamed planet are the descendants of humans. A species called the Briori abducted the natives' ancestors, along with Earhart and the other 37s, from Earth centuries earlier , and took them to the Delta Quadrant. Once held as slaves, the humans who weren't in stasis revolted to free themselves from the Briori, and developed a thriving, Earth-like civilization in the Delta Quadrant. Voyager's crew consider staying with the humans in their little slice of home, while Janeway also offers a ride back to Earth to anyone who wants it, including Amelia Earhart.

The USS Equinox

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 26 & season 6, episode 1 "equinox".

The crew of the USS Voyager believe they're the only Starfleet vessel in the Delta Quadrant until they find the USS Equinox, five years into their journey home. Captain Rudolph Ransom (John Savage) and the Equinox crew have had a harder time in the Delta Quadrant than Voyager, with more damage, fewer starting resources, and fewer opportunities to make friends along the way. Ransom's survival tactics include sacrificing innocent nucleogenic life forms for a more efficient form of fuel, which Janeway finds hard to stomach, and decides that Ransom needs to be held accountable for defying Federation ideals, regardless of how badly the Equinox is damaged.

Although Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) suggests that the Equinox might be in the Delta Quadrant on a rescue mission to find Voyager, the USS Equinox's specs don't fit the profile of a starship that would be assigned to a long-range mission. The explanation of how the Equinox arrived in the Delta Quadrant in the first place seems fairly simple, because Captain Ransom tells Janeway that the Equinox was also abducted by the Caretaker , just like Voyager, but the Equinox has only been in the Delta Quadrant for 2 years, and Janeway destroyed the Caretaker's array 5 years earlier.

Seven of Nine

Debuts in star trek: voyager season 4, episode 1 "scorpion, part 2".

When Captain Kathryn Janeway allies with the Borg in order to secure safe passage across Borg space, Janeway refuses the cursory assimilation that the Borg want to use to communicate with Janeway and Voyager's crew, and instead requests a speaker for the Borg, citing the existence of Locutus (Patrick Stewart) as precedent. Seven of Nine , Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, is selected as the Borg drone to act as liaison between the Collective and Voyager, likely because Seven of Nine had once been a member of Species 5168, like most of Voyager's crew -- in other words, human.

Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16, "Dark Frontier" provides even more detail of the Hansens' fateful journey.

After Seven's link with the Collective is severed, more information about Seven's human origin comes to light. In Voyager season 4, episode 6 "The Raven", when Voyager nears the Hansens' ship, the USS Raven, memories of Seven's early life surface, revealing that Seven had been six-year-old human Annika Hansen , the daughter of Magnus Hansen (Kirk Baily) and Erin Hansen (Laura Stepp), Federation scientists who were studying the Borg when they were assimilated. Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16, "Dark Frontier" provides even more detail of the Hansens' fateful journey, showing the Raven arriving in the Delta Quadrant by following a Borg Cube through a transwarp conduit.

10 Ways USS Voyager Changed In Star Treks Delta Quadrant

Star Trek: Voyager links back to the greater Star Trek universe with people and starships from the Alpha Quadrant. Connections to the familiar were especially important early on, because Voyager 's place in the Star Trek franchise was established and aided by the legitimacy these finds offered. Later, when the USS Voyager used the Hirogen communications array to communicate with Starfleet Command, links back to the Alpha Quadrant were plentiful again, not only to prove that the USS Voyager was closer to home, but to help Star Trek: Voyager maintain connections to Star Trek and carry the franchise in its final years.

Star Trek: Voyager is available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Voyager

Cast Jennifer Lien, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson, Robert Beltran, Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo

Release Date May 23, 1995

Genres Sci-Fi, Adventure

Network UPN

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Michael Piller, Rick Berman

Showrunner Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Rating TV-PG

Q2 (episode)

• View history

Facing his son's banishment from the Q Continuum, Q leaves him on Voyager in the hopes that he will gain self-discipline.

