Out with the old, in with the new?
Jennifer didn't even know she was "Being Replaced" with a Borg until she got the script for this episode. I can't forgive Berman for this, I never have. But then again I never knew this until recently, at the time, sure I was very disappointed.
Voyager could have and should have kept both characters, even if one of them was only a recurring character, like Icheb in the last 2 seasons. But poor Jennifer was so heartbroken she quit acting, actually went on to become a real Doctor in Real Life.
On the other Drone Arm-attachment, this episode carves out Seven-of- Sixty-Nine's transformation from Borg Drone to Quasi-Human.
I never really considered Seven as a regular Drone, her first appearance was from a special chamber in The Center of The Cube. It was as if she had been stowed there by The Queen for a special purpose.
We think of "The Queen" as an Individual, we have to remember her voice is the ONE voice of The Borg, so whatever she says is what The Collective is saying, down to the last Drone. So my hypothesis is that Seven was being groomed to become a third Queen. We've seen the Alpha Queen, Alice Krige and the Beta Queen, Susanna Thompson. Had Seven stayed with The Collective, and her Cube not vaporized by Species 857- 6309, maybe she would become the Delta Queen. She is HUMAN, and The Borg had taken quite an interest in Humans, even recruiting a Borg King, Locutus.
And we know that Picard had kept his connection to The Borg even years after his encounter.
So The Borg had given Voyager quite a Gift. If you consider this, the title of this Episode takes on a double meaning. Maybe even on some level, The Collective Gave Voyager Seven to help them get through the Delta Quadrant. Otherwise, Voyager would have been Assimilated.
So Janeway gets right to work on Seven after The Doc takes out much of her Implants.
Meanwhile, Kes is developing some startling Kinetic Powers due to her interaction with Species 857-6309. We saw some of this when Kes came into contact with the Ocampa in the Second Caretaker's Array, but it didn't hold. But now, it is all coming back to her, and she can even reach into Seven's Brain and remove a failing Nano-Implant.
She can look down into Matter and see the Quantum beneath the Quantum, or look up at the stars and see the Quantum Above our Quantum. Infinity means just that, there have to be Quantum states below the ones we can now detect, or above our plane of existence. Otherwise, the word "Infinity" means nothing.
But it is too much for her to control, if she stays on the ship, she could destroy it.
Kes Gift to Voyager was a 10,000 light year ride across Borg Space, The Borg's gift to Voyager was Seven.
At least this is what I thought when I finally saw Seven, all "Gussied Up" to look like a Human, standing next to her Alcove in Cargo bay 2. At least she had Great Implants.
What possible use have the Borg for any Human Sexual Traits anyway? When we first saw them and as described by Q, "Not a man, not a woman". The Borg use another means for reproduction, even re-creating various Individuals. We know that the Alice Queen was seen in three places, the Susanna Queen on at least two, and in the end we had the Alice Queen to Herald Voyager's Exit from the Delta Quadrant.
And at least an episode was written later to have Kes return to Ocampa, even though she had aged too rapidly and became a Bag Lady. But I consider that as the effect of Kes harboring the mind of The Warlord- See the 3rd Season Episode "Warlord". His anger is what burned her up and made her age, and after that anger was diffused, maybe the aging effect stopped. But we never got to see that. But it is a viable explanation, as Tuvok told Kes that the effects of her "adoption" by the Warlord could not be calculated.
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