“Endgame, Part II” is episode twenty-six of season seven of Star Trek: Voyager and the second part of the two-part season and series finale.
In the previous episode, “Endgame”, Admiral Janeway had come from the future to change the past. She’s beamed onboard Voyager and Captain Janeway takes her future self to her ready room. The captain orders coffee; the admiral gave up coffee years ago and only drinks tea now. Which Present Janeway thinks is odd, by her look. Future Janeway told the caretaker at the museum that the ready room would be more authentic if there was a steaming pot of coffee on the desk. Present Janeway asks if Voyager is in a museum. No; it is a museum. In the ground of the Presidio. They made it back to Earth but their favourite cup took a beating a few years in Present Janeway’s future.
Regarding the Temporal Prime Directive, the admiral says it causes less headaches by just ignoring it. The captain says it’s still her ship and no more talk about the future until she decides it. The admiral suggests talking about the past. Namely, the nebula they thought would be a way home. They thought right. The admiral has come to tell her past self to head back to the nebula. The captain points out ethe Borg in the nebula. The admiral has brought technology to get past them. The captain asks why she should do that; the future sounds rosy. The admiral says it will take another 16 years to get home and they will suffer more losses. The admiral knows what the captain is thinking; she could be Species 8472 in disguise. Take a look at her shuttle, in particular the weapons and armour, and the Doctor can confirm her identity.
The Doctor finds an implant and is quietly talking about it with the captain when the admiral explains it was invented by the Doctor in her past. It allows her to pilot a vessel equipped with a neural interface. The Doctor starts quizzing her until being brought back on track by the captain. He confirms the admiral is Janeway. Seven enters and the admiral greets her. Seven says the shuttle’s technology is impressive; they can adapt the armour and weapons but not the stealth. The captain orders Voyager be upgraded and the ship heads back to the nebula.
Seven is regenerating when the Queen contacts her with a warning. Do not return to the nebula. Seven is one of the Queen’s favourites and she’s left Voyager alone so far. The Queen has no objection to them returning to the Alpha Quadrant, but return to the nebula and they will be destroyed. Seven’s regeneration booth sparks and she collapses.
In sickbay, the Doctor tells the captain it could have been much worse. Seven says the Queen wanted her to be able to send her message. The admiral says it doesn’t matter; the Borg may be dangerous but they’re 30 years behind the times. The admiral ran into the Borg more times before getting home and she developed weapons and tactics to defeat them.
Seven is in astrometrics when Chakotay joins her. They flirt, then she says there are no Borg vessels in 10 lightyears. But they shouldn’t underestimate the Collective. Chakotay thinks with two Janeways on the bridge, he’d bet on Voyager. And asks what Seven’s plans are for when they get home.
Voyager armours up and enters the nebula. A Borg cube fires at them but barely scratches the paint. Two more cubes join in, and when the armour is damaged enough, transphasic torpedoes are fired at the Borg, in one case one-shotting an entire cube. With two cubes destroyed, the Queen calls the third one off. At the centre of the nebula, positioned above the dying remnants of a star, is a huge Borg construction. The admiral says it’s the road home. Seven says it’s a transwarp hub. She’d told the captain there are only six hubs in the galaxy. The admiral says she will answer the captain’s questions in the Alpha Quadrant. But the captain orders Tom to take them out of the nebula.
In astrometrics, Seven explains the hubs connect all four quadrants, allowing the Borg to deploy vessels all over the galaxy in minutes. Tuvok thinks that may be the Borg’s most significant tactical advantage. The captain wants to destroy the hub. Seven explains a possible way. The admiral objects. Chakotay asks if they could destroy the hub from the Alpha Quadrant. No. The admiral says the Queen is already working out how to counter their weapons and armour; they need to head back in before it’s too late.
The captain wants her future self to walk with her. The admiral figured her past self would do something stupid, which is why she didn’t tell her. It’s like destroying the Caretaker’s array seven years ago. Don’t make the same mistake again. Yes, they get home, but more people die. Including Seven, who dies in the arms of her husband, Chakotay, after an away mission. He is never the same after and nor is the captain. 22 more crew will die and Tuvok has a degenerative neurological condition. There’s a cure in the Alpha Quadrant, but he won’t get it in time.
The admiral is only concerned about getting Voyager home. The captain wants to cripple the Borg by taking out their network of transwarp conduits. The question is, can they get Voyager home and destroy the network? And the Borg are hardly going to sit around and wait for the hub to be destroyed.