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Story and script
• 3.2 Production
• 3.3 Sets and props
• 3.4 Continuity
• 3.5 Apocrypha
• 3.6 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest Stars
• 4.4 Special Guest Star
• 4.5 Co-Stars
• 4.6 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.7 Stand-ins
• 4.8 References
• 4.9 External links

Summary [ ]

In her ready room , Captain Kathryn Janeway listens to Cadet Icheb 's presentation about "Early Starfleet History". Although Janeway breaks off his presentation – he wanted to be thorough so his presentation took more than the required 20 minutes – she congratulates him on passing the exam and walks him to the door.

"I would have failed him" a voice sounds. When Janeway looks around she sees a young Human male, dressed in Starfleet command red and wearing the insignia of a Starfleet Captain. When Janeway calls for security there is no answer, and she is told the rest of Voyager 's crew is in a time loop . When she asks him who he is, another, more familiar, voice sounds, that of Q . It turns out the young male is Q's son, Q Junior .

Act One [ ]

" Scan, scan, scan. That's all you people ever do! "

Janeway is told by Q that Junior has taken a vacation from the Q Continuum , on USS Voyager , to experience Humanity first hand. After Q has left, Janeway, having no further say in the matter, tells Junior that some rules need to be followed, whereupon Junior tells her that he makes his own rules and with a flick of his fingers he disappears.

Q's party in main engineering

On Voyager 's bridge , Lieutenant Commander Tuvok is trying to locate where either Q is when Junior appears. He wants to see more interesting things than bipeds pushing buttons or replacing relays and tries to convince Janeway to do something else, such as detonating some omega molecules or flying into fluidic space and fighting Species 8472 . When Janeway refuses, Junior tells her he is bored and will amuse himself and disappears. The next moment Janeway is contacted by Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres , who requests her presence in main engineering .

" Relax, aunt Kathy. It's a party! "

Accompanied by Tuvok and Commander Chakotay , Janeway enters main engineering where a party is going on. Torres warns Janeway that Junior's light show might cause a warp core breach but when Janeway tells Junior his party is over, he tells her that she has no unlimited control over space , matter and time so he gives the orders. With a flick of his fingers, he sends Janeway and company to the corridor . There they decide to try to ignore Junior in the hope he might get bored and leave Voyager .

In the cargo bay , Junior removes Seven of Nine 's clothing to stare at her naked body which he describes as "perfection"; utterly nonplussed, Seven dismisses the incident as an attempt to embarrass her and continues her work, which has the desired effect of getting Junior to leave.

" Watch this! "

Meanwhile, in the mess hall a food replicator rudely tells Captain Janeway to "Make it yourself" when she asks for coffee . Neelix tells her that ignoring Junior might not be the best solution and offers to be his mentor. Neelix is greeted with " Can I help you, kitchen rat? " when he enters astrometrics where Junior is watching a battle between Wyngari and Vojean starships . The two species lived in peace when Voyager traveled through their region of space some time ago, but now, with some of Junior's help, are fighting each other. Neelix suggests playing Kadis-kot , but Junior is uninterested as it is a game without explosions. After Neelix suggests that Junior uses his powers to alleviate the food shortage on the Wyngari homeworld , Junior loses patience with the Talaxian and tells him he "talks too much", before fusing Neelix' jaw and removing his vocal cords .

" Is this enough pressure? "

While in sickbay , where Neelix is examined by The Doctor , Janeway is contacted by Junior, now on the bridge. When Janeway enters the bridge she sees three Borg cubes on the viewscreen , firing on Voyager . Junior wants to see how Humans act under pressure and tells Janeway that this time she will not defeat the Borg .

Act Two [ ]

When Borg drones appear on the bridge, Janeway is grabbed by one of them and just before the drone has a chance to use his assimilation tubule , they vanish. In their place is Q, who has reversed all the things Junior has done, including by restoring Neelix' voice. When Janeway tells Q she wants his son off Voyager , he takes her aside to explain.

