On January 25, 2022, fans of “Star Trek” and gamers alike got a surprise that made headlines — actress Kate Mulgrew joined “Star Trek: Online” for the first time. And, since she’s such a groundbreaking star for the franchise, it only seemed fitting that her character should have a significant impact on the storylines and characters in the game.
To remind everyone, Mulgrew starred on “Star Trek: Voyager,” which became the Trek of record for many in the Millennial generation. This is much like “The Original Series” was the Trek for Baby Boomers, and “The Next Generation” became the Trek for Generation X. Mulgrew’s Captain Janeway is unique to so many for that reason, but also because she was the first female captain to anchor a “Star Trek” show.
Doubly important is that Mulgrew’s Janeway is back, this time, as an animated character on the critically acclaimed “Star Trek: Prodigy.” As Holo-Janeway, Mulgrew is connecting with yet another generation of fans, youngsters who are a part of Generation Z.
And since the appeal of “Star Trek” goes well beyond the television shows, films, novels, and comic books, Janeway’s addition to “Star Trek: Online” is a huge deal, both for the gamers and creators of the platform.
Shadow’s Advance
“We wanted her in the game, and we wanted her to play both her Prime Admiral Janeway as well as her Mirror counterpart so we could see both sides of this persona,” said Al Rivera, Director of Design for “Star Trek: Online.”
Rivera said that fans had seen Admiral Janeway a few times, most notably on “Star Trek: First Contact.”
“But we haven’t seen a Mirror Janeway,” said Rivera. “And I remember listening to her in an interview for a recent TV show that she was in, where she said that she loves to play the bad guy. I thought that she’d get a kick out of this.”
As Mirror Janeway, the character undergoes a bit of a makeover. Unlike many of the male Trek characters who appear in the Mirror Universe, Janeway does not sport a goatee, but she does enjoy showing off her guns — that is, her toned arms. Fans might recall that in the IDW Mirror War comic series, Picard’s mirror character also went sleeveless. She will also be known as ‘Marshall Janeway.’
The new storyline, Shadow’s Advance, features not only the Janeways but also Tilly / Killy (Mary Wiseman) and Lita (Chase Masterson) and their manipulative counterparts. Players will be able to play the Mirror version of their own characters in the featured episode, “Red Shift” — this is a “Star Trek: Online” first.
Rivera said that Mulgrew enjoyed playing the Marshall Janeway character and noted that Masterson’s return to the platform let them tie up a few loose storylines.
“Admiral Lita is a very snarky character, and she just enjoys making people uncomfortable,” said Rivera. “But Marshall Janeway is a no-nonsense, tough-as-nails character. She has no warmth like the Prime Janeway we know. She’s not sinister or bloodthirsty like Killy or twisted like Admiral Lita is. [Marshall Janeway] has been through everything, and she just wants to do her job.”
Interestingly, Mirror Janeway sports Borg implants, just like what Seven of Nine had. If that does’t make a player wonder what is happening with the Marshall, then nothing might.
Rivera said that this 12th anniversary of “Star Trek: Online” will feature several new missions, including Shadow’s Advance. Players can also earn the anniversary ship, the impressive T6 Jarok Alliance Carrier.
Adding Janeway to the Right Places
While the designers, coders, and artists had Mulgrew in the audio booth, she recorded a considerable number of audio tracks for the game. Thanks to that, Rivera and his team went back into the archives and put Janeway into spots where she should have been all along.
“We have a Delta Rising story arc,” said Rivera. “Where we have Tim Russ (Tuvok), and Garrett Wang (Harry Kim), and most of the cast. That tells the story of going back to the Delta Quadrant and how it has changed since Voyager left.”
“And there are huge implications for the influence on how Voyager and Janeway had,” said Rivera. He noted that when the Delta Rising story arc was released, Janeway was not a part of the story. Now she is.
“We actually retconned her into that arc,” said Rivera. He said that while they added Janeway, they did not cut anything else out to make room for her presence.
Rivera said that the “Star Trek: Online” team also added Janeway to the Federation training area. Janeway’s impact is made very clear from the very start.
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