

(written from a Production point of view Real World article

Upon entering Borg space, Voyager encounters an alien race even more powerful than the Borg and bent on destroying all life in the galaxy, leading Captain Janeway to enter into an alliance with the Borg in order to defeat them. (Season finale)

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Summary

Teaser

In a region of space, two Borg cubes advance on their next intended targets for assimilation. Their hail is cut off abruptly as energy beams lash out at the cubes, which are instantly destroyed.

Act One

On one of the USS Voyager's holodecks, Captain Kathryn Janeway is running a Leonardo da Vinci holo-program, conversing with a Leonardo hologram in a simulation of the historical figure's workshop. As Janeway convinces the hologram to take her on as a student, she receives an urgent hail from Commander Chakotay, who urges her to go to engineering to take a look at something.

There, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres explains that the long-range probe they sent out months ago has stopped transmitting. However, she was able to catch the last few seconds of telemetry, which show a Borg drone's face staring into the viewscreen. Janeway quickly realizes the implication: after nearly three years in the Delta Quadrant, Voyager is finally approaching Borg space.

Janeway immediately calls a meeting of the senior staff and explains that it is unknown how many Borg vessels are out there but that their space appears to be vast, including thousands of star systems. Voyager is no doubt entering the heart of Borg territory and, unfortunately, there seems to be no way around it. However, there might be a way through it. Chakotay explains that, before the probe was disabled, it detected a narrow corridor of space devoid of Borg activity – which members of the crew nicknamed "the Northwest Passage". Navigating through it, however, may prove complicated, as the passage is filled with intense gravimetric distortions, probably caused by a string of quantum singularities. The crew are left with no choice, though, but to go through the passage.

All over the ship, preparations are finalized. In engineering, the warp drive is checked, yet again. Tuvok goes through weapons checks with his security officers. Chakotay and Kim review planned tactical options in case the Borg invade the ship.

While The Doctor and Kes examine the Borg drone corpse the crew discovered three months earlier looking for possible ways to protect the crew from being assimilated. The Doctor has found that the Borg assimilate by injecting the victim with nanoprobes which quickly take over the bloodstream and suggests a defense which would involve fighting against the infection before it can spread. Kes suddenly experiences a vivid vision of dismembered Borg drone corpses, piled up on one another. She has no idea what this means but it disturbs her greatly. She experiences these and other frightening visions for the next two hours; visions of dead drones and Voyager's destruction haunt her mind. Tuvok, who is Kes' mentor in honing her telepathic abilities, is informed of this development. While he discusses Kes' predicament with Janeway and Chakotay on the bridge, the ship begins to tremble. Kim reports that long-range sensors detect transwarp signatures 5.8 light-years away closing from behind. Before they know it, fifteen Borg vessels are rapidly closing on them from 2.1 light-years away. Subspace turbulence forces Voyager out of warp.

Much to everyone's surprise, the enormous vessels do not attack, merely racing past Voyager. One cube slows and scans the ship, then speeds up to rejoin the others. The subspace turbulence affecting Voyager dissipates. The crew is at a loss to explain their unusually good fortune.

Act Two

Kim confirms there's no damage, and systems are coming back online. Janeway orders the ship to resume course while she reviews the Starfleet database for data on previous Borg encounters. Chakotay interrupts her later to inform her the passage is still clear then, seeing she hasn't eaten, offers to eat with her. She declines, then explains she has been seeking useful information on the Borg from the logs of other Starfleet commanders but has gotten nothing. Although she knew when Voyager first started its journey back to the Alpha Quadrant they would eventually hit Borg territory and everyone has tried to prepare themselves for the challenge, she asks about what happens if the danger is too large; do they press on or retreat to friendly territory, permanently abandoning the journey home. Chatokay gently assures her that he and everyone else will support her and that she is not alone. Janeway says that she cannot imagine a day without him – though just three years ago, she didn't even know his name. While they are talking, Tuvok hails her to the bridge.

There, he and Kim report that the Borg cubes have suddenly stopped 5.2 light years away, for an undetermined reason. Janeway orders Paris to take Voyager to the coordinates of the dormant Borg ships at warp 2. The crew then finds that every one of the fifteen cubes has been destroyed – with only a few life signs remaining. Tuvok detects two residual weapons' signatures in the debris: one Borg and the other of unknown origin. Astonished, Paris asks the question that everyone else is wondering: who could bring such devastation to the Borg?