In the following discussion it becomes clear that Junior's birth should have brought peace and compassion, but instead he brought chaos. Junior started wars, tampered with primordial gene pools and punched holes in the fabric of space-time. His mother was so humiliated that she disowned him. The Q Continuum held Q responsible and that was the reason Junior was brought to Voyager , in the hope that some of Starfleet's ideals would rub off on him. Janeway tells Q that Junior needs parenting and instead of dumping him on Voyager , he himself should set an example by spending time with Junior. Q finds Janeway a genius, kisses her and disappears.

Q paying a surprise visit to Janeway

Janeway gets a surprise visit from Q, in her bath. He blames Janeway that her plan did not work. She exasperatedly points out he left fewer than ten minutes before, but Q clarifies that in Q time he and his son have spent years together, ending up with Junior becoming embarrassed to be seen with his father. Junior shifted the tectonic plates on Bozel Prime and refused to apologize for it. Janeway tells Q that Junior needs to understand that his actions have consequences. "Consequences… mmm" , Q mumbles. He takes back his last statement and goes to kiss her again only to meet her foot; he instead kisses that and disappears.

In Voyager 's sickbay, Q returns his son from a life as an Oprelian amoeba in a petri dish. Q tells him that he needs to become an upstanding citizen of the cosmos or he'll spend the rest of his life as an amoeba . Junior is given one week to change. To make matters worse for Junior his powers are temporarily removed by the Q Continuum. Despite Janeway's protest that Q had agreed to take a more active role in parenting, Q leaves Junior on Voyager and departs. An angry Junior leaves sickbay, crushing the petri dish under his foot on his way out, in search of a way to leave Voyager . Janeway calls security.

While being escorted to his quarters , Junior is told by Janeway that he no longer has unlimited control over space, matter and time, meaning she gives the orders, not him. Janeway tells Junior she has prepared a curriculum for him to follow so he can learn some respect and responsibility. Junior thinks he has little hope because he's been abandoned on an antiquated flying machine run by primates .

Junior's first lesson is that of spatial causality , taught by Seven of Nine, who is also tutoring Icheb in the subject. Later, Junior is given diplomacy lessons, under the guidance of Commander Chakotay, who reminds him that one of the responsibilities of a Q is to maintain order in the universe. Junior refuses Chakotay's help and cheats on the lesson, changing the personality subroutines of the people in the holographic program to make them more agreeable.

In Voyager 's mess hall, Junior helps Neelix. He complains to Neelix whether he "ever stopped talking?" but there is nothing Junior can do about it. Here Junior again meets Icheb, who wants to know if he would like to participate in some recreational activities . Junior declines, saying "Aunt Kathy" wants him to write an essay about the history of the Q but he has no experience writing essays. After Icheb offers to help, Junior hands over Icheb's essay instead of writing his own.

In the captain's ready room Janeway confronts Junior with his cheating, as Icheb's writing style is quite familiar to her, telling him " We may be common bipeds but we're not stupid. " Janeway tells him to wait for his father to return, and Junior objects, fearing he will be turned into an amoeba. Janeway offers to help him one more time but only if his motives are sincere.

Act Three [ ]

Q Junior exercising

In the mess hall Junior hands Janeway a new draft of his essay " I, Q: An Insider's View of the Continuum ", although she did not ask for it. Junior says he owed it to her for giving him a second chance. That same moment Icheb walks in, asking if Junior would like to join him for a piloting lesson by Lieutenant Tom Paris . Janeway thinks he has earned a break and allows him to go.

In the Delta Flyer , while maneuvering through an asteroid field , Junior is a little apprehensive and asks Icheb to be careful, since he is now mortal. Junior even gets a chance to fly himself, despite how the Q normally do not operate primitive machinery. When an alert sounds, Junior finds it distracting but because fixing it would require them to return to Voyager they ignore it. " Hear what? ", Icheb replies when Junior asks him if he still hears the alert.

