History Recap / StarTrekVoyagerS3E25S4E1Scorpion

* ForeignCussWord: Courtesy of Leonardo, when his machine breaks: ''"Que cazzo?"''[[note]]"What the fuck?"[[/note]]

* AchillesHeel: The Borg gather information by assimilation. [[CripplingOverspecialization Unfortunately the cells of Species 8472 are too densely coded.]] ''Voyager'''s crew (who gather information by investigation) know more about the Species after a few hours than the Borg do after months of conflict.

* AlienInvasion: Of the entire galaxy. Or at least [[NotSoOmniscientAfterAll according to Kes]]. However, Species 8472 are (extradimensional) alien invaders who are ironically invading the core territory of the Borg. Who [[LaserGuidedKarma are themselves alien invaders to the rest of the species in the galaxy]] and who actually invaded Fluidic Space first.

* AnotherDimension / EldritchLocation: Fluidic Space

** Janeway asks that the Borg chose a drone to act as a liaison, as with [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds Locutus of Borg]].

** Chakotay's inate distrust of the Borg comes from the events of "Unity", when he was implanted with a Borg neural transceiver that was [[AndIMustScream later used to control him]]. Also the Doctor has been analysing the Borg corpse they recovered in that episode.

* TheChainsOfCommanding: Janeway ponders how she's LonelyAtTheTop, having to make the decision over whether they should proceed at great risk, or give up and spend the rest of their lives in the Delta Quadrant. Chakotay assures her YouAreNotAlone. Later when Chakotay won't support her alliance with the Borg, Janeway declares that she's alone after all.

* ClockPunk: Leonardo proudly shows off an automaton he dubs "The Arm of Hephaestos".

* [[DeadGuyOnDisplay Dead Drone on Display]]: The crew find the severed arms and legs of Borg drones stacked in a pile.

* DramaticIrony: A Meta cross-series one. "Scorpion, Part 1" aired concurrently with the ''Deep Space Nine'' Season Five finale [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E26CallToArms ''Call to Arms'']], wherein Sisko and company were dealing with the commencement of the Dominion War. So Janeway and the others are thus fighting to save the Delta Quadrant and the rest of the galaxy from the existential threat posed by Species 8472 while being completely unaware the Federation's ''already'' dealing an invasion on their end -- and that even if Janeway can stop Species 8472, there may not even be a Federation for them to come back home to thanks to the Dominion.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: From the moment she's unplugged from her alcove, Seven of Nine shows herself notably different from the childlike [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E23IBorg Hugh]] or the monotone [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds Locutus]]. Her first words are, "I speak for the Borg" whereas past drones referred to themselves a "we". Unlike in "I, Borg" where this change signified a Borg drone becoming deprogrammed, it shows the extent to which Seven willingly identifies herself with the Collective. She's so proud of her Borg nature and aggressive towards Janeway that the HiveMind can be seen [[AssInAmbassador silently pulling her back into line]] on one occasion.

** When B'Elanna can't beam the Away Team off the bioship, Janeway gives her a DisapprovingLook. B'Elanna quickly comes up with another option.

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: Captain Janeway plans a temporary alliance with the Borg in order to combat Species 8472. When she asks for Chakotay's personal opinion, he relates the parable of "The Scorpion and The Fox". Oddly, the story as told is more tragic than the normal telling, with the scorpion [[TragicVillain apologizing for being unable to help its nature]], when the Borg would consider such an apology irrelevant.

** The crew dubs the apparently safe way through Borg space the "Northwest Passage." Naming something after a passage that didn't exist and yet hundreds of people died trying to find [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt should make it clear that this path isn't exactly safe]].

* InevitableMutualBetrayal: As soon as 8472 withdraws, Seven tries to assimilate ''Voyager''. Fortunately, Janeway and Chakotay are prepared.

* {{Irony}}: The Borg also considered the EnemyMine agreement unworkable, due to humanity's natural divisiveness.

* LetsSplitUpGang: The Away Team has only three people, so while Harry is busy downloading data from a Borg distribution node, Chakotay and Tuvok go to investigate the bioship's interior. Harry starts to hear creepy alien roars as the pilot becomes aware of their presence, but Harry isn't attacked until after the Away Team join up again, so this trope is just used to increase the suspense.

* LockAndLoadMontage: Right after the briefing on the upcoming passage through Borg Space.
* LogicalWeakness: The Borg rely on assimilation of technology and individual into the Collective in order to understand their opponent and [[ItOnlyWorksOnce form a countermeasure to a new trick]]. Species 8472 is an OrganicTechnology species whose immune system is so powerful that Borg assimilation doesn't work on them, and their offensive weaponry so devastating even a Borg cube can't handle more than a couple of hits, leaving them with no room to adapt. The Voyager crew note with interest that because the Borg are focused on assimilation they are incapable of innovation, The Doctor managed to devise a modest countermeasure through traditional study, trial and error.

* NoodleIncident: When studying up on the Borg, Janeway quotes Captain Amasov of the ''USS Endeavor'' who previously encountered/fought the Borg. The details of this are never made clear, but given that established canon states that 39 of 40 Federation ships were destroyed at the Battle of Wolf 359, his ship may have been the survivor.

** On the disabled Borg Cube, the away team finds a Borg drone trying to assimilate part of a Bioship's hull over and over again without success.

* NothingIsScarier: One of the best teasers in the franchise, and one of the shortest. Two cubes pull up and begin their "ResistanceIsFutile" speech only to be destroyed by a volley of lightening-esque attacks. We don't know what attacked them until halfway through the episode.

* OffTheShelfFX: The pile of Borg corpses is actually a twelve-inch pile of Playmates Toys action figures, glued together, repainted and composited at the right scale.

-->'''Seven:''' When your Captain first approached us, we suspected that an agreement with humans would prove impossible to maintain. [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill You are erratic, conflicted, disorganised. Every decision is debated, every action questioned. Every individual entitled to their own small opinion.]] You lack harmony, cohesion... [[PunyEarthlings greatness]]. It will be your undoing.

* RuleOfThree: The Doctor successfully treats Harry then Janeway, boasting to Chakotay; "I'm two for two!" By the end of the episode he's fixed up Chakotay as well.

* ThatWomanIsDead

-->'''Chakotay:''' We'd be giving an advantage to a race guilty of murdering billions. We'd be helping the Borg assimilate yet another species just to get ourselves back home. It's wrong!

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Seven's first suggestion for a nanorpobe-weapon is a delivery system capable of scattering the reprogrammed nanites over several star systems. Janeway talks her down to a small arsenal of anti-ship weapons that will prove a point without resorting to mass murder.

** The final shot of "Scorpion, Part Two", with pre-catsuit Seven lying on the biobed while the camera tracks across her [[BoobsOfSteel prominent Borg implants]].

* [[NotWorthKilling Not Worth Assimilating]]: An armada of Borg cubes flies right past''Voyager'' without stopping, shortly after they enter Borg territory. Only a single ship lingers to scan them, then flies off without trying to attack or assimilate them. As the crew later learns, the Borg had a much bigger problem to deal with.

** Janeway studies {{Captains Log}}s from the moment [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E16QWho Q first hurled]] ''Enterprise'' into the Delta Quadrant, to the [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds Battle of Wolf 359]].

* AlwaysABiggerFish: Species 8472 proves to be a ''lot'' more powerful than the Borg, and the attempt to invade Fluidic Space and assimilate them results in a devastating counterattack.

* CallBack

* CuteMonsterGirl: Q described the first Borg drone Starfleet encountered as "neither a he nor a she". Seven of Nine is [[MsFanservice very much a she]]; even full Borg assimilation can't hide her great...implants. Apparently [[BuxomIsBetter breasts are not irrelevant]] despite the existence of Borg maturation chambers.

* TakeAThirdOption: The ''Voyager'' crew has two choices: fly through the Borg-Species 8472 warzone and risk certain death or assimilation, or turn around and give up any hope of returning to Earth. A talk with Holo!daVinci gives Janeway a third option: make a DealWithTheDevil.

* ClockPunk: The Arm of Hephaestos.

