Plot
Chakotay takes a shuttlecraft to a seemingly empty part of space to perform a religious ritual in which he remembers his father's death. However, during his ritual, he is attacked by a small Kazon ship by a young man on his first mission. Chakotay manages to disable the Kazon ship and beams the man on board the shuttle seconds before his ship explodes. In the explosion, though, he loses long range communication, thus not being able to communicate with Voyager.
Meanwhile on Voyager, Janeway confronts Neelix on how useful he is to the crew and his food being a "highlight." Neelix, though, feels underutilized for not being invited to holodeck activities as much. As the ship prepares for departure, Tuvok informs Janeway that Commander Chakotay has yet to return and Janeway orders to search his last known coordinates. Back on the shuttlecraft, Chakotay learns that this young man's name is Kar, and would rather be dead than on the shuttlecraft, before being pulled into a much larger Kazon vessel via a tractor beam. While in the Kazon ship's holding cell, Kar explains how Kazons earn their titles through battle or in death.
Meanwhile back on Voyager, the crew detects shuttle debris and beams it to engineering and later to sick-bay for analysis. Also, Tuvok detects an ion trail not matching Federation propulsion technology. Being the only clue to find Chakotay, Janeway orders the Voyager to follow the trail.
In the holding cell, Kar is taken for punishment for failing to kill Chakotay. Torres informs Capt. Janeway that the debris is an alloy not consistent with the shuttlecraft, and that the ship was Kazon. In the Kazon ship, two Kazon children are being taught what it is to be a Kazon. The children, unfazed by Chakotay's kind words of peace, are offered to kill him. However, the Kazon Culluh wants to teach Chakotay what it is like to fail. Chakotay is told that if he kills Kar he will be free to go and teach the Kazon children the way of honour, but instead Chakotay and Kar escape the vessel and head to an M-Class moon and make an emergency transport to the moon.
As Voyager begins to lose the trail, they find more debris and easily recognize it as a Federation shuttlecraft fragment. On the moon, Chakotay and Kar survive the transporter beam, and believe Razik will think they've died. Chakotay tries to talk sense into the boy, saying that the name Kar wants to earn and the uniform Chakotay has earned are not that different, along with an offer to come to Voyager. As Chakotay tells him what a name means to his people, he tells Kar that nothing but the courage and loyalty in his heart is owned. When Chakotay seems asleep, Kar chooses not to kill Chakotay and leaves the homing beacon he left intact.
Back on Voyager, The Doctor informs the Captain that no human remains were detected and that it's possible Chakotay wasn't killed. Based on the trajectory of the debris, they locate the M-Class moon and discover a training field. Paris takes a hail from a Kazon ship, and with Neelix's smooth talking skills, keeps the ship from interfering from their position. Captain Janeway and an away team begin to search for Chakotay, and run into Kazon willing to help them find their missing crewman and guide them through traps. Kar explains why the Kazon do not trust uniforms. Chakotay detects both Kazon and his crew and tells Kar the only way to get his name is for him to kill Chakotay. Chakotay contacts the away-team to tell them Kar has taken him prisoner.
The away-team arrives after being trapped in a force-field just in time to see Kar's crucial test. Chakotay entices Kar into faking his killing (to be resuscitated later by a pre-planned code white) to appease the Kazon onlookers so Kar can get his name. Instead of killing Chakotay, Kar kills Razik, the leader of the Kazon group; allowing his second-in-command to take over. Kar thus passes the test after all and Chakotay returns to Voyager. Posturing, he promises to kill Chakotay the next time they meet. In the end, Chakotay finishes his ritual and adds Kar to his prayers.
Read more about this topic: Initiations (Star Trek: Voyager)
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