11 Seven of Nine facts, from a Borg alcove at home to Brannon Braga's plan for her death

Seven of Nine nearly had a completely different ending. One of her best relationships happened because an actor spoke up, and her romance with Chakotay confused people on both sides of the camera. Here are 11 facts about Seven that go deeper than the silver suit.

Jeri Ryan didn't want to play Seven of Nine at first

Jeri Ryan initially didn't want this job. She was worried that Star Trek would get her typecast. What helped change her mind was an audition scene about Seven remembering childhood laughter.

That glimpse of the person underneath all the Borg material sold her on the character. It feels appropriate. The humanity that made Seven worth following was also what made Ryan want to play her.

Brannon Braga wrote Seven to make demands instead of asking questions

There was a deliberate trick behind how Seven talked. Brannon Braga described a writing rule for her: give her demands instead of questions. Explain, state your demand.

It wasn't a perfectly consistent rule across every episode, but it does explain that distinctive delivery. Most people ask for information. Seven makes you feel overdue for submitting it. Listen for that the next time you go through the series. Once you notice it, you can't unnotice it. Every ordinary conversation ends up being a little power struggle with her.

Jeri Ryan took home a regeneration alcove

In a 2011 interview, Ryan said she hadn't been allowed to keep the costume, but she did have an alcove in her game room. Actors take home things from sets all the time. A communicator or a little prop from a desk, sure. Taking home your character's Borg charging station is a different level of commitment.

Imagine somebody coming over who doesn't follow Star Trek. There's a pool table, maybe some games, and then there's a device against the wall that looks prepared to remove your individuality. That's a conversation starter. If I'd spent four seasons regenerating in something, I would probably feel like I'd earned it too.

Infinite Regress showed the people the Borg assimilated were still inside Seven

In Infinite Regress, Seven starts exhibiting different personalities connected to people who were assimilated into the Collective. The episode gives Ryan a chance to move well beyond Seven's usual controlled performance, but the idea underneath it is genuinely disturbing if you think about it.

We usually think of assimilation as somebody disappearing into a giant machine. Their identity gets swallowed, and that's it. This story suggests those identities can leave traces that resurface. That makes Seven's connection to the Borg much heavier. She isn't simply remembering orders she followed. Other people's fears, behaviors, memories and experiences can break through her own identity. The Collective carries its victims with it. I think that's a lot scarier than another cube firing green weapons.

Robert Picardo gave Jeri Ryan a rehearsal for playing the Doctor in Body and Soul

Body and Soul puts the Doctor's program inside Seven, which means Ryan has to convince us that Robert Picardo's character is operating her body. I'd say she nails it. Picardo later explained that he suggested performing her scenes in a taped rehearsal so she could choose details from his version. That gave her a direct reference for his mannerisms and his delivery.

Notice how she changes the rhythm of her speech, her expressions, the way she enjoys things. You know immediately who's in there. She doesn't need a voice effect or somebody reminding us every 30 seconds. The acting does the work, and it's one of the best examples of how funny Ryan can be, how good an actress she is, and the range she has.

Robert Picardo helped shape the Doctor's relationship with Seven

When Kes was leaving, Picardo worried about losing the person who helped the Doctor develop emotionally. Kes had been his medical student, but she also helped him understand people. Picardo has said he suggested the relationship between the Doctor and Seven.

That pairing makes a lot of sense. He's a hologram working to be treated as a person. She's a former drone learning how to live as one. Neither has the complete instruction manual, but naturally, the Doctor volunteers to teach anyway. What makes the scenes work is that he can recognize her loneliness while remaining spectacularly unaware of some of his own behavior. Sometimes the lessons help Seven. Sometimes they expose something about him. Usually, we get both.

The Omega Directive gave Seven something close to a spiritual experience

In The Omega Directive, Seven becomes fascinated with a molecule the Borg associate with perfection. Janeway sees a catastrophic danger that has to be destroyed. Seven sees the possibility of something extraordinary. When the molecules briefly stabilize, she describes seeing perfection for 3.2 seconds.

That's an unusual moment for a character who normally approaches everything through analysis. She encounters something she can measure, but its meaning goes beyond the measurement. I like that episode because it lets her have that. Recovering her humanity doesn't mean every belief she brought from the Borg disappears. She can reject assimilation while still finding something powerful in their search for order. I think that makes her more complicated than somebody who simply switches sides.

Human Error revealed Seven's Borg technology could punish her for feeling

Human Error reveals a fail safe in her cortical node designed to deactivate drones who begin recovering emotional responses. So when Seven explores romantic intimacy through a holodeck relationship, that mechanism becomes a serious problem.

Think about how dark and cruel that is. The Collective takes away your individuality and your identity, then leaves technology inside you that can shut you down if it thinks you're trying to get it back at all. Her reserved behavior isn't always social awkwardness or a preference for efficiency. At that point in her story, emotional growth was a physical danger. The thing she's trying to overcome is still inside her, interfering with the process. That's a much darker obstacle than learning how to make small talk.

Survival Instinct revealed Seven once forced other drones back into the Collective

Survival Instinct reveals that Seven and three other drones had previously been separated from the Borg after a crash. The others recovered their identities. Seven, who had been assimilated as a child, was terrified of the separation. She forcibly linked them together, and the consequences followed those three even after they escaped the Borg.

That's an unsettling piece of her history. Seven was a victim, but she also caused a lot of harm, and the episode lets both of those things come to light. Eventually, helping those people means accepting their choice to live briefly as individuals rather than prioritizing survival through reassimilation. That was a huge change for someone raised to believe the Collective was the answer. She now has to respect the freedom she once took away. It's deep.

Jeri Ryan and Robert Beltran were told not to play a Seven and Chakotay romance

If Seven and Chakotay getting together felt abrupt to you, Ryan had a specific explanation for that. After Human Error, where Seven explores a relationship with a holographic version, the actors worked together on Natural Law. They asked the producers whether they should carry any attraction into their performances, and according to Ryan, the answer was no. Nothing was going to happen.

Then Endgame arrived, and suddenly they were dating. That's more interesting than simply saying the relationship needed more development. The actors noticed a possible thread and asked whether to develop it, and they were told to leave it alone. So if you finished the finale wondering whether you'd missed several important conversations, there's a reason that transition felt weird.

Brannon Braga wanted Seven to die getting Voyager home

Braga later said he argued for Seven to sacrifice herself in the finale. He saw her story as fundamentally tragic, but his idea didn't win.

Imagine ending her journey there. She recovers enough individuality to make the ultimate choice for her new collective. That's powerful. But I think most people are probably glad we got to see her keep going. We saw her go through Picard, and she potentially could be the captain of the Enterprise-G in a future series, if Paramount would listen to us.