star trek jetrel

Star Trek: Voyager

Cast & Crew

James Sloyan

Ma'bor Jetrel

Larry Hankin

Information

© 2007 CBS Corp.

Accessibility

Copyright © 2024 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

Internet Service Terms Apple TV & Privacy Cookie Policy Support

• Show Spoilers
• Night Vision
• Sticky Header
• Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS1E14Jetrel

Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 1 E 14 "Jetrel"

Edit locked.

Kes confronts Neelix on why he never talks about the war, and he says it's too difficult to talk about. She and Janeway team up to convince him to submit to Jetrel's test, and he finally relents. When he meets with Jetrel, though, he grills the Haakonian on his motives, and Jetrel insists that he's just trying to atone for his actions. During the test, Neelix tells a story about building a trap for a garden pest and feeling pity for the pest once it was caught. Jetrel completes his test and concludes that Neelix does have metremia. However, Jetrel is enthusiastic about the possibility of using the ship's transporters to isolate an isotope from the metreon cloud to develop a cure.

As Jetrel works, he admits that he was viewed as a monster by his own family for his war research. He himself has metremia and only a few days left to live. Meanwhile, Neelix cannot forgive Jetrel after seeing the terrible results of Jetrel's work. But at night, Neelix is haunted by a dream of various figures accusing him of cowardice, including a metreon-scorched Kes. After awakening, he finally admits to Kes the reason why he's so angry at Jetrel and closed off about his war experience: he was actually a deserter and now feels shame for doing nothing to stop Jetrel. He goes to see Jetrel during his research, but he finds that Jetrel has deactivated the Doctor and is working on something strange. Neelix leaves to inform the captain, but Jetrel knocks him out.

Janeway quickly discovers something's up anyway and tracks Jetrel down. Jetrel admits that Neelix doesn't have metremia, but he begs Janeway to allow him to continue his research. He says he's found a way to bring back the victims of the metreon cascade by using the transporter to reassemble their disintegrated matter that has been held suspended in the metreon cloud. He has only hours to live, and this is his last chance to make amends, so Janeway agrees. Jetrel uses the transporter to try to reassemble someone from the cloud, but it fails, and Jetrel collapses. On his deathbed, Jetrel says that dying is a fitting punishment for him, but Neelix says that the metreon cascade was itself a punishment for all of their sins. He tells Jetrel that he forgives him, and Jetrel dies immediately afterwards, whereupon a pensive Neelix leaves Sickbay.

