Star Trek: Voyager's Borg episodes are a mixed lot, with some being considered some of Star Trek: Voyager's best episodes and others missing the mark. After getting lost in the Delta Quadrant, it was only a matter of time before Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the USS Voyager crew encountered the Borg in Star Trek: Voyager. The Borg had originated in the Delta Quadrant, so Voyager would need to cross through Borg space in order to make their way back home to the Alpha Quadrant. After Star Trek: Voyager season 4, Captain Janeway ran into the Borg on a semi-regular basis.
Although Star Trek: Voyager is often blamed for defanging the Borg as a credible Star Trek villain, Voyager's best Borg episodes offer more insight as to what makes the Borg tick. New information about the previously inscrutable Borg usually comes courtesy of the USS Voyager's resident ex-Borg, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Seven's personal journey to individuality plays a big role in defining who and what Star Trek: Voyager's Borg are, nearly as much as Captain Janeway's tenuous deal with the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson, Alice Krige). Better Borg episodes reveal Janeway and Seven as characters through dynamic storytelling; lesser ones contribute to the Borg's reputation as weaker.
8 "Unimatrix Zero, Parts 1 & 2"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 6, Episode 26 & Season 7, Episode 1
Star Trek: Voyager's season 6 finale & season 7 premiere, "Unimatrix Zero", is a weird entry among Voyager's Borg episodes. Unimatrix Zero itself is a virtual reality where some Borg drones experience their former lives as they regenerate. This is a potentially interesting, but underdeveloped, addition to Voyager's Borg lore that accidentally robs Seven of Nine's agency again, since Seven was never aware she was living a double life as a very human Annika Hansen in Unimatrix Zero.
Besides putting Seven in an awkward position, "Unimatrix Zero" mischaracterizes Captain Janeway, ignoring the priority of keeping Voyager's crew safe. Using Unimatrix Zero to covertly attack the Borg Queen, as Janeway plans, risks the lives of innocents: the people who have used Unimatrix Zero as a refuge from their waking lives as drones, and Voyager crew members, who must be assimilated.
7 "Collective"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 6, Episode 16
Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 16, "Collective", introduces a small collective of young Borg children on a not-so-abandoned Borg cube that they've been calling home since their separation from the greater Borg Collective. Seven of Nine sees herself reflected in these kids, so she wants to take personal responsibility for their growth and development. The Borg kids have to be convinced to leave their cube, Captain Janeway has to be convinced to take the children on, and the audience has to be convinced to like the Borg kids.
Star Trek: Picard season 1, episode 5, "Stardust City Rag" shows a series of flashbacks with Seven of Nine's parental relationship continuing into Icheb's adulthood. After attending Starfleet Academy, Icheb's life was unfortunately cut short when scavengers opted to take highly sought-after Borg parts from Icheb as a living specimen.
Most of the Borg children are somewhat forgettable and blend into the background as Naomi Wildman's (Scarlet Pomers) new friends, but Icheb (Manu Intiraymi), stands out among the group of Voyager's Borg kids as a smart, but conflicted young man trying to find his place. As Seven of Nine's star protégé and surrogate son, Icheb eventually becomes a recurring Star Trek: Voyager character.
6 "Unity"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 17
Before Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) properly encounter the Borg Collective, Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 17, "Unity", teases that the Borg are definitely on the USS Voyager's horizon. Chakotay is rescued by a Borg Cooperative of former drones who originated in the Alpha Quadrant before their links to the Collective were severed. The Cooperative represents a way that the Borg hive mind could potentially benefit the individuals within it, but it's not all rosy, since Chakotay is still assimilated into the Cooperative against his will.
While Star Trek: Voyager isn't known for being particularly linear, the Borg Cooperative in "Unity" effectively lays the groundwork for Seven of Nine's eventual liberation from the Collective in Star Trek: Voyager season 4. "Unity" is also one of Chakotay's better Star Trek: Voyager episodes, giving Chakotay believable motives and a proper Star Trek moral conflict to ponder.
5 "Drone"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 2
In Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 2, "Drone", the transporter accidentally fuses Seven of Nine's Borg nanoprobes with the Doctor's (Robert Picardo) 29th-century mobile emitter. With DNA samples from Lieutenant Mulcahy (Todd Babcock), the resulting technology creates a rapidly-growing 29th century Borg drone, who comes to be known as One (J. Paul Boehmer). One's wide-eyed wonder as a brand-new individual is charming, but One's inherent Borg programming contains a predictable threat: a beacon drawing the Borg ever closer to the USS Voyager.
Of course, Star Trek: Voyager must maintain its status quo, so One is a one-episode wonder who sacrifices himself for the greater good. Seven of Nine's emotive "you must comply" pleas with One to receive treatment are no match for the power of Voyager's reset button, however, and One is never mentioned again.
