Star Trek: 10 Greatest Captain Janeway Speeches

Although towards the latter half of their journey, Captain Janeway became slightly more flexible in her stance towards following certain Starfleet protocols, she always aimed to adhere to the rules, especially in the first few years. 

Navigating the Delta Quadrant resulted in many encounters with new species and worlds, and so, the Prime Directive was crucial to their proceedings. Janeway was steadfast in instilling the principles of Starfleet to her crew, even if it meant disappointing them. 

This was exactly the case in season 2's Prototype when B'Elanna Torres requested permission to aid a sentient robot in developing a means of reproducing. Captain Janeway sympathises with B'Elanna's scientific curiosity and her compassion to help a dying race but reminds the engineer of the reasons behind the Prime Directive. 

We know almost nothing about these creatures or the race that built them. What would be the consequences of increasing their population, both to their own civilisation and others in this quadrant? Who are we to swoop in, play God and then continue on our way without the slightest consideration of the long term effects of our actions?

The ending of Prototype would serve to emphasise Janeway's words, with the revelation that the Automated Units would have waged further war within the Delta Quadrant had B'Elanna aided them in their task.