This episode provides examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight : A Neelix episode.
• And You Were There : Neelix has a Nightmare Sequence where members of the Voyager crew play the parts of the murdered people of Rinax. In particular, Kes appears as Palaxia, the horrifically burned little girl he found there and whom he had to watch slowly die from her injuries over several weeks.
• Armor-Piercing Question : Though for different reasons than Jetrel thinks when he asks Neelix, "How many did you kill during the war?"
• The Atoner : Jetrel.
• Call-Back : The Doctor complained in several previous episodes about people neglecting to shut him off, and in "Eye of the Needle" Janeway suggested giving him the ability to turn himself off. In this episode, he does just that.
• Chekhov's Gun : After witnessing the EMH deactivating itself, Jetrel uses the command sequence to shut down the Doctor later on.
• Cool, but Inefficient : A reaction of 1 KG of matter to 1 KG of anti-matter would create an explosion equal to 43 megatons of TNT which is equivalent to the most powerful nuclear weapon ever invented, the Tsar Bomba of the Soviet Union. Or in other words, anyone with access to a couple of photon torpedoes or a warp core already has the means to kill 300,000 people. The Metreon Cascade was a pointless waste of time and resources as far as the setting of Star Trek goes.
• Corner of Woe : After seeing Rinax again, Kes finds Neelix hiding in his kitchen.
• The Dead Have Names
• Deface of the Moon : Neelix relates how after the initial flash of the Cascade, he looked up and assumed that the moon had vanished, whereas it had actually been instantly enshrouded by cloud cover, reducing its albedo to the point it was no longer visible from Talax's surface.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : The creation of the Metreon Cascade is Star Trek: Voyager 's retelling of the creation of the atom bomb.
• Draft Dodging : Neelix. He was ashamed to tell Kes this because he thought it would make her think of him as a coward.
• For Science! : Jetrel's justification for creating the Metreon Cascade. That and I Did What I Had to Do .
• Genocide Survivor : Neelix survived the destruction of his home by being on Talax at the time.
• I Am a Monster
• Ironic Echo : "Why don't you call a safety, Neelix?"
• Let Me Tell You a Story : Neelix does this twice to Jetrel.
• Mad Science : What Neelix assumes when he finds Jetrel with a...thing in a biostasis container.
• Miles Gloriosus : Neelix about his war service.
• Mood Whiplash : Neelix recounts the attack on Rinax, to Janeway's obvious horror. The very next scene has her pleasantly greeting Dr. Jetrel and shaking his hand .
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business : The ever-jovial Neelix turns dark and spiteful whenever Jetrel's name is mentioned.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis! : "He's a MASS...MURDERER!"
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech : Neelix delivers a brutal one, in the form of a story he tells Jetrel : Neelix: After the cascade, a man returns to what used to be his home to look for survivors. The impact of the blast had set off hundreds of fires. There's just smoldering ruins and the stench of seared flesh. In the distance, in the middle of the emptiness, from a cloud of dust, he can see bodies moving, whimpering, coming toward him. They're monsters, their flesh horribly charred. One comes toward him, mangled arms outstretched. He turns away, frightened. Then the thing speaks. He knows, by the sound of her voice, that she's not a monster but a child; a little girl. Her name was Palaxia. He brought her back to Talax with the other survivors. For the next few weeks, I stayed at her bedside and watched her wither away. Those are consequences, Dr. Jetrel.
• Redemption Equals Death : Jetrel's attempt to resurrect the people who have been killed by the Metreon Cascade, even though it ends in failure.
• Reluctant Mad Scientist : Jetrel.
• Like Oppenheimer, Jetrel quotes (inadvertently, one assumes ) from the Bhagavad Gita when he says the Metreon Cascade was brighter than a thousand suns.
• The pool hustler calls Tom Paris "Tom Terrific," the name of a 1960s cartoon character, which would be anachronistic to the time period the pool hall is supposed to be set in.
• Single Tear : Jetrel in the face of Neelix's "The Reason You Suck" Speech .
• Survivor Guilt : Neelix is the Sole Survivor of his family because he was hiding on another planet .
• Tim Taylor Technology : "You must increase the power to the pattern buffers, Captain!"
• Weapon of Mass Destruction : The Metreon Cascade.
• Would Rather Suffer : When first informed that he may have metremia, Neelix replies that while he's touched by Jetrel's concern for his health, he would rather be immersed in a pit of Krallinian eels than be examined by him. Later, he personally tells Jetrel that he would rather die than help him ease his conscience. Only when it's pointed out that he might be helping other members of his race does he consent.
• You Can't Go Home Again : Not only is Neelix's homeworld destroyed, but also Jetrel's attempt to resurrect the people destroyed by the Metreon Cascade fails.
• You See, I'm Dying : Jetrel's response to Neelix saying that he wishes for the scientist to live a long life of regret for creating the Metreon Cascade.
• Star Trek Voyager S 1 E 13 "Faces"
• Recap/Star Trek: Voyager
• Star Trek Voyager S 1 E 15 "Learning Curve"

Important Links

• Action Adventure
• Commercials
• Crime & Punishment
• Professional Wrestling
• Speculative Fiction
• Sports Story
• Animation (Western)
• Music And Sound Effects
• Print Media
• Sequential Art
• Tabletop Games
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Characterization
• Characters As Device
• Narrative Devices
• British Telly
• The Contributors
• Creator Speak
• Derivative Works
• Laws And Formulas
• Show Business
• Split Personality
• Truth And Lies
• Truth In Television
• Fate And Prophecy
• Edit Reasons
• Isolated Pages
• Images List
• Recent Videos
• Crowner Activity
• Un-typed Pages
• Recent Page Type Changes
• Trope Entry
• Character Sheet
• Playing With
• Creating New Redirects
• Cross Wicking
• Tips for Editing
• Text Formatting Rules
• Handling Spoilers
• Administrivia
• Trope Repair Shop
• Image Pickin'

