Timeless (Voyager episode)
Encyclopedia
"Timeless", the sixth episode of the fifth season of Star Trek: Voyager
, was also the series' 100th episode. It has an average fan rating of 4.7/5 on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.
The episode was directed by LeVar Burton
, who also featured in a cameo appearance
as his Star Trek: The Next Generation
character Geordi La Forge
, along with complete restoration of his eyesight.
The episode begins with a "cold opening" on a frigid windswept planet. Two figures wearing survival gear beam onto the scene and search until they discover what they are looking for: Voyager, buried beneath the ice.
The episode also marks an important turning point among the series when Janeway notes in her personal log the changing perspective of their journey home: it's no longer "if" the crew will ever return to Earth, but "when."
. If successful, the trip back to home space would be accomplished in hours, rather than years. However, simulations show that the slipstream is unstable and would tear Voyager apart. As many of the components of the slipstream drive are perishable, waiting is no longer an option. It is decided that the Delta Flyer, flown by Chakotay
and Kim
, would fly ahead of Voyager in the slipstream and send course corrections back to the ship. The slipstream experiment fails; Kim and Chakotay are propelled to Earth in the Flyer, but Voyager, presumably unable to maintain the burst due to its greater mass, crash-lands on an ice planet just a few parsec
s from the Alpha Quadrant, killing everyone onboard instantly.
In the future, Kim and Chakotay become obsessed with finding a way to change the timeline so that the crew can live. After resigning from Starfleet and stealing the Delta Flyer from a Federation shipyard with the help of a woman named Tessa, they finally find the planet where Voyager crashed and enter the long-frozen starship. They succeed in reactivating the Doctor and track down Seven of Nine
's body, intending to use her Borg
implants to send a signal to the past. However, they are intercepted by the USS Challenger, a Galaxy class starship
commanded by Captain Geordi La Forge. Starfleet officials realize what Kim and Chakotay are trying to do, and the Challenger has been sent to stop them from altering the timeline. They quickly attempt to alter the slipstream to allow Voyager to make it through, but fail. The future Kim reasons that the new course corrections must not have worked, as they're still trying to evade the Challenger, which manages to damage the Delta Flyers warp core. Told of the impending core breach, at first Harry bitterly accepts his failure - but when the Doctor suggests that the link to the past be used to to safely take Voyager out of the slipstream rather than stay in it, Kim suddenly realizes that he still can save the ship, and rushes to make the calculations needed for this to occur. At the same time the temporal beacon they established begins losing power, so the Doctor gives up his mobile emitter, as it has a power source of its own. Just before the core breaches, killing him, Chakotay and Tessa, Harry triumphantly sends a message to the Seven of Nine of the past - with the instructions ("corrections") which she follows that intentionally shut down the slipstream, altering the timeline to one in which the experiment "fails" and the crew survives.
Afterwards, even though Captain Janeway slightly disappointed that the trip didn't work as planned, she consoles Harry, helping him feel that his attempt to get them home was not as disastrous as he feels. She notes that in their aborted slipstream hop, ten years are taken off Voyagers journey to the Alpha Quadrant. She also reveals that when Seven of Nine accessed her internal sensors to ascertain the nature of the transmission she received, she discovered a personal message which contained a Starfleet ID: Harry's ID. Janeway hands Harry a PADD and tells him that the message itself is to Harry Kim, from Harry Kim.
In the present, Kim watches a recording which the future Kim left for him. Harry's future actions have placed his timeline in a closed loop. It happened, yet the events that prompted the timeline have now been prevented. In a future episode, "Relativity", Starfleet
officers from the 29th century, dedicated to protecting the flow of time, are said to have been left to clean up the "mess" caused by future Harry's message to his past self; they refer to it as 'the temporal inversion in the Takara sector'.
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
, was also the series' 100th episode. It has an average fan rating of 4.7/5 on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.
The episode was directed by LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton
Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. , professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley...
, who also featured in a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as his Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
character Geordi La Forge
Geordi La Forge
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton...
, along with complete restoration of his eyesight.
The episode begins with a "cold opening" on a frigid windswept planet. Two figures wearing survival gear beam onto the scene and search until they discover what they are looking for: Voyager, buried beneath the ice.
The episode also marks an important turning point among the series when Janeway notes in her personal log the changing perspective of their journey home: it's no longer "if" the crew will ever return to Earth, but "when."