Act Three

The idea of someone more powerful than the Borg seems rather incredible. Kim thinks they might have found an ally but Chakotay warns not to jump to conclusions. While scanning the vicinity for other vessels, the bridge officers detect a biomass attached to one of the Borg ships. They confirm that it is organic but do not receive a response when they send out a standard greeting. They try to beam it away from the ship, but cannot get a lock on it and a tractor beam also doesn't seem to have an effect. They realize that whatever is attached to the Borg cube is impervious to their technology. Janeway orders Chakotay to lead an away team to the cube to take a short-range scan of this biomass.

Tuvok and Kim join Chakotay on the away team and beam aboard the cube. As they look around, they find nothing but dead drones scattered amid the wreckage. As they move on, they find a pile of dismembered Borg corpses reminiscent of the visions Kes had earlier. They continue forward to the object and find that it has created a gaping hole in the cube's hull and fused onto it. Interestingly, there is a Borg unsuccessfully continuing to attempt to assimilate it. Scans reveal it to be an organic-based vessel with high concentration of antimatter particles, possibly a warp core. Chakotay and Tuvok board the ship to investigate while Kim accesses a Borg distribution node to download their tactical database.

In Voyager's sickbay, Kes is carrying a tray when she is suddenly overwhelmed by visions of Kim screaming in abject agony. She collapses, frantically warning that the away team is in grave danger and that they need to leave the cube immediately.

On the Borg ship, Kim calls the other two officers to his position, as he has detected something that is biological in the vicinity but does not appear to be Borg. Just then, Janeway hails and tells them to prepare for immediate return to Voyager. The unknown life form suddenly tears through a wall of the cube, entering a corridor where the away team is. Immediately, it attacks nearby drones, swiping them before turning to Kim and attacking him. Kim collapses, screaming in excruciating pain, just as he had in Kes' vision. The creature moves to finish him but, just then, the away team is beamed back aboard Voyager.

On the bridge, Paris reports that the alien ship is detaching and powering up, apparently readying to fire a weapon. Kes, who is also on the bridge, experiences another vision of the pilot on that bio-ship communicating with her. Janeway orders Paris to take them out of the area at maximum warp. As Voyager moves away, the bio-ship fires, not landing a direct hit but Voyager loses control. Paris is able to jump to warp speed, and the bio-ship does not give chase. An alarm-stricken Kes tells Janeway that it is not the Borg that they should be worried about but this new species. Kes informs the captain that the creature told her, "The weak will perish."

Act Four

"Captain's log, stardate 50984.3. It's been twelve hours since our confrontation with the alien life-form. There is no sign that we're being pursued, and we've had no further encounters with the Borg. I've decided to hold our course. The Northwest Passage is only one day away and I won't allow fear to undermine this crew's sense of purpose… even if that fear is justified."

As Janeway enters sickbay, she is horrified to view Harry Kim's condition. The Doctor tells her that the alien cells are consuming his body from the inside out, while he is conscious. He shows her the scan of the alien cells which contain more than a hundred times the DNA of a Human cell. It would take him years to decipher it. The Doctor is unable to sedate Harry as anything that penetrates this species' cell-membrane – biological, chemical or technological – is instantly destroyed. Janeway realizes that this is probably why the Borg cannot assimilate the species. The Doctor, however, believes that Borg technology holds the key to saving Kim, as he hopes to unleash an army of modified Borg nanoprobes into Kim's bloodstream, designed to target and eradicate the infection. He has successfully managed to dissect a nanoprobe, access its recoding mechanism and reprogram the probe to emit the same electrochemical signature as the alien cells. That way, the probe can do its work without being detected. The Doctor is not certain he will be able to modify enough nanoprobes in time to save Harry.

On the bridge, Tuvok and Torres show Chakotay a part of the tactical data Kim retrieved from the cube. According to it, the aliens – designated by the Borg as Species 8472 – have engaged the Borg twelve times in the last five months and, each time, the Borg have been defeated swiftly. The bridge officers also finally determine that Species 8472 comes from the Northwest Passage – which would explain why it is a region devoid of Borg activity. While discussing this, Tuvok detects 133 bio-ships coming from a quantum singularity. A grim-faced Janeway watches the visual as it shows hundreds of the aliens' ships streaming forth from quantum singularities in the Northwest Passage.

