Though itsreception remains mixed to this day, there’s no denying that the premise ofStar Trek: Voyageris unique within the franchise. The titular ship is stranded in the Delta quadrant, and must make the arduous journey home. Under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway, the ship encounters previously unknown species, fends off the fearsome Borg, and more.
But for Voyager to end up in the Delta quadrant in the first place, it had to be transported over 70,000 light yearsfrom Federation space, which required technology far beyond anything Starfleet had. That technology lay in the hands of the Caretaker, the alien being responsible for bringing not only Voyager, but several other ships, to the Delta quadrant against their will. Who was this being, and what did he want with Voyager’s crew?
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How Was Voyager Transported To The Delta Quadrant?
The show’s first episode, “Caretaker,” opens with Voyager chasing a shipbelonging to Maquis rebels, which disappeared in an area known as the Badlands. Surrounded by plasma storms, Voyager is hit by a mysterious force that causes massive damage. With several crewmembers dead, they find that they are somehow 70,000 light years away from their previous position. The Maquis ship that disappeared is close by. The only clue is a strange array, floating in space before them.
As they tend their injuries and damage, the crew is suddenly transported inside the array, where they find themselves ina holographic simulationof a gathering on a farm. Exploring the environment, they stumble onto a strange medical bay, at which point the holograms in the simulation knock them out.
The crew wakes up, somehow back on Voyager — but Ensign Harry Kim is missing. Hailing the Maquis, Janeway discovers that they are missing a crew member as well,half-Klingon B’Elanna Torres. Janeway and the Maquis commander, Chakotay, form an alliance to track down their missing people. The first step is to revisit the array and gather information.
The simulation is still active, but the only person remaining is an old man with a banjo, sitting on a bench. He’s almost annoyed to see them having returned, and speaks cryptically when Janeway questions him. He insists that he cannot return those he captured, repeating “There’s no time.” He tells Janeway and the others: “You don’t have what I need, but they might,” and transports them back to Voyager.
The Caretaker and the Ocampa
Meanwhile, Harry and B’Elanna wake up in a hospital in a subterranean city. The inhabitants introduce themselves as the Ocampa, and explain that an entity they call the Caretaker has watched over them for hundreds of generations. Whenenvironmental disaster struck their planet, the Caretaker led them to their new home. He provides them with food, water, and power, though he never communicates directly. Recently, he has been sending alien people to the Ocampa — all of whom have the same mysterious illness which has also taken hold of Harry and B’Elanna.
Though it’s not stated outright, it’s clear that the Ocampa hold the Caretaker in the same reverence as a deity. The elders among the Ocampa dedicate themselves to interpreting the Caretaker’s wishes, and those who oppose the Caretaker’s supposed “plan” are chastised and disciplined. Essentially, those who go against the Caretaker’s will are branded as heretics — and the audience meets one such Ocampa shortly.
The Caretaker’s Dissenters
Janeway enlists the help of a scavenger named Neelix, who uses Voyager’s resources to rescue his Ocampan girlfriend Kes from the hostile Kazon. BetweenKes and Neelix, Janeway learns about the Caretaker and his abductions. Recalling the words of the old man in the array, it is clear that he is this Caretaker, but his goals and what he “needs” from Harry and B’Elanna remain unclear.
Kes takes the captain and her team into the city. There, she confronts one of the elders, defending her heretical views. Kes resents how dependent her people have become on their distant god, diminishing their telepathic abilities and preventing them from thinking for themselves. That’s why she went to the surface, and that’s why she’s determined to help the captives break free. But just as they find Harry and B’Elanna, weapon strikes from the array begin to hit the planet, sealing off the conduits to the Ocampan city. It’s a close call, but everyone manages to make it back to Voyager.
But all is not over yet. The array is still firing its weapons, and nowthe hostile Kazonare closing in to take the array and its technology for themselves. Knowing that the array is the only way home, Janeway beams back over. She finds the old man with his banjo once more, and finally gets the full story.
The Caretaker’s Story
The Caretaker reveals that he is a being from a distant galaxy, who came across the Ocampan world on a mission of exploration. However, his people’s technology proved destructive, resulting in the environmental cataclysm that rendered the surface barely habitable. The Caretaker and one other were chosen to stay behind and look after the Ocampa, but his partner abandoned him long ago. The Caretaker refers to “a debt that can never be repaid”: he can never make up for destroying the Ocampa’s home world, but the best he could do was try to keep them safe.
But now, the Caretaker is dying. After his death, he can no longer provide the Ocampa with resources. He reveals that B’Elanna and Harry were not inflicted with an illness; rather, their condition was a result of their bodies rejecting his genetic code. In an attempt to procreate, the Caretaker has been implanting his DNA in those he abducts, before sending them to the Ocampa. Among the people on Voyager and the Maquis ship, only the two of them could potentially host his offspring. But like all his previous attempts, this one failed. The Caretaker has no successor, and he believes that the Ocampa are doomed without him.
Janeway has a heart-to-heart with the Caretaker,echoing Kes' sentimentsabout the Ocampa’s right to freedom — but appealing to his compassion for them as well. She tells him that children need to grow up, to learn to fend for themselves. He takes her words to heart, but has one last request. If the Kazon take control of the array, as they are attempting to do, they will wipe out the Ocampa. His children will never have the chance to make it on their own. As he dies, the Caretaker begs Janeway to destroy the array, preventing the Ocampa from subjugation by a much crueler master.
It’s not an easy decision. Janeway must either surrender a race of innocent people to their enemies, or destroy her crew’s route home. Her security officer Tuvok suggests thatthe Prime Directive would dictate that they do not interfere, but Janeway can’t stand by. They’re already involved in events here, willingly or not. And so with Voyager’s weapons, she destroys the Caretaker’s array, fulfilling his dying wish and stranding her crew 75 years from home.
Is The Caretaker A Villain?
The Caretaker was a god to the Ocampa. Some saw him as a benefactor; others, as an oppressor. It would beeasy to perceive him as cruel: he abducted and killed hundreds, using sentient beings as lab rats. But the Caretaker’s drastic measures were those of desperate man. He was desperate to atone for something he felt was unforgivable; desperate to protect the people in his care. But as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
MostStar Trekviewers remember the Caretaker as the one responsible for stranding Voyager in the Delta quadrant, but there’s more to him than that. Just like the main characters ofStar Trek, he too was an explorer. He, too, sought out new worlds. And when disaster struck, he did his best to take responsibility. But once he’s gone, it’s time for the Ocampa to take care of themselves — and for Voyager to find its own way home.
