Scorpion (Star Trek: Voyager)
Encyclopedia
"Scorpion" is a two-part episode of Star Trek
: Voyager
, the cliffhanger
between the third and fourth seasons composed of the 26th episode of the third season and the first episode of the fourth. It introduced Seven of Nine
and Species 8472
to the series, and is generally regarded as the two most popular episodes of the entire series and its best cliff-hanger by Voyager fans. The two segments of the episode are rated 4.6/5 and 4.7/5 respectively on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.
Quick Overview: Voyager
makes a "pact with the devil" (i.e. the Borg) in order to combat a new enemy which poses a serious threat to both.
Chakotay
shares with Janeway
in Part 1. After briefing the crew on her plan to form a temporary alliance with the Borg, Janeway asks Chakotay his personal opinion and he relates a story from his childhood:
This parable, many centuries old, is based on a fable
mis-attributed to Aesop
, The Scorpion and the Frog
, in which the role of the fox is taken by a frog; in other respects the plot and moral are identical.
," it is filled with gravimetric distortions, but as Tom Paris
puts it, "Better to ride the rapids than face the Hive." While the Northwest Passage appears safe, Janeway
tells the crew that a confrontation with the Borg may be inevitable and instructs them to prepare for one. While Kes
and The Doctor
work on an antibody to combat the Borg assimilation nanoprobes, the Ocampan has a vision of dozens of Borg corpses.
Kes' premonition is followed by several more concerning the death of Borg and Voyagers destruction. Before Janeway can react, however, Harry Kim
announces that fifteen Borg cubes
are headed their way. The crew prepare for a fight, but the cubes ominously pass them by, as if they were not heading toward Voyager, but fleeing from something. As Janeway and Chakotay discuss the possibility that Voyager will be forced to remain in the Delta Quadrant, Tuvok
informs them that the Borg ships' power signatures have stopped and the armada is dead in space. They follow the cubes' path only to discover that all of the cubes have been destroyed.
There is an alien bioship
attached to the hull of one of the remaining cubes. Chakotay, Tuvok, and Kim beam aboard the cube to investigate, where they see the same image Kes described: dozens of Borg corpses piled on top of one another. They see no aliens but can hear roars coming from elsewhere within the cube. As they scan the bioship, Kes has a vision of Harry screaming in pain. B'Elanna Torres
beams the away team back with the never before tried "skeletal lock" (locking onto the minerals in the away teams' bones) but not before the alien returns and injures Harry just as Kes predicted. The bioship detaches itself from the Borg cube and fires at Voyager but does not pursue it. Kes can hear the telepathic alien say, "The weak will perish."
Despite the new threat, Janeway decides Voyager must maintain its original course as the Northwest Passage is only a day away. The Doctor discovers along the way that an infection caused by cells from the alien is consuming Harry's body. He is unable to combat the infection with traditional medicine but thinks he can modify Borg nanoprobes to destroy the alien cells; however, it may be too late for Harry. Meanwhile, Tuvok and B'Elanna discover that the Borg call the alien Species 8472
and have been defeated by it several times. Upon reaching the Northwest Passage, Voyager is greeted by 133 bioships.
As before, Kes is able to hear the aliens say, "The weak will perish." They are arriving through some kind of quantum singularity
(explaining the gravimetric distortions) and intend to destroy everything. Janeway considers the possibilities and comes up with a radical idea: an alliance with the Borg. Her plan is to offer The Doctor's cure to the Borg but withhold it until the Borg escort Voyager through their space. The crew does not question Janeway's judgment, but once the rest are gone, Chakotay admits he thinks what the captain is proposing is too great a risk.
Voyager travels to the nearest Borg star system, where a cube announces that it will assimilate the ship and places a tractor beam
on it. Janeway explains the situation and the cube beams her aboard it. She and the Collective's voice are close to coming to an agreement when a quantum singularity appears and ten bioships emerge. Ignoring several Borg cubes, the bioships head straight for a nearby planet. They emit a massive energy burst that obliterates the entire planet, and the cube, with Voyager in tow, narrowly escapes the resulting explosion.
