6. SHE LEAVES NEELIX FOR PARIS
Well, it happened in an alternate timeline, but still. There was also some foreshadowing here in the episode "Parturition" in which Paris claims to have fallen in love with Kes and plots to steal her away from Neelix. Kes doesn't feel the same way, or so she claims. This alternate timeline appears in the episode "Before and After" which is connected to the "Year of Hell" episodes. Apparently, Kes has these visions after being injured and infected by a torpedo during a Krenim attack. It's one way for the writers to explore the possibilities of taking the story in another direction without having to commit to another plotline completely. Which brings us to our next wacky fan theory.
5. SHE HAS A BABY WITH PARIS
Why does this fan theory persist for so many women who were part of Voyager's crew? What was it about Paris? Was his character based on that romantic Trojan prince of classical literature? At least Kes' experience was part of an alternate timeline, unlike Janeway's, which was just a laughably bad episode. The alternative timeline starts with her death, and moves backward, taking her through certain significant events and finally ending with her birth. Kes and Paris have a child named Linnis in this timeline, who marries and has a son with Paris' close friend, Harry Kim. We hope the writers had some fun with this one. Even though it confirmed a few both obvious and crazy fan theories, it just left us rolling our eyes.
4. SHE WOULD LOSE CONTROL OF HER PSYCHIC POWERS
Kes was like that kid who had great potential and got along well with everyone, but she still couldn't adult very well. Tuvok trained her carefully, but he wasn't her only teacher. We all held our breath when Kes came into contact with less scrupulous mentors like Tanis or dangerous aliens like Species 8472, wondering what would eventually push her over the edge. When she started to move beyond what Tuvok could teach her, especially in the episode "Cold Fire" when she accidentally boiled his blood, the fan theories surged. Would Kes turn out to be an antagonist, perhaps turning on the crew or killing an important character? It was an exciting and terrifying turn for a benevolent character to take, and when Kes voluntarily left Voyager after her evolution in "the Gift" these theories were at least partly confirmed.
3. HER POWERS WOULD DRIVE HER INSANE
It was a cynical fan theory that we hoped wouldn't be confirmed, but it was. After Kes' departure in season four, we were left with a tantalizing unfinished story thread. Of course, Kes would have to return in some form, and the potential for an exciting story here was huge. Fans that had little faith in the writers predicted that they would fall back on the tired trope of the powerful woman who goes insane. To be fair, it turns out that it was her age and faulty memory that caused her to believe she had been kidnapped in the episode "Fury" but stereotypes about old people aren't any better than sexist ones. Some critics disagreed about how Kes was treated in the series, but this episode was universally despised. From living energy to this? It's a confirmed fan theory that turned out to be a devastating disappointment.
2. SHE'LL EVENTUALLY BE REPLACED BY A ANOTHER ACTRESS
Let's be real, here. Kes was always intended to be the "hot girl" on the show, but that never really worked for her character. She was too sweet, too innocent, and we couldn't get past that she would only live to be eight years old. As fans suspected, the tall, statuesque Jeri Ryan as the iconic Seven of Nine filled the space that Kes left with her departure in the fourth season.
It was an unusual move to make in the mid-season, but it turned out to be a good one. Seven of Nine isn't just one of the most popular characters on Voyager. She's in the same league as characters like Spock or Data, appearing in other spinoffs and becoming symbolic of the franchise as a whole. We miss Kes, but we love Seven of Nine.