Star Trek: Voyager's Forgotten Timeline Solves An Infamous Harry Kim Problem

Garrett Wang's Ensign Harry Kim is a great Star Trek: Voyager character, and although there was an issue with his larger arc, the show did solve it at one point - even if only temporarily. Wang was part of the Star Trek: Voyager cast from the very beginning, making Ensign Kim a key figure in the journey home for the show's titular vessel.

However, Kim's professional career hits something of an unfortunate roadblock in the show, keeping him stuck at the rank of ensign throughout every season of Star Trek: Voyager. While Ensign Kim did several things in Voyager that should have earned him a promotion, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) never saw fit to give her operations officer a second rank pip.

Harry's failure to rise through the ranks on Star Trek: Voyager has become a major talking point among fans of the show. The quirk was made more prominent by the length of his service aboard the ship and the fact that other members of the crew were promoted around him. That said, Voyager did provide a glimpse of the next stage in Harry's career.

Captain Chakotay Promoted Harry Kim To Lieutenant In An Alternate Star Trek: Voyager Future

"Before & After" Shows Harry Had What It Takes

Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 21, "Before and After," is led by Jennifer Lien's Kes as she awakens in an alternate future aboard the ship, but with almost none of her memories. So, she assumes everything she sees is just always the way they've been, but the episode goes on to reveal that this isn't the case.

The future that Kes is experiencing isn't a true extrapolation of Star Trek's prime timeline. When she awakes, she's actually at a point in an alternate reality beyond the date that Voyager would eventually return to Earth, only the ship is still stranded in the Delta Quadrant. As such, a great deal is different from what the show would go on to reveal in later seasons.

One of the biggest variances is that Captain Janeway was killed in action during the Year of Hell - a tumultuous period that would become a major part of Star Trek: Voyager season 4. In season 3's Year of Hell, Janeway didn't survive the prolonged encounter with the Krenim, so Chakotay (Robert Beltran) inherited the captain's chair.

The ship's forced change in leadership meant other promotions happened as well, including Harry Kim. Wang's character can be seen wearing a lieutenant's rank insignia throughout Kes' temporal adventures in "Before and After." So, Captain Chakotay clearly gave Kim the promotion that the late Janeway hadn't.

Harry Kim Was Probably Given More Promotions As This Star Trek: Voyager Timeline Progressed

Lt. Commander Kim Was A Real Possibility

The future witnessed in "Before and After" shares similarities with the version of the timeline that would return to prominence, but there are also countless differences between the two. For example, Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine is not among the crew in "Before and After," when she would have been aboard for years by this point in the Prime Timeline.

Seven's contributions to the crew altered Voyager's fate significantly, so it makes sense that her absence would have a huge impact. The fallout of these various divergences could easily mean that Voyager never reached Earth, or that the ship took a lot longer to do so. So, Lt. Kim probably became more and more senior over time.

The Harsh Reality Of Why Chakotay Promoted Harry Kim In Star Trek: Voyager's "Before And After"

Captain Chakotay Needed Replacements After The Year Of Hell

The Year of Hell and how it all unfolded seems to be the biggest factor in how the various timelines in "Before and After" panned out. Kes' return from the alternate future with information on the Krenim went on to be instrumental in her own time, while the Year of Hell that happened without that intel took an even bigger toll.

Losing Janeway, B'Elanna (Roxann Dawson), and other members of the crew during the Year of Hell is ultimately what caused Chakotay to become Voyager's new captain. In turn, Chakotay promoted Harry. In Voyager season 4, Janeway's sacrifice scrubs the entire Year of Hell from existence, even restoring her own life in the process.

So, Janeway was never required to promote Harry because she never needed another lieutenant. Sadly, Captain Chakotay was left short on senior officers, which explains why Harry was promoted. On the other hand, with Lt. Kim existing in a time beyond Voyager's original homecoming date, Harry's extended service could also account for his promotion.

In other words, if Voyager had been stuck in the Delta Quadrant for longer than seven years, Janeway may have eventually found it necessary to promote from within, and Harry would have been next in line. When viewed this way, it becomes especially obvious that room for advancement abord Voyager was very limited due to the ship's circumstances.

Harry Kim Had Other Unofficial Star Trek Promotions

Even A Captain Kim Has Appeared On-Screen

"Before and After" isn't the only Star Trek: Voyager episode that shows Harry wearing a rank insignia beyond ensign. Other alternate timelines have also revealed he has been promoted, but not usually within the confines of the seven-year period that Voyager originally spent in the Delta Quadrant.

By the end of each respective episode where this happens, Star Trek's Prime Timeline is restored and Harry is back to being an ensign again, stranded a huge distance from his homeworld. Harry Prime hasn't appeared in Star Trek since Voyager's finale, but other versions of the character have shown up.

In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 9, "Fissure Quest," Wang returns to the franchise to voice many multiversal counterparts to his original character. While most are still ensigns, a phenomenon that's heavily referenced, one has finally reached the rank of luietenant.

"Fissure Quest" humorously implies that Janeway was right to never promote Harry, as the Lt. Kim in Lower Decks goes on to become a surprisingly good villain. Of course, Kim is Starfleet through and through, so I heavily doubt the version of Harry we know and love from Star Trek: Voyager would ever go down this path.