The Unforgettable Deaths of Captain Janeway in Star Trek

This article contains multiple references to violence and death and some minor mentions of suicide.

Summary

Kathryn Janeway, the pioneering female captain on a Star Trek series, experienced multiple on-screen deaths. These incidents included explosions, strangulation, and even euthanasia, yet none of them were permanent.

Janeway's unwavering dedication to the safety and well-being of her crew often led to her making extraordinary sacrifices and facing numerous deaths. Throughout her tenure in the Star Trek franchise, Kathryn Janeway, portrayed by Kate Mulgrew, met her demise on-screen multiple times. Breaking barriers as the first female captain to command a Star Trek series, she served as the central character in Star Trek: Voyager from 1995 to 2001. During this time, Janeway skillfully guided the crew of the USS Voyager through the treacherous Delta Quadrant on their lengthy journey. Her exceptional leadership and resilience made her one of the most esteemed Captains in the franchise's history, and she continues to leave an indelible mark with her appearances in various projects, including the recent animated series Star Trek: Prodigy.

The risks associated with the role of Captain on any Star Trek show are significant. Charged with leading their ship and crew, a Captain may find themselves compelled to confront perilous situations to ensure the safety of their team. As the sole Starfleet Captain in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway, unlike her fellow Captains, took on this responsibility with unparalleled seriousness. Consequently, her on-screen character suffered a staggering number of fatalities, although fortunately, none of Janeway's encounters with death proved permanent.

16 Janeway Is Killed By A Polaric Explosion (Voyager Season 1, Episode 4, "Time And Again")

Janeway faced her first demise on Voyager in the early stages of the series, in the season 1 episode titled "Time and Again." This particular episode revolved around the crew of Voyager visiting a planet that had undergone immense devastation due to a polaric energy explosion. However, Janeway and Tom Paris found themselves unexpectedly transported back in time to the day preceding the tragic event as a result of being caught in a temporal anomaly. As the plot unfolded, Janeway discovered that their earnest attempt to save the crew actually triggered the explosion itself through a temporal paradox. Consequently, she had to thwart their rescue plan and alter the timeline. Remarkably, in the original timeline, Janeway and Paris were tragically killed in the ensuing explosion.

15 Janeway Self-Destructs Voyager To Stop The Vidiians (Voyager Season 2, Episode 21, "Deadlock")

Janeway's subsequent demise took place in the episode "Deadlock" of season 2. Following a rift in the fabric of space-time, Voyager was divided into two indistinguishable vessels. One of these ships remained unharmed while the other was invaded by the Vidiians, who resorted to organ harvesting from the crew. To ensure the preservation of the damaged Voyager, Captain Janeway activated the self-destruct mechanism, eliminating the Vidiians in the process. Nonetheless, prior to the detonation, she arranged for Harry and a recently born Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers) to take the place of their lost counterparts on the other Voyager. Unfortunately, both Janeway and the duplicated crew met their demise in the subsequent self-destructive explosion.

14 Holographic Janeway Kills The Clown And Herself (Voyager Season 2, Episode 23, "The Thaw")

In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, a shout-out was given to The Clown (played by Michael McKean), who originally appeared as a terrifying embodiment of fear in the Voyager season 2 episode "The Thaw." The crew of Voyager aimed to put an end to The Clown's reign of terror over a group of trapped aliens immersed in a nightmarish virtual reality simulation. Ultimately, Captain Janeway had to outsmart The Clown by creating a holographic version of herself. This hologram ventured into the simulation and initiated the shutdown of the program, resulting in the permanent defeat of The Clown. However, this triumph also resulted in the destruction of the holographic Janeway.

13 Janeway Is Strangled By The Vidiians (Voyager Season 2, Episode 15, "Coda")

"Coda" marked a significant milestone for Janeway in terms of the number of deaths she experienced in a single episode, akin to the repetitive time loop depicted in the movie "Groundhog Day." The first instance of her demise took place when Janeway and Chakotay (Robert Beltran) crash-landed on a planet amidst an intense electrical storm. While exploring their surroundings, they were ambushed by a group of hostile Vidiians. Chakotay was struck by a Vidiian phaser blast, and despite Janeway's attempts to defend herself, one of the Vidiians ultimately killed her by strangulation. Remarkably, she found herself instantaneously back in the shuttle, as if the previous events had been erased and restarted.

12 Janeway Dies In A Warp Core Explosion (Voyager Season 2, Episode 15, "Coda")

In "Coda," Janeway faced another death shortly after she returned to the shuttle following her strangulation. Sensing something amiss, both Janeway and Chakotay decided to pursue the Vidiians responsible for their previous demise on the planet. A brief skirmish with the Vidiian vessel ensued, but unexpectedly, the shuttle's warp core suffered a catastrophic breach, resulting in an explosion that claimed the lives of Janeway and Chakotay once again.

11 The Doctor Euthenizes Janeway (Voyager Season 2, Episode 15, "Coda")

After another reset and successfully defeating the Vidiians, Janeway and Chakotay returned to Voyager. However, Janeway's condition worsened as she experienced illness and disorientation. The Doctor, portrayed by Robert Picardo, conducted tests and determined that Janeway had unknowingly contracted the debilitating Vidiian Phage. Instead of seeking a cure, the Doctor enclosed her biobed in sickbay with a force field and attempted to end her life with poisonous gas. Horrified by the Doctor's drastic decision, Janeway fiercely fought to survive, yet ultimately succumbed to the gas, triggering another reset in time.