Plot
The Voyager crew is about to experiment with a new form of faster-than-light drive: the quantum slipstreamSlipstream (science fiction)
"Slipstream" is a science fiction term for a fictional method of faster-than-light space travel, similar to hyperspace travel, warp drive, or "transfer points" from David Brin's Uplift series.-Usage in Star Trek:...
. If successful, the trip back to home space would be accomplished in hours, rather than years. However, simulations show that the slipstream is unstable and would tear Voyager apart. As many of the components of the slipstream drive are perishable, waiting is no longer an option. It is decided that the Delta Flyer, flown by Chakotay
Chakotay
Chakotay , played by Robert Beltran, is a character in Star Trek: Voyager. He is the First Officer of the USS Voyager.-Character biography:...
and Kim
Harry Kim (Star Trek)
Ensign Harry S. L. Kim, played by Garrett Wang, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. He serves as the USS Voyagers operations officer.-Depiction:...
, would fly ahead of Voyager in the slipstream and send course corrections back to the ship. The slipstream experiment fails; Kim and Chakotay are propelled to Earth in the Flyer, but Voyager, presumably unable to maintain the burst due to its greater mass, crash-lands on an ice planet just a few parsec
Parsec
The parsec is a unit of length used in astronomy. It is about 3.26 light-years, or just under 31 trillion kilometres ....
s from the Alpha Quadrant, killing everyone onboard instantly.
In the future, Kim and Chakotay become obsessed with finding a way to change the timeline so that the crew can live. After resigning from Starfleet and stealing the Delta Flyer from a Federation shipyard with the help of a woman named Tessa, they finally find the planet where Voyager crashed and enter the long-frozen starship. They succeed in reactivating the Doctor and track down Seven of Nine
Seven of Nine
Seven of Nine is a fictional character on Star Trek: Voyager, portrayed by actress Jeri Ryan. Born human, she was assimilated by the Borg at the age of six. Eighteen years later, Voyager left Borg space with Seven on board, after attempts to negotiate passage through Borg space proved only...
's body, intending to use her Borg
Borg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
implants to send a signal to the past. However, they are intercepted by the USS Challenger, a Galaxy class starship
Galaxy class starship (Star Trek)
The Galaxy class is a fictional class of starship in the science fiction franchise Star Trek. At the time of their inauguration in the fictional timeline, they are the largest and most powerful Starfleet vessels of the Federation....
commanded by Captain Geordi La Forge. Starfleet officials realize what Kim and Chakotay are trying to do, and the Challenger has been sent to stop them from altering the timeline. They quickly attempt to alter the slipstream to allow Voyager to make it through, but fail. The future Kim reasons that the new course corrections must not have worked, as they're still trying to evade the Challenger, which manages to damage the Delta Flyers warp core. Told of the impending core breach, at first Harry bitterly accepts his failure - but when the Doctor suggests that the link to the past be used to to safely take Voyager out of the slipstream rather than stay in it, Kim suddenly realizes that he still can save the ship, and rushes to make the calculations needed for this to occur. At the same time the temporal beacon they established begins losing power, so the Doctor gives up his mobile emitter, as it has a power source of its own. Just before the core breaches, killing him, Chakotay and Tessa, Harry triumphantly sends a message to the Seven of Nine of the past - with the instructions ("corrections") which she follows that intentionally shut down the slipstream, altering the timeline to one in which the experiment "fails" and the crew survives.
Afterwards, even though Captain Janeway slightly disappointed that the trip didn't work as planned, she consoles Harry, helping him feel that his attempt to get them home was not as disastrous as he feels. She notes that in their aborted slipstream hop, ten years are taken off Voyagers journey to the Alpha Quadrant. She also reveals that when Seven of Nine accessed her internal sensors to ascertain the nature of the transmission she received, she discovered a personal message which contained a Starfleet ID: Harry's ID. Janeway hands Harry a PADD and tells him that the message itself is to Harry Kim, from Harry Kim.
In the present, Kim watches a recording which the future Kim left for him. Harry's future actions have placed his timeline in a closed loop. It happened, yet the events that prompted the timeline have now been prevented. In a future episode, "Relativity", Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
officers from the 29th century, dedicated to protecting the flow of time, are said to have been left to clean up the "mess" caused by future Harry's message to his past self; they refer to it as 'the temporal inversion in the Takara sector'.