Captain Janeway 's Worst Command Decision

[milan]

If we go on like this, our argument will have 7 seasons too... very easily, since this is a debate and debaters always find and exploit weak links in the opponent's argumentation. I'll just point out the most hilarious parts of your argumentation: you try to blame Janeway, and at the same time you say the voyager crew helped species and the sort. Janeway is the captain, she gave all the orders for the ship and any of the crew members to help and save and you name it. You have been in contradiction with yourself for a long time.
You talk about the Barzan Wormhole and the Ferengi: that also proves MY point: that she always sees the greater good: the life of a crew cannot outweigh the lives of a whole colony for maybe more generations, if the Ferengi had kept up their charade. Their beliefs would have been destroyed..how about some alien coming to Earth, proving somehow that God was a fake? Imagine the consequences on countless lives.
We cannot know if the Borg were destroyed or not, there have been plenty of debates on this very site: is the Borg queen dead? Can they survive without a Queen? But even if they did, every weakening of their powers means systems and planets getting to live, escaping assimilation. Even as little as ONE PLANET would have meant a great success, imagine if some Borg-like creatures DIDN"T destroy Earth because a small crew of benevolent aliens.
Janeway is not a criminal because she ended up in the Delta Quadrant. That's a ridiculous statement and that's that. Now who's twisting whose words?
Admiral Janeway "should have said it?" Now you're assuming you would be a better writer than the Star Trek writer staff... plus this has got nothing to do with the topic.
and YES, my "guess" about a better or worse future WAS conjecture, deliberately so! To prove my point, hellooo...

And what is bad in changing the future to a better one? Then we can throw out all the science fiction books dealing with time travel (and that is not a small part of it) and say: are you evil or crazy or both?? Changing the future?? Let's go to the Terminator 2 writers and protest that Arnie played an evil character! She altered the future of Skynet! Boooo!
And yes, the last two stories we wrote ARE IMAGINARY NONSENSE! we meant them to be...
Now putting all this -as much as we can make them- logical argumentation aside, we, the fans who actually liked STV, Janeway, and Seven was our crown jewel, were quite desperate when the story was about Seven actually dying. Gosh it made me sick with worry, in a manner of speaking... When I first watched the episode and the Admiral was trying to persuade the Captain with logical facts I was like: "Cut the crap, grab her by the collar and shout into her eyes: SEVEN'S GONNA DIE, NOW DO SOMETHING!!!!!" I think it was a very nice touch that it actually happened in a way. It didn't wanna show anything about trillions of Borg or innocent lives, it wanted to show something about true friendship and the dearest of human emotions and relationships. That you can fight Hell and give up life and limb for someone you love. I saw this in the episode. Why don't we argue that in Star Wars the blowing up of the Death Star made Luke a mass murderer? That the character who was the role model of a generation is actually a cold and evil human being? Because the film is NOT about that!! Of course all the Star Wars haters will point that out over and over. Ok, we got your point, Founder: you don't like STV. That's no crime, you're not an evil person because of that. Actually I like you much, you're the only person in here who I could converse with for so long about a STV topic.

[La Forge]

There's clearly only one way we can truly decide Janeway's merit as a captain: an intergalactic boxing match between her and... uhh... the entire Klingon Empire. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Janeway would win blindfolded and with both legs tied together." Alright, so let's give the Klingons... uhh... let's give 'em all rocket launchers and let's chop Janeway's arms off. Janeway still wins, even though she literally can't box anymore, am I right? That's what it sometime feels like with Janeway-inites. She can do no wrong, right? No matter how people she inadvertently (and somtimes... advertently? Did I make that word up?) kills, she's still Time's Person of the Year.

Now, let me throw this out there: I don't hate VOY. I can find something to like about each and every Star Trek. I mean, VOY had a great, if not sometimes poorly-executed premise, the hi-larious Doctor, and Seven, who's greatness is sort of obvious (at least, if you've got an y chromosome). VOY's worst command decision was making Janeway. It's a shame Janeway sucks so much, 'cause I really wanted to like the first female captain. It was a big step for the franchise, y'know? But, instead of getting a complex and flawed, yet ultimately great captain (the female equivalent to Captain Sisko), I got her, a hypocritical and selfish robot woman.

[milan]

Those are some nice big words you're throwing, care to sustain it with arguments or are you just another Janeway-hater? Don't hate her cuz she's so perfekt!

