History Headscratchers / StarTrekNemesis

* This wiki notes that ''StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' more or less underwent CanonDiscontinuity because of its negative reception; with there being a mandate in place to not refrence the films events; an edict not broken until ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' decades later. So why didn't that happen to this film? It was just as reviled critically, and unlike ''Final Frontier'', ''Nemesis'' failed to turn a profit becoming a gigantic BoxOfficeBomb. So why wasn't this film shunned?

[[folder:''Admiral'' Janeway?]]
* Admittedly, he doesn't want the promotion, but in what just universe is Captain Jean-Luc Picard, savior of the Federation on more than one occasion, taking orders from a two-bit vice-admiral who was ''not even born'' when he was promoted to Captain and managed to screw up the one mission she had been officially given by Starfleet in seven years of Captaincy? (That is, search, locate, and apprehend a ship containing marquis and crew.) What does this say about the quality of Starfleet's Admirals???
** Picard was offered promotion to admiral TWICE during TNG. He turned it down both times, because he liked being a starship captain and didn't want a desk job. It was also hinted (but not directly stated) that he had been offered admiral even before he took command of the 1701-D. It's also very likely (but again not directly stated) that he was offered admiral again during the Dominion War (also turning it down). When Janeway got back from the Delta quadrant, it was shortly after the Dominion War ended (a war that caused the Federation to lose a LOT of people). Starfleet was a lot more desperate for people then, and Janeway just happened to take the first promotion that was offered her, while Picard didn't. It's also very likely that Janeway was KickedUpstairs, because while she did get Voyager home, she was never a very effective captain or leader. Also, at the end of Generations, Kirk WARNED Picard. "Don't let them promote you or transfer you. You belong on the bridge of that ship." Kirk had firsthand experience with losing his starship command by being promoted to Admiral.
** That they reward people who unite two hostile crews, cross a considerable portion of a hostile, uncharted quadrant, making friendly contact with dozens of species, saved the galaxy from a species from another dimension or two and crippled the Borg? And they don't punish people for getting grabbed by hyper advanced technology against their will. And hell, she DID bring them back like she was supposed to.
** Some people, like Website/SFDebris, have theorized that Janeway had gotten so exhausted after many years stranded in the Delta Quadrant that she couldn't ''bear'' to take another command, let alone immediately after finally getting home. Or that she was KickedUpstairs to get rid of her.
** Also, Starfleet may have figured that Picard is far more useful out there "on the field" than chained to a desk job. Picard has been the best at being the flag ship's captain since Kirk, and they want to profit from that as long as possible.
*** Janeway was almost certainly court-martialed when she arrived home. There was just no realistic way to avoid it. She made too many questionable decisions in her time in the Delta Quadrant. Consider the facts of many of those decisions from Starfleet's perspective, without the context that viewers enjoy, and a lot of those decisions start to look like serious crimes. For example, while her victory over the Borg was certainly impressive, Starfleet's probably going to get a little hung up on that time she [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E25S4E1Scorpion designed and supplied weapons of mass destruction to the Borg]]. Starfleet can't just ignore Janeway involving ''Voyager'' in a war between two current enemies of the Federation, and that's only one of the ''many'' violations of the Prime Directive that Janeway must have had to answer for when she returned home.
*** But this is a headscratcher, not a WMG, so unless there's any evidence that she was court-martialed in-universe (wether canon or at least expanded universe) then this is just fans expressing their hatred toward the character instead of properly respond a headscratcher.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Again, ''ADMIRAL'' Janeway?]]
* How in blue hell did Janeway make Admiral before Picard?