* FrogAndTheScorpion: Captain Janeway plans a temporary alliance with the Borg in order to combat Species 8472. When she asks for Chakotay's personal opinion, he relates the parable of "The Scorpion and The Frog". Oddly, the story as told is more tragic than the normal telling, with the scorpion [[TragicVillain apologizing for being unable to help its nature]], when the Borg would consider such an apology irrelevant.

* PintSizedPowerhouse: Species 8472 bio-ships take this UpToEleven and then some. One such ship is much smaller than ''Voyager'', yet can destroy a Borg cube within two shots, and nine of them can [[EarthShatteringKaboom annihilate a planet]].

* ShuttingUpNow: Chakotay enters Sickbay to find Captain Janeway on her feet, DeathGlare cranked UpToEleven. The Doctor is happily burbling about another example of his medical brilliance when he notes the sudden rise in tension and [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere quickly deactivates himself]].

-->'''Leonardo:''' The cardinal is a thief. I delivered to him two portraits of [[UpperClassTwit his mindless nephew]] less than three months ago. "To be depicted in the heroic mode of an Hercules or an Achilles," so specified our contract. I complied, making that young fool of a nephew look far more heroic than nature ever intended. An act on my part far greater than anything ever accomplished by Hercules or Achilles. And what have I, the divine Leonardo da Vinci, received in payment?\\

* DramaticIrony: A Meta cross-series one. "Scorpion, Part 1" aired concurrently with the ''Deep Space Nine'' Season Five finale [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E26CallToArms ''Call to Arms'']], wherein Sisko and company were dealing with the commencement of the Dominion War. So Janeway and the others are thus fighting to save the Delta Quadrant and the rest of the galaxy from the existential threat posed by Species 8472 while being completely the Federation's ''already'' dealing an invasion on their end -- and that even if Janeway can stop Species 8472, there may not even be a Federation for them to come back home to thanks to the Dominion.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:

* CuteMonsterGirl: Q described the first Borg drone we encounters as "neither a he nor a she". Seven of Nine is [[MsFanservice very much a she]]; even full Borg assimilation can't hide her great...implants. Apparently [[BuxomIsBetter breasts are not irrelevant]] despite the existence of Borg maturation chambers.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Leonardo doesn't notice "Katerine" is wearing a Starfleet uniform or talking on the communicator. It appears the program has been upgraded since "Persistence of Vision" so the holographic characters don't register anything unusual (this is confirmed in "Spirit Folk").

* FrogAndTheScorpion: Captain Janeway plans a temporary alliance with the Borg in order to combat Species 8472. When she asks for Chakotay's personal opinion, he relates the parable of "The Scorpion and The Frog". Oddly, the story as told is more tragic than the normal telling, with the scorpion apologizing for being unable to help its nature, when the Borg would consider such an apology irrelevant.

* PowerPincers: Two drones with a large mechanical pincer in place of one hand clamp them around Janeway and Tuvok's necks so they can be implanted with a neural transceiver.

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: Captain Janeway plans a temporary alliance with the Borg in order to combat Species 8472. When she asks for Chakotay's personal opinion, he relates the parable of "The Scorpion and The Frog", though with a fox in place of the frog. Oddly, the story as told is more tragic than the normal telling, with the scorpion apologizing for being unable to help its nature, when the Borg would consider such an apology irrelevant.

* {{Seer}}: Kes has flashes of events to come; she even [[FaintingSeer passes out at one point]].

* OffTheShelfFX: The pile of Borg corpses is actually a twelve-inch pile of Playmates Toys action figures, glued together and repainted.

* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Chakotay accesses Seven's childhood memories.

* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: When Chakotay interfaces with Seven of Nine, he uses her human name.
--> "Listen to your human side...to yourself...the little girl...Seven of Nine! ''Annika!''"

* BodyHorror: Harry spends half the episode being eaten alive by a Species 8472 infection.

* DeadManSwitch: To stop the Borg from assimilating Voyager, all information on the nanoprobe weapon is stored in the Doctor's database where he can erase it by deleting his own program.

* The47Society: Species 8'''47'''2.