[Founder]

[milan]

Ok, let me point out only some episodes when she DID give orders or saved the day herself, fisrt and foremost Year of Hell, when she single handedly restored not only Voyager, but also countless civilizations and lives. That deed alone kicks the ass of any counter-example involving a few Equinox crewmen etc. The scale of lives saved and restored just wipes the floor with every little "stumble" that you might see in other episodes. Juggernaught: Janeway orders the toxic ship destroyed, another set of countless lives saved. But how about when she risks herself personally for the crew, for example in the case of the microviruses, or even one single crew member, who is not even Seven, in favour of whom you say she discriminates, no, it's Kes, when she takes that ritual on the planet when Kes is in a coma. And the list goes on.
In the second instance, you try to force your point by refusing to think outside the box: imagine the grandious last episode: the Admiral deals with two Ferengi and Voyager slips home in a wormhole. The end. I've seen a little comic film on Youtube about Lord of the Rings: Frodo flies over Mount Doom on an eagle, drops the Ring into the volcano, the story ends in 2 minutes. And they laugh: "Imagine if we had to WALK all the way! Someone might have died!" Still I don't see anybody saying Frodo is evil, selfish. Do you know why? Because it would be hilarious! And look, in spite of this "fatal" it was nominated "book of the century". Let's remember the basic purposes of writing fiction: "docere et delectare." To teach and to entertain.Endgame taught us about friendship and entertained us with kickass action. Or shall we start another thread: "Frodo is evil, who's with me?"
Well, even you admit that the borg were "very hurt", so yes, thank you, Janeway did that. To say that they assimilated future technology and became stronger is not in the story, it's only your opinion, which is as good as mine when I say: the Borg were so hurt that they needed at least a century to even recover to the level they were when the Janeways attacked, by which point Starfleet had already gained decades to perfect their defence against them, based ESPECIALLY on the countless teraquads of data Janeway and Voyager brought home about the Borg.
As to "a monkey is a better writer", I hope you also stuck out your tongue

To the violation of the Prime Directive: Voyager was taken into the Delta Quadrant, Janeway can't be blamed for that. What she can be blamed for is the deliberate actions that she might perform there. Ten years less in the Quadrant is ten years less of your aggressive blaming. It's a good thing too, had they remained 10 more years, you would have damned her to the deepest bowels of the Abyss for displacing spacedust or other horrible crimes. Of course not her crew members. The spacedust her crew members displaced was put to good use.
I'm not saying Janeway went back to destroy the Borg. She went back to save friends. As I have already tried to point out, that was the meaning Endgame tried to convey, obviously lost on some: that friendship and emotions are sacred. Not that friendship and emotions are not as sacred as the Borg.
YOu say Janeway is bad because she went even beyond death to save her friends. How many epics deal with that theme? Still no one thinks of saying: "hey, that Odysseus... what a selfish hypocrite!" Do you know why? Because everyone would laugh about them missing the whole point!
PLus who says getting your friend back from the dead is bad? I guess now even Seven is on trial for bringing Neelix back after him being dead for 17 hours. Sure, point out that even Neelix reproached her that and miss a whole lot of other points of the show! I am beginning to feel you people don't like Janeway and Voyager because you didn't understand it!
Even your argument with the Terminator completely misses the point. Did you not understand that either maybe? For the record, Arnie doesn't play an Evil robot, a robod is a robot. As you say, programmed. The programmer may be evil or good. But that is beside the point. As is your counterargument, which only replaces the Terminator with John Connor, who programmed him. So now John is an evil character. Cuz he programmed Termie to change the future if he can. And yes you did say in a way that we should throw out books dealing with time travel, because in your interpretation time travel equals destroying the future. So all time travelling heroes are in fact evil, selfish, hypocritical agents of destruction. Like Janeway.
As for the other captains going back in time, you have the sole right to say which reasons are worth going back in time for and which are not. And Janeway's were stupid. Mostly the HOW. By even cutting the journey short by ten years and giving the crew back ten years of confinement on a warship. Really bad way of saving your friends. Oh, she ended up destroying or setting back the most dangerous enemies of all the creatures in the Universe, too... Booo! Definitely unacceptable.
My analogy with Luke makes 100% sense, thank you very much. If not, go take up your cause with the lawyers who dealt with World War criminals. The soldiers who fight under a commander are not criminals. If the deed is evil, the commander is at fault. The soldiers are following orders, if they don't obey they are courtmartialled and executed. Great choice. And they have families at home whom they are responsible for too. Just like the people on the Death Star had them. Families who deeply mourned their loss. But you could make an appeal to the High Court of Justice and execute a million World War veterans, I guess... Plus, again, you say Janeway "screwed up time for some buddies." That's also point of view, not fact. Fact is she ALTERED time. Your point of view is she screwed it up, my point of view is she improved it. These kinds of statements from you don't tip the scales to anyone's favour. Let's try to focus on the topic.
And finally you drive the dagger into your own heart: "the real tragedy of Endgame was that the show could do better and it didn't." "The finale was NOT a good episode" So our debate finally surfaced your real problem: it's not Janeway, that she's evil or cold, etc. It's that you didn't like the plots/plot. I suggest we take this debate to the "Endgame" thread then maybe.
As to the deleting the doctor's memories in that episode, again: helloo!!! Missing the point!!! That episode was EXACTLY about the fact that YES, even Janeway makes mistakes! As Seven points out to her: I considered you a role model. Now I don't know anymore. And in the end Janeway did realise and correct her own mistake. That's what is called an evolving character, a much deeper and thoroughly written character than the traditional flat character. So yes, STV was a great show from many points of view