** Picard was offered admiral TWICE on-screen in TNG, and turned it down both times, because he wanted to be a starship captain rather than have a desk job. It's implied that he was offered a promotion prior to taking command of the Enterprise, and again during the Dominion War and likewise didn't accept it. On the other hand, when Janeway returned from the Delta Quadrant, it was in the aftermath of the Dominion War (a war that cost Starfleet a lot of people) and they were rebuilding. So Janeway was just KickedUpstairs, and unlike Picard she took the desk job. Janeway was not a very good captain or a very effective leader, and she was clearly more interested in authority than command anyway.
** Very, very easily answered. Say what you like about Janeway, she was able to get what was a small scout/exploration ship across 70,000 light years (effectively crossing half the galaxy) with a small crew supplemented with terrorists without getting most of them killed, made first contact with dozens of species, survived encounters with the Borg (and worse) and mapped a whole chunk of previously-unmapped space to boot. I'm not surprised Starfleet's response was 'that was a hell of a command', recognized that she'd done the best job possible and offered her a promotion. Remember that none of the other ships that went missing from the Badlands ever returned). Janeway struck me as a career-minded officer, unlike Picard or Kirk, who both enjoyed commanding ships but not the idea of desk jobs as Admirals. So it makes sense she'd accept whereas Picard probably turned down more promotion opportunities than Riker did commands. It's even said by an Admiral in Best of Both Worlds (quite an early TNG episode) that they are on ship command offer number three for Riker, he just won't accept because he views any non-Enterprise command of his own as rather a step down (or maybe sideways). Most of the hatred for Janeway being an Admiral was just hot air, it actually made perfect sense. It's also not as if Janeway's lines imply she is Picard's direct superior, she was simply delivering orders (from-the-top orders) via a communication.
** There are good answers below, but come on, this one's easy: [[Film/StarTrekGenerations Picard took Kirk's advice to heart.]] He probably got offered more admiralties than Riker was offered ship commands (and we know that's saying a lot), but he turned it down every single time because Picard realized that, like Kirk, his "first, greatest destiny" is captaining a starship. Meanwhile, after seven years of wandering out in the cold, Janeway would take a desk job at Starfleet HQ in a ''heartbeat''.
*** While it isn't strictly canon, the extended universe novels established that Picard had a very drastic fall from grace with Starfleet Command after the events of ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection''--probably only keeping his command because he was ''THE'' Jean-Luc Picard. And if you look at the facts of his career out of context, it's not hard to see why some of the brass might be wary of him--and I'm not even talking about Wolf 359. How many prominent Starfleet admirals worked closely with Picard over the years and ended up ruined, in prison, or worse? We know the kind of man Picard is, and that every one of those officers did it to themselves, but someone who's only met Picard in passing might not see that. And that could very easily be true for quite a bit of his conduct over the years. In fact, one of those ruined admirals pretty much made that exact point in ''The Drumhead:''
--->'''Admiral Norah Satie''': Would it surprise you to learn that you have violated the Prime Directive a total of nine times since you took command of the ''Enterprise''? I must say, Captain, it surprised the ''hell'' out of me.
** Starfleet realized they had to get her OUT of the Captain's chair as fast as possible.
*** Why not just fire her ass? Or let her teach stellar cartography at the Academy? Her promotion puts MORE people under her command!
*** It would be very hard to fire her, that's just the way all government bureaucracies work. The cartography thing would have been a good idea, though.
*** Perhaps something other than cartography, though. The defining moment of her career was getting really, really, ''really'' lost.
*** As an Admiral with a desk job, all of her orders and communications would be a matter of public record, and she'd be heavily scrutinized. It's sort of a combination of KickedUpstairs and PromotedToScapegoat / ReassignedToAntarctica. And as the above troper mentioned, there was no way in hell they were ever going to let her command a starship again. Everyone knows starship captains make the real plot changing decisions in Star Trek, and that Admirals are really only there as window dressing. Really it's an example of Starfleet Command being clever.
*** Here you go Katey, try not to lose the desk.