Kes notifies the captain that the aliens have been communicating with her further. Their new messages are even more frightening than the first; she feels malevolence and cold hatred. Kes says that what they are doing is carrying out an invasion and that they intend to destroy everything. Voyager is taken 5 light-years away at maximum warp to wait.

Chakotay and Janeway discuss their next move. The Northwest Passage is no longer an option as a route through Borg space. Now, the choice is between facing the Borg in their space or staying behind and giving up hope of ever returning home. Chakotay reminds Janeway that just because they're turning around doesn't mean they won't find another way home, but Janeway still can't bring herself to tell the crew they're remaining in the Delta Quadrant and is desperate for another choice between permanent isolation or almost certain death. She decides to get some sleep and see how she feels with a clear head, as she hasn't slept for 2 days.

Janeway however can't bring herself to rest and heads to the da Vinci holodeck simulation, the decision she must make weighs heavily on her mind. She tells Leonardo her problem (as a metaphor) and he suggests she journey with him to church and make an appeal to God. This suddenly gives Janeway an idea… she could do a deal with the "devil".

Act Five

In the briefing room, Janeway outlines her plan: an alliance with the Borg, against their new enemy. Voyager's crew will offer the Borg a way to defeat their enemy and, in return, the Borg will grant them safe passage through their space. Janeway references The Doctor's findings regarding the nanoprobes, which she believes can be used as a biological weapon against Species 8472. The officers are incredulous at her suggestion of teaming up with such an entity. Janeway is adamant that her stratagem will work, however. She has The Doctor save all of the research regarding the nanoprobes in his holomatrix. She also explains that, if the Borg threaten Voyager in any way, the crew will simply erase The Doctor's program.

After everyone else leaves, Chakotay – who has remained rather quiet throughout the meeting – tells Janeway that he believes that what she proposes is far too dangerous. Illustrating his reasoning by citing a parable of the scorpion that allowed itself to die rather than overcome its deadly nature, he argues that her plan is a huge mistake, as she is underestimating the true evil of the Borg. He explains that no amount of diplomacy, reasoning and incentive-providing will ever change what the Borg are. They have no guarantee that the Borg will actually keep their hands off them after they acquire the information. He also wonders how much Voyager's safety is ultimately worth, that Janeway is willing to give advantage to a species guilty of murdering billions; they would essentially be giving the Borg the means to assimilate yet another species, just to get themselves home. But Janeway is convinced that they will be able to keep the Borg at bay with the bargaining chip they have. She furthermore believes that helping to assimilate Species 8472 might actually not be such a bad idea, given the malevolence they have expressed towards the entire galaxy. Chakotay, however, remains steadfast in his objection to her plan accusing her of being so blinded by her desire to go home that she is closing herself to all other options. Janeway asks him to trust her, firmly stating that the time for debate is over as she has made her decision. Chakotay reluctantly agrees that, as her first officer, he will comply with her orders but makes it clear she does not have his support. With misty eyes, Janeway says she guesses that she is alone after all. She dismisses him sadly but her resolve is unshaken.

Voyager arrives at an assimilated system. Several Borg cubes are in the area, and one of them seizes the ship in a tractor beam. Janeway notifies the Collective that she has tactical information about Species 8472. She offers to negotiate for it but the Collective refuses. Janeway has Torres transmit (to the cubes) a sample of the research, showing the 8472 cells being destroyed by the Borg nanoprobes. The captain declares that this is a sample of the data and threatens to destroy it, if the Collective does not listen to what she has to say. There is a long pause. She again offers to negotiate but, as she speaks, she is transported to the cube, finding herself on a catwalk spanning the vessel's vast interior.

The Collective instructs her to state her demands. She states that there is only one demand: safe passage through Borg space in exchange for the data. Once her ship is past Borg territory, she will give them their research. The Collective does not accept because their space is vast and her passage would take too long. They demand the technology immediately. Janeway refuses because if she gives the data to them right away, they would assimilate Voyager. The Collective explains that Species 8472 has to be stopped and the Collective's survival is Voyager's survival. Janeway then comes up with a plan: they would collaborate – as Voyager traverses Borg space – in order to craft a bio-weapon using the data. She is in the middle of outlining this plan when the cube is violently shaken.