Back on Voyager Janeway runs into Q again and tells him Junior has made progress. Junior presents his essay to them, concluding with saying Voyager 's crew has taught him to see the Continuum as home instead of different perceptions of reality. Q is not impressed, which irritates Junior and Janeway. After Junior leaves, Janeway learns that Junior needed to display nothing more than exemplary Q-ness. Anything less would result in a life as an amoeba.

When Janeway visits Junior in his quarters he tells her he does not care what Q thinks. Janeway offers to let him stay on Voyager , as a Human, if the Continuum decides not to turn him back into a Q. Junior thanks the captain, but tells her he doesn't want to be Human, he wants to be a Q, like his father.

Act Four [ ]

Q Junior in search of Icheb

Junior finds Icheb in a Jefferies tube – they refer to each other as "Itchy" and "Q-ball" – and asks him to help repair the fault which caused the alert during their piloting lesson. Icheb agrees, but soon finds himself trapped on the Delta Flyer where Junior starts the engines and erects a dampening field to prevent communication with Voyager . Junior wants to escape, by means of a spatial flexure , and hide from his father. Although he no longer has his powers, he still knows good hiding places.

Q Junior stealing the Delta Flyer

With the help of the Delta Flyer 's phasers , Junior destroys the shuttlebay door and escapes, despite Voyager 's tractor beam trying to hold them.

The Delta Flyer in the Clevari system

Icheb tells him to go back and apologize to Janeway but Junior does not listen.

The Delta Flyer attacks the Chokuzan vessel…

When a Chokuzan vessel appears, Junior chooses to attack it instead of complying with their demands, despite Icheb's comment that he learned from Janeway to respect other cultures' laws. During the battle Icheb is critically injured.

…and attempts to escape

Junior takes Icheb back to Voyager , but The Doctor is unable to treat Icheb because he needs to know what weapon caused his injuries. Q appears, and at first, Junior tries to blame the whole incident on Icheb. Janeway sets the record straight, and Junior pleads with his father to save Icheb. Q refuses, telling Junior it is time to learn the consequences of his actions, and leaves.

Act Five [ ]

Because Icheb is the only friend Junior has ever had, he agrees to go back with Captain Janeway to Chokuzan space and try to ascertain the type of weapon used to wound Icheb.

" Surprise! "

When the Chokuzan Captain agrees to give them the information to save Icheb, he also tells them that in Chokuzan culture, adults are held responsible for the actions of their children. Captain Janeway will be punished for Junior's actions. Junior does not agree and takes full responsibility, even if it means execution, to save the life of his friend. When the Chokuzan captain hears this he starts to laugh. It turns out the Chokuzan is actually Q. When Junior tells him they have no time for his games, Q tells them he was the one they fired on and that Icheb is alive and well. It turned out it was a test and according to Q, better than the tests Janeway devised, and Junior passed it. It was now time to face the Continuum's verdict.

" I wish you could see the look on your faces. Oh, wait, you can! "

Back on Voyager , Janeway, Q and Junior face three Q judges for the verdict, " We, the Continuum have found that Q has not made sufficient progress to warrant the reinstatement of his powers ". Although Q objects, saying Junior was willing to sacrifice his life to save that of his friend, the judge dismisses it. She reasons it was Junior who endangered the Icheb's life in the first place. However, because of his subsequent actions, Junior is not condemned to spend his life as an Oprelian amoeba but to suffer the next worse fate, to remain Human. Q, declaring the verdict an outrage, disappears right after the judges do.

A disappointed Junior talks with Janeway in her ready room. He wanted to continue his training, despite having nothing more to prove to the Continuum. Junior does not expect to see his father again anytime soon because Q already left him on Voyager , twice. Q appears in the corner of the room, saying, " The question you should be asking is why I keep coming back. " He apologizes for his abrupt disappearance and explains to Janeway and Junior that he threatened to leave the Continuum if Junior was not reinstated. According to Q, the Continuum crumbled like a Gelbian sandsculpture at the prospect of losing Q, to Junior's admiration, and already have returned Junior's powers. As a gift to Janeway, Junior places red roses all over her office and leaves for Golos Prime where his father will meet him after finishing talking to Janeway.