Advertisement:

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Challengers Link to Challengers
• I Saw the TV Glow Link to I Saw the TV Glow
• Música Link to Música

New TV Tonight

• Shardlake: Season 1
• Hacks: Season 3
• The Tattooist of Auschwitz: Season 1
• The Veil: Season 1
• A Man in Full: Season 1
• Acapulco: Season 3
• Welcome to Wrexham: Season 3
• John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA: Season 1
• Star Wars: Tales of the Empire: Season 1
• My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Season 4.2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• Dead Boy Detectives: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Them: Season 2
• Ripley: Season 1
• Knuckles: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Dead Boy Detectives: Season 1 Link to Dead Boy Detectives: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

Rotten Tomatoes’ 300 Best Movies of All Time

Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Weekend Box Office Results: Challengers Takes the Crown

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2024

• Trending on RT
• The Fall Guy
• Challengers
• The Idea of You
• Play Movie Trivia

Star Trek: Voyager – Season 1, Episode 14

Where to watch, star trek: voyager — season 1, episode 14.

Watch Star Trek: Voyager — Season 1, Episode 14 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

More Like This

Cast & crew.

Kate Mulgrew

Capt. Kathryn Janeway

Robert Beltran

Roxann Dawson

B'Elanna Torres

Robert Duncan McNeill

Jennifer Lien

Ethan Phillips

Episode Info

A Haakonian ships contacts the crew of USS Voyager to say that they have Jetrel on board. Jetrel was a scientist who created the Metreon Cascade, a weapon of mass destruction. The weapon was used on Rinax where it kills untold numbers of Talaxian including the family of the chef Neelix. Jetrel wants to come aboard as he believes Neelix is infected with a virus. Despite Neelix's protestations, Captain Kathryn Janeway allows Jetrel to come onboard. Jetrel wants to test Neelix for a virus but refuses to initially before eventually agreeing. Jetrel tells Neelix he is suffering from Metremia, a disease and that the cure lies on Rinax. Janeway takes Voyager to Rinax where Jetrel shows his colours, he tries to take control of Voyager. He wants to try to bring back the dead which he thinks he can do. The plan doesn't work out and Jetrel dies.

Episode Details

Copyright : Paramount

Last Modified : 19th March 2023

Comments and Questions

There's no register feature and no need to give an email address if you don't need to. All messages will be reviewed before being displayed. I may add your comment onto the end of the appropriate page. Comments may be merged or altered slightly such as if an email address is given in the main body of the comment. You can decline to give a name which if that is the case, the comment will be attributed to a random star. A name is preferred even if it's a random made up one by yourself. If you give an email address, you may receive an email notifying you when someone else has added a comment to the same page. In the email will be a link to unsubscribe to further notifications. Email address is optional.

The scientist who developed a weapon that killed three hundred thousand of Neelix’s people in a war fifteen years ago boards Voyager, claiming that Neelix is terminally ill.

In this episode of the podcast, Wes and Clay discuss “Jetrel” and other famous atomic bombings. Plus! The guys chat about Neelix’s round face, chasing yourself in a dream, and keeping your motivations a mystery.

• Post author By Wes
• Post date 06/07/2022

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More

We’ve been a bit underwhlemed by Neelix to this point in Star Trek: Voyager, so it’s finally time to start taking the character seriously! “Jetrel” asks us to do just that – to imagine Neelix as the survivor of an atomic bomb level event who meets the Oppenheimer of his past.