4 "Dark Frontier"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episodes 15 & 16
Originally presented as a 2-hour Star Trek: Voyager movie, "Dark Frontier" works as a character study that examines how Seven of Nine relates to the Borg and to her own humanity against the backdrop of two action-packed heists. The first mission to retrieve a transwarp conduit from a derelict Borg Sphere directly leads into the second, after Seven of Nine agrees to be recaptured by the Borg in exchange for the Borg Queen sparing the lives of Voyager's crew.
Ultimately, "Dark Frontier" shows just how far Seven has come in the short time she's been on Voyager.
"Dark Frontier" seems intended to stand on its own as a Star Trek: Voyager feature, since a lot of exposition in "Dark Frontier" is rehashed from earlier Voyager episodes. That retread almost doesn't matter, however, since "Dark Frontier" capably reminds audiences of relevant information amid the high tension of the Voyager crew fighting the Borg Queen for Seven of Nine's life. Ultimately, "Dark Frontier" shows just how far Seven has come in the short time she's been on Voyager, and how willing Janeway is to fight for Seven.
3 "The Raven"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 6
Not long into Seven of Nine's tenure in Star Trek: Voyager, Seven follows a Borg homing beacon to the SS Raven, the starship that Seven of Nine's human family, the Hansens, commanded on their quest to learn more about the Borg. Over the course of "The Raven", Seven's history unfolds through flashbacks and dreams that are rife with poignant symbolism connecting Seven of Nine's present on Voyager to Seven's past as Annika Hansen.
"The Raven" is a quieter Star Trek: Voyager mystery that pulls Seven of Nine in two directions, with the Borg homing beacon quite literally calling Seven back to the only home she ever truly knew, and Voyager representing Seven of Nine's rebirth. Just a few episodes earlier, Seven of Nine would have jumped at the chance to return to the Collective. "The Raven" confirms that Seven of Nine really does choose to stay on Voyager and rediscover her humanity of her own free will, while also revealing an emotional backstory that reveals Seven of Nine as a sympathetic character.
2 "Endgame"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episodes 25 & 26
Star Trek: Voyager's series finale features an epic showdown between Admiral Kathryn Janeway from the future and the Borg Queen (Alice Krige). Admiral Janeway's been ruminating on how to defeat the Borg ever since her USS Voyager returned home after more than 2 decades in the Delta Quadrant. Equipped with knowledge and anti-Borg armaments that were developed in the intervening years, Admiral Janeway travels back in time, knowing this one-way trip to the past will help a younger Captain Janeway avoid certain tragedies.
Admiral Janeway takes the Borg down with her, so Captain Janeway can use the Borg's transwarp conduit hub to get back to the Alpha Quadrant before Captain Janeway destroys the hub. Thanks to Admiral Janeway's sacrifice, present-day Captain Janeway and the USS Voyager crew experience a new, refreshingly Borg-lite timeline with far fewer casualties on a much shorter trip back home.
1 "Scorpion", Parts 1 & 2
Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, episode 26 & Season 4, Episode 1
The USS Voyager's introduction to Borg space remains the best of Star Trek: Voyager's Borg episodes. Captain Janeway willingly goes into the metaphorical belly of the beast and fearlessly confronts the Borg as an equal, in stark contrast to the fear and vengeance that Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) held onto after his own assimilation into Locutus. Janeway's thesis statement for the remainder of Star Trek: Voyager's Borg episodes is neatly encapsulated in the deal Janeway makes with the Borg: Captain Janeway will see her people home safely, no matter what else is at stake.
Though the Borg discard Seven of Nine after the deal is complete, Janeway aggressively accepts Seven.
The introduction and subsequent liberation of Seven of Nine in "Scorpion, Part 2" is another testament to Captain Janeway's tenacity. Janeway's knowledge of Locutus as speaker for the Borg keeps Voyager's crew from being assimilated, since Janeway specifically requests a representative from the Collective to broker the deal on more human terms, inefficient though they may be. Though the Borg discard Seven of Nine after the deal is complete, Janeway aggressively accepts Seven, kicking off a fascinating relationship between Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine.
The Borg episodes of Star Trek: Voyager can be counted among some of the series' highest and lowest points. Seeing the Borg through Seven of Nine's experiences meant the Borg weren't the unbeatable force of nature that they had been in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but could theoretically be reasoned with. Janeway's initial cooperative deal with the Borg turned sour as the Borg reneged on their part, so Janeway's Federation goodwill turned into an understandable vendetta. As one of Captain Janeway's greatest enemies, the Borg's massive impact on the way that Star Trek: Voyager played out in its later seasons cannot be understated.