*** The Dilbert Principle (look it up on Wikipedia). Besides, considering the fine tradition among Trek captains to decide that the rules are closer to guidelines, there may be more people under Janeway's command but very few of them are actually ''listening'' to her.
*** Is there any indication that in-universe Janeway is as hated as she is in TV Tropes? Cause otherwise this whole headscratcher is kind of pointless.
** I think that in the EU books, everyone got bumped up a rank or two. That would put Janeway straight in the Admiral Section. Besides, under her command, Starfleet made first contact with dozens (if not hundreds) of species, has more information about the Delta Quadrant than it ever could have possibly gained through any other means, and she's acquired technology that will have Federation scientists entertained for years to come. Besides, Picard's probably been offered promotions left and right for years; he just declines them. Look at Riker, who was offered ships left and right throughout his career and chose to stay on the Enterprise. And, of course, Kirk told him not to accept a promotion, and you don't argue with James Tiberius Mother Fucking Kirk!
*** Point taken re: Kirk. If Janeway was just an admiral in the EU, I wouldn't mind so much, but having her pop up and order Picard around in ''Nemesis'', well...
*** I'm sure there are also a ''lot'' of high-level bureaucrats who still resent Picard for wiping out much of Starfleet and killing thousands of their subordinates, friends, and family members at the Battle of Wolf 359. Even if he were inclined to accept a promotion, I doubt any would be forthcoming after that, no matter how many times he singlehandedly saves the Federation's bacon.
*** "Much of starfleet" is an exaggeration, caused by the people writing TNG at the time having no idea how big a fleet something like Starfleet would require to be operational over an area as big as the Federation. The Dominion War showed a much better scale of numbers, and from that size, the ships lost at Wolf 359 would not be considered a high amount at all. Plus Picard has been offered promotions, he turns them down.
*** Mind you, when Wolf 359 happened, the Alpha and Beta Quadrants were more or less at peace. Starships are probably ''expensive'', space socialist utopia or not, and that's a ''lot'' of people that could be occupying themselves with doing something useful instead of crowding the cosmos. Around the time when the Borg attacked, Starfleet would quite possibly have been more like a cross between the Coast Guard and NASA than the Pacific Fleet of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The Borg attacked, cleaned Starfleet's clocks, and along with the Romulans and Cardassians stirring up trouble in later seasons and leading into ''Deep Space Nine'', Starfleet has probably been on a huge expansion program until we see the massed fleets mixing it up on ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]''. But back at Wolf 359? We probably saw quite a bit of Starfleet's experienced cadre of officers get atomized and assimilated there.
*** The EU books actually give a pretty good explanation as why and how Starfleet went from being the Coast Guard/NASA to the Pacific Fleet rather quickly. They keep a large number of reservists on hand (basically everyone who put on a uniform for more than 30 seconds, and they actually had been building ships at a steady rate which were basically put away for a rainy day. These ships were basically stripped down versions of their active counterparts (for example the Galaxy-class stripped down versions did not have all the science equipment and other "comforts" like the gardens or holodecks)The ships were then stored at various locations around the Federation needing only basic crew and maybe a little maintenance to be fully functional again. Sort of like how the US military keeps a large stockpile of Abrams M1 tank hulls sitting around.
** My theory is that Janeway's promotion is due to her post-mission debriefing after Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant being the most epic act of perjury in galactic history. And the crew would obviously back her up (as its in ''their'' best interests to present only the best side of their little trip and 'forget' about the ten trillion or so court-martial offenses they're all guilty of), except for the holodoc, who can be memory-edited. So, Starfleet only knows that Janeway had the most successful trip ever, and ''doesn't'' know about all of Voyager's stupid mistakes. Shazam, promotion.
*** Ten trillion court-martial offenses? When was this?
*** She is in the very least guilty of killing a member of her crew for dubious reasons in the episode Tuvix which is almost definitely not allowed, she allowed children to be killed because she believed a very clearly bullshit story about how a species ages backwards, and she did work with Vidian pirates in a few episodes which the Federation almost certainly won't approve of.
