History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E19JourneysEnd

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: The colonists are justified to object because they are once again getting kicked off land due to the political maneuverings of a distant authority in spite of their objections. The Federation is justified because the colonists don't really have any greater claim to the planet than the Cardassians, and kicking them off will avert an interstellar war and save millions of lives. However, we're clearly supposed to sympathize more with the colonists.

--> '''Ronald D. Moore:''' "When I was working on 'Journey's End', Michael [Piller] told me quite explicitly about their plans for the role of the Maquis on ''Voyager'' and that he wanted 'Journey' to show the roots of the Maquis even though they would later be named on [=DS9=]."

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Cardassian captain beams out his troops rather than retaliate against the colonists, which would lead to war with the Federation as the Enterprise would come to their aid.

Naturally, the episode starts off with the ''Enterprise'' picking Wesley up from Starbase 310. Everyone welcomes him back as he gets settled into his quarters, but he doesn’t seem very enthusiastic about his return. Meanwhile, Picard has a meeting with Admiral Nechayev regarding some new border agreements with the Cardassians. A few planets have ended up changing hands in the arrangement and the colonists on those planets will have to evacuate elsewhere. Nechayev tasks Picard with overseeing the evacuation of Dorvan V. Picard recognizes that planet as the one where the settlement of the North American Indians is located. That’s right, they had to leave the entire planet Earth to find some land that the government wouldn’t steal from them, and now the government is even stealing ''that''. Picard points out that that’s a dick move, but Nechayev replies that there’s simply nothing to be done about it. The decision’s been made and all Picard can do is carry out his orders.

Picard has a meeting with the leaders of the Indian settlement. They resist his offer to find them a planet with similar environmental conditions, saying that their choice to live on Dorvan V was a spiritual decision, and that it took them two centuries to find a place that was right for them. They decide to take a break and reconvene the next day. Picard invites the settlers to join him on the Enterprise, and they agree. Wesley shows up, acting uncharacteristically disgruntled, and sits alone in the corner until one of the settlers, a man named Lakanta, approaches him and says he’s had a vision of his arrival. Lakanta offers to help Wesley find some answers. The next day Wesley beams down to the planet to speak with him.

Latanka conducts a vision quest for Wesley, in which he has a vision of his father. Jack tells him that the journey he’s been on is over and that he should begin following his own path. When the vision is over, Wesley walks outside and sees Worf determining the transport settings necessary to beam everyone away. Wesley impulsively announces the plan to the settlers. Picard brings Wesley back to the Enterprise and chews him out, saying that he respects Wesley’s objections to the mission but that while he wears a Starfleet uniform he will obey Starfleet’s orders. Wesley replies that he won’t be wearing the uniform any longer, and that he’s resigning from the Academy. His mother has a few things to say about that decision, of course, but he says that he’s been feeling depressed as graduation approaches and when he saw the vision of his father everything clicked. Beverly mentions [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E5WhereNoOneHasGoneBefore The Traveler]] and his prediction that Wesley would go on to do special things, wondering if this is that start of that.

The settlers take the Cardassians hostage. The Cardassians threaten to send down troops to occupy the settlement, but Picard tells them that they can’t afford to let the situation escalate like that. Regardless, a fight breaks out on the planet, and then...

Wesley Crusher stops time with his mind. Latanka appears and reveals that he is really the Traveler in disguise. He tells Wesley that he has officially [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended to a higher plane of existence]] and is ready to travel around the universe with him. Wesley asks what they can do for the people on Dorvan V, and the Traveler says that they should let them work out their problems on their own.

* BattleInterruptingShout: Happens literally! A battle breaks out between Cardassian soldiers and Federation colonists, and in response to Wesley's BigNo ''[[TimeStandsStill TIME FREEZES]]'' including phaser beams in mid-air.
* CluelessAesop: Starfleet wasn't trying to steal the settler's land. They were forced to cede some planets to the Cardassians to avert further interstellar war. The colony had also been there only 20 years and was warned before they settled that the planet was hotly disputed by the Cardassians. This makes it hard to sympathize with the Indians because the Cardassians had already been depicted as pretty evil in previous episodes. Also, the colonists were few enough in number that ''Enterprise'' was large enough to evacuate them all (for contrast a similar situation in [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E2TheEnsignsOfCommand The Ensigns of Command]] had a colony of 15,000 that had been there for about a century). This is probably why the Federation felt okay with letting the Cardassians have the planet. It probably would have cost more lives to fight to hold onto it in another border war than the total number of settlers living there.

* MagicalNativeAmerican: The Indians of Dorvan V talk about being in connection with the spirits of their forefathers, and feeling a special connection to nature.

