I had a small change of reaction to seeing the resolution of Equinox. Firstly though as much as I wanted to be on Chakotay's side regards Janeway serving a dose of poetic justice to Lessing, I just couldn't. She was right in my opinion. AND he did break. However this time I watched I felt some pity toward Ransom and realised Burke was worse.
Re-watching Equinox
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I get itMy moral compass wants to agree with Chakotay but darn it Janeway was determined. And yes Lessing offered to help Voyager with information about the Ankari.
Which he probably would have done if she just asked him. She wanted him to betray his captain. He never did. Chakotay was right, Janeway not so much imo.
I know, can't help but think aww puppy!On a side note...I just wanted to say I adore all your wolf avatars. And this is coming from a cat person
It could've been a great Bad-ass Janeway moment, showing she has the stomach to make very hard choices for her crew, then Chakotay wusses out and caves in instead of having the same resolve as she does--it does totally show how spineless he is, this from the former terrorist.
Aw but she did not make the choices she did for her crew, she made them out of revenge and a need to uphold the Starfleet principles at the cost of her crew.
As for Chakotay he was the only one to stand up to her at all. Tuvok and the rest just buckled under and did what she said. He stopped her from killing Lessing and told her he would not let her cross that line again. He got locked up for his insubordination..
For me the character that suffered from wussiness the worst was Tuvok. When she made the deal to turn the Equinox over to the aliens to be executed Tuvok was standing right there. He knew it was wrong, he said so, but did not try to stop her. Chakotay was locked in his room. He had no idea the deal she had made.
I'm responding to this separately if thats ok. Imo Chakotay. B'Elanna, Paris and the rest were not terrorists. The Maquis were originally freedom fighters patterned off the French Resistence. When the Maquis were dragged to the Delta Quadrant, that was how they were described. DS9 turned the Maquis into terrorists later to justify Sisko's actions.
Right. Especially when chakotay's actions preferred not harming anyone if possible. Labeling a group terrorists doesn't make it always so. It can be used to justify the opposing team taking their actions.
The first appearance of the Maquis was in DS9 when the first thing they do to announce themselves is blow up a Cardassian freighter in Bajoran space, killing the crew and endangering the station. Just because they take their name from a French resistance group doesn't mean they hold the same principles, the Maquis of WW2 killed in their struggle to liberate France (some groups/cells didn't take German prisoners and I doubt they just let them go on their merry way). Trying to paint Chakotay and the others in a romanticised way does them a disservice and makes what they were fighting for and the odds they were up against seem trivial.
Kira is another "freedom fighter" but freely admitted to doing horrible things against the Cardassians on Bajor, she planted bombs, led raids, ambushed troops, carried our sabotage, etc. against soldiers and civilians because they were all "legitimate targets"--it's part of what makes her an amazing character, she has done some terrible things that still weigh upon her but now that the struggle is over she's trying to grow beyond what she was (in "The Abandoned" Odo says that she was trained to be a terrorist to her face and she doesn't correct his terminology).
I'm not romanticizing anyone. War is hell, bad things happen but terroists? Not in the beginning they were not. By definition Terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror among masses of people; or fear to achieve a financial, political, religious or ideological aim. (Wikipedia). Terrorist is a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. (Oxford Dictionary).
The opening statement in Caretaker says 'Unhappy with a new treaty, Federation Colonists along the Cardassian border have banded together. Calling themselves 'The Maquis' they continue to fight Cardassians. Some consider them heros, but to the governments of the Federation and Cardassia, they are outlaws.'
On DS9 the freighter you mention was suspected of smuggling weapons to Cardassian colonists to use against the human colonists. The next overt act was kidnapping Dukat. Their next target was a weapon depot. Hardly indiscriminate, definitely not targeting civilians.
We also know that at the same time the Cardassians did horrible things to the colonists (civilians) in an effort to terrorize them despite the treaty saying they could not. Sisko himself felt they were just angry, scared, determined people willing to do whatever it took to survive, whether Starfleet agreed or not.
So based on story The Maquis did not have financial, political, religious or ideological aims. They were fighting for their colonies and families. They also did not use indiscriminate force. Their targets were carefully chosen, at least in the beginning, and they did not aim to spread fear among the masses.
So I stand by my earlier statement. The Maquis, in the beginning, were not terrorists any more than the Marquis of the French revolution were. I do feel they crossed over into being terrorists later but that has nothing to do with Voyager. That happened later on DS9.
As for Kira she was not Maquis so not relevant imo.
The opening statement in Caretaker says 'Unhappy with a new treaty, Federation Colonists along the Cardassian border have banded together. Calling themselves 'The Maquis' they continue to fight Cardassians. Some consider them heros, but to the governments of the Federation and Cardassia, they are outlaws.'
On DS9 the freighter you mention was suspected of smuggling weapons to Cardassian colonists to use against the human colonists. The next overt act was kidnapping Dukat. Their next target was a weapon depot. Hardly indiscriminate, definitely not targeting civilians.
We also know that at the same time the Cardassians did horrible things to the colonists (civilians) in an effort to terrorize them despite the treaty saying they could not. Sisko himself felt they were just angry, scared, determined people willing to do whatever it took to survive, whether Starfleet agreed or not.
So based on story The Maquis did not have financial, political, religious or ideological aims. They were fighting for their colonies and families. They also did not use indiscriminate force. Their targets were carefully chosen, at least in the beginning, and they did not aim to spread fear among the masses.
So I stand by my earlier statement. The Maquis, in the beginning, were not terrorists any more than the Marquis of the French revolution were. I do feel they crossed over into being terrorists later but that has nothing to do with Voyager. That happened later on DS9.
As for Kira she was not Maquis so not relevant imo.
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