Voyager Time Travel Paradox: Does Janeway Need To Go Back In Time in Star Trek?
In the exciting ending of Star Trek: Voyager, "Endgame," we follow a future version of Admiral Kathryn Janeway (played by the gifted Kate Mulgrew) traveling back in time from the year 2404 to 2378. Her goal is to help the Uss Voyager reach home faster, a voyage that first covered an exhausting 23 years. The Borg was finally made dormant by this temporal intervention, which greatly changed the direction of events in the Star Trek universe.
Does Janeway's Time Travel in Prodigy Change the Endgame Timetable?
Admiral Janeway's past actions have great ramifications, thus her time travel in the future seems natural. As shown by their effects on Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 12, "Let Sleeping Borg Lie," and Star Trek: Picard season 3, Voyager's return in 2378 and the Borg's inactivity are, after all, fundamental components of the story.
Though it is twenty years before the events of "Endgame," Admiral Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy exhibits traits reminiscent of her future self who assisted Voyager in returning home. This begs the issue: will Janeway be obliged to travel back to 2378 and thus close the time loop?
Voyager: Star Trek: Janeway Avoid Time Travel?
Fascinatingly, the response could be a firm "no." The Janeway we meet in Star Trek: Prodigy has led a quite different life than her counterpart in "Endgame." Janeway must go through the same horrific timeline that drove her future self to intervene for the events of "Endgame" to develop. But Future Janeway's activities essentially ensure that this chronology won't come to pass. Prime Janeway has no reason to travel back in time without the catalyst of a dismal future.
Temporal Prime Direction: The Paradox
Here the policies of non-interference in the past akin to the Prime Directive with pre-warp civilizations come into effect: the Starfleet Temporal Prime Directive. Time travelers follow this advice; their past behavior does not change the future. But Admiral Janeway's deliberate past intervention alters the path of events and generates a temporal paradox.
This paradox stops Janeway from time travel, so possibly rewriting the chronology between 2378 and 2404. Future Janeway must still exist, thus this rewrite seems unattainable even if one could travel back in time. This is a classic catch-22.
The Emergence of a New Timeline
In "Endgame," Admiral Janeway's attempt to reinterpret the past unintentionally generates a new timeline. According to the original chronology, Voyager's trip spans thirty-two years and the Borg remain a threat. Future Janeway's intervention divides the chronology in 2378, though, so creating a new branch where Voyager returns following seven years, the Borg are neutralized, and Janeway's time travel is rendered pointless.
Timelines coexist.
Neither Janeway's original timeline nor any other timeline that seems to precede the Prime Timeline is erased by its events. Rather, these chronologies live among the expanse of the Star Trek multiverse. Janeway remembers the 26 years between 2378 and 2404 even after her time travel implies that her original timeline still exists, though without her. Also continuing its path is the Prime Timeline, with our own Janeway who never must travel back in time.
In essence, a complicated web of time.
Whether Janeway still must time travel to bring the events of Star Trek: Voyager to pass still remains a difficult and intriguing subject. Although her behavior in Star Trek: Prodigy seems to run counter to the necessity for a future intervention, the existence of a new timeline and the complexities of time travel generate a complex web of opportunities. We can only wait and see whether Janeway's temporal destiny is really sealed or if more twists and turns yet to develop as the Star Trek universe keeps growing.