* BrokenAesop[=/=]CluelessAesop: Starfleet wasn't trying to steal the settler's land. They were forced to cede some planets to the Cardassians to avert further interstellar war. The colony had also been there only 20 years and was warned before they settled that the planet was hotly disputed by the Cardassians. This makes it hard to sympathize with the Indians because the Cardassians had already been depicted as pretty evil in previous episodes. Also, the colonists were few enough in number that ''Enterprise'' was large enough to evacuate them all (for contrast a similar situation in [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E2TheEnsignsOfCommand The Ensigns of Command]] had a colony of 15,000 that had been there for about a century). This is probably why the Federation felt okay with letting the Cardassians have the planet. It probably would have cost more lives to fight to hold onto it in another border war than the total number of settlers living there. And of course, there's the entire fact that the whole story is just an excuse for the show's entitled CreatorsPet to become an actual god.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Wesley, who in early seasons did everything he could to foist himself into the operations of the ''Enterprise'' despite Picard's clear initial desire to treat him the same as any other kid on board. Now he regards his career in Starfleet, which he pushed relentlessly for, as some kind of massive unwanted burden. [[FridgeBrilliance It's possible the events of "The First Duty" soured him on a life in Starfleet]].
* InHarmonyWithNature: The American Indian revivalists claim to have this with Dorvan V, although apparently they haven't lived there very long. Also, despite there being plenty of habitable planets around, they seem very picky about exactly what nature to be in harmony with. [[FridgeLogic Doesn't being in harmony with nature imply *all* nature?]]

* MagicalNativeAmerican: The Indians of Dorvan V have shades of this, talking about being in connection with the spirits of their forefathers, and feeling a special connection to nature. Not *all* nature, mind you, just of very specific planets.
* ManipulativeBastard: The Traveler. He was actually the one that originally persuaded a reluctant Captain Picard to encourage Wesley to pursue the path towards a career in Starfleet. Now he is directly manipulating Wesley himself, including masquerading as a MagicalNativeAmerican and helping Wesley have a phony VisionQuest in which his father tells him it is time to pursue a different path (not so subtly implied to mean leaving with the Traveler). That he has been outright deceptive in getting Wesley to do what he wants is not perceived as an issue by Wesley.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
** Nechayev, actually. Picard attempted to mend some bridges at the start of the episode and she accepted. Whereas normally one would expect her to make things difficult for Picard, she actually tried to help him and give him support in his efforts.
** The Cardassian captain beams out his troops rather than retaliate against the colonists, which would lead to war with the Federation as the Enterprise would come to their aid.

* TastesLikeFriendship: Invoked by Picard, who prepares a SpotOfTea and Admiral Nechayev's [[YourFavorite favourite canapes]] in an effort to reduce the tension between them. She appreciates the gesture.
* TimeStandsStill: Wesley does this once the fighting breaks out, and then walks away allowing things to continue only without him having to be troubled by it at all.
* TooDumbToLive: The Dorvan V colonists. Despite being so conscious of their history that they can recall one of Picard's distant ancestors participating in atrocities against the Pueblo people some seven centuries earlier, they don't see the inherent issue with insisting on staying on a planet soon to be officially claimed by militaristic aliens who had absolutely no problem with enslaving the Bajoran civilization on its own homeworld!
** The first three Cardassians show shades of this as well, deciding to stay on the planet and antagonize a people that don't want them there and at the moment outnumber them rather then retreating and waiting for the Federation to finish the evacuation.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Wesley due to becoming disillusioned with his current path.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The writers seem to have forgotten that in [[Recap/StarTrekS3E3TheParadiseSyndrome TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome"]], Kirk discovered a planet (Amerind) occupied by actual Native Americans transplanted from Earth by mysterious aliens. One would have thought that this planet would have made an ideal destination for a group a Native American revivalists trying to return to pre-colonization culture. But it is not mentioned at all.

Well, GoodNewsBadNews time. Bad news: [[ThisIsGoingToSuck this is a]] [[CreatorsPet Wesley Crusher]] [[ThisIsGoingToSuck episode.]] Good news: this is the ''[[PutOnABus last]]'' Wesley Crusher episode. It’s a rough one, but once it’s done Wesley is gone for good. ([[Film/StarTrekNemesis Maybe.]])

Picard has a meeting with the leaders of the Indian settlement. They resist his offer to find them a planet with similar environmental conditions, saying that their choice to live on Dorvan V was a spiritual decision, and that it took them two centuries to find a place that was right for them. They decide to take a break and reconvene the next day. Picard invites the settlers to join him on the Enterprise, and they agree. Wesley shows up, still wearing an emo scowl, and sits alone in the corner, until one of the settlers, a man named Lakanta, approaches him and says he’s had a vision of his arrival. Yep, we all knew this was going to happen eventually: Wesley Crusher is actually being told he’s TheChosenOne. Lakanta offers to help Wesley find some answers. The next day Wesley beams down to the planet to speak with him.

Picard meets with the leaders of the settlement again, reminding them that none of them have a choice in the matter. They say that Picard was fated to be the one chosen to speak with them because one of his ancestors took part in a massacre following the Pueblo Revolt, and this is his chance to redeem his family for it. Then they all get up and walk out, because that’s evidently all they had to say. When Picard exits the meeting room, he finds that a team of Cardassians have beamed down to conduct a survey. They are displeased to learn that the evacuation hasn’t started yet. Picard tells them that it’s still a Federation planet for the time being and that they had better not do anything rash. He tries to persuade Starfleet to reconsider the border agreement, but fails. He reluctantly orders Worf to prepare to remove the settlers.

