Star Trek: Voyager season 4 finally proved how hypocritical Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) was in her decision to end the life of Tuvix (Tom Wright) in season 2. As the lead among Voyager’s cast of characters and the Captain of the USS Voyager, Janeway often had to make hard decisions, usually for the greater good. These included getting her crew permanently stranded in the Delta Quadrant to uphold the Prime Directive in Voyager’s pilot episode, “Caretaker,” but destroying the Caretaker’s array wasn’t the most controversial decision Janeway made during Voyager’s run.
During the season 2 episode “Tuvix,” Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Neelix (Ethan Phillips) were spliced together into one being due to a transporter accident. While Tuvix was a sentient being who wished to continue living, Janeway forced him to be separated back into Tuvok and Neelix to save both their lives. Janeway’s decision continues to be extremely divisive even decades after the episode, with audiences split on whether she made the right choice. However, one season 4 episode of Voyager showed that Janeway herself may have changed her tune on the topic.
Captain Janeway’s Tuvix Hypocrisy Was Proven In Star Trek: Voyager Season 4
Janeway made a different decision in a similar situation to Tuvix in Voyager season 4
In Voyager season 4, episode 16, “Prey,” Janeway made the opposite decision she did in “Tuvix” with an injured member of Species 8472, who was being hunted by a Hirogen. When speaking to Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), who was in favor of letting the Hirogen capture and kill Species 8472 so that they wouldn’t attack the USS Voyager, Janeway stated that Starfleet crews didn’t sacrifice another life just to save themselves. However, sacrificing a life to save two of her crew members was exactly what Janeway did to Tuvix in season 2.
The season 4 storyline may have been a chance to show the moral differences between Janeway and Seven, but that didn’t make the Captain’s decisions right in either circumstance.
It is possible that the decision to kill Tuvix haunted Janeway, and changed her opinion about what kind of sacrifice was and wasn’t acceptable. However, Janeway showed very little remorse at the time of Tuvix’s death and displayed no indication that she felt she had made the wrong decision since. Saving a member of Species 8472, a race that was an enemy of Voyager’s crew, under similar circumstances, highlighted Janeway’s hypocrisy. The season 4 storyline may have been a chance to show the moral differences between Janeway and Seven, but that didn’t make the Captain’s decisions right in either circumstance.
Why Captain Janeway’s Tuvix Decision On Star Trek: Voyager Is Still So Controversial
Tuvix and Janeway’s choice continues to ripple throughout the franchise
Janeway’s choice to kill Tuvix is perhaps one of the most hotly debated storylines from Star Trek: Voyager and has continued to ripple out into other parts of the franchise. Many people who think Janeway’s decision was wrong cite the fact that Tuvix was a sentient being and that Janeway essentially murdered him to get her friends back. While it’s unlikely that Voyager’s creative team could have found a compelling reason to keep Tuvix around, the argument holds merit, especially when looked at with the scene where Tuvix begged for his life at the end of the episode.
However, many people including Tuvix actor Tom Wright have pointed out that Tuvix couldn’t have stayed on Voyager for practical reasons. Losing Neelix and Tuvok from Voyager’s cast would have been too big a blow, and finding a way to have all three of them exist would have been narratively complicated. The Star Trek franchise has continued to acknowledge Tuvix’s importance, however, especially in modern shows like Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks. Lower Decks even had a full Star Trek: Voyager tribute episode called “Twovix,” which rehashed the debate about Janeway’s decision in a more humorous light.