Q helps Janeway get Voyager a few years closer to home.

Q, knowing that the amused Janeway was not fooled like his inexperienced son was, freely admits he had to make some concessions. He will have eternal custody and has to go wherever Junior goes. Q gives Captain Janeway a PADD , as a thank you for her help, containing information which will enable Voyager to shave a few years off from their journey to Earth . When Janeway asks Q why he doesn't just send them all the way, he responds, " What sort of an example would I be setting for my son if I did all the work for you? " and disappears.

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Coffee, black. " " Make it yourself. "

" Then it's single-cellular city for you my boy! "

" I would've failed him. Kirk may have been a lowly Human, but at least he had pizazz. That report made him sound as interesting as a Vulcan funeral dirge! "

" I'm not detecting either Q . " " I want to be alerted if they resurface keep running scans. " " Scan, scan, scan. That's all you people ever do. I've been through every deck on this ship and you know what I've seen? Bipeds pushing buttons! Bipeds replacing relays! Bipeds running diagnostics. When are you gonna do something interesting? "

" What are you watching? " " What's it look like? A battle between the Vojeans and the Wyngari . " " We passed through that region a few months ago. They were at peace. " " Not anymore. "

" Itchy, are you in here? Itchy?? " " What can I do for you, Q-Ball? "

" If the Continuum has told you once, they have told you a thousand times: DON'T PROVOKE THE BORG!!! "

" You can't just dump your child on someone and hope he learns something. " " I can't? "

" Junior was supposed to inspire peace and compassion and instead of order, he's brought chaos. He's been starting wars among innocent species, tampering with primordial gene pools , punching holes in the fabric of space-time ! "

" You really should have picked a better godparent. " " Hmm, wonder if it's too late to ask Jean-Luc ? "

" You're not going to do your son any favors by indulging him. "

" I'm sure you'll do whatever you can to avoid returning to that petri dish. "

" Don't tell me you're actually going through with Q's plan. " " I may not approve of his methods, but for once his heart seems to be in the right place. "

" Talk about perfection. "

" Can I see you naked again? "

" I'm offering him the chance to fail. "

" Tell me, how do you save a race that is already omnipotent? "

" You're a genius!! " (Grabs Janeway's face and kisses her, leaves Janeway with an unforgettable expression)

" The boy needs to demonstrate nothing less than exemplary Q-ness. " " And what exactly is Q-ness?! " " Oh, it's impossible for your minuscule mind to comprehend, but I know Q-ness when I see it. And this [indicates PADD with Q Junior's essay] is not it. "

" Don't you 'Aunt Kathy' me! " " Yell at me later, we need to get Icheb to sickbay. "

" If your little playmate has to die to teach you a lesson, then so be it. "

" In our culture adults are accountable for the actions of their children. "

" I wish you could see the look on your faces! Oh wait, you can! " (mirrors appear out of thin air, everybody involuntarily grabs one and looks into it)

" He's been here for five days and what have you taught him? How to scribble essays and play with holograms? What's next, basket weaving? "

" Can I help you, Kitchen Rat? "

" We could play kadis-kot? " " Are there explosions in kadis-kot?! " " Well, no, but... " " Then I'm not interested! "

" He isn't so bad once you get to know him. He's just misunderstood. " " He tried to kill my crew! " " No one was hurt. I repaired the damage to your ship. I even gave your pet Talaxian his vocal chords back. Everything's exactly as it was. "

" What sort of an example would I be setting for my son if I did all the work for you? "

" Please, Aunt Kathy, you're my only hope. "

Background information [ ]

Story and script [ ].