Latanka conducts a vision quest for Wesley, in which he has a vision of his father. Jack tells him that the journey he’s been on is over and that he should begin following his own path. When the vision is over, Wesley walks outside and sees Worf determining the transport settings necessary to beam everyone away. Wesley decides to screw him over by announcing the plan to the settlers. Picard brings Wesley back to the Enterprise and chews him out, saying that he respects Wesley’s objections to the mission but that while he wears a Starfleet uniform he will obey Starfleet’s orders. Wesley replies that he won’t be wearing the uniform any longer, and that he’s resigning from the Academy. His mother has a few things to say about that decision, of course, but he says that he’s been feeling depressed as graduation approaches and when he saw the vision of his father everything clicked. Beverly accepts this logic alarmingly fast, not even bothering to bring up any of the practical issues regarding dropping out of school with no further plan. She instead mentions [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E5WhereNoOneHasGoneBefore The Traveler]] and his prediction that Wesley would go on to do special things, wondering if this is that start of that.

The settlers take the Cardassians hostage. Worf protests that the treaty gives them the right to be on the planet, but the settlers refuse to honor the treaty (see what they did there?) The Cardassians threaten to send down troops to occupy the settlement, but Picard tells them that they can’t afford to let the situation escalate like that. Regardless, a fight breaks out on the planet, and then...

[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Oh, boy, here we go.]]

Wesley Crusher stops time. Yes, you read that right. It’s not a dream, not a holodeck program, and not the work of some futuristic science; Wesley Crusher literally stops time with his mind. Latanka appears and reveals that he is really the Traveler in disguise, [[HandWave because that doesn’t raise any questions or anything]]. He tells Wesley that he has officially [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended to a higher plane of existence]] and is ready to travel around the universe with him, not really doing much to help the whole "sexual predator" vibe he’s always given off. Wesley asks what they can do for the people on Dorvan V, and the Traveler says that they should just leave it alone, because like Spiderman says, with great power comes vacation time. And remember, this situation is partially Wesley’s fault to begin with, and now he’s just wandering away from it without so much as wishing them luck. [[DesignatedHero Truly he is a man among men]].

Picard convinces the Cardassian captain to beam his men off the planet rather than firing on the settlers, as no one there wants to start a war. They come to an agreement to let the settlers give up their Federation citizenship and live autonomously on Dorvan V. The Cardassians promise that they’ll honor the agreement, [[TemptingFate so surely the Indians will never have any trouble ever again]]. [[SarcasmMode After all, being left alone and defenseless against the warm and understanding Cardassians]] [[WhatAnIdiot ensures their eternal safety.]]

** From his mother Beverly Crusher for his snappy attitude towards [LaForge] in Engineering, and what she gets is Wesley's outburst in response.

** From his mother Beverly Crusher for his snappy attitude towards LaForge in Engineering, and what she gets is Wesley's outburst in response.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The writers seem to have forgotten that in [[Recap/StarTrekS3E3TheParadiseSyndrome TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome"]], Kirk discovered a planet (Amerind) occupied by actual Native Americans transplanted from Earth by mysterious aliens. One would have thought that this planet would have made an ideal destination for a group a Native American revivalists trying to return to pre-colonization culture. But it is not mentioned at all.

* TastesLikeFriendship: Invoked by Picard, who prepares a SpotOfTea and Admiral Nechayev's [[YourFavorite favourite canapes]] in an effort to reduce the tension between them.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Nechayev, actually. Picard attempted to mend some bridges at the start of the episode and she accepted. Whereas normally one would expect her to make things difficult for Picard, she actually tried to help him and give him support in his efforts.

* AccidentalAesop: Also, despite Picard's deeply internalized progressive mindset, he's being held personally responsible for the brutal actions of his ancestors. The episode gives off the notion that one is inherently guilty for ''any'' wrongdoings of their ancestors.

** Also, despite Picard's deeply internalized progressive mindset, he's being held personally responsible for the brutal actions of his ancestors. The episode gives off the notion that one is inherently guilty for ''any'' wrongdoings of their ancestors.

Well, GoodNewsBadNews time. Bad news: [[ThisIsGoingToSuck this is a]] [[CreatorsPet Wesley Crusher]] [[ThisIsGoingToSuck episode.]] Good news: this is the ''[[PutOnABus last]]'' Wesley Crusher episode. It’s a rough one, but once it’s done Wesley is gone for good.

Picard has a meeting with the leaders of the Indian settlement. They resist his offer to find them a planet with similar environmental conditions, saying that their choice to live on Dorvan V was a spiritual decision, and that it took them two centuries to find a place that was right for them. They decide to take a break and reconvene the next day. Picard invites the settlers to join him on the Enterprise, and they agree. Wesley shows up, still wearing an emo scowl, and sits alone in the corner, until one of the settlers, a man named Lakanta, approaches him and says he’s had a vision of his arrival. Yep, we all knew this was going to happen eventually: Wesley Crusher is actually being told he’s the Chosen One. Lakanta offers to help Wesley find some answers. The next day Wesley beams down to the planet to speak with him.