*** There was that incident of attempted murder when she was interrogating that crewman from from the Starship ''Equinox''.
*** The actual # is of course an exaggeration, but the "[[http://www.cynicscorner.org/ Cynics' Corner]]" Voyager review site didn't have a category labelled 'Court-Martial Offense of the Week' for no reason.
** Because Picard doesn't want to be an admiral. He was actually offered a promotion to admiral in one episode (complete with a position as Headmaster of Starfleet Academy). He refused both. Picard likes exploring space, he doesn't want to be tied to a desk job on Earth.
*** And, on the other side, after all Voyager went through, one can hardly blame Janeway for finding a certain appeal to a nice solid desk and a house in San Fransisco.
** I think it's necessary to cut some slack for Janeway, after all she was a rookie captain; mistakes were bound to be made. When Picard got the Enterprise, he'd been captain for like 20 years by that point, Kirk had also been in the big chair for a while by the time Original Trek began. Archer was a rookie captain as well, and he was even more a ditz than Janeway.
*** IIRC, TOS starts off not very far into Kirk's first year as a starship commander. I think 'Rookie' is appropriate.
*** Kirk was a rookie and it does show a little, but they put him in command of the Enterprise for a reason. He was the best. Janeway got a much smaller science ship, because she was not the very best.
*** It should be noted that ''Enterprise'' wasn't Kirk's first command. Scattered remarks throughout the series indicate that Kirk had a very brief stint commanding an unnamed starship prior to his taking command of ''Enterprise'' [[note]] Some ''Trek'' novels identify that vessel as the USS ''Aloia'', a ''Miranda''-class ship.[[/note]].
*** It is extremely unlikely that the Miranda class is of a similar age to the pre-refit Constitution class given how the entire line is going to be decommissioned in a few decades time even with retrofitting whereas the Miranda is still going strong by the late 24th century. And what is the only other ship class we know of that has lasted a similar length of time? The Excelsior, introduced as brand new but one film later (which in-universe is only a matter of days). It seems more probable given how we know both ships to be obsolete by the mid 24th that Kirk flew a Constellation-class similar to Picard's ''Stargazer'' or a Soyuz-class as seen in ''Cause and Effect.''
*** Granted that it's counter intuitive, but canonical evidence strongly indicates that the ''Miranda''-class is significantly older than the ''Constellation''-class. The USS ''Reliant'', the first ''Miranda'' that we ever see on-screen, was operating as early as 2267, as evidenced by her registration number being seen on a fleet status display in ''TOS'': "Court Martial." The oldest ''Constellation''-class ship that we've seen, the USS ''Hathaway'', was constructed almost two decades later in 2285, according to her dedication plaque. That just happens to be the same year that ''Reliant'' was attached to Project Genesis, meaning that we can't just write off the reference in "Court Martial" as a careless ContinuitySnarl. It confirms that ''Constellation''-class ships were still rolling off of the assembly line well into the ''Miranda''-class's service life. In fact, the ''Soyuz''-class's very existence seems to add credence that idea, because the ''Miranda'' and the ''Soyuz'' are quite obviously two variants of same basic space frame.
*** True, but the regulations for Starfleet captains were apparently much looser in Kirk's day than in TNG. Hell, they didn't even ''have'' a Prime Directive in TOS.
*** Sure they did. Kirk just ignored it whenever it proved inconvenient.
*** So, she was a rookie captain. That's fine, we don't think she's a terrible human being for that. But that's even ''more'' reason not to make her admiral the moment she gets back.
** Well, when Janeway returns home, all the higher-ups at Starfleet ask her: "What did you do out in the Delta Quadrant?" And she replies: "Made lots of first contacts, had sex with a Q, made a treaty with some aliens that were even more dangerous than the Borg to not attack us (and we even became friends!), oh, and those Borg guys? Yeah, I killed the queen and gave them a horrible virus that has probably killed off 99% of them. Oh, and here's all the fantastic data we've collected on the way for things like new warp drives, ship schematics, a few time travel devices..." How could they ''not'' make her an admiral? Or, they should have at least made her admiral of a Delta Quadrant/deep space fleet where she has the most experience.
