10 Star Trek Episodes That Started As Something Completely Different
7. Barge Of The Dead
This episode was one of two written for Star Trek: Voyager by veteran Ronald D. Moore, though it originated as part of his tenure on Deep Space Nine. The basic plot of this story would have been shown in Soldiers Of The Empire, though the story was effectively chopped in half, with Barge of the Dead being one of them.
In Moore's original story idea, Soldiers of the Empire would still feature Worf, Martok, and the crew of the IKS Rotarran. They would still be assigned to a rescue mission, though here it would have been a colony. When they arrive, they would find all of the inhabitants missing. Nearby, there was a lake covered with a mysterious fog.
As they approach it, a boatman appears and offers to take them to Gre'thor. Once inside, they find one of Martok's friends, who wants them to take him with them. Even more shockingly, they find Worf's late father, Mogh.
Ira Steven Behr nixed the idea, opining that it was too late in the season to deal with such heavy themes of life, death and the great beyond. He also felt that trying to show the day-to-day workings of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey was enough on its own, without trying to sandwich these ideas together. The ideas were split apart, and Barge of the Dead went to Voyager.