Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Kathryn Janeway

4. The Mystery Of Her Father's Death

Star Trek Voyager Coda
CBS Media Ventures

In the season 3 episode, Coda, it is established that Kathryn’s father, Admiral Edward Janeway, died under the polar ice caps on Tau Ceti Prime. 

This episode was written by Jeri Taylor and aired the year after Mosaic was published. In Mosaic, the events of Edward’s death are explored in greater depth and include an extra level of devastation for Kathryn, as her fiance, Justin, also died in the same accident. The three of them were conducting a test flight of a prototype ship which ended up crashing into an iceberg on Tau Ceti Prime. Kathryn was faced with an impossible decision; forced to choose which of the two she would save. Stubborn as Janeway is, however, she opted to try and save both. This, unfortunately, ended in tragedy when her attempts to beat the odds, resulted in her father and Justin slipping under the ice and Kathryn losing them both. 

While Justin was never mentioned on-screen, it seems reasonable to assume that, if these details of Edward Janeway’s death are considered canon, so too must the rest of the events depicted in Mosaic. Especially when considering that the two stories were both written by then-Voyager writer and executive producer, Jeri Taylor.

This is, however, contradicted in The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway, where the events of Edward’s death suggest that he was alone when he crashed, with Kathryn being informed of the news whilst serving on the Al-Batani. It also never mentions Tighe.

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Ellie has been part of the WhatCulture team since 2021 where she began as a freelance presenter for the WhoCulture channel. As a diehard Whovian with a BA (hons) degree in Drama and Acting, this role was the perfect opportunity for her to combine her screen presence training with her extensive Doctor Who knowledge. From there, she branched out to various other WhatCulture channels, including TrekCulture, and became a full time Content Producer/Video Presenter in 2023. Ellie is now a regular fixture on both WhoCulture and TrekCulture and has become a well respected public figure within both fandoms, building up a substantial following across her social media platforms and being given the opportunity to represent the channels and the wider communities at several industry events. Her favourite Doctor Who character is River Song and her favourite Star Trek character is Captain Janeway - which tells you everything you need to know about how she approaches her role within a generally male dominated field.