Star Trek: Who is Naomi Wildman?

Key Takeaways

Naomi Wildman‘s origin involves a heart-wrenching tragedy on Star Trek: Voyager.
She shares a unique friendship with Seven of Nine, despite her initial fears.
In Lower Decks season 5, Naomi is listed as an honorable mention for Starfleet’s “30 Under 30” at 10 years old.

As a longtime fan of Star Trek, I must say that one of the most heartwarming friendships to emerge from this expansive universe is between Naomi Wildman and Seven of Nine. Their bond, formed amidst the vastness of space onboard Voyager, mirrors the spirit of camaraderie and unity that Star Trek embodies.

In the premiere of season 5 of “Lower Decks”, viewers encountered an old, possibly forgotten name: Naomi Wildman. While fans who followed “Star Trek: Voyager” are likely familiar with Naomi, others who haven’t watched “Voyager” for a while or are new to it may require a brief recap to fully appreciate this intricate reference in “Lower Decks”.

In an unforeseen turn of events, spaceship Voyager found itself in the Delta Quadrant. Unaware at the time, one of its crew members, a woman named Samantha Wildman, had conceived with her husband on Deep Space Nine before embarking on their mission with Voyager. Upon discovering her pregnancy, she confided in Captain Kathryn Janeway who vowed to protect Samantha throughout her pregnancy and ensure a healthy birth. True to her word, Janeway kept this promise, and Samantha named her child Naomi.

Are There Two Naomi Wildmans? Sort Of

Despite the fact that Naomi spent her childhood on the spacecraft Voyager, it’s important to clarify that she wasn’t the biological child Samantha gave birth to. The Naomi who Samantha nurtured and the crew grew to cherish as their shared child and symbol of hope, was in reality a duplicate Naomi from a time-shifted version of Voyager.

The Death of Samantha Wildman’s Baby

In the episode “Deadlock” from season 2, Voyager experienced a plasma drift at the same time Samantha was having labor difficulties due to her half-Ktarian baby. The doctor opted for a daring move: employing a transporter to extract the baby directly from Samantha’s womb. This unconventional method led to an unexpected complication, however one that was straightforward to address. The Doctor and his assistant Kes then placed the newborn in an incubator to begin treatment for the issue.

Shortly thereafter, Voyager encountered immense subspace disturbances that crippled its warp engines and caused power outages throughout the vessel. While the Doctor attended to the wounded crew, Kes struggled to care for the infant, yet every treatment proved ineffective. As Voyager weathered erratic proton attacks and the Doctor tended to the crew, the baby slipped into unconsciousness. Despite numerous attempts to resuscitate her, tragically, the infant perished.

The Duplicate Naomi Wildman

The powerful impacts from the proton blasts on Voyager eventually led to a rupture on Deck 15. When Ensign Harry Kim and Chief Engineer B’Elanna Torres attempted to fix the crack, Kim unfortunately fell in and lost his life. Subsequently, these breaches expanded dangerously, putting the entire ship at risk, forcing the crew to evacuate urgently.

But before they did, Janeway saw a ghostly image of herself, and her bridge crew, on an undamaged ship. The turbulence that Voyager hit was a subspace divergence field, which created an exact duplicate of Voyager and every crew member onboard. On the duplicate Voyager, duplicate Samantha Wildman had the same labor complications, but the fetal transport procedure didn’t cause any complications. Her baby was born healthy.

Over time, the genuine and replicated Voyager teams found a way to converse, and they joined forces to rectify the spatial distortion. During their joint efforts, they stumbled upon a fissure in space that enabled the exchange of crew members between both spaceships. Unfortunately, when the Vidiians invaded the duplicate Voyager and began harvesting organs from the crew, Duplicate Janeway chose to activate the self-destruct mechanism on her ship. This action would eliminate the Vidiians but also result in the demise of her crew, a group that was not intended to exist originally.

Just as the replica of Captain Janeway was about to execute her strategy, the genuine Janeway instructed her to transport the duplicates of Harry Kim and the Wildman baby via a spatial rift. This was because the authentic counterparts of both had perished during the phase shift. The replica complied, with Kim handling the baby and passing through the spatial rift. Both managed to reach the original Voyager securely before the replica exploded.