On Voyager's bridge, Tuvok informs Chakotay that a quantum singularity has opened 20,000 kilometers away and that more bio-ships are coming through. The cube's shields are weakening but not enough to beam Janeway back to Voyager. Nine bio-ships converge in a star pattern and head toward the assimilated planet. They destroy the planet and all the Borg cubes in the vicinity, except for the one holding Janeway and Voyager. The remaining cube hurtles away at high warp, just ahead of the explosion, with Voyager still held firmly in its tractor beam.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Memorable quotes

"We are the Borg. Existence as you know it is over. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is fu…"

- Borg, before being destroyed by Species 8472 (The first line of dialogue in the episode)



"Better to ride the rapids than face the Hive."

- Tom Paris, on the Northwest Passage



"In their collective state, the Borg are utterly without mercy, driven by one will alone: the will to conquer. They are beyond redemption, beyond reason."

- Captain Jean-Luc Picard, log entry read by Captain Janeway



"It is my opinion that the Borg are as close to pure evil as any race we've ever encountered."

- Captain Amasov, log entry read by Captain Janeway



"It's nothing to be ashamed about, echoing the greats. Ensign Hickman in astrophysics does a passable Janeway."

"If we manage to survive the next few days, I'm going to have a chat with Ensign Hickman. Imitating the captain – surely that violates some kind of Starfleet protocol."

- Chakotay and Janeway



"We might have just found our ticket through Borg space: an ally."

"Let's not jump to conclusions."

- Kim and Chakotay, after Voyager finds the fifteen Borg cubes destroyed



"Fight it, Harry! That's an order!"

- Janeway to Kim, while he lies in sickbay infected by the alien cells



"There's a story I heard as a child, a parable, and I never forgot it. A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side. Suddenly, he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river. The fox said 'No. If I do that, you'll sting me and I'll drown.' The scorpion assured him, 'If I did that, we'd both drown.' So, the fox thought about it, and finally agreed. So, the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim, but halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him. As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, 'Why did you do that? Now you'll drown too.' 'I couldn't help it,' said the scorpion, 'it's my nature'."

- Chakotay to Janeway, as he objects to her plan to ally with the Borg



"They have an extraordinary immune response. Anything that penetrates the cell membrane, chemical, biological, technological, it's all instantly destroyed. That's why the Borg can't assimilate them."

"Resistance in this case is far from futile."

- Janeway and The Doctor, on Species 8472



"The Borg aren't exactly known for their diplomacy. Can we really expect them to cooperate with us?"

"Normally, the answer would be no, but if what I've learned from the aliens is true, the Borg are losing this conflict."

- Neelix and Kes, on Janeway's idea of an alliance with the Borg



"There are times, Caterina, when I find myself transfixed by a shadow on the wall, or the splashing of water against a stone. I stare at it, the hours pass, the world around me drops away… replaced by worlds being created and destroyed by my imagination."

- The holographic Leonardo da Vinci



"Think good thoughts."

- Janeway, while Voyager is being scanned by the Borg



"There's a path before me… the only way home. And on either side, mortal enemies bent on destroying each other. If I attempt to pass through them… I'll be destroyed as well. But if I turn around… that would end all hope of ever getting home."

- Janeway, to Leonardo on the holodeck



"What if I made an appeal… to the Devil?"

- Janeway, to the Leonardo hologram as she considers an alliance with the Borg



"The weak will perish!"

- Species 8472, as stated by Kes from one of her telepathic encounters



"Three years ago, I didn't even know your name. Today I can't imagine a day without you."

- Janeway, to Chakotay

Background information

Title, story, and script

Cast and characters

Production

Effects

Although Visual Effects Supervisor Ron Moore usually used a mixture of effects methods, the visual effects of this episode were virtually all CGI. This method of effects was costly but a saving of finances enabled the profuse usage of CGI here; Jeri Taylor noted that, for this episode, the production crew of Star Trek: Voyager had "some extra money saved so we [could] go all out." ( Star Trek Monthly issue 31, pp. 27 & 13) Both David Livingston and Senior Supervising Visual Effects Animator Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz appreciated the fact that this episode allowed for more digital effects than usual. " [It] really, really pushed the envelope, " noted Lebowitz. " It had an incredible amount of complicated effects work, stuff that would have probably been prohibitively expensive to have done with miniatures. That might have been one of the first shows where you can really say that without CGI they couldn't have done it. It was really a compliment that they even wrote an episode like that. I think it showed that they were finally having some confidence in the work that was being done, and they decided to really push it. I was really happy that they were finally writing episodes knowing that this stuff can be done more effectively now. " ( Star Trek Monthly issue 58, p. 44) In agreement, Livingston noted, " That was fun, because we got to deal with CGI figures. " ("Braving the Unknown: Season Three", VOY Season 3 DVD special features)