*** Basically, beating up on the Borg for four years and living to tell the tale more than merited promotion. Besides, seeing some of the other officers that made Admiral over the years (the one in The Drumhead, for instance), Janeway doesn't look all that bad.
*** For what it's worth, I'm behind this one.
*** I always assumed Janeway no longer had a ship to command. The Federation probably took Voyager away to be studied by the finest minds in Starfleet. Even if they couldn't duplicate the technology, keeping a ship that powerful from falling into enemy hands just makes sense.
*** The biggest problem I had with it was the actual rank she held. According to the Star Trek wiki, Memory Alpha, ''Voyager's'' last episode was set in 2378, and ''Nemesis'' in 2379. In about one year, she went from captain to vice admiral. To put that in perspective, she was one promotion ahead of Jim Kirk in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''--some 15 years after he gave up command of the ''Enterprise''. This is no knock against Janeway, but after everything ''Voyager'' went through, Starfleet shouldn't have even been done debriefing her yet. She was given a ''HUGE'' promotion when, considering the seven years of stress and trauma, it shouldn't have yet been clear whether she was still fit for duty or not.
** Star Fleet used to offer Picard promotions all the time. He kept turning them down. They gave up for a while. Same happened with Riker. He was always being offered his own command, but he would choose the Enterprise instead. He only quit and pursued his own command after he got married. Go figure.
** It's not the promotion that gets me, it's her area of command. What the ''hell'' is she doing overseeing diplomatic relations with the ''Romulans'' after being absent from the quadrant and its complex politics ''for seven years''? She was a scientist before becoming captain; why in god's name wouldn't she be heading up a division in any of: scientific research, deep-space exploration, the Borg (or Delta quadrant in general), or first contact? Nitty-gritty diplomatic encounters with Alpha Quadrant cultures whose relationship with the Federation goes back centuries is the ''exact opposite'' of everything she's shown expertise at in the last 15 years!
*** She didn't seem to be in charge of diplomacy anymore then any other branch. She's either just happened to be the one on duty at the time or she just was the one selected to call Picard. Starfleet Command probably received the Romulan call for a diplomatic meeting, relayed it to the Federation Council and then the Federation Council (doubtlessly after some debate) called up Starfleet Command and told them to send somebody to take the Romulans up on their offer. Janeway just probably happened to be around at the time.
** For one thing, you need to pull back a little and realize that "Janeway got her ship lost in the Delta Quadrant" is more MemeticMutation than what actually happened. Her ship got pulled there through no fault of her own, just like a lot of other peoples' ships. Yes, she made a decision that wound up with them stuck there, but it's the sort of decision that Starfleet captains are expected to make, whether it was the right or wrong one. For another thing, I want you to consider this scenario: "Well, Captain Janeway, you've just brought back roughly two hundred people that most everyone thought were dead years ago, reuniting them with their families and friends, and ''their'' family and friends, who are not only mostly Federation citizens but at least some of whom are guaranteed to be prominent and/or politically powerful people by the law of averages if nothing else. You've even redeemed the son of one of our prominent admirals, who's also your mentor! ... YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!" Yeah, try finding the Starfleet officer who's willing to commit career suicide for ''that'' one. Whatever her fuckups, Janeway would have been perceived as a hero by the general public and a lot of prominent individuals, promoting her to admiral would have nicely served the purposes of both being perceived as an award and getting her the hell out of captaining starships.
** Q did it. He owed her one.
** She's a Vice Admiral, not Commander Starfleet. She's basically been promoted to a point where she neither gets to call shots on a ship nor have any huge influence in the organization itself. She's a glorified gopher more than anything, her only role was to call up captains and hand out orders. It's basically a nothing job and probably the highest she'll ever get.
[[/folder]]

** Alright not only is this easily explainable, it's 100% canon. Probably something Mr. Baird missed excising all character and continuity moments from the film. At the end of the TNG episode "Family" as Picard is leaving, his brother Robert gives him a bottle of the family wine, with explicit instructions not to drink it alone. So after Data's passing, he opened it up, and he didn't drink it alone...but with family.

** It was explicitly stated that the effect wouldn't be permanent once [=LaForge=] was no longer under the planet's influence. Of course, why his optic nerves would degenerate for no reason after being repaired is never explained; it would be getting your car fixed, but having it break down again as soon as you leave the shop. But whatever.
*** That pretty much describes what happens every time I take my car to a mechanic. I swear they break shit on purpose to make you come back.

** She's a Vice Admiral, not Commander Starfleet. The lowest Flag rank. She's basically been promoted to a point where she neither gets to call shots on a ship nor have any huge influence in the organization itself. She's a glorified gopher more than anything, her only role was to call up captains and hand out orders. It's basically a nothing job and probably the highest she'll ever get.

** Because he was still fighting off the Reman boarding partym and in the novelization, a bad disruptor hit forced him into Sickbay; he was completely occupied in either case. Plus, he wasn't even on the bridge when Picard announced this decision, so he couldn't object even if he wanted to.

*** Why not just fire her? Or let her teach stellar cartography at the Academy? Her promotion puts MORE people under her command!

** I think that in the EU books, everyone got bumped up a rank or two. That would put Janeway straight in the Admiral Section. Besides, under her command, Starfleet made first contact with dozens (if not hundreds) of species, has more information about the Delta Quadrant than it ever could have possibly gained through any other means, and she's acquired technology that will have Federation scientists entertained for years to come. Besides, Picard's probably been offered promotions left and right for years; he just declines them. Look at Riker, who was offered ships left and right throughout his career and chose to stay on the Enterprise. And, of course, Kirk told him not to accept a promotion, and you don't argue with James Tiberius Kirk!

*** She is in the very least guilty of killing a member of her crew for dubious reasons in the episode Tuvix which is almost definitely not allowed, she allowed children to be killed because she believed a very clearly questionable story about how a species ages backwards, and she did work with Vidian pirates in a few episodes which the Federation almost certainly won't approve of.

** For one thing, you need to pull back a little and realize that "Janeway got her ship lost in the Delta Quadrant" is more MemeticMutation than what actually happened. Her ship got pulled there through no fault of her own, just like a lot of other peoples' ships. Yes, she made a decision that wound up with them stuck there, but it's the sort of decision that Starfleet captains are expected to make, whether it was the right or wrong one. For another thing, I want you to consider this scenario: "Well, Captain Janeway, you've just brought back roughly two hundred people that most everyone thought were dead years ago, reuniting them with their families and friends, and ''their'' family and friends, who are not only mostly Federation citizens but at least some of whom are guaranteed to be prominent and/or politically powerful people by the law of averages if nothing else. You've even redeemed the son of one of our prominent admirals, who's also your mentor! ... YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!" Yeah, try finding the Starfleet officer who's willing to commit career suicide for ''that'' one. Whatever her failings, Janeway would have been perceived as a hero by the general public and a lot of prominent individuals, promoting her to admiral would have nicely served the purposes of both being perceived as an award and getting her the hell out of captaining starships.

*** That pretty much describes what happens every time I take my car to a mechanic. I swear they break stuff
on purpose to make you come back.

* So Shinzon's plan is to attack Earth with his super weapon--fair enough, his ship is powerful, deadly, and apparently has a "perfect cloak." So...then what? Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine establishes that Earth is one of the most fortified planets in the Alpha Quadrant--so fortified, in fact, that the Klingons had never even ''thought'' of attacking it. The Breen manage to launch a successful raid on Earth, but it was at the cost of every single ship in that fleet. No matter how badass the Scimitar, and how well cloaking device works, that ship is bound to give away its position the instant it opens fire. Even worse, he only brought one ship, Starfleet knows he's coming, and they're going to be ready for him. How exactly did he plan to survive this mission?

*** Why not just fire her ass? Or let her teach stellar cartography at the Academy? Her promotion puts MORE people under her command!

** I think that in the EU books, everyone got bumped up a rank or two. That would put Janeway straight in the Admiral Section. Besides, under her command, Starfleet made first contact with dozens (if not hundreds) of species, has more information about the Delta Quadrant than it ever could have possibly gained through any other means, and she's acquired technology that will have Federation scientists entertained for years to come. Besides, Picard's probably been offered promotions left and right for years; he just declines them. Look at Riker, who was offered ships left and right throughout his career and chose to stay on the Enterprise. And, of course, Kirk told him not to accept a promotion, and you don't argue with James Tiberius Mother Fucking Kirk.

*** She is in the very least guilty of killing a member of her crew for dubious reasons in the episode Tuvix which is almost definitely not allowed, she allowed children to be killed because she believed a very clearly bullshit story about how a species ages backwards, and she did work with Vidian pirates in a few episodes which the Federation almost certainly won't approve of.