On the original Voyager, Kim carried the newborn to the infirmary and handed her over to Samantha. Samantha was extremely grateful, and tenderly held the replicated baby. The child’s name, Naomi, wasn’t disclosed until her third appearance in the season 4 episode “Mortal Coil” of Voyager.

Growing Up on Voyager

Due to her Ktarian genetic makeup, Naomi matured rapidly. In just two years, she had grown to the level of a human child in grade school. The crew adored Naomi as she was the only child on board, and they allowed her to assist them when she asked, even taking on the role of “Captain’s Assistant.” This experience enabled Naomi to learn a great deal about science and engineering, demonstrating a talent for both fields.

Among fans of “Star Trek: Voyager”, Naomi is particularly recognized for her unusual bond with Seven of Nine, a former Borg whom the Voyager crew rescued from the Borg Collective. At first, she was apprehensive towards Seven of Nine, but over time, her curiosity grew and she started to investigate her. She followed Seven around the ship and mimicked her actions, until one day, Seven became aware. Their interaction was brief at first, but they didn’t truly connect until an instance where Seven, influenced by a pathogen in a Borg central processor, adopted the personality of a child that had been assimilated by the Borg.

They both interacted, and Naomi shared with Seven her aspiration to lead as a Starfleet captain. This left Seven amazed by the young one’s social skills. Once cured, Seven vowed to assist Naomi in her studies for captaincy, provided Naomi would guide her on socializing and playing. And so, an unusual yet heartwarming bond was formed between this child and the only ex-Borg on Voyager, who were both unique individuals in their own ways.

As I trailed Seven throughout the starship, carrying out my daily tasks under her watchful eye, our bond began to grow. At first, I was just a pupil she was guiding, but eventually, something more profound took root – affection. With each passing day on Voyager, we forged a friendship that transcended time and space. By the time we made it back home, Seven and I had been friends for years, and our bond was so strong, we felt like family to one another.

Life After Voyager

Even though Naomi Wildman, a beloved character from Star Trek: Voyager, has been absent since the last season, there are hints about her post-Voyager life found in both official and non-official Trek resources. Interestingly, in the initial episode of Lower Decks Season 5, Boimler expresses his disappointment over not making the Starfleet “30 Under 30” list, mentioning that Naomi Wildman was one of the honorable mentions – she’s around ten years old. In a remarkable show of attention to detail, the Lower Decks writers have confirmed that Naomi is indeed ten in the year 2382, when the events of Season 5 occur.

In sync with the plot of the “Star Trek: Voyager” novel “Full Circle”, it’s noted that the Doctor informs Seven that Naomi has been admitted into Starfleet Academy, despite her young age of ten. While “Star Trek” lore doesn’t explicitly state age requirements for attending, most cadets are typically in their mid-teens to early twenties. However, there’s no set minimum age. It could be that Naomi was accepted ahead of schedule due to her remarkable experiences on Voyager, and her rapid growth as a half Ktarian might have played a role too.

However, the Star Trek novels’ place in the Star Trek canon is highly debated, so Full Circle’s mention of Naomi’s acceptance into Starfleet isn’t technically canon. It also contradicts the Star Trek Online storyline, which states Naomi entered Starfleet in 2392, at the age of 20, which makes a lot more sense. That said, Star Trek Online isn’t canon either. So, the only canon mention of Naomi’s life after Voyager is in Lower Decks. It’s unclear whether she had actually entered Starfleet Academy at that point, or whether she made the “30 Under 30” list for her experiences on Voyager.

Picard, named Terry Matalas, mentioned that the writers had planned an episode where Naomi Wildman would become a Fenris Ranger, following Seven of Nine’s example. But this idea was dropped, so it doesn’t confirm anything about Naomi’s future in the series.

Voyager,” who was once referred to as a prodigy, again – unless “Star Trek: Legacy” eventually gets green-lit for production.

Referencing information from IMDb, episodes of Star Trek: Voyager titled “Deadlock,” “Mortal Coil,” “Infinite Regress,” “Once Upon a Time,” and “Survival Instinct,” as well as Memory Beta Fandom.

2024-11-01 17:06