The Wikipedia plot summary for “Jetrel”:

Neelix is aghast when a Haakonian named Dr. Ma’Bor Jetrel contacts  Voyager  and asks to meet him. The Haakonians fought a long, destructive war against his people, the Talaxians, fifteen years ago. Jetrel was responsible for developing the Metreon Cascade, a superweapon that killed over 300,000 people on Talax’s moon Rinax, including Neelix’s family. Jetrel says he has come forward to examine Talaxians like Neelix who helped evacuate survivors from Rinax, in the process exposing themselves to high concentrations of metreon isotopes that can cause a fatal blood disease, metremia. Although he considers Jetrel a monster, Neelix agrees to be examined and Jetrel informs him that he has incipient metremia. Jetrel convinces  Captain Janeway  to make a detour to the Talaxian system. Using the ship’s transporter systems, Jetrel feels he will be able to develop a cure by retrieving samples of the Metreon cloud still surrounding Rinax.

Janeway agrees but Neelix is still bitter. He angrily condemns Jetrel for the devastation he caused, only to learn that the scientist is also paying the price — his wife left him in the wake of the attack on Rinax, his children refuse to acknowledge him, and he is in the final stages of metremia with only a few days to live. The ship’s arrival at Rinax opens old wounds for Neelix. He confesses to  Kes  that he lied for years about being part of the Talaxian defense forces. He never reported for duty; instead, he spent the war hiding on Talax. Later, Neelix seeks out Jetrel in sickbay, only to find  the Doctor  deactivated and Jetrel covertly conducting experiments. Suspecting the worst of Jetrel, Neelix tries to notify Janeway but the scientist renders him unconscious.

Jetrel heads for the transporter room, where he is confronted by the Captain. Jetrel pleads with Janeway to let him conclude his work and bring back the deceased Talaxian victims of Rinax. He believes that he can use the transporter to regenerate their dissociated remains and confesses he came to  Voyager  as a pretext to use the ship’s transporter; Neelix does not have metremia. Janeway allows Jetrel to proceed but the improbable experiment fails. The scientist collapses, knowing that he will never be able to redeem himself. Neelix pays a last visit to Jetrel and tells him that he is forgiven, allowing the Haakonian to die with some semblance of peace.

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• View history

• 2.1 Characters
• 2.2 Starships and vehicles
• 2.3 Races and cultures
• 2.4 Other references
• 3.1.1 Timeline
• 3.2 External link

Summary [ ]

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel - the Haakonian scientist who created the devastating metreon cascade that killed Neelix 's family - visits Voyager in an attempt to atone for his deadly creation and the lives it took.

References [ ]

Characters [ ], starships and vehicles [ ], races and cultures [ ], other references [ ], appendices [ ], connections [ ], timeline [ ], external link [ ].

• " Jetrel " article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
• 3 The Chase

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Oct 9, 2019

Seeking Repentance in Star Trek

On Yom Kippur, Gul Dukat and Neelix make an important distinction between forgiveness and atonement.

StarTrek.com

Last week, Jews celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, while also preparing for the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which we celebrate from sunset October 8 to nightfall October 9. It may be that a fellow Trekker who happens to be Jewish will apologize to you this week, since a central tenet of the Jewish faith is that observing this Holy Day requires each person to seek atonement from G-d for transgressions both against G-d, (which is or is not supernatural, depending on which Jew you ask) and transgressions against fellow humans. Notably, despite the proliferation of apologies, Yom Kippur is not the day of forgiveness because forgiveness and atonement are not the same. Where forgiveness is entirely at the discretion of the victim, atonement to G-d for transgressions against humans requires repentance — an activity that someone undertakes to try to repair the damage they have done in wronging others.

So much of Star Trek — and all good science fiction — can be used to draw parallels to or illuminate facets of the real world, and the show doesn’t disappoint even with something as specific as Yom Kippur. Two episodes in particular, one which focuses on an anti-hero’s quest for repentance and another which focuses on an anti-hero’s quest for forgiveness, can help us understand the right way to seek atonement and the wrong way to seek atonement. Unsurprisingly, DS9 stands out as the series that grapples with these questions the most, and it is not unusual for fans to connect the journey of the deeply religious Bajorans from slavery to freedom to the story of Biblical Jews in the second book of the Torah, Exodus. But DS9 is not the only series that grapples with these questions, and it is to Voyager that we turn first.