had "some extra money saved so we [could] go all out." ( issue 31, pp. 27 & 13) Both David Livingston and Senior Supervising Visual Effects Animator Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz appreciated the fact that this episode allowed for more digital effects than usual. " " noted Lebowitz. " " ( issue 58, p. 44) In agreement, Livingston noted, " " ("Braving the Unknown: Season Three", VOY Season 3 DVD special features) The effects in this episode (in particular, the creation of Species 8472) were influenced by the success of effects in the earlier third season episode " Macrocosm ", particularly the computer-generated design of the macrovirus. ("Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects", VOY Season 3 DVD special features)

", particularly the computer-generated design of the macrovirus. ("Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects", VOY Season 3 DVD special features) Despite this episode's script being sparse on details regarding Species 8472, the episode's visual effects artists were able to glean some information about the aliens from their involvement in the story. Dan Curry noted, " We had a script for a very vicious alien creature that had to be so powerful and so fearsome that it was able to chop up and destroy the Borg. " The aliens were then designed – for their debut appearance in this episode – by Curry, Steve Burg and CGI animator John Teska. ("The Birth of Species 8472", VOY Season 4 DVD special features)

" The aliens were then designed – for their debut appearance in this episode – by Curry, Steve Burg and CGI animator John Teska. ("The Birth of Species 8472", VOY Season 4 DVD special features) Meanwhile, Adam Lebowitz worked on the CGI Species 8472 bio-ships, the Borg cubes and Voyager . Ron Moore and coordinator Cheryl Gluckstern devised the two different forms of energy beam that the bio-ships' weapons fire: the style that is emitted from the single bio-ship that Voyager initially comes across, and the more concentrated blast that is fired by the formation of bio-ships. Recalling the creation of the latter style of blast, Moore said, " I wanted to do something that was a little bit different than Star Wars ' Death Star. I thought it was more interesting if they could share the strength of each and then create this monster beam. " The beams were visualized by Greg Rainoff at Digital Magic, using Harry animation. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 95)

. Ron Moore and coordinator Cheryl Gluckstern devised the two different forms of energy beam that the bio-ships' weapons fire: the style that is emitted from the single bio-ship that initially comes across, and the more concentrated blast that is fired by the formation of bio-ships. Recalling the creation of the latter style of blast, Moore said, " Star Wars " The beams were visualized by Greg Rainoff at Digital Magic, using Harry animation. ( , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 95) The teaser of this episode involved a lot of work for CGI supplier Foundation Imaging. Ron Thornton explained, " We originally built the Borg Cube for an earlier episode [i.e. 'Unity'], but we really had to trick it out for this one, because in the first few seconds, two Borg Cubes are blown up, so we had to create a lot of pieces for each explosion. " Using a studio model and motion-control photography rather than CGI would have made the sequence somewhat easier and less time-consuming, as Foundation would not have had to deal with the painstaking task of crafting the explosions. ( The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 16, p. 38)

" Using a studio model and motion-control photography rather than CGI would have made the sequence somewhat easier and less time-consuming, as Foundation would not have had to deal with the painstaking task of crafting the explosions. ( issue 16, p. 38) During the creation of the sequence wherein Voyager is passed by an armada of Borg cubes, the visual effects team were not entirely certain how big to make the effect. "Initially when we did that shot," Ron Moore recalled, "we thought it was a little bit over-the-top. The idea is that these Borg cubes are really, really big, and whatever drive they're using is throwing out some kind of electromagnetic field that's kicking the Voyager around. So we did a second softer version, and we looked at it and looked at it, and finally the decision was made to go back to the original. It's a lot more fun." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) Visualizing this sequence with such traditional effects methods as a model and motion-control photography would have been problematic. "The mount would have given us a problem," Ron Moore explained. "We could have done a side mount, maybe, but it would have been a lot more subtle." In other words, what the effects team veered away from, when it came time to create the sequence. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, pp. 95-96)