• Ken Biller had first pitched a story of Q's son being an adolescent and causing trouble to Jeri Taylor for VOY Season 4 . ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 5 , p. 26)
• The final draft script for this episode was submitted on 10 January 2001 .

Production [ ]

• Keegan de Lancie ( Q (Junior) ) is the real-life son of John de Lancie ( Q ). Regarding the experience of acting alongside his own son in this episode, John de Lancie said, " It was both great and... a lot of actors will understand this, but while part of acting involves being very attentive to the other people and what's going on, you have to keep some of your power for yourself, to do your job and maintain your presence. In the case of my son, the majority of my attention was, 'How's Keegan doing?' If I go on a regular job, where someone might have a cold or an actor doesn't feel well or there's just an upset in their family, I am very sympathetic. But when we were acting, it's real tennis. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 168 , p. 50)
• It was Rick Berman who had suggested bringing Keegan de Lancie in to read for the role after having seen his performance on an episode of Ally McBeal . ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 5 , p. 26)
• The title of the final draft of Q Junior's essay is " I, Q: An Insider's View of the Continuum ". I, Q is also the name of a Q-related novel co-written by John de Lancie.

Sets and props [ ]

• One of the Vojean / Wyngari starships was previously used as the U.A.P. Icarus in Jonathan Frakes ' Star Trek spoof Star Patrol! .

Continuity [ ]

• Q appears for the third and final time on the series in this episode, having previously appeared in the second season episode " Death Wish " and the third season episode " The Q and the Grey ".
• This was the last episode of Star Trek to feature the Q until LD : " Veritas " in 2020 .
• This episode finally establishes in canon that James T. Kirk 's five-year mission ended in 2270 .
• Q tells his son not to provoke the Borg . It was Q himself who first introduced Starfleet to the Borg in TNG : " Q Who ".
• Q makes a reference to Jean-Luc Picard when they doubt the choice of Janeway as Junior's godparent.
• After modifying the diplomacy simulation, Junior convinces the Cardassian to apologize for the occupation of Bajor. However, Cardassia had already issued a formal apology for the occupation in DS9 : " Life Support ".
• Junior's approach to resolving the diplomacy simulation is very similar to James T. Kirk 's solution to the Kobayashi Maru scenario (described in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ) though Kirk's actions were motivated by frustration at being given an "impossible" problem, rather than laziness.
• The presence of Q represents the fifteenth occasion besides the series premiere (after " Eye of the Needle ", " Prime Factors ", " The 37's ", " Cold Fire ", " Threshold ", " Death Wish ", " False Profits ", " Future's End, Part II ", " The Q and the Grey ", " Timeless ", " Dark Frontier ", " Equinox ", " Dragon's Teeth ", and " Inside Man ") that the Voyager crew is presented with the possibility of returning home much faster than by conventional warp travel. On this occasion, the Q could facilitate an instant return, but instead, to "set an example" for his son, merely provides data to allow Voyager to cut its journey time by a relatively small amount.
• This episode features an attempt to give the ship's computer a personality, which previously occurred in TOS : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ".
• Junior's willingness to sacrifice himself to save a friend from the consequences of his actions mirrors Q's willingness to sacrifice himself to prevent the Enterprise -D from suffering for his actions in TNG : " Deja Q ". The Continuum is not convinced this time.
• A Nausicaan appears in this episode for the only time in the series, albeit a holographic representation of one.
• This episode's title is tied (with ENT : " E² ") for shortest in the franchise.

Apocrypha [ ]

• It is hinted in the novel Q&A that the "homework" Q gave Janeway was intended to lead Voyager to the Borg transwarp hub in VOY : " Endgame ".

