"23 years in the delta quadrant"

[The_Baroness]

That's what's said in Endgame. Voyager returned home after 23 years in the Delta Quadrant.

Not "23 years missing" or "23 years total journey"

23 years, just in the Delta Quadrant. After they left the Delta Quadrant they had a chunk of the Beta to cross and a great deal of the unexplored Alpha.

Were they gone for 23 years, or did they have another 5-10 years actually getting into Federation space??

 

[Finn]

If it wasn't for Admiral Janeway, they would have ran into an one-way spatial anomaly that threw them deeper inside the Delta Quadrant where they had to transverse Borg Space again.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

If they traveled the entire way from the Caretaker's array to home, it would have been 70 + years. WIth the shotcuts they already hit, (Kes, the Slipstream drive, the transwarp node, the catapult etc) they already cut a couple decades from their trip before Admiral Janeway even showed up.

SInce it only took 23 years to get home the "first" time, one would suspect they finally hit a real shortcut that hopped them the last 35 years. Perhaps that shortcut skirted the Beta quadrant completely.

 

[Finn]

^except they should have been entering the Beta Quadrant. They were well less than 34,000 light years from home by the time of Endgame, and it is well accepted throughout the trekdom that the Sol System is right on the border of the Alpha/Beta Quadrants even though I'm not sure there is an actual canon evidence.

 

[MacLeod]

The BQ, was just another one of those things the writers paid little to no attention to. The show was set in the DQ heaven forbid you confuse viewers by saying they are now in the BQ. I think it is clear what the line was meant to mean is that the journey originally took 23 years.

 

[at Quark's]

The entire journey was 23 years, and not much more. There are strong indications for this in the script.
They were "23 years in the Delta quadrant", and the episode starts with the 10th anniversary of their return. Slightly later in that same timeline, they have that voyager reunion, where the EMH shows his bride, and they tell Tom they got married 2 weeks ago.

EMH: I decided I couldn't get married without a name.
PARIS: It took you thirty three years to come up with Joe?

And we know the Doctor has been looking for a name from early season 1.

So there are no years 'missing'. Either they spent 23 years in the DQ and then found a fast way home, or the '23 years in the DQ' line must be taken to mean that the entire journey lasted 23 years (even though the last years may have been spent in the BQ).

I do wonder though how they got home eventually in that original timeline, but that's something we'll probably never know for sure (I don't consider literature 'canon'). Might still have been one of those Borg transwarp hubs, as admiral Janeway seems to have rather precise information on the Borg.

 

[MacLeod]

But isn't the point given all the jumps they had they should have been nearing the BQ at least by the end of the show and some would say should already be in it. So it would be 7 years in the DQ, 16 years in the BQ. It's almost as if the writers forgot about the fact that VOY would have to traverse the BQ as well.

 

[StewMc]

A galactic map in Endgame puts the Borg transwarp hub very near the border with the BQ, doubt it would have taken them another 16 years to travel that far (more like 3-4?), so I agree the line just means that the journey took 23 years.

http://voy.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/7x25-26/endgame_0915.jpg

(The quadrants are labelled in the map, although a little hard to read)

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ Hmm... interestingly, none of those conduits actually end in the Alpha Quadrant. I thought they rode one of those conduits back to Earth at the end of the episode?

And I agree that the journey took 23 years in total:

BARCLAY: May I have everyone's attention, please. Ten years ago tonight, this crew returned home from the longest away mission in Starfleet's history. Twenty three years together made you a family, one I'm proud to have been adopted by. Let's raise our glasses to the journey.

The "twenty-three years in the Delta Quadrant" line was spoken by a newscaster of some sort. It's reassuring to know that they aren't any more accurate in the 24th century than they are in the 21st...

 

[StewMc]

^ Hmm... interestingly, none of those conduits actually end in the Alpha Quadrant. I thought they rode one of those conduits back to Earth at the end of the episode?

I think the screencap was taken mid-animation, the next one on TrekCore has more conduits on it: http://voy.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/7x25-26/endgame_0916.jpg including one which goes to the Alpha
/Beta border.

 

[retroenzo]

Just out of interest, would the journey to the Gamma Quadrant's wormhole be any shorter? I have wondered all along why they didn't head for the wormhole instead.

 

[Finn]

There was no guarantee they would be able to use it. Remember, the wormhole was either blocked or closed several times during DS9's run, especially its last few seasons. Starfleet was still not used with wormholes being dependable when Voyager first left DS9.

Also, Dominion was a new enemy when Voyager first left. Janeway may have thought Starfleet may had to destroy the wormhole like the Romulans tried once....

Before you ask if Janeway could have known... The Search two-parter happened on Stardates 40512-447, which clearly happens a bit while after The Jem'Hadar as Sisko had left to get the Defiant.
The Caretaker was on Stardate 48315.6. Janeway would have absolutely known, especially the destruction of a Galaxy-class starship in the Gamma Quadrant.

 

[at Quark's]

^That, and If this map is somewhat accurate, it wouldn't even have been shorter.

Also, suppose you have to choose as a captain.

"OK crew, we can either try to fly directly to Earth. That will take us 70 years, but at least we're heading in the right direction, and who knows, along the way we can perhaps find some way to speed up our journey... OR we can head to the far location of the Bajoran wormhole, which is perhaps 65 years. We won't actually get significantly closer to Earth until we can make that last magical jump, we don't know for sure if the other end will still be there, and even if it is there, if we can gain access to it. Other factors considered should be about the same (unfamiliar territory, potential discoveries along the way that can perhaps speed up our journey)".

Which choice would you think would be better for crew morale during that 65 or 70 year trip ?

 

[retroenzo]

Fair enough. I had the Delta and Gamma quadrants the wrong way around in my mind so I did wonder if they could still be on course for Federation space but visit the wormhole on the way.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Also, at the time the Dominion would have JUST been encountered, and Janeway would have been briefed on the latest as Voyager would be operating in the Badlands close to DS9. They were a very large, mysterious, powerful enemy that just a couple months ago took the Galaxy-class USS Odyssey with no real trouble, only sacrificing one of their ships in a suicide run to PROVE A POINT. Plenty of reason to steer clear.

Sure, the Borg would eventually MOST LIKELY be encountered on the straight line home, but better then enemy you know, I suppose.

Mark