Star Trek: Voyager’s “Endgame” two-parter rounded off the show in spectacular fashion in 2001, but the actions of Kate Mulgrew’s Admiral Janeway may not have saved the day quite so perfectly as it initially seemed. Although best known for her role as Captain Janeway in theStar Trek: Voyagercast,Mulgrew was given the increased workload of also portraying a future version of Janewayfrom an alternate future. The casting decision contributed to a mind-bending temporal adventure that finally allowed the USS Voyager to return to Earth under better circumstances.
Mulgrew’s role in 2002’sStar Trek: Nemesistechnically meant the return of Admiral Janeway, although the iteration of the character in the movie isn’t the same as the version shown in “Endgame.” Her role as part of theStar Trek: Prodigycastmeans Admiral Janeway has now appeared at various points throughout theStar Trektimeline. Janeway was promoted to the rank of admiral regardless of the circumstances of Voyager’s return home, butMulgrew isn’t always embodying the exact same version of the senior Starfleet officer.
Star Trek Theory: Admiral Janeway Started A New Timeline In Voyager’s Finale
Janeway’s original future shown in “Endgame” may still be out there in Star Trek’s multiverse
The future scenes in “Endgame” reveal Janeway’s success in returning her ship and crew home from the Delta Quadrant, but she is far from content with how she did so. Violating the Temporal Prime Directive, she decides to travel back in time to help her younger self and aid in making sure everyone survives the tumultuous journey, rather than losing them.Star Trek: Voyagerstrongly implies that Admiral Janeway believes she is “fixing” the franchise’s Prime Timeline by doing so, but there is a strong argument to suggest that she doesn’t actually achieve this.
The admiral’s intervention changes the Prime Timeline from what it originally was, but that doesn’t necessarily mean her version of the future is scrubbed from existence.
Technically, both versions of Mulgrew’s character have origins inStar Trek’s Prime Timeline. They have a completely shared history until the moment Admiral Janeway arrives in the past/present day, which is where their lives begin to diverge.The admiral’s intervention changes the Prime Timeline from what it originally was, but that doesn’t necessarily mean her version of the future is scrubbed from existence. Instead, it could just be that the timeline where she failed to get everyone home safe still exists, and that the new timeline she set in motion by traveling to the past is completely separate.
Janeway’s Complete Star Trek Timeline Explained
Kathryn Janeway led the USS Voyager through the Delta Quadrant as Star Trek: Voyager’s captain before her Starfleet career continued in Prodigy.
My evidence to support this comes from a very unexpected place - JJ Abrams' 2009Star Trekmovie. When Eric Bana’s Nero travels back in time from the Prime Timeline in the 24th century to the 23rd, the USS Kelvin’s destruction creates a new branch of reality - often referred to as the Kelvin Timeline. Nero’s actions prevent the future from developing as it once had, butthe Prime Timeline doesn’t simply blink from existence. So, Admiral Janeway’s actions aren’t that dissimilar to Nero’s, so there’s reason to believe her original version of the future is still intact somewhere within the multiverse.
Is Every Star Trek Set After Voyager’s Finale Happening In A New Prime Timeline?
Star Trek shows like Lower Decks & Picard intentionally bypass the events that led to Admiral Janeway’s “Endgame” future
The new timeline created by Admiral Janeway’s intervention is the one thatStar Trekhas established as part of the Prime Timeline’s main canon. It’s portrayed as a successful attempt to save the Voyager crew, rather than a frivolous rescue mission that ultimately leaves Admiral Janeway’s crew abandoned in her original future.The version of events that Admiral Janeway left behind has never been revisited, and it’s unclear if that reality even still exists. If it does, thenStar Trekhas simply chosen to ignore it and keep returning to the timeline where Admiral Janeway helped Voyager in her past.
If the original Prime Timeline continued with Admiral Janeway after she vanished into the past, then that version of reality would have moved forward a little differently.
If the original Prime Timeline continued with Admiral Janeway after she vanished into the past, then that version of reality would have moved forward a little differently. As a member of the Starfleet brass, any further influence and decision-making from her within the organization would have been absent after she successfully violated the Temporal Prime Directive. By comparison, the timeline she created by doing so benefited from a version of Admiral Janeway who didn’t feel the need to travel back in time - as her alternate self had already saved her the trouble.
Did Admiral Janeway Do The Right Thing By “Fixing” The Timeline In Star Trek: Voyager’s Finale?
Captain Janeway’s decision was a far less complicated one to make
What Admiral Janeway did in “Endgame” by changing the past can be viewed in one of two ways- from the perspective of Captain Janeway, and from Admiral Janeway’s point of view. Both women see their timeline as the Prime Timeline, but it’s not actually that simple. Captain Janeway’s view that what she’s currently experiencing in “Endgame” is the Prime Timeline is more accurate. It’s not exactly inaccurate for Admiral Janeway to claim the same about her version of events, but it’s also true that it stopped being the Prime Timeline when she arrived in her own past.
Captain Janeway and Admiral Janeway are both technically from the Prime Timeline, which kind of means that neither of them are. There’s no real way of establishing which was the “correct” series of events.
Admiral Janeway discounts her original future as the product of her mistakes, growing disdainful of the reality that has formed around them. She does what she does in “Endgame” for good reasons, but it very arguably wasn’t her call to make. Her departure from the future and her impact on the past changes the course of countless lives, but she doesn’t seem to really mind that. Inversely,Captain Janeway is understandably fine with preserving what she already has, and I don’t think she sees any real issue with getting help from a version of herself she should never have met.
Voyager’s Characters Are Better Off In Star Trek’s Prime Timeline Admiral Janeway Fixed
Seven of Nine becoming the Enterprise-G captain is just one example
Ignoring what Admiral Janeway might have inadvertently done to the rest of the Prime Timeline by traveling into her own past, she did at least save everyone she set out to save. Rather than so many members of her crew dying on the voyage home, Janeway’s future self manages to get everyone home much faster, and alive.It also doesn’t hurt that she was able to help land a crucial blow to the Borgon the way either -a moment that came back to be vital inStar Trek: Picardseason 3.
All 5 Star Trek: Voyager Character Promotions After Janeway’s Ship Returned To Earth
The story didn’t end when Star Trek: Voyager’s titular vessel reached home in “Endgame,” and the franchise has revealed far more about Janeway’s crew.
For instance,Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) died in Voyager’s extended journey homein Admiral Janeway’s alternate past, but being saved allowed her to eventually join Starfleet and become captain of the USS Enterprise-G. Tim Russ' Tuvok’s neurological condition was also treated far quicker thanks to Admiral Janeway’s help in reaching Federation space, so he too went on to earn the rank of captain by the time ofStar Trek: Picardseason 3.Star Trek: Prodigyseason 3 also revealed Chakotay was given command of the USS Protostar, but was dead inStar Trek: Voyager’s alternate future.