In the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Jetrel,” Neelix is confronted with the worst war criminal known to his home Talaxian society, a scientist named Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel. It was Jetrel who designed the “metreon cascade,” a weapon of mass destruction that killed 300,000 Talaxians on the Talaxaian moon of Rinax at the end of a ten year war between the Talaxians and Haakonians. Fifteen years later, Jetrel tracks down Voyager to find Neelix, claiming that the scientist has come to test Neelix for a fatal blood disease called “metremia” that Talaxian rescue workers to Rinax, including Neelix, may suffer from as a result of their exposure to metreon isotopes. Jetrel has spent the last decade and a half since the metreon cascade trying to find a way to repent for his war crime. Though he first claims to Captain Janeway and Neelix that he is seeking to develop a cure for metremia, we later learn that Jetrel has also theorized a way to use the metreon isotopes in the cloud surrounding Rinax to bring victims of the cascade back to life using Voyager's transporter technology.

Jetrel's efforts to bring back metreon cascade victims ultimately fails—even at 120% of recommended limits, Voyager 's transporters do not have enough power to pull together all of the subatomic particles of the victims—and Jetrel dies of advanced metremia, ending his research. Despite his failure to bring back those he has killed, it is clear at the end of the episode that Jetrel has done what he believed he could in seeking repentance for his crime: not only does he recognize that what he did made him “a monster” in the view of both his family and himself, but he then spent the remainder of his life trying to repair the damage he had done, even when his persistent efforts resulted in his exile from his own society.

Notably, after initially protesting to Neelix that he was just a scientist and that the decision to fire their weapon at Rinax was a decision made by military leadership, Jetrel eventually comes around to understanding that his role in conceptualizing and helping build the weapon of mass destruction is unforgivable. Jetrel admits to Neelix, "There is no way I could ever apologize to you, Mr. Neelix. That's why I have not tried.” The first step to repentance is an admission of guilt.

Jetrel's story of a grievous wrong done against others, followed by a lifetime spent trying to fix what he had broken, stands in sharp contrast to one of the all-time great villains of the Star Trek universe, Gul Dukat. The Cardassian leader spends much of DS9 avoid avoiding confrontation with the consequences of the atrocities he committed during the Occupation of Bajor. One episode serves as a case study in Dukat's unwillingness to seek repentance for his actions, instead seeking only unearned forgiveness.

“Return to Grace,” takes place in 2372, during the Klingon wars with both Cardassia and the Federation. Major Kira Nerys is transported by Gul Dukat, now captain of the Cardassian freighter Groumall, to a conference between Cardassia and Bajor where Bajorans intend to share important intelligence about the Klingons. They arrive, however, to find the outpost destroyed by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Kira and Dukat team up to modify the Groumall so that it is capable of chasing down and destroying those responsible.

The central plot of “Return to Grace,” however, is not what is most revealing about how Dukat views repentance and forgiveness. Unlike Jetrel, who we see in only one episode, Dukat is a recurring character who repeatedly fails to admit that he has done wrong, even at his death refusing to atone for his war crimes. As illustrated in “Return to Grace,” Dukat cares only about gaining Kira's unearned forgiveness and does not even care to truly work toward earning it. Kira even sums this up for the audience when she tells his daughter, “Ziyal, what your father wants from me is forgiveness. That's one thing I can never give him.” In fact, Dukat never really asks forgiveness for his gravest misdeeds, only at one point responding to Kira after she attempts to set boundaries with him, “I’m sorry, Major. I didn’t mean any harm. I was only making conversation.” There is no repentance in this apology.

On Voyager , Jetrel understood that what he did was something so horrible that an apology was meaningless, and that forgiveness could be given only by the victim. Dukat, on the other hand, never truly accepts or understands his role in the Occupation, which killed fifteen million Bajorans. This contrasts against the outcome of the episode’s B-plot which is Kira confronting her common past with Dukat as a soldier who is responsible for killing people. In the end, Kira repents by trying to end the cycle of violence and protecting Ziyal from having to live the life that a resistance fighter lives. “The best way to survive a knife fight is to never get in one,” Kira tells Ziyal. This is Kira’s atonement.

