History Recap / StarTrekVoyagerS3E22DistantOrigin

* HumansAreSpecial: As usual, the Federation is equated with humanity. After ''Voyager'' visits an outpost, the locals tell the Saurians that it was crewed by humans.

* HoldYourHippogriffs: Minister Odala tells Gegen that his true [[labelnote:scales]] colors[[/labelnote]] are showing.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Film/JurassicPark1993 "Clever girl..."]]]]

* SwissCheeseSecurity: Averted when Kim detects the InvisibilityCloak of the intruders. Tuvok's security team quickly hunts them down.

* ScienceFictionWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Another connection with Earth for fans to gripe about. However this trip took so long the ancestors of the Voth apparently forgot their origins in the mists of history. They've also discovered transwarp since then, explaining how they can cover a distance Voyager spent a year crossing. Ironically, recent analysis showing that 65 million years ago the Earth ''was'' on the opposite side of the galaxy due to the Sun's orbit around the center actually lends some credence to this as well. Had they traveled in the opposite direction to that orbit they would have ended up in their current location much quicker.

* AndYourLittleDogToo: Gegen only recants when Minister Odala threatens to destroy Voyager and send its crew to the detention camp with him.

* BadassArmfold: When Tom thinks he's regained control of Voyager's weapons, Captain Janeway orders him to fire and advises her captor to hold onto something. The Voth defiantly does this trope instead. His confidence is justified when Tom's attack is a NoSell.

* CallBack: To [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E26S3E1Basics "Basics"]] where the reptilian scientist discovers the bones of a ''Voyager'' crew member who perished on the planet they were stranded on. When tracing Voyager's journey, they stop at the space station from "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E12FairTrade Fair Trade]]". They're also seen inspecting a canister of warp plasma given to them by a Tak Tak, showing some trade with Voyager did occur despite Janeway's AccidentalUnfortunateGesture in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E11Macrocosm Macrocosm]]".

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The whole "distant origin" debate is similar to the creationism vs. evolution debate in regard to humans, with "Doctrine" a stand-in for Young Earth Creationism.
** Minister Odala's vehemant declaration of ''"We are not immigrants!"'' brings to mind anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S., typically expressed by people who are, ironically, invariably descendants of immigrants themselves.

* FantasticRacism: The Voth for all mammalian species. Gegen admits that the humans on Voyager are the first he's ever talked face-to-face with.

* HeroicSacrifice: Made by Gegen to save the crew of Voyager, when he agrees to recant his theories publicly in exchange for Voyager being allowed to leave their region of space.
* HigherTechSpecies: The Voth have technology far enough above Voyager that the ship and security teams are utterly helpless, can travel at a speeds comparable to Borg Transwarp or Quantum Slipstream, but are still nothing remotely as advanced as you'd expect from a people who had been space-faring for tens of millions of years. Although this is partially explained by their fanatic devotion to 'doctrine' which seems to stagnate their technological advancement rates.

* HopeSpot: Tom Paris regains control over Voyager's weapons, only for them to be shut down again. It looks like Chakotay's KirkSummation will sway the Minister, but she rejects it.

* ImpliedDeathThreat: After agreeing to let Voyager go, the Minister makes it clear she never wants to see them again.
* InvisibilityCloak: Gegen and Veer are able to walk around on Voyager thanks to a device that puts them out of phase. However Kim is able to detect it when they move to the Bridge.

* MetaphoricallyTrue: To the Voth, the distant origin theory means they are mere refugees with no right to the region of space they control or a legacy that would keep them united. Chakotay urges Minister Odala to consider that their ancestors grew up on Earth surrounded on all sides by deadly predators, but still managed to develop their own culture, develop technology, and when their world was threated by calamity: [[BoldExplorer boldly traveled into space]], created their own Warp Technology and traversed the length of their Galaxy entire ''millions'' of years before Humanity would evolve; and that these ancient Voth had remained united in purpose to go across the vast distances of space instead of backing down from a challenge and turning back, and who would go on to establish another homeworld deep within the Delta Quadrant against all odds. Chakotay views the Distant Origin Theory as a sign of the Voths' overwhelming spirit and resolve. But Odala rejects this argument.

* NoSell: The Voth pretty much deliver a conga line of these to the Voyager crew.
** Their city ship simply beams the entire damn ship inside their own without even being bothered by its shields. Then with a combination of power dampening fields and computer hacking, they shut the ship down, disable all hand phasers and finally override Toms attempt to get the torpedo launchers online without even being phased by his threats to use them.
** Also arguably counts for the Chakotay's heartfelt attempt to Kirk Summation his way out of their situation which simply bounces right off the Minister's dogmatic xenophobic hide. And when Janeway, with all the anger and threatening posturing she can muster demands that her ship be released, the Voth questioning her all but rolls his eyes and simply calls for a "[[TortureTechnician surgical interrogator]]" to get the answers the hard way instead.

* ScienceFictionWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Another connection with Earth for fans to gripe about. However this trip took so long the ancestors of the Voth apparently forgot their origins in the mists of history. They've also discovered transwarp since then, explaining how they can cover a distance Voyager spent a year crossing. Ironically, recent analysis show the 65 million years ago the Earth ''was'' on the opposite side of the galaxy due to the Sun's orbit around the center actually lends some credence to this as well. Had they traveled in the opposite direction to that orbit they would have ended up in their current location much quicker.

* StarshipLuxurious: The Voth city ship is so large it beams Voyager inside it [[MileLongShip with plenty of room to spare]].
* StealthInSpace: Gegen engages "spatial displacement" to hide from Voyager.

* TechnologicallyAdvancedFoe: The Voth turn out to be one of the most overwhelmingly powerful aliens in the Star Trek setting in terms of technological might (only falling short of non-corporeal entities like Q), with a City Ship that borders on PlanetSpaceship and capable of transporting all of Voyager inside. Voyager is left entirely helpless to even attempt fighting back, something not even the Borg can claim. This reflects the talk of their society being millions of years old.

* FromACertainPointOfView: To the Voth, the distant origin theory means they are mere refugees with no right to the region of space they control or a legacy that would keep them united. Chakotay urges Minister Odala to consider that their ancestors grew up on Earth surrounded on all sides by deadly predators, but still managed to develop their own culture, develop technology, and when their world was threated by calamity: [[BoldExplorer boldly traveled into space]], created their own Warp Technology and traversed the length of their Galaxy entire ''millions'' of years before Humanity would evolve; and that these ancient Voth had remained united in purpose to go across the vast distances of space instead of backing down from a challenge and turning back, and who would go on to establish another homeworld deep within the Delta Quadrant against all odds. Chakotay views the Distant Origin Theory as a sign of the Voths' overwhelming spirit and resolve. But Odala rejects this argument.

** Also arguably counts for the Chakotey's heartfelt attempt to Kirk Summation his way out of their situation which simply bounces right off the Minister's dogmatic xenophobic hide. And when Janeway, with all the anger and threatening posturing she can muster demands that her ship be released, the Voth questioning her all but rolls his eyes and simply calls for a "[[TortureTechnician surgical interrogator]]" to get the answers the hard way instead.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Film/JurassicPark "Clever girl..."]]]]

* ScienceFictionWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Another connection with Earth for fans to gripe about. However this trip took so long the ancestors of the Voth apparently forgot their origins in the mists of history. They've also discovered transwarp since then, explaining how they can cover a distance Voyager spent a year crossing. Ironically, recent analysis show the 65 million years ago the Earth ''was'' on the opposite side of the galaxy due to the Sun's orbit around the center actually lends some credence to this as well. Had they traveled in the opposite direction that orbit they would have ended up in their current location much quicker.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Why else would there be a sentient species that evolved from ''Parasaurolophus''? [[note]]For clarification, ''Parasaurolophus'' had none of the traits the episode ascribed to it such as a large brain and grasping hands. Oddly enough, another species called ''Troodon'' had such traits and yet was completely ignored.[[/note]]

* RagnarokProofing: Averted; Chakotay and Gegen postulate that all traces of an advanced saurian civilization were destroyed over the millennia. This seems to be based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silurian_hypothesis#In_popular_culture Silurian hypothesis]], though there should be indirect signs such as evidence of [[GlobalWarming sudden temperature change]] or evidence of artificial substances left in sediment.

* RagnarokProofing: Averted; Chakotay and Gegen postulate that all traces of an advanced saurian civilization were destroyed over the millennia. This seems to be based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silurian_hypothesis#In_popular_culture Silurian hypothesis]], though there should be indirect evidence.

** The notion that the Voth evolved on an "eighth continent". There actually ''was'' a significant span of time starting in the Late Cretaceous Period where Earth had eight continents, but that last one is India, which broke away from the southern supercontinent Gondwana approximately 100 million years ago and collided with south-central Asia sometime between 55 and 35 MYA. An advanced, prehistoric nonhuman civilization would also have left copious evidence in the fossil record worldwide--otherwise, we're apparently expected to believe that the Voth developed spaceships before they invented ''boats''.

* AnAesop: ''Doctrine'' is a clear stand-in for Young Earth Creationism.

-->"Note how the female through the [[PlayingHardToGet feigned]] antagonism encourages the male in his attempt to mate."

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The whole "distant origin" debate is similar to the creationism vs. evolution debate in regard to humans.