The green-tinged polaron beam that is utilized by one of the Borg cubes to scan Voyager's bridge was actually rendered CGI by Digital Magic. Ron Moore said of this effect, "The thing that was important to me was that it would look like it was dimensional, when the light would hit the face, and then you'd see it in the background. We played with it in the edit bay. A lot of times with CGI this works out better, because there's a lot of freedom in the edit bay. Something like the scanning beam works until you make it too heavy, and you can't see through it. It's very subtle. With Paul Hill in the edit bay, we laid down one of the passes bright, another one with a little green in it, and we plugged in the flat fan-like surface as it went across." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96)

The pile of dismembered Borg seen on the disabled cube was actually a twelve-inch pile of Playmates Toys action figures. Dan Curry recalled, " We didn't have the budget or the time to create full-scale body chunks, because of the cost and time it would take to do that. So, I asked our licensing department for a bunch of Borg toy action figures [....] And kudos to the person who sculpted those toys, because the detail – especially the facial detail – was so good that I was able to take the toy action figures, cut them up with a Dremel cutting tool, and then I stacked them up with hot glue and shot them at home against a little blue screen cove. " To complete the scene in which the away team members from Voyager pass the pile of corpses, the live-action footage that Dan Curry had already shot of the actors was composited together with the Borg drone models. Curry remarked, " By compositing the stack of action figures, it looked very real. And the toy faces were sculpted so well that I was able to do close-ups on a [tiny] head, […] filling the TV screen with them, and they looked very good. Of course, it was in kind of a smoky environment, but um… So, the toys served us well and saved the production company lots of money. " ("Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects", VOY Season 3 DVD special features) Ron Moore commented, " That was something we all knew immediately was perfect for Dan […] He really had a lot of fun painting it, showing it to everybody. He'd come in and tell us, 'It's real disgusting now,' and he had a big smile on. It was great. We used it in a couple of shots, one with our crew, and one without. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96)

" To complete the scene in which the away team members from pass the pile of corpses, the live-action footage that Dan Curry had already shot of the actors was composited together with the Borg drone models. Curry remarked, " " ("Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects", VOY Season 3 DVD special features) Ron Moore commented, " " ( , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) While Chakotay, Tuvok, and Harry Kim are exploring a Borg cube, they encounter a Borg drone repeatedly trying, unsuccessfully, to assimilate the Species 8472 bio-ship attached to the cube. For a single shot in this scene, Industrial Light & Magic assisted with the inclusion of some Borg assimilation tubules that extend from the drone's fingers. Ron Moore stated, " Since ILM had done the tubules for the last feature, First Contact , [Producer] Peter Lauritson set it up so that they would go ahead and give us those tubules again for the show. We added the electricity. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96)

First Contact " ( , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) The look of the Species 8472 infection that can be seen on both the infected Borg corpse and Harry Kim, while he is also stricken with the condition, was created by Greg Rainoff using Harry animation. "The idea was that they wanted to show that even though the Borg was dead, whatever these aliens had done to him was still at work," Ron Moore revealed. "Later when we see Kim in sickbay, it's the same thing. If you look closely, you'll see that these veins are growing bigger and leaning just a little bit. We wanted to tie those two [effects] together. Greg on the [Harry] actually painted them on. He would paint one vein a little longer, then do an effect to reveal it so it looked like it was growing." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96)

To depict a red nebula near the Borg colony world that is destroyed by a formation of bio-ships in the episode's conclusion, an image of the Orion Nebula – captured by the Hubble Space Telescope – was modified and composited together with the effects footage. ( Star Trek Monthly issue 31, p. 29)

issue 31, p. 29) Although Foundation Imaging worked extensively on this episode, the company had no input on the interior Borg cube matte shot in the episode's final scene. The shot used recycled footage from Star Trek: First Contact . Ron Moore remembered, " We picked some pieces out of the Borg collective that was used in the feature [film] […] We took certain frames and had them re-rendered, or re-shot by Illusion Arts so we'd have nice clean frames. All of them in the feature were moving, so they had a little bit of a [motion] blur to them. So we picked frames, had them give them to us clean without the blur, then Dan went in and painted the bridge. " Subsequently, Janeway was super-imposed into the shot, using the second-unit footage that Dan Curry had taken of actress Kate Mulgrew. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96)

The shot used recycled footage from . Ron Moore remembered, " " Subsequently, Janeway was super-imposed into the shot, using the second-unit footage that Dan Curry had taken of actress Kate Mulgrew. ( , Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96) The creation of the CGI for this episode took a total of about six weeks.

