Distant Origin (episode)

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"Distant Origin"
VOY, Episode 3x23 Production number: 165 First aired: 30 April 1997
←	64th of 168 produced in VOY	→
←	64th of 168 released in VOY	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 168 released in VOY Remastered
←	467th of 727 released in all	→
Written By Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky Directed By David Livingston
Unknown (2373)
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An alien scientist finds evidence linking his species' ancestry to Earth, but government officials refuse to accept his evidence because it conflicts with their ancient beliefs.

Contents 1 Summary 1.1 Teaser 1.2 Act One 1.3 Act Two 1.4 Act Three 1.5 Act Four 2 Memorable quotes 3 Background 3.1 Video and DVD releases 4 Links and references 4.1 Guest stars 4.2 Special guest star 4.3 Co-stars 4.4 Uncredited Co-Stars 4.5 References

[edit] Summary

[edit] Teaser

A pair of Voth, a species of reptilian humanoids, named Forra Gegen and Tova Veer conducts an archaeological investigation in a cave on an M-class planet. They search the cave with their flashlights and Veer discovers a tattered piece of cloth; while he does not appear to recognize it, the audience knows it to be from a gold-colored Starfleet uniform. Gegen meanwhile journeys a bit further into the cave where he delicately unearths a Human leg bone. Upon realizing what it is, he emits a series of clicking sounds to summon Veer and scans the bone with a small round device similar in function to a tricorder.

Veer asks if the discovery is a genetic match, although to what he does not say, and Gegen confirms it is. "Could this be it? The proof?" Veer asks eagerly. "If it is," responds Gegen, "We've just made the most important discovery in Voth history." He shines his light on a nearby Human skull as he speaks, and the camera fades out.

[edit] Act One

Now aboard their vessel, Gegen and Veer have laid the bones collected out on a table, forming an approximation of what the skeleton would look like if complete. They study the incomplete skeleton much as paleontologists would study a dinosaur fossil and determine it is related to the Voth. They decide to present their findings to the Ministry of Elders.

However, Minister Odala does not take kindly to their findings. She claims the similarities are coincidental, accusing Gegen of questioning Voth Doctrine. Once he realizes that he will get nowhere with her, Gegen decides to mount an expedition on his own.

His daughter Frola wants to believe in him, but she finds it hard to believe that the Voth are related to mammals from elsewhere in the galaxy. Unfortunately, Tova informs him that he has been charged with heresy against The Doctrine and all of his supporters have abandoned him. Determined to find the truth, Forra and Tova set out on their own.

The two of them find one clue on the uniform of the corpse they recovered: they need to find something called the "USS Voyager".

[edit] Act Two

"Across the vastness of space, to find one ship among a sea of stars is no simple matter, and for many weeks we found nothing. And then, fortune glanced in our direction. A trader from a space station bordering the Nekrit Expanse informed us of a curious group of explorers claiming to be from the other side of the galaxy. The merchants there spoke of a vessel called Voyager. They were able to help us clarify certain details. With this new information, we began to acquire other items and new evidence. Our most significant find: a canister of warp plasma from Voyager's engines. For now, we are scanning space for a matching signature. Little is known about these explorers, but they call themselves Human, and they claim to be traveling home to a distant planet. My thoughts are with you, Frola, as are those of my colleague Veer."

On the ship, Gegen jokes with Veer, who is clearly interested in Gegen's daughter, Frola. Suddenly Veer detects an energy transmission and after coming out of warp phase, he and Gegen see the Voyager.

After deciding to observe Voyager, the two are under a interphase cloaking device on the ship and wander around the ship looking at several things such as the computer, the "male and female interacting" and "courting behavior" between Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres. As they observe, they seem to think of the Humans as primitive compared to their own species. On the bridge, still cloaked, they assume that the social hierarchy is matriarchal due to Kathryn Janeway being the captain. At this time the crew discovers two unknown hidden beings on board. Gegen and Veer attempt to leave only to realize they cannot transport off their ship. While the bridge is being sealed by a level 10 force field, Gegen and Veer teleport to the mess hall. Lieutenant Tuvok makes the two appear, and when Veer instinctively shoots Chakotay with a small dart, Gegen instantly transports him and Chakotay away to his vessel.

