During Star Trek: VoyagerIn the seven years of In the Delta Quadrant, there have been many occasions when Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) deserved a promotion but didn’t get it. Ensign Kim’s elusive second pip persisted for so long that it became a running joke in Star Trek fandomwith Wang himself referring to his character as the “eternal flag“as co-host of The Delta Flyers podcast with Star Trek: VoyagerTom Paris actor Robert Duncan McNeill. Even when Paris is promoted again in Star Trek: VoyagerIn the season 6 finale, “Unimatrix Zero”, Kim points out that he was ignored to move forward.
There has never been a singular, concrete reason why Harry Kim was never promoted in Star Trek: Voyager. A behind-the-scenes explanation points to Traveler producer Brannon Braga insisting that “someone has to be the ensign“, equating Ensign Kim with Star Trek: The Next GenerationWesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) or Star Trek: The Original Series‘ Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig). The lack of new officers kept the USS Voyager hierarchy rather static. Even so, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) rewarded Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Tom Paris with promotions, so Harry Kim could have also gotten a promotion for excellent service.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 1, Episode 7 – “Eye of the Needle”
Ensign Harry Kim’s newfound optimism at the Academy is valuable to the entire crew right after the USS Voyager is transported to the Delta Quadrant, and everyone is looking for easy ways to get home quickly. In Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 7, “Eye of the Needle”, Kim discovers a wormhole that leads to the Alpha Quadrant, and is undeterred by the fact that the wormhole is too small to be a viable path home. Ensign Kim’s solution of sending a communication signal through the wormhole is promising and would probably have worked if circumstances were not against him.
After all, it’s not Kim’s fault that the Harry Kim wormhole tunnels through time as well as space, or that Voyager’s new Romulan friend, Telek R’Mor (Vaughn Armstrong), didn’t live long enough to get through. your message to Starfleet. Command. Narratively speaking, it probably doesn’t make much sense to promote Ensign Kim so soon Star Trek: Voyageris runningso it’s okay that Harry’s brilliant idea didn’t save the day this time. At least he got a wormhole named after him.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 1 – “Basics, Part II”
Star Trek: VoyagerThe Season 3 premiere, ‘Basics, Part II’ would have been a huge turning point to promote Harry Kim, as the USS Voyager left Seska and the Kazon behind to begin its next chapter. Ensign Kim would not necessarily have to perform a particularly notable act to be promoted to junior lieutenant, because Kim proved her worth with cumulative efforts during USS Voyager’s first two years in the Delta Quadrant. Harry Kim was always ready with functional and creative solutions, and deftly handled the psychological strain of being so far from home on his first post-Academy assignment.
Giving Harry Kim another half pip after a few years Star Trek: VoyagerThe race would not have been out of place, nor would it have compromised the hierarchy of Voyager’s crew structure in any significant way. Ensign Kim was already part of Janeway’s senior team as Director of Voyager OperationsSo why not give Harry the rank to go with the work he’s clearly capable of doing?
Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 3 – “The Chute”
Star Trek: Voyager season 3 episode 3, “The Chute”, was a challenging situation for both Ensign Harry Kim and Lieutenant Tom Paris, with both men trapped in an alien prison and subject to psychological torture. In “The Chute”, there is no way out of the prison they were sentenced to after being falsely accused of terrorism, but Harry Kim still maintains his optimistic outlook, even when the prison’s neural implants lead Harry to aggression. Harry Kim uses skills in engineering, diplomacy, and even field medicine to keep Tom Paris alive and emerges from the experience wiser.
Both Ensign Kim and Lieutenant Paris would have been lost if Harry had succumbed to the prison’s torture methods; in truth, Tom may have even died at Harry’s hands rather than being saved by him. Kim’s ability to resist psychological duress feels like a lighter version of Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episodes 10 and 11, “Chain of Command”. That should be worth a promotion.