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 7.10, 3 December 2001
• As part of the VOY Season 7 DVD collection
• As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Q collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

• Robert Beltran as Chakotay
• Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Tim Russ as Tuvok
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
• Garrett Wang as Harry Kim

Guest Stars [ ]

• Keegan de Lancie as Q (Junior)
• Manu Intiraymi as Icheb
• Michael Kagan as Chokuzan Commander
• Lorna Raver as Q (Judge)

Special Guest Star [ ]

• John de Lancie as Q

Co-Stars [ ]

• Anthony Holiday as Nausicaan
• Scott Davidson as Bolian
• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• Michael Bailous as Cardassian
• Richard Bishop as operations officer
• Bill Blair ( unknown )
• David Campagna as Q judge
• Carter Edwards as command officer
• Andrew English as operations officer
• Tarik Ergin as Ayala
• Bernie Escarcega as command officer
• Joyce Lasley as Lydia Anderson
• Alicia Lewis as sciences officer
• Shauna Lewis as Romulan
• Mark Newsom as Bajoran
• Louis Ortiz as Borg drone
• Mark Pash as Q judge
• Stephen Pisani as operations officer
• Keith Rayve as Borg drone
• Richard Sarstedt as William McKenzie
• William Smith as Ferengi
• Pablo Soriano as operations ensign
• Jenna Z. Wilson as alien dancer
• Curtis Wong as Borg drone
• Unknown performers as Alien party-goers

Stand-ins [ ]

• Brita Nowak – stand-in for Jeri Ryan
• Stuart Wong – stand-in for Garrett Wang

References [ ]

2270 ; 2274 ; accomplice ; act of contrition ; Alpha Quadrant ; alternate reality ; amusement ; anomaly ; appeal ; aunt ; Baezian ; Bajoran ; Bajoran Occupation ; basket weaving ; bath tub ; Biddle ; biped ; brazen ; Bolian ; Borg ; Borg cube ; Bozel Prime ; Bozelian ; cadet ; Cardassian ; Crewman ; Chell ; Chenari ; Chokuzan ; Chokuzan vessel ( illusory ); civilization ; Clevari system ; Continuum vs. Q, The ; corpse ; curriculum ; deflector array ; Delta Flyer ; dilithium ; dip ; diplomacy scenario 12-alpha ; disownment ; draft ; Dralian turnip ; Early Starfleet History ; Enterprise , USS ; fabric of space ; Fekdar ; firstborn ; fixation ; flattery ; fluidic space ; flying machine ; Gelbian sand sculpture ; gene pool ; godmother ; godparent ; Golos Prime ; grappling ; grown up ; heart ; house-broke ; Humanity ; hygiene ; " I, Q: An Insider's View of the Continuum "; infant ; ion imbalance ; Itchy ; jaw ; Jefferies tube ; judge ; judge's bench ; Kadis-kot ; kilometer ; Kirk, James T. ; matter ; mentor ; mermaid ; " a million times "; mining rights ; minute ; Nausicaan ; necrosis ; Occupation of Bajor ; Omega molecule ; omicron radiation ; omnipotent ; omnipotent race ; Oprelian amoeba ; paramecium ; Pelosian ; personality subroutine ; pet ; petri dish ; phenomenon ; Picard, Jean-Luc ; plasma conduit ; power coupling ; pre-ignition sequence ; primate ; Prime Directive ; primordial ; Q (female) ; Q (species) ; Q-Ball ; Q Continuum ; Q-ness ; Q time ; rose ; senior officers ; slimy ; space ; spatial causality ; spatial flexure ; spatial rift ; Species 8472 ; subject matter ; Talaxian ; temporal loop ; temporal mechanics ; temporal plane ; tectonic plate ; time ; trespassing ; ultimatum ; vacation ; vocal cords ; Vojean ; Vojean vessel ; Voyager , USS ; Vulcan funeral dirge ; warrior-goddess of Fekdar ; Wyngari ; Wyngari homeworld ; Wyngari vessel ; Zozek system ; Zyznian church mouse

External links [ ]

• "Q2" at StarTrek.com
• " Q2 " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Q2 " at Wikipedia
• " Q2 " at the Internet Movie Database