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SUMMARY: Neelix dies and is resurrected by Borg technology but cannot reconcile this with his spiritual beliefs.
Neelix is having a busy day, looking after the crew's needs in the Messhall, dealing with Seven's post-Borg dietary progress, and putting little god-daughter Naomi Wildman to bed.
Neelix keeps Kim supplied with firenut blend coffee to keep him alert enough to finish his monthly Ops report |
Seven complains that the solid food Neelix has provided is too "pungent" - in an earlier episode ([#74 The Raven]) the Doctor entrusted Neelix with providing Seven with nutrients after she became able to ingest normal food and drink |
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| as Samantha Wildman (Naomi's mother) looks on, Neelix ensures there are no lurking monsters as part of the ritual of settling Naomi in bed |
the shuttle prepares to collect a sample of proto-matter | To add to Neelix's busy day, Chakotay assigns Neelix to the next day's shuttlecraft mission to collect a sample of proto-matter from a nearby nebula. Neelix's experience with protomatter comes from his days working as a trader, when it was one of the most sought-after commodities in the sector. As Neelix transports a sample, the transporter beam ignites the proto-matter, which knocks out the shuttle's shields, and Neelix is struck by an energy discharge from the nebula and killed. |
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| Neelix is killed |
As Janeway views Neelix's dead body in Sickbay and prepares to conduct a Talaxian burial ceremony, Seven announces that her Borg nanoprobes can be used to resurrect him. Although sceptical, Janeway allows her to try the procedure. Accordingly, Seven injects Borg nanoprobes into Neelix to reverse cellular necrosis, whilst the cerebral cortex is stimulated with a neuro-electric isopulse, and Neelix is brought back to life. He has been dead for 18 hours, 45 minutes, and 13 seconds. The Borg assimilated the resurrection technique from Species 149 and are capable of re-activating drones as much as 73 hours after death. Until the damaged tissue can function independently, Neelix will have to be injected with nanoprobes daily.
Seven resurrects Neelix |
Janeway is there to explain and calm Neelix when he revives |
Neelix is troubled now, when he looks at the model of the Guiding Tree in his quarters |
Naturally, Neelix is distraught over his experience. As he explains to Chakotay, his people believe in an afterlife that centres around the Great Forest. When a Talaxian dies, his ancestors are supposed to meet him by the Guiding Tree. Neelix, whose family was massacred by the Haakonians in a war years before, has always taken comfort in believing that all of his family would one day be together again, but now he realises he did not experience anything like that in death. |
the crew raise their glasses to Neelix and applaud |
The crew gathers for the annual celebration of Prixin, the Talaxian observance of familial allegiance, but Neelix feels uncomfortable in the party atmosphere when otherwise he would enjoy being among his good friends. From the traditional Prixin salutation: "We do not stand alone. We are in the arms of family..... We gather on this day to extol the warmth and joy of those unshakable bonds. Without them, we could not call ourselves complete. On this day, we are thankful to be together. We do not stand alone." |
Neelix visits Naomi in her quarters. He goes through their nightly ritual of putting her to bed, but he is troubled by her request to hear his usual story of the Great Forest.
Later, when Seven arrives in the Messhall with the prescribed Borg nanoprobe booster as part of his medical treatment, Neelix unleashes his frustration on Seven, arguing that his life is no longer worth living now that his deepest beliefs have been shattered. Suddenly, Neelix cries out in pain because his cells are reverting to a necrotic state. Neelix's tissue is rejecting the Borg nanoprobes, but Seven makes the necessary modification to compensate.
Still troubled, even while he is still on a Sickbay bio-bed Neelix asks Chakotay to help him take a vision quest in the hope that he can find some sort of internal peace.
Neelix lashes out at Seven |
Chakotay instructs Neelix for a vision quest |
vision quest: Alixia and Neelix |
In the vision quest, Neelix encounters his beloved sister Alixia and members of the crew, who all tell him that the afterlife is a lie, that he has no reason to live, and urging him to do what he knows he should do. Neelix comes out of the vision determined to end his life. |
After recording his goodbyes to the crew, Neelix goes to a transporter room and is about to beam himself into the nebula when Chakotay arrives to stop him. Neelix protests that the vision quest convinced him he would be better off dead. Chakotay explains that the imagery is not easily interpreted and that it was probably just an expression of his anxiety over his beliefs. Neelix is unconvinced, until Samantha Wildman contacts him via comms. and summons him to help put Naomi to bed. When Neelix realises that the crew has become his family, that he is needed, and that one little girl in particular needs him, Neelix finds his reason to live. Later, Naomi, having been put to bed by her godfather, dreams about the beautiful Guiding Tree which he has told her about.
Neelix prepares to beam himself into space |
Neelix puts Naomi to bed |
 | | NEELIX: Eleven years ago, I saw my world in ruins, my family murdered. All that's kept me going is knowing that one day we'd be together again, that I'd see them again! But it's not true, and I can't live without that hope. |
| | CHAKOTAY: You're being called back to your life again, Neelix. Don't turn your back on it. We're your family now. "His function on this crew is diverse," that's what Seven of Nine said about you. Even our Borg understands how important you are on this ship. It's not just the duties you perform, it's the way you make people feel when you're around. That little girl needs you, Neelix. Monsters in the replicator? Who else on this ship can handle that? |
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