Jeri Taylor and Voyager's other producers were extremely satisfied with the visual effects of this episode. Shortly after working on Voyager's third season, Jeri Taylor said of this installment, "That was one of our experiments with computer-generated graphics. We're more and more happy with the kinds of things we're able to get with CGI, and fortunately for a price we can afford." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 113) The visual effects artists themselves were pleased with their work on this episode. Ron Moore noted, "We were very proud of it." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, No. 6/7, p. 96)

Continuity and trivia

Holographic Leonardo da Vinci

The holographic Leonardo da Vinci, following his debut appearance here, featured in the fourth season episode " Concerning Flight ". The holographic recreation of his workshop appears not only in that episode but also in the Season 4 installments " The Raven ", " Scientific Method ", and " The Omega Directive ".

". The holographic recreation of his workshop appears not only in that episode but also in the Season 4 installments " ", " ", and " ". The robot that the holographic Leonardo is working on, in this episode, is based on a real work that Leonardo created. Although the final drawings of the robot are lost (if they ever existed), preliminary sketches have been input into computer simulations that confirm that the sketches were indeed meant to be of a mechanical man. While the sketches were known of, it was not until the 1950s that a professor from the University of California realized what they were meant to be. (For more information, see Leonardo's robot at Wikipedia Lodestar's Lair.)

Lodestar's Lair.) Janeway points out to Leonardo: " Someone once said… all invention is but an extension of the body of man… " This "someone" is Marshall McLuhan, popular for his studies in media theory. One of his theses is that all media are just extensions of our Human bodies; for example, a radio is an extension of the ear and binoculars are an extension of our eyes. This theory directly relates to the character of the Borg.

" This "someone" is Marshall McLuhan, popular for his studies in media theory. One of his theses is that all media are just extensions of our Human bodies; for example, a radio is an extension of the ear and binoculars are an extension of our eyes. This theory directly relates to the character of the Borg. A few words of Italian are spoken on the holodeck. The term "Esatto" (meaning "exactly") is used twice: first by Leonardo da Vinci, upon confirming for Janeway that all he received in return for painting the Cardinal's nephew was the Cardinal's gratitude, and secondly by Janeway, when Leonardo responds to her suggestion of gliding like a hawk rather than flapping like a sparrow. In an example of Italian profanity, he finally swears, "Che cazzo!" (literally translated as "What the fuck!"), when his Arm of Hephaestus snaps a cog. The episode's script does not specify the translations of these terms, but does indicate to the reader that Leonardo's expletive is "cursing". Additionally, Leonardo addresses Kathryn Janeway using the Italian version of her first name, "Caterina".

Reception and aftermath

Home video releases

Starring

Also starring

Special guest star

Uncredited co-stars

Stunt double

Peter Lai as stunt double for Garrett Wang

Stand-ins

References

abbot; access point; Achilles; alloy; amusement; "Arm of Hephaestus, The"; Amasov; assimilation; assimilation tubule; astrophysics lab; Battle of Wolf 359; binary matrix; biological weapon; biomass; bio-ship; Borg Collective; Borg cube; Borg space; Breen; bronzetto; cardinal; Catarina; cell; cell membrane; cellular level; cellular structure; "clean bill of health"; da Vinci's Cardinal and his nephew; decompression cycle; destroyed Borg planet; Delta Quadrant; devil; disruptor beam; DNA; electrodynamic fluid; emergency power; Endeavour, USS; Enterprise-D, USS; evasive maneuvers; fear; flock; fluidic space; flying machine; goose grease; gravimetric distortions; heart; Hephaestus; Hercules; Hickman; holodeck; horse; inflection; interdimensional rift; Leonardo da Vinci's workshop; line of fire; maestro; meter; monk; nanoprobe; "Northwest Passage"; oak; organic; parable; Picard, Jean-Luc; polaron beam; prayer; premonition; Q; red alert; safe passage; Santa Croce; scudi; sedative; short range scan; skeletal lock; solar system; smiling; space; space-dwelling organism; Species 8472; Species 8472 bio-ship; square millimeter; standard greeting; starling; subspace turbulence; System D43119; tactical alert; tactical database; telepathic species; telepathy; transwarp; transporter lock; transwarp signature; traveler's inn; weapon of mass destruction; Wolf 359