10 Janeway Dies In A Shuttle Crash (Voyager Season 2, Episode 15, "Coda")

Upon being euthanized, Janeway experienced an extraordinary event where she became aware that she had not departed the very planet where her and Chakotay had crashed. Although Chakotay made futile attempts to revive her lifeless body, Janeway functioned as a spectral being throughout the remaining duration of the episode. She observed as Voyager's crew accepted her demise and started moving forward. Concurrently, another ghostly entity, claiming to be her father, persistently insisted that she should transition to the afterlife. Ultimately, Janeway concluded that the apparition of her father was, in fact, an extraterrestrial life form intending to consume her energy as she perished. Despite this, she valiantly resisted and successfully returned to her corporeal form.

9 Janeway Is Killed In Action During An Alternate Future (Voyager Season 3, Episode 21, "Before And After")

8 Janeway Destroys Voyager To Reset The Timeline (Voyager Season 4, Episode 9, "Year Of Hell Part 2")

In the "Year of Hell," Janeway faced yet another death when she made the bold decision to destroy the Krenim Captain Annorax's time ship using Voyager. This risky move was based on her understanding that it would reset the timeline and return Voyager to its initial position at the beginning of the year. Despite the uncertain nature of this gamble, Janeway's plan proved successful, and the destruction of Voyager added a dramatic conclusion to the two-part episode.

7 Janeway Is Hunted By The Hirgogen (Voyager Season 4, Episodes 18&19, "The Killing Game Parts 1&2")

"The Killing Game" introduced a series of episodes in which Janeway perished repeatedly, although the exact number remained uncertain as some of the deaths occurred off-screen. The episode commenced with the Hirogen seizing control of Voyager and erasing the crew's memories, utilizing the holodeck to subject them to various scenarios designed for hunting as a form of sport. During a Klingon simulation, Janeway met her demise at the hands of the Hirogen Alpha, Karr (Danny Goldring), only to be revived once the program concluded.

6 Voyager's Whole Crew Is Dead 700 Years In The Future (Voyager Season 4, Episode 23, "Living Witness")

In "Living Witness," Janeway's demise occurred off-screen, as did the fatalities of the entire Voyager crew. This unique episode of Voyager delved into Mirror Universe versions of the crew, a rarity among other episodes. The Doctor's backup program became active, triggered by a future alien curator 700 years ahead, intent on uncovering the truth about Voyager's visit to the alien's planet during their journey. While the alien society perceived Voyager's crew as despotic instigators of a civil war, the Doctor diligently worked towards rectifying the historical inaccuracies.

5 Janeway & Crew Die When Voyager Crash-Lands (Voyager Season 5, Episode 6, "Timeless")

The 100th episode of Voyager, "Timeless," featured a future version of Harry Kim and Chakotay making a desperate attempt to rescue the entire crew after a tragic event. While experimenting with a quantum slipstream drive in hopes of returning home, an incorrect calculation caused Voyager to crash onto an icy planet, resulting in the unfortunate demise of the entire crew except for Harry and Chakotay. Miraculously, the pair managed to return to the Alpha Quadrant, but a tormented Harry, burdened with guilt, made a solemn promise to travel back in time and save their fallen comrades. Remarkably, his time travel scheme proved successful, and there was a poignant scene in which Janeway's lifeless body was discovered on the bridge of the crashed Voyager.

4 Janeway's Doppelganger Slowly Disintegrates (Voyager Season 5, Episode 18, "Course: Oblivion")

One of the most disheartening moments in the Voyager series involved the crew falling ill due to cellular degradation. Upon conducting tests, they realized that they were actually replicated versions of the Voyager characters, generated during the events of season 4, episode 24, titled "Demon," on an extraterrestrial planet, thanks to a biomimetic fluid. The replicated crew desperately tried to reach out to the genuine Voyager for assistance, but unfortunately, they all succumbed to their gradual disintegration before any help could arrive. Even Janeway, who managed to survive the longest among the duplicates, passed away shortly before the replicated vessel reached the real Voyager.

3 Voyager Explodes Thanks To A Planted Bomb (Voyager Season 5, Episode 24, "Relativity")

In one of the final episodes of Voyager showcasing Janeway's demise, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was repeatedly enlisted to avert the ship's explosion caused by a planted time bomb. While the majority of the episode primarily depicted Seven's numerous deaths, owing to the time-traveling vessel Relativity incessantly extracting her from the past to aid in locating the bomb, there was a solitary scene portraying the annihilation of Voyager prior to Seven successfully uncovering the bomb in the nick of time. Despite certain crew members' attempted escape to the safety of pods before the catastrophic blast, the majority of the personnel, including Janeway, tragically perished.

2 Admiral Janeway Destroys The Borg And Gets Voyager Home (Voyager Season 7, Episode 26, "Endgame Part 2")

In the series finale of Voyager, titled "Endgame," Janeway met her final demise. The episode centered around Admiral Janeway, who traveled back in time to assist Voyager in their journey back home. In order to accomplish this, Admiral Janeway purposefully infected herself with a neurolytic pathogen and willingly allowed the Borg Queen (played by Alice Krige) to assimilate her. This enabled Voyager to utilize a Borg transwarp hub for their return. Not only did Janeway successfully aid her crew in reaching the Alpha Quadrant, but the pathogen also delivered a devastating blow to the Borg. Consequently, it ultimately led to their permanent destruction in the third season of Star Trek: Picard.

1 Hologram Janeway Sacrifices Herself (Star Trek Prodigy Season 1, Episode 20, "Supernova Part 2")

In the season 1 finale of Star Trek: Prodigy, another iteration of Janeway met her end, marking the most recent canon death for the character. Throughout the season, the youthful crew of the USS Protostar received assistance from a holographic version of Janeway designed for command training. However, this hologram made the selfless choice to sacrifice herself, ensuring the destruction of the ship and the termination of the destructive Living Construct weapon that threatened Starfleet. Considering the significant role she played on the Protostar, the death of Hologram Janeway held the same emotional weight as any demise experienced by the real Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager.