What Seven Of Nine's Role On Star Trek's USS Voyager Actually Was

From a production standpoint, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was brought in to the Star Trek: Voyager cast to increase the show's flagging ratings, but she also had actual responsibilities on board the USS Voyager. Seven wasn't required to have a defined role because she wasn't actually in Starfleet at the time and held no rank on the USS Voyager. But it was hard to overcome Seven of Nine's past as a Borg drone because the character fulfilled certain objectives in service of the Collective and needed to feel equally useful aboard the USS Voyager.

Instead of taking orders directly from Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Seven of Nine acted more or less autonomously. While this didn't go over well with some of the other officers—namely Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson)—Seven of Nine eventually learned how to work with other people. As part of the USS Voyager crew, Seven was valuable for the talents, skills, and knowledge that she had assimilated as part of the Borg Collective and still retained even after being severed from the Collective.

Seven Of Nine’s Duties On USS Voyager Explained

Seven Of Nine Was Essentially Voyager's Science Officer

In the broadest of strokes, Seven of Nine was the closest thing that Captain Janeway had to a dedicated Science Officer. Shortly after being severed from the Collective, Seven and Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) upgraded the USS Voyager with a new Astrometrics lab. Seven of Nine spent most of her time in Astrometrics, where she observed and analyzed data collected by Voyager's sensors. Seven's position in Astrometrics meant that she was often the first one to spot potential solutions, like the abandoned Hirogen communications relay that eventually connected Voyager with the Alpha Quadrant in Star Trek: Voyager season 4.

Because Seven of Nine operated under the Borg objective of efficiency, Seven undertook scientific projects that she believed would help the USS Voyager operate more smoothly, with or without approval from Janeway or Voyager's department heads. Seven's early ideas to make the USS Voyager work more like a Borg Cube put her in bad standing with Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres, whether Seven's Engineering attempts succeeded or not. Ops Officer Harry Kim and the Doctor (Robert Picardo) were more open to Seven's suggestions, leading to the construction of Astrometrics and the medical use of Borg nanoprobes.

Seven Of Nine's Borg Knowledge Helped The USS Voyager Crew

Seven Replaced Neelix As Voyager's Delta Quadrant Guide

Seven of Nine was, naturally, the crew member called upon to help whenever the USS Voyager crew came across a problem that involved the Borg. Seven understood how the Borg operated from both philosophical and technological perspectives, which made her instrumental to Voyager successfully crossing Borg space. Seven outfitted Voyager with more Borg technology, like the transwarp coil that let the USS Voyager access Borg transwarp corridors to cut time off of their long journey in the Voyager season 5 two-parter "Dark Frontier". As part of a team, Seven also lent Borg technology to the construction of Voyager's Delta Flyer.

Being part of the Borg Collective at one point meant Seven of Nine had knowledge about the Delta Quadrant that Starfleet did not have. Information about potential resources and unfamiliar Delta Quadrant species, like Species 8472, was incredibly valuable. Once the USS Voyager reached a part of space that Neelix (Ethan Phillips) also wasn't familiar with, Seven of Nine became the crew's new unofficial guide through the Delta Quadrant. While Neelix based his information on a colorful combination of rumors and personal experience, Seven's Delta Quadrant data was clinically filtered through a Borg lens of theoretically objective fact.

How Star Trek: Voyager Prepared Seven Of Nine To Become A Starfleet Captain

Seven Of Nine Learned Leadership And Independence On The USS Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager prepared Seven of Nine to become a Starfleet Captain two decades later in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Seven of Nine had a protective leadership style like Captain Janeway's on Voyager, which Seven learned from looking after the USS Voyager's youngest passengers. Seven's surprising friendship with Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers) paved the way for her also taking responsibility for Voyager's four ex-Borg children in season 6. Teaching and parenting the USS Voyager's kids was Seven's first taste of actual leadership because she had to learn how to make allowances for differences in individuals' expressions and different needs.

Seven had no qualms about arguing with Captain Janeway as a makeshift First Officer. While Chakotay represented the crew's well-being as Janeway's actual First Officer, the character offered efficient, practical solutions, even (or especially) when Seven's ideas didn't exactly mesh with Janeway's Starfleet values. Seven's fearlessness in confronting Captain Janeway prepared her to become First Officer to Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) on the USS Titan-A in Star Trek: Picard and Captain of the USS Enterprise-G. Even if Seven of Nine didn't join Starfleet in Star Trek: Voyager, her duties on Janeway's starship were a solid basis for her later Starfleet career.