4
Harry Kim could have been promoted for taking Tom Paris’s place
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 9 – “Thirty Days”
Following the argument that “someone has to be the ensign“, the demotion of Tom Paris to Ensign during Star Trek: Voyager seasons 5 and 6 would have been the perfect opportunity to promote Harry Kim to lieutenant. Assuming that the lack of officers means there are a finite number of vacancies for each rank, Harry’s clean Starfleet record, history of relatively good ideas, and years of service make him more worthy of the extra money than Paris. After all, Tom Paris was repromoted simply for being on his best behavior, and Kim’s best behavior probably exceeded Paris’s on any given day.
Switching Paris and Kim’s ranks midway Star Trek: Voyagerthe race could have posed interesting challenges for one of the Star Trekbest friendships. Tom is arguably more worldly and wise with his years of lived experiences, compared to Harry’s recent Academy naivety, so Kim getting over Paris may have actually leveled the playing field. Take advantage of another missed opportunity for character development in Traveler.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 25 – “Warhead”
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 25, ‘Warhead’ is one of the few cases where Harry Kim can actually claim most of the credit for saving the day. Ensign Kim is already in charge of night shift command on the USS Voyager when Voyager encounters a distress call, and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) gives Ensign Kim the go-ahead to lead the fact-finding mission. After discovering an ancient artificially intelligent weapon programmed to ruthlessly destroy Harry Kim makes the risky decision to route the AI ​​through the Doctor’s program so he can reason.
Harry Kim excels when given the opportunity to demonstrate leadership skills and engineering experiencetaking the lead on the missing mission and delegating tasks to others like B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson). More than half Star Trek: VoyagerIn the season, “Warhead” is an exceptional portrayal of a fully capable and mature Harry Kim that demonstrates Ensign Kim’s growth throughout Voyager’s time in the Delta Quadrant.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episode 8 – “Nightingale”
When Harry Kim takes emergency command of an alien medical ship called the Nightingale, Harry soon discovers that the mercy mission is actually a terrorist plot in disguise. “Nightingale” juxtaposes Harry Kim’s worthwhile experience against the Nightingale’s much greener crew,showing how much trust Harry has gained. After a brief setback, Harry Kim becomes a mentor to the crew of the Nightingale, showing them the values ​​of Starfleet even after the mission’s true colors are revealed.
At this point in Star Trek: Voyagerit’s almost ridiculous to stop Harry Kim from being promoted.
Caught between an alien war and his desire to prove himself, Ensign Kim’s mission teaches him lessons about the weight of command, the value of loyalty, and his own worth.. “Nightingale” attempts to justify withholding Harry’s promotion by suggesting that Kim isn’t yet ready for his own command, but it’s important to remember that Kim isn’t trying to move directly to captain. At this point in Star Trek: Voyagerit is almost ridiculous to prevent Harry Kim from being promoted when he has not only gained enough experience to be a full lieutenant, but has also demonstrated that he deserves the rank.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episodes 25 and 26 – “Endgame”
If Harry Kim’s well-deserved promotion couldn’t happen anywhere else in the series, Star Trek: VoyagerThe series finale, “Endgame,” should have included Lt. Kim as part of an epilogue that actually showed the consequences of the USS Voyager’s safe return to Earth. The timeline of Star Trek: Prodigy reveals that promotions for Captain Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay happened shortly after Voyager’s return, with pardons for Voyager’s Maquis-affiliated crew members who wanted to join Starfleet. There is no reason why Harry Kim should have waited any longer to advance after seven full years as an ensign.
Back in the Alpha Quadrant, all excuses for not promoting Harry Kim fail. With the USS Voyager turned into a museum, Lieutenant Kim would serve on another ship and new junior officers would be available to fill the positions under Kim’s command. Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ Season 5, which takes place in 2381, promises the long-awaited appearance of Lieutenant Harry Kim, so Harry ended up getting this promotion a few years after Voyager 2378 returned.. With many opportunities for Harry Kim’s promotion to occur in Star Trek: Voyager as it should, it’s almost too late.