Warhead (Star Trek: Voyager)
A sentient bomb threatens Voyager after being rescued.
The 119th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, "Warhead" aired on UPN on May 19, 1999, as the fifth season's 25th installment. In the 24th century, the starship Voyager comes across a self-aware alien bomb.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Star Trek: Voyager
- Season
- 5
- Episode
- 25
- Director
- John Kretchmer
- Story
- Brannon Braga
- Teleplay
- Michael Taylor; Kenneth Biller
- Production
- 219
- Air date
- 19 May 1999
Facts from the source article.
Plot
An away team discovers a crashed ship on an empty planet. The Doctor finds its programming is fully aware and in distress, so he asks the crew to save it and bring it to its people. The AI has damaged memory and cannot say what it does, but the crew soon learns it is a weapon of mass destruction. Following the Doctor's request, Captain Janeway keeps the missile on board but tells B'Elanna Torres and Harry Kim to make the warhead safe before it recalls its purpose. During the work, the warhead's intelligence takes over the Doctor's holomatrix, trapping Kim and Torres in sickbay. It threatens to explode and orders Janeway to take it to its target. The crew looks for ways to stop the intelligence while Kim tries to talk to it. The bomb refuses to listen, saying it must reach its target, and threatens to blow up the ship. The crew fixes the warhead's damaged memory circuits and finds that its creators, the Druoda, ended their war and sent recall orders to all sentient warheads. Most obeyed, but 32 warheads broke down and did not get the order. This warhead is one of them, and the Druoda forced it to crash by remote to stop it from detonating. The warhead does not believe this, thinking the recall is a trick by the enemy. Kim argues that the recall orders use a code almost impossible to break. The warhead finally accepts that the war is over, but more than 30 other warheads are still active and have found Voyager. They ignore the Druoda order to stand down, and the warhead sees what it must do. It is put back into its body, freeing the Doctor, and sent to its companions, where it explodes, destroying itself and the other smart bombs.
Releases
The Japanese LaserDisc release of "Warhead" came on June 22, 2001, as part of the fifth season's second volume, offering both English and Japanese audio. This was the final season to see a LaserDisc release, with the set containing six double-sided 12-inch discs totaling 552 minutes. A VHS version paired the episode with "Equinox, Part I." The season 5 DVD box set, released on November 9, 2004, included the episode across seven discs with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and extra features. In 2017, the episode was also included in the complete series DVD box set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed Warhead (Star Trek: Voyager)?
Warhead was directed by John Kretchmer.
Who wrote Warhead (Star Trek: Voyager)?
Warhead was written by Michael Taylor and Kenneth Biller.
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