With Star Trek returning to the Delta Quadrant for Star Trek Prodigy, I thought a good notion
for a video would be to look at Voyager’s time in that far end of the galaxy and pick
up on some of the unresolved plot threads, or things that I would like to see expanded
upon in future media. Number one. The Vidiians were one of the earliest
species encountered by Voyager that posed a significant technological threat with their
comparatively advanced technology of harvesting organs born of desperation to survive. The
phage crippled their entire species around 2000 years ago and attacked them at a genetic
level. On top of this, it adapted quickly to every countermeasure that the Vidiians
employed and soon spread throughout their species. The only way to survive was to adapt
healthy organs and tissues to match the genetics of a Vidiian patient and graft them on.
In the episode, “Think Tank” (5x20) in 2375, an aforementioned group of scientists
got together and claim to have created a cure for the Phage, for a price, but nonetheless
a cure is a cure. According to Kurros of the Think Tank anyway, the phage is well on its
way to being removed from the Vidiian’s society forever. Before their illness, they
were apparently known as a race of explorers who revelled in artistic achievements, building
beautiful cities, which eventually all fell into disrepair as their entire culture was
shifted towards battling the Phage. So I would love to see where they are at now that they
have a cure. They no longer need to resort to slave labour, piracy and organ harvesting
to survive, so have they thrown out those aspects of Vidiian life along with the phage?
I certainly hope so. I would love to see some progress towards restoring their culture as
described, perhaps they even share the medical knowledge with others, but more than that,
I just want to know that Kurros wasn’t lying. Number Two. In Star Trek Picard, set in 2399,
we learn that a broken down Borg cube, referred to as the Artefact, was under the control
of the Romulan Free State. It had been disabled sometime in the previous decade due to something
it assimil-ate…ed. But on board, it was revealed that it had a Sikarian transportation
device, a spatial trajector had been added to the cube’s assimilated technology. Meaning
that at some point between 2371 and twenty-three-eighty… nine?, the Borg had assimilated Sikarian technology.
This is a pretty big deal as these trajectors have a range of at least forty-thousand lightyears,
although presumably they are limited to small scale travel, only a couple of people at a
time based on what we saw, but event that’s not certain. There was also a limit based
on the need for a planetoid to have a specific mantle to focus the beam, so absence of that
on a borg cube also hampers its range, but the Borg to have this capability at all is
worrying. It also raises the obvious question; what happened to the Sikarians? Was their
homeworld assimilated completely, or only a select few who had either access or knowledge
of the workings of the trajector. I’m just saying, it would be real nice to swing by
Sikaris quickly, just to check on them… Number Three. Another big discovery of Voyager
in its time in the Delta Quadrant, was the expansive Voth Ministry who sailed the quadrant
on their city ships and claimed a recorded ancestry of millions of years. It was also
revealed that they were descended from Earth Hadrosaurs who had left the Sol system before
mammals had even caught on as the latest craze. Unfortunately, such a revelation threatened
the age old power structure of their governmental doctrine and was buried. However, the truth
had been uncovered once, and Voyager knows the truth, therefore it’s likely Starfleet
does. This, combined with their highly advanced levels of technology is bound to make contacting
the Voth a tantalising prospect for the Federation, despite how awkward or even dangerous such
a meeting might go. To be honest, Starfleet rocking up at some
time in the future, wanting to get to know the Voth might be all well and good, until
someone accidently mentions the data Voyager uncovered, then accusations of heresy would
probably entail and then a massive falling out. Considering the potential for disaster,
I can completely understand if the Federation just decided to avoid the Voth as much as
possible, but c’mon… don’t you want to poke the wasp’s nest a little? And that
is how the Federation eventually gets itself wiped out, when an ambassador idly says to
the Voth representative, “you look familiar”. Number Four. Another ancient species that
Voyager encounters and one much closer to the beta quadrant, is the Hirogen. This is
a species dedicated entirely to hunting and the pursuit of prey of all kinds. The more
dangerous, the better. Their nomadic culture has had them expanding outwards over generations,
moving ever further away from their original territory, wherever that lies in the Delta
Quadrant, becoming ever more sparse. There were attempts by those within their species
to create some form of unity among them, and eventually they even were gifted holographic
technology to try to simulate hunting grounds and create a more centralised base of power,
instead of chasing prey ever further and farther away from one another.
I want to see if they embraced this, or if many did continue to hunt farther and farther
afield. In the self-contained lore of Star Trek online for example, they Hirogen did
continue to diffuse, and by the early 25th century, some had eventually reached the Beta
Quadrant, and began to set up shop in the former Romulan territories, hunting the races
of the Alpha and Beta quadrants. Over the generations, I see no reason that they would
not be capable of expanding that far and I think it would be cool to see them among the
more familiar local species, but also, that would probably bode poorly for them, because
it means that they’re still a doomed people. Number Five. This one is a bit more of a persona
favorite and less of a plot thread to be picked up on again, and more just… Well…The Swarm.
Just… What are they, I want to know more. They are super territorial, which is a blessing
really, because they’ll probably not expand, but that means we’re likely never to encounter
them again unless a ship travels into the midst of the Delta again. However, they do
lay claim to an expansive region of space, one that would have cost Voyager 15 months
to travel around and most vessels that do violate their territory are found with all
crew dead. This hostility reveals very little about them and we can speculate all day, but
honestly I just want to actually know more about them, what are they after? Why are they
so hostile? How did they develop their tech, including the first use of transporters seen
from a Delta Quadrant race? At lastly, number six. Species 8472. After
the alliance with the Borg, Voyager pretty much painted a huge target on the back of
the Federation and convinced 8472 that they may need to pre-emptively attack or infiltrate
Starfleet to protect themselves. Fortunately, Voyager was able to repair the damage they
had done and placate the outer-realm species. But is that truly the end for them? Considering
the level of involvement they had with the Borg, I think Starfleet would very much like
to talk with them about an alliance or something? Additionally, they dwell in Fluidic space,
a dimension beyond our own so that is an entirely new phenomena to explore.
The reappearance of 8472 is not even that far-fetched as we hear from Axum, a resident
of the Borg Unimatrix Zero, that he is on a Borg ship, in the Beta Quadrant, keeping
an eye on a border with Fluidic Space. So there are dimensional tears to 8472’s home
realm in the Beta Quadrant somewhere, which is far more readily accessible than the Delta.
Ideally, it would be great if Starfleet could ally with them against future Borg incursions,
but I also wouldn’t mind if 8472 continued to attempt to guard against our dimension
as a whole by deploying shapeshifting spies among the various powers.
So that is my list of six plot threads I would like to see revisited from the Delta Quadrant.
I don’t really think we’ll get anything like this from Prodigy, but these are things
that it would be cool to see brought back around into continuity to help tie the universe
together. Voyager left a lot or waves as it sailed through the Delta Quadrant and it would
be great to see how those ripples impacted later down the line. What other plot elements
were touched on in the Delta Quadrant, or potential stories set up that you’d rather
see than these, I was going to include the Borg in general, but I don’t think Star
Trek is really in danger of forgetting about them any time soon.
Thanks for watching this list and I’ll see you again soon for another sci-fi video. I’ve
been Ric, thanks again and goodbye!