Living Witness (episode)

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Jump to: navigation, search
This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
"Living Witness"
VOY, Episode 4x23
Production number: 191
First aired: 29 April 1998
← 90th of 168 produced in VOY →
← 90th of 168 released in VOY →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 168 released in VOY Remastered  
← 518th of 726 released in all →
Teleplay By
Bryan Fuller and Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky

Story By
Brannon Braga

Directed By
Tim Russ
Unknown (2374, 3074, 3774?)
  Arc: {{{wsArc0Desc}}} ({{{nArc0PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc0PartCount}}})  
  Arc: {{{wsArc1Desc}}} ({{{nArc1PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc1PartCount}}})  
  Arc: {{{wsArc2Desc}}} ({{{nArc2PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc2PartCount}}})  
  Arc: {{{wsArc3Desc}}} ({{{nArc3PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc3PartCount}}})  
  Arc: {{{wsArc4Desc}}} ({{{nArc4PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc4PartCount}}})  

Reactivated after lying inactive for 700 years, a backup version of the Doctor tries to uncover the truth about war crimes supposedly committed by Voyager when they passed a planet centuries ago.

Contents

[edit] Summary

When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative; Violence. Force must be applied without apology, it's the Starfleet way.

Captain Janeway, sporting uncharacteristically short hair and black gloves, negotiates with a Vaskan diplomat about fighting a war with the allegedly innocent Kyrians, in return for the way to a wormhole.

All of a sudden, a screen freezes to hear a voice commentary from a Kyrian tour guide at the Kyrian Museum of Heritage, named Quarren, explaining how after seven hundred years, they are still recovering from the acts of the evil Warship Voyager. A Vaskan participating in the tour asks how they know any of this is true, to which he is replied by the tour guide "Look at all the evidence we have."

Quarren proceeds to tell his tour that a new data source has been uncovered and that it might contain personal logs or other proof directly from Voyager. After the museum closes Quarren uses recreated tools from Voyager to attempt to open the data.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." The data source is actually a backup copy of the EMH (The Doctor). Quarren tells him that as a mass murderer the Doctor will have to pay for his crimes. The Doctor is confused, wondering what crimes he is charged with. He then learns the Kyrian version of events. When he attempts to explain the correct version of events to Quarren, his explanation is met with skepticism.

After some time to think, Quarren decides that the Doctor may be correct and that for seven hundred years the Kyrians have been teaching falsehood. The Doctor is then allowed to edit the simulation of Voyagers encounter with the Kyrians. Apparently, Voyager was trying to negotiate for dilithium in exchange for medical supplies. But just as they were about to seal the deal, the ship was boarded by Kyrian party, killing three engineering crewmen and taking Seven of Nine and an anonymous crewman hostage. They accuse Voyager of being the new allies of the Vaskans before they were cornered in the mess hall. This new recreation sparks a heated debate, as the Doctor's version of events implies that it was the Kyrians rather than the Vaskans who provoked the Great War.

Still, some people do not believe the Doctor's testimony and demand that he be terminated. The Doctor, however, is convinced that with the medical tricorder that is on display he can prove that Tedran, a Kyrian hero and revolutionary, died at the hand of a Vaskan weapon.

These new revelations snaps the tension that has been steadily building between the Kyrians and the Vaskans over the past hundreds of years. During the attack of a mob at the museum, the Doctor accidentally loses the tricorder while trying to help Quarren, who was injured.

After the attack, the Doctor states that he should be shut down because as an EMH he is obliged to help people, and his continued presence is causing riots and intense anger among both races. Quarren convinces him that his information is vital and will save many more people, not only now but hundreds of years from now as well, as both races cannot forge lasting relations without the real truth being known. The Doctor relents, and they begin to look for the tricorder.

Further into the future, a group of Kyrians and Vaskans stand around a viewscreen, watching these events unfold. A tour guide explains how this was a turning point in the people's history, and how it brought about equality between the Kyrians and the Vaskans. The Doctor became Surgical Chancellor for a few hundred years before taking a small craft to trace Voyager's path back to the Alpha Quadrant, "claiming to have a longing for home".

