Warning: contains spoilers forStar Trek: Defiant#22!Star Trek: Voyagermight be long over, but its heroic legacy continues to inspire, years after it returns home.Voyagercame to an end in 2001, making it back to the Alpha Quadrant after seven years of adventures at the other end of the galaxy. Now, as seen inStar Trek: Defiant#22,Voyager’slegacy is still being felt, and might be key to saving countless lives.
Star Trek: Defiant#22 is written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Angel Unzueta. Chief O’Brien, Doctor Bashir and B’Elanna Torres, on board theDefiant, are heading back to the Federation. O’Brien comes to Torres, asking for help in dismantling self-replicating mines that are being used to harm innocent people. Torres is reluctant at first, but O’Brien invokesVoyager’slegacy.O’Brien appeals to Torres’ sense of justice, asking how many star systems Janeway and company saved during their time in the Delta Quadrant.O’Brien is successful, and they set a course for the Gamma Quadrant.
Star Trek: VoyagerWas Part of an Unprecedented Franchise Expansion
Star Trek: VoyagerWas Ripe With Drama and Conflict
In the early to mid 1990s, theStar Trekfranchise grew with the additions of shows that broke the mold established by The Original Series andStar Trek: The Next Generation. One of these shows wasStar Trek: Voyager.The flagship show of the fledgling United Paramount Network,Voyagerfollowed the exploits of a Starfleet vessel that was hurled 75,000 light years into the Delta Quadrant. For the next seven seasons,Star Trekfans were thrilled by Voyager’sexploits, as they took on the Borg, the Kazonand Species 8472.
Star Trek: Voyagerlaunched the United Paramount Network. It was not the first time Paramount tried to use aStar Trekshow to launch a new channel: they considered it in the late 1970s, shortly before makingStar Trek: The Motion Picture.
Debuting in 1995 and concluding in 2001,Star Trek: Voyagershook up the franchise by focusing on a ship other than theEnterprise.Star Trek: Deep Space Ninehad already proven that a show not centered around a starship could not only succeed, but thrive as well.Deep Space Ninewas also darker than anyTrekoffering before.Voyageralso took chances: some of its crew were rebels wanted by Starfleet, and they had to learn to work with the rank and file officers aboardVoyager. This provided for tension missing fromStar Trek: The Next Generation.
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The two crews rose to the occasion, putting aside their differences and uniting in helping getVoyagerhome. WhileStar Trekcreator Gene Roddenberry was not high on interpersonal conflict, feeling that humanity would have evolved beyond it, it makes for good stories, and the early episodes ofVoyagerare rife with it. Yet, in trueStar Trekfashion, understanding and empathy won the day, and Chakotay and his Maquis crew melded withVoyager’s—and both parties were all the better for it.
Despite Being Far From Home,VoyagerStill Represented the Federation
Voyager’sLegacy Has Already Begun Inspiring Others
WhileVoyagerwas far from the comforts of home, they still upheld the principles and values of Starfleet and the Federation.Voyager’screw, in time, came to relish the opportunity to seek out new life and new civilizations that had been gifted to them. During their journey across the Delta Quadrant,Voyagerbefriends many species, serving asde factoFederation goodwill ambassadors. In some instances,Voyagerhelped these species, further strengthening the bonds they were forming. WhileVoyagerdid make enemies, they were few and far between.
Now, just a few short years after its return to the Alpha Quadrant,Voyager’slegacy is already secure, and Chief O’Brien shows it.Torreswas reluctant to help O’Brien, but the mere mention of what she andVoyager’screw accomplished was enough to change her mind. The oppressed people of the Gamma Quadrant will also benefit fromVoyager’slegacy, even though the ship never traveled there.Star Trek: Voyager’sending was only the beginning for the ship, as its heroic legacy lives on.