, in exchange for safe passage through space, reaches an agreement with the Borg Collective to help them fight Species 8472
, a race more malevolent than even the Borg
. Although Chakotay strongly objects to the unpredictable collaboration, Janeway and Tuvok
transport, with great caution, to the Borg cube. When a drone attempts to temporarily assimilate Janeway by connecting a neural transceiver to her, the alarmed Captain convinces them to instead choose a representative to communicate verbally with her. Soon a human Borg, designated "Seven of Nine
", emerges to speak for the Collective. Janeway and Seven debate the use of weaponry, Janeway suggests photon torpedoes, but the Borg demand the use of a single large weapon. Suddenly a bioship
appears and begins firing on Voyager. The Borg cube is hit as well, injuring Janeway. To prevent the destruction of Voyager, the Borg cube sacrifices itself and rams the bioship.
At the last moment Seven, Janeway, Tuvok, and several drones were transported to Voyager to continue their work. Janeway has been severely injured and the Doctor prepares to sedate her to protect her higher brain functions. Seven demands they continue to prepare the weapon. Janeway makes Chakotay promise to make the alliance with the Borg work, and to get the crew home. Chakotay however is convinced that the Borg won't honor their agreement. Seven, informed by the collective of the death of over four million drones in a massive loss in the middle of Borg space, now demands that Voyager reverse course and head for the central part of Borg Space.
Chakotay refuses, and gives new terms to Seven, namely that the Borg will be dropped off on an M-class planet on Voyager's journey with the weapon, and that a Borg ship could pick them up. Seven refuses, saying the Borg will lose the war by that time; however, Chakotay is not willing to listen to her and threatens to decompress the entire cargo bay at the first sign of resistance. Unsure of himself, Chakotay returns to the captain, who is still comatose. He finds it difficult to compel himself to work with such a total nemesis.
Meanwhile, Seven begins opening the panels in the cargo bay Jefferies tube, accessing the navigational deflector. Kim alerts Chakotay, who demands Seven desist. Ignoring him, Seven opens a rift that begins pulling Voyager in. Chakotay, true to his word, decompresses the cargo bay. All drones except for Seven are blown into space. Paris attempts to reverse course, but Voyager is pulled through the rift.
Torres identifies the surrounding space as not space at all, but an organic fluid. Sensors read no planets, stars or any other phenomena. Seven orders Chakotay to meet her in the cargo bay. She informs him that Voyager must now face Species 8472 alone. Chakotay learns that the Borg sought out Species 8472 rather than the other way round. They have been alerted to Voyager's presence and now are only three hours away. Chakotay, still angered by her actions, receives another message to report to sickbay.
Janeway, up and about for the first time in days, is angry when Chakotay enters. After the Doctor is deactivated, she begins to demand to know why Chakotay did what he did. He tries to relate to her that he felt the Borg were changing the agreement, but she disagrees with his actions. The two reach an impasse, one that threatens everyone. However Janeway offers to work together even though they might be of different opinions.
Later, Seven is escorted to the bridge. Janeway is back in command, and informs Seven that Chakotay is confined to the brig. This is a situation that Seven prefers. She agrees to work with Seven to upgrade Voyager's systems with Borg technology, and then sets the crew to create the weapons needed and upgrade the ship within the allotted time. When the bioships arrive, Voyager is ready for them. The first warhead used seems to have little effect, but after a short delay all the attacking ships are destroyed.
Seven takes Voyager back to normal space once more, but upon reentering, they find a swarm of bioships converging on them. This time Janeway orders a high-yield warhead and all of the bioships are damaged or destroyed. The rest of the ships flee, and Seven is informed that the Borg have prevailed. Suddenly, Seven attacks Paris and begins to assimilate the bridge controls. Janeway orders Chakotay to start operation 'Scorpion'. Chakotay, by use of a temporary neural link, confuses Seven just long enough for Torres to short out the console, disabling Seven and knocking her unconscious.
Hours later, the crew has resumed course, and all seems well, but the Captain is still troubled. Seven, still with her Borg implants, is seen unconscious in sickbay, her Borg components still active.