Yet instead of seeking to repent for his past crimes, the title of the episode reveals what Dukat was truly after: grace, the unmerited and free salvation of a sinner. Grace is required here because Dukat refuses to take responsibility for his sins. The “grace” he seeks is in fact a return to power; rather than feel remorse or guilt for his role in oppressing, killing, raping and torturing Bajorans, Dukat wishes to return to a position where he again has that sort of power over others. Near the end of the episode, Dukat tells Kira, “There was a time when the mere mention of my race inspired fear. And now… we're a beaten people. Afraid to fight back because we're afraid to lose what little is left.... Don't you see, Major? They're paralyzed. They're beaten and defeated. I am the only Cardassian left, and if no one else will stand against the Klingons, I will.” In these words, there is no remorse, no atonement. There is no understanding of why the Cardassians have had their power circumscribed – a consequence of their violation of humanoid rights.

These episodes hammer home the lesson that forgiveness cannot begin when there is no repentance in sight. In the final scene of “Jetrel,” Neelix delivers a final message to the dying Jetrel: that he forgives him. Jetrel never sought that forgiveness and in fact thought it was something he could never ask for. Recognizing that what he had done was destructive, Jetrel instead spent the end of his life seeking to undo at least some of the horrors he had unleashed. He is an example of looking at and owning the worst parts of oneself, and then trying to do something about it. Dukat, on the other hand, is an example of what happens when someone can't even admit to having done anything wrong. The lesson of Yom Kippur is that what matters is the repentance.

But the secret — which Dukat failed to learn — is that forgiveness is just a bonus.

Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Core Faculty in Women’s Studies at the University of New Hampshire. Her research focuses on cosmology and particle physics. Find her on twitter @IBJIYONGI.

Get Updates By Email

Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series)

Jetrel (1995), james sloyan: ma'bor jetrel, photos .

Quotes 

[last lines] 

[Dr. Jetrel is dying from metremia] 

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : I suppose you think... this is a fitting punishment for me.

Neelix : Maybe the cascade was a punishment for all of us - for our... hatred, our brutality. - There's something I need to tell you. I tried to tell you before, but...

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : What... what is it?

Neelix : I want to tell you... that I forgive you.

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : It is not possible to be a scientist, unless you believe that all the knowledge of the universe and all the power that it bestows is of intrinsic value to everyone. And one must share that knowledge, and allow it to be applied - and then be willing to live with the consequences.

Neelix : A man goes back to Rinax after the Cascade. Back to what had been his home. To look for survivors. But the impact of the blast has set off hundreds of fires and... there's nothing there. Just smoldering ruins and the stench of seared flesh. But in the distance, in the middle of all that emptiness, from out of this... huge cloud of billowing dust... he can see bodies moving. Whimpering. Coming toward him. They're monsters... their flesh horribly charred. The color of shale. One of them comes toward him, mangled arms outstretched. And he can't help it, he-he-he turns away, frightened. But then the thing speaks. And he knows by the sound of her voice that she's not a monster at all, but a child. A little girl.

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : [overcome with emotion]  Mr. Neelix, I...

Neelix : Her name was Palaxia. We brought her back to Talax with the other survivors. Over the next few weeks I stayed at her bedside and watched her wither away. Those are consequences, Dr. Jetrel.

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : There is no way I can ever apologize to you, Mr. Neelix. That's why I have not tried.

Neelix : You know what I've been thinking? If I'd been in charge of the Cascade, I'd have... I don't know... chosen a military target, or simply deployed it on an uninhabited planet. Somehow I don't think I'd have targeted innocent civilians.

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : The military strategists did not think a demonstration would work. They wanted to show the power of the Cascade in all its horror.

Neelix : You should have tried to stop them! Why didn't you speak out? People would have listened to you.

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : It would not have made any difference. If I had not discovered the Cascade, it would have been someone else. Don't you see? It was a scientific inevitability. One discovery flowing naturally to the next. Something so enormous as science will not stop for something as small as man, Mr. Neelix.

Neelix : [disgusted]  So you did it for science.