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"These aren't the people I knew! No one behaved like this...well, aside from Mr. Paris."

- The Doctor about the holographic simulation


"Somewhere — halfway across the galaxy, I hope — Captain Janeway is spinning in her grave."

- The Doctor


"Please state the nature of the medical — oh...it's you."

- The Doctor, to Quarren

[edit] Background Information

  • Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres) does not appear in this episode as she was recovering from the birth of her daughter, Emma Rose Dawson, who was born on 16 January 1998.
  • Some sets in this episode, including the Kyrian Museum of Heritage, were also used in Star Trek: Insurrection.
  • This episode marks Tim Russ' directorial debut. This is the only episode of any Star Trek series that he directed.
  • Although Star Trek: Voyager features no episodes in the mirror universe, this episode comes as close as possible by featuring the main characters as "evil representations" of the real crew.
  • When Kim and Chakotay are beating the Kyrian for information a set piece appears behind the glass of The Doctor's office that resembles an Agony booth. This may be a homage to the Mirror universe.
  • Chronologically, this episode is the latest of any of Star Trek to be aired, as its events are set further into the future than anything yet depicted.
  • Henry Woronicz previously played another alien attempting to learn his species' history though USS Voyager in "Distant Origin".
  • The hologram of Chakotay in the simulation refers to Captain Janeway as "sir". Janeway prefers to be called "Captain" or "ma'am" in a crunch. VOY: "Caretaker"
  • This episode could technically be considered the first Star Trek episode ever not to feature any regular characters as they all appear only as holograms in Quarren's recreation of Voyager with the exception of the Doctor, who also appears as a backup version of his program.
  • Robert Picardo plays three different holographic versions of the Doctor in this episode (one of them an android) but does not actually play his usual character.
  • This episode suggests that it is possible to make a backup copy of the Doctor. However, in many other episodes (e.g., VOY: "Blink of an Eye", "Life Line") it appears that his program will be lost forever if it is transferred and cannot return. This may be because the backup module was lost (as explained in this episode) and therefore unusable.
  • Depending on one's viewpoint, this episode either flatly contradicts or firmly upholds the events of VOY: "Message in a Bottle". In that episode, Harry Kim's efforts to make a new version of The Doctor fail. The presence of the EMH backup module in this episode means that either Harry had no need to make a copy of the Doctor or that his failed efforts to do so prompted the creation of the module. The determinative question never directly answered by any episode of the series is whether Voyager launched with this technology on board.
  • The Warship Voyager features a Kazon crew member who is an ensign.
  • In Quarren's original recreation, none of the crew of the Warship Voyager wear rank insignia or combadges. In addition, the normal gray undershirt worn beneath the Starfleet jumpsuit has changed to black, and many crew members wear black gloves. Some other visible differences include different hairstyles (notably Janeway's) and a much enlarged tattoo on Chakotay.
  • One of the misconceptions the Kyrians had of Voyager was that their home was Mars. It is possible that they deduced this from Voyager being built at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting Mars. VOY: "Relativity"

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Guest Stars

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

[edit] References

arbiter; assault probe; biogenic weapon; Borg drone; cerebral cortex; dilithium; Emergency Medical Hologram backup module; Great War; hedgehog; Horsehead Nebula; hyperspanner; Kazon; Kesef; Kyrian; Kyrian fighter; Kyrian-Vaskan homeworld; Mars; medical tricorder; Museum of Kyrian Heritage; neural solvent; optic nerve; particle weapon; photon torpedo; Rip Van Winkle; Syrric Ocean; Vaskan; The Voyager Encounter; Warship Voyager; wormhole


Previous episode:
"Unforgettable" 		Star Trek: Voyager
Season 4 		Next episode:
"Demon"
Retrieved from "http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Living_Witness_%28episode%29"
Personal tools
In other languages