The Best Star Trek Voyager Episode Gets Most Important Detail Wrong
Star Trek: Voyager was (like TNG and DS9 before it) hit or miss in those early seasons, but the third season finale “Scorpion” proved to be a major hit. This was the ep that brought the Borg back in a big way, brought in an even scarier foe in the form of Species 8472, and brought us the fan-favorite new character Seven of Nine. In retrospect, there’s only one thing wrong with an otherwise perfect Voyager episode: Chakotay gets the ancient parable it was named after completely wrong.
Scorpion
After the opening credits to this Star Trek: Voyager episode, we are greeting with its mysterious, one-word title: “Scorpion.” It’s not clear what this is in reference to until Chakotay does his usual thing and brings up an ancient parable. In this case, the parable is meant to teach Janeway about the dangers of trusting the Borg.
A Deal With The Borg
The crux of this episode is that Voyager is finally entering into the heart of Borg space and would potentially be in constant danger. Soon after, they discover the Borg are getting their bionic butts kicked by a new villain: Species 8472. When Voyager figures out how to defeat these bad guys, Janeway decides to share the info with the Borg, making a temporary alliance so her crew can safely travel in this region of space.
The Nature Of The Borg
Chakotay serves as the voice of reason in this Star Trek: Voyager episode (never a good sign) and begins telling Janeway about the parable of the scorpion and the fox. It’s the story of a scorpion who rides a fox’s back across a river, though the fox has misgivings about trusting someone as dangerous as the scorpion. Halfway to their destination, the scorpion strikes and dooms them both, with the fox learning his final lesson: that the scorpion will always be true to his nature, even if it gets him killed.
In the context of this Star Trek: Voyager ep, the scorpion is (you guessed it) the Borg. Janeway believes the fact that she has the only way for the Borg to defeat their new foe will be enough to help her crew avoid assimilation. Chakotay, however, believes the Borg will always be true to their nature and that it is dangerous folly to assume they would turn a new leaf even if assimilating would endanger their own survival.
Chakotay Changes The Critter
The parable certainly makes sense, both as general wisdom and in the context of the episode. What’s the problem, then? For reasons nobody has quite figured out, Chakotay ended up changing one of the animals in this parable.
The original parable (which you might very well have learned about growing up) involves a scorpion and a frog (arguably an animal better suited to offer rides across the water). Some people mistakenly think that this is one of Aesop’s animal fables, but that’s not true–in literature, its earlier reference comes from the 1933 Russian novel The German Quarter by Lev Nitoburg. Film lovers mostly know this fable because it appears in the 1955 movie Mr. Arkadin and is given as a soliloquy by no less than Orson Welles.
Voyager Never Got Its Native America Stories Right
In other words, the parable is one that people around the world have been repeating for decades, but the Star Trek: Voyager writers decided to change the animal the scorpion strikes for reasons unknown. In a series filled with Chakotay getting one Native American fact after another completely wrong, the character giving the wrong animal for an ancient parable he lives by is (sadly enough) par for the course.