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
: Voyager
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...
, the cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
between the third and fourth seasons composed of the 26th episode of the third season and the first episode of the fourth. It introduced 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...
and Species 8472
Species 8472
Species 8472 is a fictional extraterrestrial race in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. They inhabit another dimension called fluidic space. These beings are rendered by animation from Foundation Imaging, Inc...
to the series, and is generally regarded as the two most popular episodes of the entire series and its best cliff-hanger by Voyager fans. The two segments of the episode are rated 4.6/5 and 4.7/5 respectively on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.
Quick Overview: Voyager
USS Voyager (Star Trek)
The fictional Intrepid-class starship USS Voyager is the primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It is commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway....
makes a "pact with the devil" (i.e. the Borg) in order to combat a new enemy which poses a serious threat to both.
Episode title
"Scorpion" gets its name from a parableParable
A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human...
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:...
shares with Janeway
Kathryn Janeway
Kathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, and later, a Starfleet admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek...
in Part 1. After briefing the crew on her plan to form a temporary alliance with the Borg, Janeway asks Chakotay his personal opinion and he relates a story from his childhood:
- A scorpion was wandering along the bank of the river, wondering how to get to the other side. Suddenly he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river.
The fox said, "No. If I do that, you'll sting me and I'll drown."
The scorpion assured him, "If I did that, we'd both drown."
So the fox thought about it and finally agreed. So the scorpion climbed up on his back and the fox began to swim. But halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him.
As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, "Why did you do that? Now you'll drown too."
"I couldn't help it," said the scorpion. "It's my nature."
This parable, many centuries old, is based on a fable
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
mis-attributed to Aesop
Aesop
Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
, The Scorpion and the Frog
The Scorpion and the Frog
The Scorpion and the Frog is a fable about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog agrees and begins carrying the...
, in which the role of the fox is taken by a frog; in other respects the plot and moral are identical.
Plot
The teaser lasts only a few seconds: two Borg cubes appear, and barely have time to broadcast "Resistance is futile" before they are blown to pieces by an unknown energy weapon.Part 1
On the edge of Borg territory, which consists of thousands of systems, the crew discovers a narrow passage devoid of Borg activity. Dubbed the "Northwest PassageNorthwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
," it is filled with gravimetric distortions, but as Tom Paris
Tom Paris
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Paris serves as the chief helmsman and an auxiliary medic aboard the USS Voyager...
puts it, "Better to ride the rapids than face the Hive." While the Northwest Passage appears safe, Janeway
Kathryn Janeway
Kathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, and later, a Starfleet admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek...
tells the crew that a confrontation with the Borg may be inevitable and instructs them to prepare for one. While Kes
Kes (Star Trek)
Kes is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager, played by Jennifer Lien.She was a regular for the first three seasons, leaving the show in the season four episode "The Gift". She made one guest appearance two seasons later....
and The Doctor
Doctor (Star Trek)
The Doctor, an Emergency Medical Hologram Mark I , is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Voyager, played by actor Robert Picardo...
work on an antibody to combat the Borg assimilation nanoprobes, the Ocampan has a vision of dozens of Borg corpses.
Kes' premonition is followed by several more concerning the death of Borg and Voyagers destruction. Before Janeway can react, however, Harry 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:...
announces that fifteen Borg cubes
Borg starships
In the Star Trek fictional universe, Borg starships are huge interstellar spacecraft used by the Borg race to assimilate other species. All of their ships are simple geometric solids with greebled exteriors and very generalized and decentralized designs....
are headed their way. The crew prepare for a fight, but the cubes ominously pass them by, as if they were not heading toward Voyager, but fleeing from something. As Janeway and Chakotay discuss the possibility that Voyager will be forced to remain in the Delta Quadrant, Tuvok
Tuvok
Tuvok is one of the main characters on the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's chief of security and its chief tactical officer. Tim Russ portrayed Tuvok throughout the show's run, from 1995 to 2001....
informs them that the Borg ships' power signatures have stopped and the armada is dead in space. They follow the cubes' path only to discover that all of the cubes have been destroyed.