[edit] Act Three

In sickbay, Janeway attempts to converse with Veer to find that he speaks with clicks. The Doctor finds that his body temperature and metabolism have dropped and Janeway orders others to examine the new species.

On Gegen's ship, Chakotay finds that Gegen is a molecular paleontologist and explains that he accidentally took Chakotay instead of Veer. While on Gegen's ship, Gegen questions whether there are any of his species on Earth, a term unfamiliar to him. After Gegen shuts the force field around Chakotay off, he and Chakotay make formal first contact between the two.

The Doctor finds that the DNA of the Voth and Humans are remarkably similar (47) and Janeway makes the conclusion that the Voth evolved on Earth. Janeway goes to holodeck 2 and tries to picture the closest relative to the Voth from Earth. In the holodeck, she and The Doctor see various reptiles from Cretaceous era, most notably a hadrosaur. The Doctor predicts that the hadrosaur continued to evolve after the extinction of other beings to the present Voth civilization.

On Gegen's ship, Chakotay and Gegen propose that any existence of the intelligence of the dinosaurs could have been deep under the surface, never to be found by the Humans on Earth. Gegen begins to see that the Humans and mammals as a whole are not as inferior as he once thought. When Chakotay requests to beam back to Voyager, Gegen denies his request and says that he must bring Chakotay to the Ministry to prove that Humans exist.

Back on Voyager, the ship begins to be probed with an energy beam that cuts through the shields and beams the entire ship into the alien vessel.

[edit] Act Four

With Voyager inside the massive Voth city ship, the ship and weapons begin to lose power. Tuvok is shot by a dart from behind and orders Paris, who is with him, to leave without him. Janeway, with Ensign Kim and another officer, encounters the Voth and realizes they are under captivity. The Voth interrogates the Humans about their origin. When Janeway mentions Earth, the Voth suspects Gegen in spreading rumors. When Paris attempts to fire a torpedo through the city ship, he is stopped by an unknown force.

Professor Gegen meets the Ministry again and is accused of going against the Doctrine. On trial, the Ministry further accuses Gegen of disputing Doctrine through the Distant Origin Theory and being a destructive influence on society. After given a chance to deny of the evidence, Gegen refuses. The Minister states that the Humans are not related at all to counter Gegen's theory. Chakotay responds by saying that Voyager's fossil records prove otherwise. The Ministry stops and begs Gegen to admit that his interpretation and theory is wrong. Gegen again refuses and claims that the entire Voth civilization is from the Human planet of Earth.

When the Minister questions Veer about the theory, he states that Gegen's research was flawed. The Minister praises him for his testimony. Once again, Gegen is questioned about his theory whether or not he has been mistaken. When Gegen rebels against why Veer would have spoken against him, he challenges the plan of the Voth to keep their 'myth' of their history and beliefs. When the Minister asks yet again, Chakotay speaks against the Minister about how their beliefs are so clouded just as Gegen's theory is and that Gegen and he found out that the genetic structure of Voth is incredibly similar to almost every species found on Earth, which is too much to be coincidence. Chakotay states that the Doctrine was changed when transwarp technology was introduced, just as Gegen's theory is attempting to be introduced. The Minister states that she does not want to believe the theory because it might show weakness on the Voth's behalf. Chakotay responds that the Voth culture had a great past and the denial of the past shows the denial of their true heritage. Despite Chakotay's plea, Gegen is found guilty and is ordered to be placed into a detention cell along with the entire Voyager crew after the surrender of their ship. At the last moment, Gegen, defeated, gives in to the Minister's desire.

Back on Gegen's personal ship, Chakotay offers Gegen a globe of Earth. Gegen ponders about the day when all of Voth will see where they came from as Chakotay beams back to Voyager.

