Tuvix was created following a botched transporter accident, so he wasn’t supposed to exist at all. As such, Tim Russ believes Captain Janeway made the correct call, as her first responsibility is to Neelix, Tuvok, and the rest of the USS Voyager crew. “[Tuvix is] an anomaly, one of a kind. You can’t survive, whereas the crew people that he’s replaced … already have a family; we have lives,” he said during the panel.
Meanwhile, Ethan Phillips agreed that Tuvix was created by accident, so Janeway restoring Neelix and Tuvok isn’t akin to killing another living being. However, the actor also said that it’s a complicated subject for which he doesn’t have a clear-cut answer: “By executing Tuvix, she’s not making up for a murder or anything like that. He has almost a right to live because of this accident. I wouldn’t know where to begin to decide.”
While those arguments are valid, there’s no denying that Janeway’s decision to get rid of Tuvix hurt her character in the eyes of some people. Lieutenant Tom Paris actor Robert Duncan McNeill told the panel that the storyline made Janeway look unsympathetic, and as a result, she had to earn the fans’ affection all over again. However, do “Star Trek: Voyager” fans share McNeill’s sentiment?