There is an alien bioship
Bioship
A bioship is a type of spacecraft or starship described in science fiction. Bioships differ from other types of spacecraft in that they are composed, either predominantly or totally, of biological components, rather than being constructed from manufactured materials...
attached to the hull of one of the remaining cubes. Chakotay, Tuvok, and Kim beam aboard the cube to investigate, where they see the same image Kes described: dozens of Borg corpses piled on top of one another. They see no aliens but can hear roars coming from elsewhere within the cube. As they scan the bioship, Kes has a vision of Harry screaming in pain. B'Elanna Torres
B'Elanna Torres
B'Elanna Torres is a main character in Star Trek: Voyager played by Roxann Dawson. She is portrayed as a half-human half-Klingon born in 2349 on the Federation colony Kessik IV. Torres joined the Maquis in 2370 and was serving on the Val Jean when brought to the Delta Quadrant...
beams the away team back with the never before tried "skeletal lock" (locking onto the minerals in the away teams' bones) but not before the alien returns and injures Harry just as Kes predicted. The bioship detaches itself from the Borg cube and fires at Voyager but does not pursue it. Kes can hear the telepathic alien say, "The weak will perish."
Despite the new threat, Janeway decides Voyager must maintain its original course as the Northwest Passage is only a day away. The Doctor discovers along the way that an infection caused by cells from the alien is consuming Harry's body. He is unable to combat the infection with traditional medicine but thinks he can modify Borg nanoprobes to destroy the alien cells; however, it may be too late for Harry. Meanwhile, Tuvok and B'Elanna discover that the Borg call the alien Species 8472
Species 8472
Species 8472 is a fictional extraterrestrial race in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. They inhabit another dimension called fluidic space. These beings are rendered by animation from Foundation Imaging, Inc...
and have been defeated by it several times. Upon reaching the Northwest Passage, Voyager is greeted by 133 bioships.
As before, Kes is able to hear the aliens say, "The weak will perish." They are arriving through some kind of quantum singularity
Quantum singularity (fiction)
In science fiction, the term quantum singularity is used to refer to many different phenomena, which often approximately resemble a gravitational singularity in the scientific sense in that they are massive, localized distortions of space and time...
(explaining the gravimetric distortions) and intend to destroy everything. Janeway considers the possibilities and comes up with a radical idea: an alliance with the Borg. Her plan is to offer The Doctor's cure to the Borg but withhold it until the Borg escort Voyager through their space. The crew does not question Janeway's judgment, but once the rest are gone, Chakotay admits he thinks what the captain is proposing is too great a risk.
Voyager travels to the nearest Borg star system, where a cube announces that it will assimilate the ship and places a tractor beam
Tractor beam
A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. Since the 1990s, technology and research has labored to make it a reality, mostly at microscopic level. Less commonly, a similar beam that repels is called a pressor beam or repulsor beam...
on it. Janeway explains the situation and the cube beams her aboard it. She and the Collective's voice are close to coming to an agreement when a quantum singularity appears and ten bioships emerge. Ignoring several Borg cubes, the bioships head straight for a nearby planet. They emit a massive energy burst that obliterates the entire planet, and the cube, with Voyager in tow, narrowly escapes the resulting explosion.
Part 2
Voyager remains on red alert after Captain JanewayKathryn Janeway
Kathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, and later, a Starfleet admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek...
, in exchange for safe passage through space, reaches an agreement with the Borg Collective to help them fight Species 8472
Species 8472
Species 8472 is a fictional extraterrestrial race in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. They inhabit another dimension called fluidic space. These beings are rendered by animation from Foundation Imaging, Inc...
, a race more malevolent than even the 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...
. Although Chakotay strongly objects to the unpredictable collaboration, Janeway and Tuvok
Tuvok
Tuvok is one of the main characters on the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's chief of security and its chief tactical officer. Tim Russ portrayed Tuvok throughout the show's run, from 1995 to 2001....
transport, with great caution, to the Borg cube. When a drone attempts to temporarily assimilate Janeway by connecting a neural transceiver to her, the alarmed Captain convinces them to instead choose a representative to communicate verbally with her. Soon a human Borg, designated "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...