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : For my planet. And yes, for science - to know whether or not it could be done. It's good to know how the world works. It is not possible to be a scientist unless you believe that all the knowledge of the universe and all the power that it bestows is of intrinsic value to everyone. And one must share that knowledge and allow it to be applied, and then be willing to live with the consequences.

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : I'm simply a scientist. Yes, I developed the weapon. But it was the government and the military leaders who decided to use it - not I.

Neelix : That must be a very convenient distinction for you. Does it help you sleep at night?

Neelix : Did you ever think that maybe your wife was right? That you had become a monster?

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : Yes. The day we tested the cascade, when I saw that blinding light, brighter than a thousand suns - I knew at that moment, exactly what I had become.

Neelix : Dr. Jetrel will have to find himself another laboratory rodent to help his experiments. Because I would rather die than help you ease your conscience.

Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel : I do not expect you to like me, Mr. Neelix; nor do I hope to allay your obvious pain with moral arguments. But I do believe I can help you. If not you, others of your race. Isn't that more important than punishing me?

Release Dates | Official Sites | Company Credits | Filming & Production | Technical Specs

• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos
• User Reviews
• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

Metreon Cascade

• View history

Talaxian metreon cascade victim

Metreon cascade victim

The Metreon Cascade was a weapon of mass destruction conceived by Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel of the Haakonian Order , and then built by a team of scientists led by him. However, Jetrel downplayed his role, calling the weapon a scientific inevitability that would have been discovered by someone else if not by him.

It used unstable metreon isotopes to create a devastating explosion. The resulting radiation poisoning killed those who were not destroyed by the initial blast. Jetrel claimed that this poisoning was unforeseen. Furthermore, sufficient exposure to metreons resulted in the deadly disease metremia .

The weapon was tested, and then deployed in 2356 on Rinax , a moon of the Haakonian war enemy , the Talaxians . The military strategists selected this target because they wanted to show the power of the cascade in all its horror.

The flash was visible from nearby Talax , where observers subsequently lost sight of Rinax due to the metreon cloud enveloping the moon. As of 2371 , this cloud still persisted. More than a quarter of a million people were vaporized, and thousands of others eaten away by Metreon poisoning. Over all, more than 300,000 people died. The aftermath was described as such:

The day after the Cascade was deployed, Talax surrendered unconditionally to the Haakonian Order. ( VOY : " Jetrel ", " Friendship One ", " Homestead ")

• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

• Movies & TV
• Featured Categories

Image Unavailable

• Sorry, this item is not available in
• Image not available
• To view this video download Flash Player

Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 15: Jetrel VHS

• VHS Tape from $3.47

Editorial Reviews

Original airdate: 5/15/95. Stardate: 48832.1. While providing background history for the character of Neelix, "Jetrel" follows Star Trek tradition with a parable about scientific ethics and moral responsibility. When a Haakonian physician named Jetrel (James Sloyan) contacts Voyager with an urgent request, Neelix (Ethan Phillips) is forced to confront his painful, hidden past: it was Jetrel who, 15 years earlier, had developed the metreon cascade superweapon that killed Neelix's family and 300,000 other Talaxians on their home moon of Rinax. Now Jetrel has pledged to cure surviving Talaxians (including Neelix) of a deadly form of metreon radiation, but Neelix remains bitterly hateful toward his former enemy, who must live with the guilt of their shared tragedy. With too-obvious parallels to the atomic bomb and J. Robert Oppenheimer, there's little room for subtlety in this worthy attempt to explore the moral complexities of scientific progress, and the restrictions of one-hour television demand that overwhelming emotional conflicts be resolved in the course of a few dramatic scenes. Within those parameters, however, "Jetrel" is a substantial episode, boasting excellent performances by Phillips and Sloyan, a reliable Star Trek guest who, including this episode, has played members of four alien species in three different series. --Jeff Shannon

Product details

• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.32 x 4.19 x 1.12 inches; 6.13 ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Beaumont, Gabrielle, Biller, Kenneth, Bole, Cliff, Bruno, John, Burton, LeVar
• Release date ‏ : ‎ July 11, 2000
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ October 25, 2006
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Dawson, Roxann, Russ, Tim
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Paramount
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000003K9R

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices