Left for dead by the Kazon, Captain Janeway and the crew brave the elements and hostile natives on Hanon IV, a primitive planet. When Hogan is viciously killed by a land eel and then Kes is abducted by primitive humanoids, Chakotay and Tuvok must attempt a precarious rescue. They prepare for a vengeful alien attack while a gloating Culluh, at the helm of Voyager, announces a new era in Kazon history and prepares to annihilate most of the Delta Quadrant. As Culluh tests the ship's power, Seska activates the Emergency Medical Holographic Program only to have the Doctor report startling facts about her newborn baby. The Doctor detects that Ensign Suder is stowed away on board and learns that Lieutenant Paris, with the help of a Talaxian convoy, is piloting a damaged shuttlecraft, desperately working to somehow save Voyager. The Doctor soon arouses Seska's suspicions and is permanently deactivated, leaving Suder as the only hope to retake the ship. All the while, Suder is tortured by the realization that he must resort once again to violence.

Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway)
Robert Beltran (Commander Chakotay)
Roxann Biggs-Dawson (Lt. B'Elanna Torres)
Jennifer Lien (Kes)
Robert Duncan McNeill (Lt. Tom Paris)
Robert Picardo (The Doctor)
Ethan Phillips (Neelix)
Tim Russ (Lieutenant Tuvok)
Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim)

Brad Dourif (Ensign Lon Suder)
Martha Hackett (Seska)
Anthony De Longis (Maje Culluh)
Nancy Hower (Ensign Samantha Wildman)
Simon Billig (Lieutenant Hogan)
Scott Haven (Kazon engineer)
David Cowgill (Primitive Alien)
Micheal Bailey Smith (Primitive Alien)
Russ Fega (Commander Paxim)
John Kenton Shull (Kazon)
Tarik Ergin (Lieutenant Ayala)

• This episode's Hanon IV sequences were filmed on location in Lone Pine, California.
  
• The Doctor learns that Seska's child is not Chakotay's, but is Culluh's child.
  
• Recurring engineer Lieutenant Hogan is killed on Hanon IV. Another unnamed crewman is also killed by the creature.
  
• Suder is killed by the Kazon. Seska is killed when Suder programs Voyager's backup systems to overload. Culluh takes their child when the Kazon abandon the ship.
  
• The ever-present background character played by Tarik Ergin, Lieutenant Ayala, finally speaks his first word: "Yeah" (in response to Janeway's query asking for other fast runners). Ayala often takes the Tactical or Ops positions when vacated by Tuvok or Kim.