", emerges to speak for the Collective. Janeway and Seven debate the use of weaponry, Janeway suggests photon torpedoes, but the Borg demand the use of a single large weapon. Suddenly a bioship
Bioship
A bioship is a type of spacecraft or starship described in science fiction. Bioships differ from other types of spacecraft in that they are composed, either predominantly or totally, of biological components, rather than being constructed from manufactured materials...
appears and begins firing on Voyager. The Borg cube is hit as well, injuring Janeway. To prevent the destruction of Voyager, the Borg cube sacrifices itself and rams the bioship.
At the last moment Seven, Janeway, Tuvok, and several drones were transported to Voyager to continue their work. Janeway has been severely injured and the Doctor prepares to sedate her to protect her higher brain functions. Seven demands they continue to prepare the weapon. Janeway makes Chakotay promise to make the alliance with the Borg work, and to get the crew home. Chakotay however is convinced that the Borg won't honor their agreement. Seven, informed by the collective of the death of over four million drones in a massive loss in the middle of Borg space, now demands that Voyager reverse course and head for the central part of Borg Space.
Chakotay refuses, and gives new terms to Seven, namely that the Borg will be dropped off on an M-class planet on Voyager's journey with the weapon, and that a Borg ship could pick them up. Seven refuses, saying the Borg will lose the war by that time; however, Chakotay is not willing to listen to her and threatens to decompress the entire cargo bay at the first sign of resistance. Unsure of himself, Chakotay returns to the captain, who is still comatose. He finds it difficult to compel himself to work with such a total nemesis.
Meanwhile, Seven begins opening the panels in the cargo bay Jefferies tube, accessing the navigational deflector. Kim alerts Chakotay, who demands Seven desist. Ignoring him, Seven opens a rift that begins pulling Voyager in. Chakotay, true to his word, decompresses the cargo bay. All drones except for Seven are blown into space. Paris attempts to reverse course, but Voyager is pulled through the rift.
Torres identifies the surrounding space as not space at all, but an organic fluid. Sensors read no planets, stars or any other phenomena. Seven orders Chakotay to meet her in the cargo bay. She informs him that Voyager must now face Species 8472 alone. Chakotay learns that the Borg sought out Species 8472 rather than the other way round. They have been alerted to Voyager's presence and now are only three hours away. Chakotay, still angered by her actions, receives another message to report to sickbay.
Janeway, up and about for the first time in days, is angry when Chakotay enters. After the Doctor is deactivated, she begins to demand to know why Chakotay did what he did. He tries to relate to her that he felt the Borg were changing the agreement, but she disagrees with his actions. The two reach an impasse, one that threatens everyone. However Janeway offers to work together even though they might be of different opinions.
Later, Seven is escorted to the bridge. Janeway is back in command, and informs Seven that Chakotay is confined to the brig. This is a situation that Seven prefers. She agrees to work with Seven to upgrade Voyager's systems with Borg technology, and then sets the crew to create the weapons needed and upgrade the ship within the allotted time. When the bioships arrive, Voyager is ready for them. The first warhead used seems to have little effect, but after a short delay all the attacking ships are destroyed.
Seven takes Voyager back to normal space once more, but upon reentering, they find a swarm of bioships converging on them. This time Janeway orders a high-yield warhead and all of the bioships are damaged or destroyed. The rest of the ships flee, and Seven is informed that the Borg have prevailed. Suddenly, Seven attacks Paris and begins to assimilate the bridge controls. Janeway orders Chakotay to start operation 'Scorpion'. Chakotay, by use of a temporary neural link, confuses Seven just long enough for Torres to short out the console, disabling Seven and knocking her unconscious.
Hours later, the crew has resumed course, and all seems well, but the Captain is still troubled. Seven, still with her Borg implants, is seen unconscious in sickbay, her Borg components still active.