[edit] Memorable quotes

"Did your eyes see the planet of our origin, the true home of our race? Was it beautiful? Was it covered by oceans? By sand? Were there nine moons above your head? Were there none?"

- Forra Gegen, to the Human skull

"I'll see you tonight. BYOB."
"What?"
"Bring your own bat'leth."

- Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres

"Tuvok, I hope that's your stomach."

- Tom, upon hearing the clicking sounds of the Voth while Voyager was being boarded

"Who's that?"
"My helmsman. Sounds like he's about to blast a hole in the side of your ship."

- Haluk and Captain Janeway

"We are not immigrants! I will not deny twenty million years of history, and doctrine, just because one insignificant Saurian has a theory!"

- Odala, to Forra Gegen

"Someday every Voth will see this as home."

- Forra Gegen, to Chakotay while holding a globe of Earth

"This should do the trick."
"An apple?"
"You said you wanted an organic test subject."
"I was referring to a bio-cylinder, but the fruit will suffice."

- Tom and Tuvok, while testing the Voth personal cloaking device

[edit] Background

• Unusually, this episode is told mainly from a guest character's viewpoint, rather than from that of the Voyager crew. Indeed, for the teaser, entire first act and most of the second act, the ship and crew are not seen.
• Brannon Braga is extremely proud of this episode: "It was one episode that was just about perfect. The acting, the effects, and the directing... It was a very complex [and] ambitious show that really turned out great." (Star Trek: Voyager Companion)
• Voyager's crew count as of this episode is 148.
• The Voth scientists' discovery of the Human skull and subsequent search for Voyager are an example of continuity; the skull was left in "Basics, Part II", while the canister of warp plasma at the space station is an acknowledgment of the events of "Fair Trade". Despite these factors, this episode's popularity among fans is largely for its unique presentation: the story is told from the point of view of the Voth, and Voyager and its crew do not even appear until the third act.
• The events of this episode are referred to in the seventh season episode "Friendship One".
• The bones and uniform fragments belong to Ensign Hogan, and the planet on which the Voth scientists found them is Hanon IV.
• The throne chair that Minister Odala is sitting on was later reused as Doctor Chaotica's throne. It was originally created for the Coneheads movie.
• The warp plasma retrieved by the Voth came from the Tak Tak, which presumably was obtained during the trade negotiations in "Macrocosm".
• Another reference to the number 47 - the number of genetic markers shared between Humans and Voth.
• The fate of the Voth personal cloaking device is unknown and it is never used again on screen.
• The undersuit padding lot worn by Henry Woronicz was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [1]

[edit] Video and DVD releases

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.12, 29 September 1997.
• As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Guest stars

• Henry Woronicz as Forra Gegen
• Christopher Liam Moore as Tova Veer
• Marshall R. Teague as Haluk

[edit] Special guest star

• Concetta Tomei as Minister Odala

[edit] Co-stars

• Nina Minton as Frola Gegen
• Majel Barrett as the computer voice

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

• Tarik Ergin as Ayala
• Dennis Madalone as a Voth guard
• Louis Ortiz as a Voth guard
• John Tampoya as Kashimuro Nozawa

[edit] References

47; anodyne relay; apple; autonomic nervous system; bat'leth; bio-cylinder; BYOB; Circle of Archeology; Circle of Exobiology; Circle of Philosophy; Circles of Science; communicator; containment field; Cretaceous; dilitus lobe; dinosaur; Distant Origin Theory; Devonian; DNA; Earth; endothermy; Eryops; first contact; fossil; gigahertz; hadrosaur; heresy; hibernation; Hogan; Hokath; holodeck; interphase; interrogation surgeon; Klingon martial arts program; mammalian; matriarchy; microcellular scan; Ministry of Elders; Nekrit Expanse; phase variance; replicator; saurian; spatial displacement; tetryon radiation; transwarp; tricorder; Towt; Voth; Voth city ship; Voth Doctrine; Voth Fourth Colony; Voth research vessel; warp plasma

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Star Trek: Voyager Season 3

Next episode: "Displaced"