[Founder]

[milan]

WHat's the matter? your arguments are getting weaker and weaker. That the crew members helped? So now instead of saying Janeway nothing good you're trying to prove the crew members helped Janeway in her good deeds. And here's to missing my points (now I have to conclude you're doing it deliberately since you have no more sound arguments):
B'elanna did the job in Juggernaught... but Janeway issued the COMMAND for a rescue operation. This was an example of Janeway giving the commands to do good in vain you try your usual twists. Macroviruses: the Doctor helped... here's that word again, of confession: HELPED! So you do realize Janeway did the main part.

As for not even knowing if the episodes mentioned by me are even true, well finally a written confession: you have no idea what STV is all about, you're just spreading cheap slander. I dunno why I even go on with this unequal debate, if not for a few laughs.

I won't even get into your Endgame and LOTR "arguments" until you find some sound ones, not comparing details. Next time it will be: "Janeway had a phaser, Frodo had a crappy knife." You cannot see the basis of my comparisons. Fine, don't "dumb" yourself down to see the meaning, remain on the surface of things.

Plus you don't take the conversation anywhere. You keep coming back to your argument that Voyager or the crew did something, not Janeway, when I have already proven with arguments that you can't separate the two from each other. It's as if saying the crew slapped Janeway ofer the head and said: "look, woman, we'll do this our way, you just stay out of it!"

Then you go on listing other powerless arguments about the Borg Queen assimilating info...the Borg Queen died!! And as the story ends, all the Borg with her! Of course they will resurrect them in the other Star Trek shows because they need them, the fans demand, the writers offer. But that is completely different from this story. For ex. Alien 2: the movie ends with Ripley escaping with Newt, success, mother saves adopted daughter. Alien 3 starts with Newt being dead, alien crawls out of her. It's because they had to continue the story somehow. That does not take away the success story of Alien 2, no one will say "oh *beep*, Ripley, what an idiot!"

You are in no position to say what I should or should not do as a Janeway fan.

As to there being more intelligent ways of doing something in a story: there always are. There is no story in the known world that will not take any more improvement. But that doesn't stop them from being good stories.

I'm beating a dead horse because you keep coming back to it. The same arguments deserve the same responses. It would not be fair that you should come up with the same argument in 5 posts and I would have to counter them every time in different ways. You keep coming back for the dozenth time to your argument that she destroyed the future, forcing me to repeat my counterarguments.

The example with Seven and Neelix was ironical.

I still uphold my claim: you didn't understand Janeway's character. I haven't heard anything that would show otherwise. That the crew did good and she did not, when she is the CAPTAIN is ridiculous, so is the Caretaker example: the life of a race against one hundred odd people... how can somebody say Janeway's decision was a bad one and still think of themselves as a good person?

You're flogging your dead horse yet again in the Connor argument completed with the idea of genocide. In Connor's case: preserving the future is good, altering it is not. We're back to 3 posts before: you bottom lining that altering time is bad, period. Let's go back to dumping the time treavel books into the river, guys! As to the Borg: YOu first say the Borg did survive. Then that Janeway committed genocide. Make up your mind. Then make up your mind if committing genocide on the Borg was an evil deed, in the light of saving countless civilisations, and if you say it was, the debate ends here, since clearly our scales of value are incompatible, thus making any debate futile.
You're trying to tangle me into the details again because you can't debate my point. That Janeway was not in a rag-tag resistance and the sort... we're back to Janeway haveing a phaser and Frodo sticking a rusty knife into ork asses.

Why do you naaaag with the same argument of Janeway being bored and going back to save her CHOSEN FEW? What is bad in saving 3 friends? Are you jealous of somebody actually doing something for her friends? If she had saved her crew you would be crying to the Heavens why Janeway didn't have a kid with Q and demand in return the resurrection of Mahatma Ghandi and Sir Francis Drake. This demanding back former crew members is pretty funny from a guy who first asserts that Janeway was bad for meddling even with Tuvix and bringing back two former crew members who "died". But contradicting yourself is a way of life to you.

I suggest we open another topic, because this has nothing to do with Janeway. The topic: is altering the future good or bad in general? Beacuse if we take away all the fluff this is what we remain with.

Ok..I got to this point of your letter and now I will stop... It's clear now I'm dealing with an amateur and it's not worth my while... Voyager... a science ship?? Ok, let me quote the Star Trek designers on this, the people who actually made the ship what it is, if you want to you can check it out word by word on youtube: "Inside Voyager" part 2 of 6. "It will be a newer model, much more action-oriented ship, it's a definite military ship, as opposed to an exploration vessel, there won't be families on board and it will have a sleeker, more aggressive look than the Enterprise". What do you think, they will send a science vessel to capture a Maquis ship? If anything, you should thank Janeway for trying to be more humane: "We are scientists, explorers" - she states many times. So the evil witch has actually turned the ship from its original purpose of wreaking havoc on everything they point it at, which is the objective of a regular warship. You have clearly not been paying much attention to anything else other than the fact that you should hate Janeway.

Plus you should brush up on wartime military rules and Second World War history before writing anything down on the topic. Missing the point again: you should execute WW2 veterans because you said the Death Star soldiers were murderers and they deserved to die. THe WW2 veterans are in the same position: they slaughtered innocent villages and raped their women, you know, war-stuff... How much more monosyllabic do I have to get to get my message across?

As for Unimatrix Zero you comfortably forget that Janeway put her own life on the line and fought (personally, with a Klingon weapon too, if I remember correctly) for those people.

Anyway, I've seen many of you guys said it was too bad Voyager did not have parts with a parallel universe. Well, now it does: the Voyager SCIENCE VESSEL with the evil captain and the crew which survives in spite of her! Well, if nothing else, this IS an interesting new storyline to the series. Maybe we could organize a role playing game on it!

[Founder]

Aw, just when debating got fun, you had to resort to personal attacks. It's a shame, because you started out as a decent debater. Oh well...

[Warpcore74]

Founder you're hard work... Yes by going into the past Janeway costs the 'future' of millions of lives.. Whoopidoo. So what? Like Milan has put to you: how about the millions of lives she's saved from the Borgs? It 's one thing to say I dont' agree with that decision. It's quite another to say 'She is evil' like you've been ranting. � Oh but what about all those people she would have saved by staying in the Delta Quadrant� ? Again where are you going with this? Nowhere and at warp 9.4 at that.. I mean think about what you�re saying for a nano second. Do you really expect Janeway to make a moral decision on events she has absolutely no idea will ever happen or not. Consider Voyager arriving to that worm hole in Endgame and , for argument sake, let�s assume it hadn�t turn into the Borg�s Central Park and was free to access. Would you expect Janeway to say �Ok, guys, don't rub your hands so fast I know we can get home with the next half hour but I cant allow us to go through it and let down those hundreds even thousands of people my 7 years of past experience tells me we are going to help�.�

Chakotay: �Oh yes Captain that makes perfect sense. Paris, turn around. Actually, Captain let�s forget about getting home and spend the rest of our lives roaming this quadrant helping the down trodden��

Janeway: �Great idea.. '

[Founder]

[Valathous]

[milan]

This list does of things does not deny the fact that it's a MILITARY ship. Its class is light explorer/scout. For the MILITARY! Plus, even this "proof" proves me! It never says SCIENCE vessel, which Founder claimed it to be. It proves my point: military ship. Exploring and scouting, one of the basic military procedures. A warship doesn't only mean the greatest star-destroyer in the galaxy. And the word "science" appears nowhere, nor any scientific equipment, however it has an arsenal of phasers, torpedoes, and includes things as "combat manoeuvrability". Where does it list ANY scientific gizmos or the sort? Well, thank you for strenghtening my point, anyway, and do watch "Inside Voyager" made about and by the people who actually DESIGNED the show.
And the principles about war still doesn't disprove me saying if you disobeyed orders you were courtmartialled and shot. In the Second World War you can read about battles where the Nazi soldiers were retreating due to being heavily outnumbered, and in the back their superiors awaited with shotguns and shot on sight all soldiers who left the frontline. Plus even the Germans themselves tried to assassinate Hitler on various occasions. Most soldiers are still people, no matter whose side they were on. There were some estimates that 80% of the WW2 shots were in the air or at the legs... few people deliberately shot to kill. The "enemy" is never a thousand-headed monster rotten to the core. Why even Star Wars showed Empire soldiers who disagreed with the system, Biggs even deserted. But hey, let's kill them for the glory of Good.

[Valathous]

I'm sorry, but the way I see it, all you're claiming anytime anybody shows you something is that it strengthens your point and then you give some lame reason to twist words to suit your needs.

Nowhere on that list does it say that it's a warship. While most Starfleet vessels are armed due to the fact they're similar to a Navy, it does not mean it's a warship. Armies have vessels they use Scout regions that they wouldn't normally take into a combat situation. Are they used by the military? Debatable. That all depends on whether you view Starfleet are strictly a military organization, or if it's a exploration organization that has adapted itself for self-defense. Are they 'warships'? No. Apparently your definition of a warship is severely skewed. It's half the strength of a most older Galaxy class ship. Either way though, there is a presupposition that Starfleet vessels are partly military as you claim, but the purposes of those vessels differ, such as the Intrepid's purpose of being a science/scout vessel.

And technically, they're all exploration ships as Starfleet was created for the exploration of space and seeking out new life and new civilizations, and for examining new phenomena. The reason ships are armed is self-defense. And look?! I can throw big grinning smiley faces in my post to look arrogant and superior, too!

And are for the Skywalker argument again; I was never debating the morality of your claim, only the legitimacy of it. Irregardless of how the families would have felt, you said it was an excuse in international law. Well, it isn't, and that's all I set out to accomplish there, which I succeeded.

[milan]

I respect your knowledge in international law. I don't wanna get into a debate of that kind, I was giving these arguments only to show that Luke can be viewed as a mass murderer too. We were debating if Janeway was an evil person or not. I would like to keep the debate on course.
As for Voyager being a military ship or science vessel, unfortunately none of you can win that battle, because I am right, it's that simple. And I have given you the unimpeachable proof, quoted, from "Inside Voyager" part 2 of 6, it can be viewed on Youtube. When the show designers say something is so because they made it so, all debate on the topic, or to put it more poetically, "resistance" is futile. If God made the sky blue, it's pointless to argue that it is red.

And now let me throw in MY own grinning smiley faces again that will now make ME look arrogant and superior, I even have a sentence that will certainly make me the ruler of the Universe, here it goes: Good luck building your Parralel Universe of Voyager, I will retreat from the debate with the due apologies, since obviously I wasn't aware that you guys here were building that. How's that?

[Valathous]

[Thomas]

Firstly, Dan, please stop saying "irregardless," I agree that it'd be nice for the debate to continue minus the little jibes, so I encourage milan to continue, but please try to be a bit more respectful. Some nice points have been raised, but yeah, I think some of the other things that have been mentioned are based on some shaky circular logic. One other thing that bugged me, Founder, is what you said about the episode Juggernaut. B'Elanna was the one who saved the day aboard the Malon ship, yes; but that's not what saved all the people that the exploding ship would've killed. It was Voyager using their tractor beam to propel the Malon ship into the star (where it did explode) that ultimately "saved the day" and although I'm not entirely sure, I think it was Janeway who came up with that plan, They realised that B'Elanna and the rest of the away team might not reach the command centre in time, so they came up with another plan and had to use it. B'Elanna taking on the deformed Malon at the end meant that she saved Neelix's life and her own (and anyone else who was still on the Malon ship - I don't recall), but she didn't stop the explosion from having catastrophic consequences. That was Janeway and the crew on Voyager. I believe Tuvok and Seven were particularly vital to their plan's success.

[Curtis]

[Founder]

[Thomas]

[milan]

Founder, we didn't say Janeway alone did that. I always pointed out it was Janeway and the crew, together, they cannot be separated, like crew=good, Janeway=bad. If Voyager does something good it's a joint effort. My point in mentioning Juggernaught wasn't to take away everyone else's credit, but to show that Janeway took part in it as well as the crew. She's always taking part in the Voyager actions, whether as the main character or only in a minor role, with few exceptions, when the story is solely about one or the other character. So She is doing good together with the crew, actually many times commanding the good deeds, that's why it seems so evil-intended... ok, too strong a word... let's say "annoying", that you try to twist the plain truth. I mean how can Janeway be evil when she's the captain of the ship which primarily does good throughout the series? The leader, man!! Look at Year of Hell... the captain alone was a maniac, the crew was essentially "normal", trying to fight him. But with a maniac in command the time-ship did bad things. Now with Janeway in command Voyager does good throughout the show. Of course many times episodes will be about other crew members, but Janeway commands everyone, with "good" decisions, otherwise it would all have gone to the dogs, like in the time-ship. Look at the Equinox: now THAT was an evil, hypocritical captain. And Janeway was so mad at him especially for making a travesty of the role of the captain.

[milan]

Oh, and I don't mean disrespect or anything, I have thrown some haughty words ... but hey, I have heard some too directed to me,too... anyway please don't take offence. However I must be adamant on the facts. WHile it says "scout" ship, I've never debated that, but it never says "science" ship, and that is what I debated to the Parallel Universe council on the forum.. Even your example shows "Explorer" which is a completely different thing from "science". And while you try to diminish the importance of my source saying it's "some youtube video", no it's not, it's the official presentation of Star Trek Voyager, the series, by the developers of the show, only that it can be also found on youtube. When they present you a film: hey it's about this! - then you can't just say "yea they were only saying that, but i think it's something different" without sounding hard to believe, to say the least. You can't get a sounder argument than that presentation anywhere in the Alpha or Delta Quadrant. I'm sorry, I mean no disrespect, but while you guys try to prove the impossible, that Janeway is evil, you're missing many points of the show, and I feel that is why you're so dissatisfied. For example I loathe Wesley Crusher in TNG. But I don't mount a crusade against him because I know he is a good character and is acted well.

[Founder]

I don't mean to butt into the debate on the Ocampa, but was it not obvious that they were pre-warp society? If they had warp, then wouldn't they also have starships? If they had starships, wouldn't they have the capability to make a colony off their damaged and dying world? It makes the Caretaker look like a fool if that is the case.

Anyone seen the episode "Latent Image"??? I just watched the episode on t.v. and found what Janeway did horrible.

[milan]

Yea cuz you hate her!!

[Founder]

Normally I do, But in this case I'm disturbed by her actions because she performed a mental lobotamy on someone she claims is her friend and is a person. (Without his consent)

But what I found strange was that she compared him to a replicator. Was this episode not later on in the show? It looks like it by Seven's presence and Janeway's hairstyle. I thought by this point, she thought of the EMH as a sentient being. Why did the writers have her regress back to her season 1 behavior towards the EMH? I'm confused there. Later on, she defends him as a person in another episode when the Federation questions his status.

[milan]

Ok, I'm game, let us explain to the Parallel Universe:
First: the Star Trek guys didn't want to put a flat character in front of the viewer -who often has pretty high standards-. So as wise, dominant and perfectionist as Janeway is depicted, the writers didn't forget to show us that there's always room for improvement. You're once again questioning something you see as a "flaw" which is actually a deliberately chosen and drawn flaw: one that the captain has to rise above in the end. The episode was about transcendence, learning experience. A learning experience must always be started by a situation which is "flawed". This episode wanted to show the viewer that even the highest ranked, the wisest can make mistakes. The moral is that you have to see your mistakes and correct them. I'll not even try to give a mythological example as before, let's try a more mundane one: it's as if you read all the Spider-man comics, all the heroics and righting wrongs, and then put the reading down and wondered: man that Spider-man is so phoney: how could he let his uncle die like that in the beginning?? Die, Spider-man!! Well, this happens when someone fails to grasp the morale of the story because he's biased in a way.
Plus the episode also pointed out another nice subtopic: good parents learn from their children too. It was Seven who pointed out to Janeway that she had been wrong in her decision. Seven is like her adopted child, a mother has to be a role model to her. And the parent now learned from the child.
So this bad command decision was deliberately placed in the storyline, to show exactly that Janeway can become even better than she already is. But of course we all watch the episode the way we want to.
And I'm glad you mentioned her defending the EHM in another, later episode. Because that shows that she really thought him a sentient being, she didn't only choose the patient approach with the doctor to please Seven.
Voyager is all about a great journey. This episode is about the inner journey of a character. Janeway is flawed only in the first stage of the story. You choose to flatten her character and point at her mistake. This way you kill the whole story and you remain with nothing. Well, you have a flimsy pebble to throw at the titanium bulkhead that is Janeway's character, but you miss out on all that makes the series "Voyager". It's something like watching fireworks in black and white. No wonder you hate Janeway.