10 Star Trek Captains Who Broke The Rules

1. Harry Kim

Harry Kim endgame Star Trek Voyager
CBS Media Ventures

Let us here give the man his due. While it may have been in an alternate future that was then erased by the actions of a certain Admiral Janeway, Harry Kim was, for a time, the captain of the USS Rhode Island.

This Nova-class vessel detected Janeway's adapted shuttle and was sent to intercept, with only Kim knowing that she intended to use experimental Klingon technology to travel through time and change the past. 

There is an irony here. In Timeless, an older Harry Kim breaks every rule he can to change the past, thus saving Voyager from destruction. Here, he is tasked with preventing Janeway from doing exactly that. However, did anyone ever truly believe that the forever ensign wouldn't side with his old captain?

Their exchange may be brief, but Janeway and Kim understand how vital her mission is. As she reminds him, he was once an eager youth who was ready to fly headfirst into a Borg infected nebula to get the ship home quicker. As he was always going to, Captain Kim relents, disobeyed his orders from Starfleet and violating the Temporal Prime Directive in one breath. 

Though he may never know it, history proved his actions to be correct. For that shining moment, Captain Kim helped save the lives of everyone on his old ship. 

Watch Next


In this post: 
Star Trek
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"