** For one thing, you need to pull back a little and realize that "Janeway got her ship lost in the Delta Quadrant" is more MemeticMutation than what actually happened. Her ship got pulled there through no fault of her own, just like a lot of other peoples' ships. Yes, she made a decision that wound up with them stuck there, but it's the sort of decision that Starfleet captains are expected to make, whether it was the right or wrong one. For another thing, I want you to consider this scenario: "Well, Captain Janeway, you've just brought back roughly two hundred people that most everyone thought were dead years ago, reuniting them with their families and friends, and ''their'' family and friends, who are not only mostly Federation citizens but at least some of whom are guaranteed to be prominent and/or politically powerful people by the law of averages if nothing else. You've even redeemed the son of one of our prominent admirals, who's also your mentor! ... YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!" Yeah, try finding the Starfleet officer who's willing to commit career suicide for ''that'' one. Whatever her fuckups, Janeway would have been perceived as a hero by the general public and a lot of prominent individuals, promoting her to admiral would have nicely served the purposes of both being perceived as an award and getting her the hell out of captaining starships.

*** That pretty much describes what happens every time I take my car to a mechanic. I swear they break shit on purpose to make you come back.

* So Shinzon's plan is to attack Earth with his big-ass super weapon--fair enough, his ship is powerful, deadly, and apparently has a "perfect cloak." So...then what? Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine establishes that Earth is one of the most fortified planets in the Alpha Quadrant--so fortified, in fact, that the Klingons had never even ''thought'' of attacking it. The Breen manage to launch a successful raid on Earth, but it was at the cost of every single ship in that fleet. No matter how badass the Scimitar, and how well cloaking device works, that ship is bound to give away its position the instant it opens fire. Even worse, he only brought one ship, Starfleet knows he's coming, and they're going to be ready for him. How exactly did he plan to survive this mission?

* And while we're on the subject, where the hell was Data's funeral? Yeah, he had no next-of-kin to speak of, but he was a decorated high-ranking Starfleet officer who died in the line of duty. You'd think that would warrant some kind of damn ceremony. If there's no room in the movie budget to show it, fine: have the crew do the toast in their dress uniforms just before they depart for the unseen ceremony. And for God's sake, make sure Beverly is there this time!

** Shock? It's not that uncommon in real life for people to have difficulty coming to terms with a loss of that magnitude, and Geordi's dealing with it on top of the stress/exhaustion from the preceeding battle. Add to that the fact that he likely feels responsible on some level, and it's no wonder he's UnableToCry. It'll probably just take a day or two for it to fully hit him.

** What?! Data wasn't leaving! The scene went like this:
*** Picard: While you're happily settling in on the Titan, I will be training my new first officer. You all know him. He's a tyrannical martinet who will never, ever, allow me to go on away missions.
*** Data: That is the regulation, sir. Starfleet code section 12, paragraph 4...
*** Picard: Mr. Data...
*** Data: Sir?
*** Picard: Shut up.
*** Data: Yes, sir.
*** Picard: (aside) Fifteen years, I've been waiting to say that.

** Notably, Geordi has had to deal with Data's [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E22TheMostToys apparent]] or [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E26S6E1TimesArrow impending]] death a couple of times before. In both instances, he showed signs of not taking it very well at all. A plot point in the ''Literature/StarTrekDestiny'' novels could also be seen as something of a FixFic, when Geordi is absolutley ''livid'' that Picard would even ''sugguest'' building the same type of thalaron generator that killed Data as a last-ditch effort to stop the Borg. The fierce [[WhatTheHellHero ass-chewing]] he gave Picard--''the'' Jean-Luc Picard--speaking to how deeply he was affected by Data's death, and how raw that wound still was.

** Notably, Geordi has had to deal with Data's [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E22TheMostToys apparent]] or [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E26S6E1TimesArrow impending]] death a couple of times before. In both instances, he showed signs of not taking it very well at all. A plot point in the ''Literature/StarTrekDestiny'' novels could also be seen as something of a FixFic, when Geordi is absolutley ''livid'' that Picard would even ''sugguest'' building the same type of thalaron generator that killed Data as a last-ditch effort to stop the Borg. The fierce [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech ass-chewing]] he gave Picard--''the'' Jean-Luc Picard--speaking to how deeply he was affected by Data's death, and how raw that wound still was.