Episode Synopsis : Season 1
HEROES AND DEMONS
Episode 12

 

Voyager travels near a protostar and stops to investigate it. In engineering, Janeway and Torres beam aboard samples of the protostar's photonic energy in order to study them for possible use in the ship's power converters. At first only one sample is beamed aboard instead of two. They correct a breach in the transporter's containment field and the second sample is beamed aboard. Each is beamed into a sealed container. Janeway tries to signal Kim, who is off-duty and due some holodeck time, to ask him to assist Torres in her research on the sample. But she and Torres are shocked to learn that Voyager's sensors cannot detect him in the Holodeck or indeed anywhere else on board! Tuvok and Chakotay enter the Holodeck in search of Kim. They discover his holoprogram is still running. It is a version of the Old English epic poem 'Beowulf'. The pair are challenged by the holocharacter Freya, a shield maiden and daughter of King Hrothgar. Chakotay correctly surmises that as it is Kim's holoprogram Kim's role would be that of Beowulf. When he and Tuvok, and so he claims that he and Tuvok are Beowulf's kinsmen. They ask Freya for news of Beowulf. She informs them that the warrior hero Beowulf was killed by Grendel, the monster in the epic poem! She assumes they have come to kill Grendel and avenge Beowulf's death. She takes them to her father's hall. King Hrothgar's hall is a subdued place, filled with fear because each night the mysterious monster Grendel comes and a warrior disappears. The king says he grieves with Chakotay and Tuvok for the loss of their kinsman and, despite the hostility of the warrior Unferth to them, allows them to stand sentry watch that night. Soon afterwards, the doors rattle and Grendel bursts in through the hall doors in a blaze of brilliant white light. Janeway and Torres are monitoring their progress via an open comlink. They hear the report that Grendel is some kind of photonic energy when suddenly they find that Chakotay and Tuvok, like Kim, have vanished! Since the Doctor is holographic not organic like the three missing crewmembers, Janeway sends him to search for them. It will be his first away mission. Kes realises that the Doctor is having difficulty coping with the thought of the mission, for he has never been outside Sickbay and is truly facing the unknown - he can describe every piece of equipment in Sickbay but he has never seen a tree. Kes offers encouragement, telling him that every crewmember faces the unknown on an away mission. As a hologram he has no name with the crew so far addressing him as "Doctor". She encourages him to choose a name from himself from a role model he admires. The Doctor selects the name Schweitzer. The Doctor is transferred from Sickbay to the Holodeck. A tricorder has been beamed there ready for him to use. Like Chakotay and Tuvok, he is challenged by Freya. But, unlike them, he has been able to do extensive research using Voyager's database. He charms Freya who is flattered that he has heard of her warrior exploits. On being told that he is looking for Beowulf, she takes him to her father's hall. The king greets him but Unferth is hostile. When Unferth draws his sword, Freya lends the Doctor her own sword for the duel. The Doctor makes a poor show of defending himself (and the sword is very heavy), so he simply lays the sword aside. Unferth raises his sword high then brings it crashing down, intent on cleaving the Doctor in two. Instead, the sword whistles through the air because of course the Doctor is a hologram. Freya rallies the warriors who believe that the Doctor can rid them of Grendel, for no weapons can harm the Doctor. The Doctor joins a feast in his honour. Called upon to regale them with a tale of his homeland, instead of boasting of his warrior skils the Doctor tells them how he cured an epidemic of Parinisti measles among the crew. The warriors retire for bed, leaving the Doctor to his vigil and his wait for Grendel. Freya lingers. They speak words of comfort to each other about their different situations, then she makes advances to him. He is uncomfortable at this, unsure how to respond. She leaves him with an invitation to her bed, but the Doctor readies to encounter Grendel. When Grendel comes, it is seen that the blaze of brilliant white light actually includes long moving tendrils of light. One of these twists around the Doctor's outstretched arm, attacking him. He calls for emergency beam-out and returns to Sickbay minus most of his right arm. the Doctor is attacked by Grendel the Doctor loses most of an arm In engineering, Torres and Paris are surprised to discover that the samples from the protostar are living entities when one breaks free of the sample jar and escapes the ship. It heads for the protostar which studies reveal is a photonic lattice - the home of the photonic beings. The lattice also contains three distinct bio-electrical patterns - they must be the three missing crewmen, who have been turned into energy. Janeway concludes that the beings from the protostar are manifesting themselves as Grendel on the Holodeck. In retaliation for Voyager (unwittingly) capturing two of their kind, they in turn have captured Kim, Chakotay and Tuvok. The lifeforms no doubt want the return of their fellow-being i.e. the other 'sample' which Voyager still has. an entity escapes the sample container the photonic lattice in the protostar With his imaging parameters re-adjusted to replace the missing part, the Doctor returns to the Holodeck carrying the photonic being in the sample jar. His mission is to make first contact and somehow attain the release of the three crewmembers. He meets Freya in the forest who as usual is on guard duty there. They are overjoyed at the reunion. She had thought Grendel had killed him. He explains that he is on an urgent mission to deal with Grendel. the Doctor re-enters the Holodeck carrying the lifeform Freya and the Doctor meet again They are interrupted by Unferth who attacks the Doctor, making him drop the sample container. Freya leaps to the Doctor's defence, but is mortally wounded by Unferth who steals the container and heads back to the hall. Freya dies in the Doctor's arms. above: Unferth attacks right: Freya dies The Doctor goes to King Hrothgar's hall. There Unferth lies that the Doctor killed Freya, but the Doctor, angry at Freya's death and with a mission to perform, thrusts a lit torch at him. Unferth reveals himself to be a coward and the Doctor gets the container back. Unferth falls back before the Doctor the Doctor readies to encounter Grendel again At that moment Grendel, or rather the photonic lifeform, arrives. While the warriors hang back, afraid, the Doctor steps up to meet 'Grendel'. He takes the lid off the sample container and releases the entity within which rejoins 'Grendel'. This establishes first contact. The Doctor's hope that the entity understands his action proves correct, and suddenly Chakotay, Tuvok and Kim materialise in front of him. They are no longer energy but have been restored, and are alive and well. the Doctor releases the lifeform and it goes to rejoin its fellows Kim, along with Chakotay and Tuvok (not pictured) is returned to Voyager Janeway visits the Doctor in Sickbay. She informs him that she has put in the logs a commendation for the Chief Medical Officer during his first away mission. He decides not to keep the name Schweitzer, because it brings back painful memories, for Freya died saying it. Janeway commends the Doctor on his successful away mission    FREYA TO THE DOCTOR: Every night the monster comes, and every day our numbers are lessened, and no one will speak of it. No one speaks of the fear that he will be next. Each meal becomes quieter than the last, and after a time we barely speak at all. Do you know what it is to be alone among many, and unable to speak your fears?    JANEWAY: It's one of the most exciting aspects of space exploration - meeting new species, establishing communication, sharing differences and similarities.