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As you may or may have noticed, Fifth Voyager is still going on despite it ending in 2016, and that the Episode Archive looks a little hectic. You may have come here because you used to visit this site in the olden days and wondered if you've slipped into a timewarp when you saw Season One was brand new again. Or you may be new here either wondering where to start or to even bother starting at all if I'm still messing about.
Or the more likely option is your finger aimed for History or Coming Soon and you've ended up here. Story of my mobile device life. Then again you could be bored, and I know that feeling.
Whatever your reason is, the point of this page is to hopefully explain what I'm doing, why, what's been done already and what my future plans are. The original version of this page was also a big mess and out of date, so here I am, wasting valuable(to me) writing time again.
Shortcut Menu
NAQ - Never Asked Questions
What's Still To Do
+ Season Two
+ Season Three
+ B4FV Season One
+ B4FV Season Two
What's Already Been Done
Comparisons Sake
NAQ's Never Asked Questions
What is Reboot?
Reboot is the name of the massive project I stupidly decided to properly undertake in 2010, after a failed attempt in 2008. Officially started/released in 2012 with a few rewrites, or remakes if you'd prefer, of the first episode Aggressions and a few others. While Aggression(s) was rewritten from scratch, with the exception of a couple of scenes from the original edited in, there are many episodes that were left mostly intact, with new scenes replacing old ones. Several completely new episodes have been written to replace episodes I've deemed replaceable not only because they're awful, but not important to Fifth Voyager's canon.
Why?
For many years I had badly wanted to fix the issues I had with the older seasons. Fifth Voyager started in 2000 when I was 15. By the time FV celebrated its fourth anniversary/birthday, the series already had three complete main seasons and two prequels under its belt, with its fourth season one episode away from being finished.
Not only was the series rushed out, it didn't match my expectations. Not that I was expecting a professionally written masterpiece, god no. I had big plans for the series from Day 1. I envisioned a sci-fi fantasy series with new characters, a premise revolving around multiverses/dimensions, twists and turns and the occasional silliness. It didn't turn out that way. By Part 2 of the first episode, the idea for the series was already spat on and heel smooshed. The essence was still there, but you had to dig through deep craziness to find it.
It took years and many seasons for me to start treating my only good idea with respect, but that came at a price. For a time Season Four was my best work, and I took what I considered then "my sweet time" with it. I had already massive plans for the fifth final season, its storyline inspired by my discarded book idea. To cut a long story shorter, I piled on the pressure to get this one not only right, but perfect. For me anyway. The third and final prequel season was finished with months of care, in between the occasional Season Five entries, which were character driven filler for the most part.
By 2006 I was nearing the "big twist #1" and I couldn't even write the episode before it. That took months until it was finally released in 2007. It turned out to be the only episode finished that year, and the last completed episode for a very long time.
My first idea to try and get me back into the spirit of things was to simply make something else. I attempted fanfics of other works, made videos and graphics. A conversation brought up that I really hated my older work and I remember saying this to someone; "it's too bad I can't change it." Their response was, why not? Why not was my infantile illusion that FV was set in stone like it was a TV show or a book. Her asking me that killed off that thought for good.
So what seasons are going to be affected by this?
Season One - My ReReads covers why, so I won't bore again with my reasons.
Season Two - While an improvement on One, still has a few of its problems.
Season Three - I've dubbed this the season of EDGE because I wrote it while I was suffering from depression. My plans for this aren't as excessive as One and Two.
Season Four - a few episodes needed some help, the rest of the season was a-ok though.
B4FV Season One - same background issues as Season Three, but reads more like a soulless Season One tryhard.
B4FV Season Two - Was a much needed improvement to B4FV1 but needed some sprucing up.
That's almost the entire series!
Yep.
You're going to rewrite about 60-70% of the series again?
No and yes. Mostly no.
Season One needed the most work done to it, mainly due to the fact it is the oldest. It's not the template for the entire reboot project. It varies.
For example, B4FV Season Two is for the most part finished and everything there only took a few days each. Season Four's is also done and dusted. That was all done before the project was officially launched in 2012. No waiting.
It wholly depends on the season.
Okay, so how much has been done and what's left to do?
I'll go into the details further down, but to avoid clogging the NAQ's further I'll give a rough estimate answer. Somewhere between 35-40% finished as of October 2017.
It's already taken nearly 7 years to get not even half done. Does that mean you won't finish this project until 2024, should I come back then?
When (I) put it like that, that's frightening. But no, no I aim to finish much sooner than that. Or at the very least give up before then, haha.
My unofficial goal is 4th December 2020, when the series is 20 years old. The last thing I want to do is to be only doing this then. It'd be ok if by then I was doing this on the side of writing my long awaited only by me books. We'll see.
Besides, my excuses/reasons for it taking 7 years should make that goal seem more realistic. 2010-2012 I was still trying to get my mojo back. 2012 was the beginning of the end of my dry spell. And then 2013 to very early 2016 the reboot project had to share with Season Five, which was my utmost priority. While 2016 was an excellent year for the reboot, 2017 has been a rotten year all round and has held me back but hopefully I'm on the mend from that.
And no, please don't abandon ship. It's actually better than it was only a year ago. Reboot Season One is complete. Also "Caretaker" was finished, so that's no longer a problem. Season Three's gaps are filled up again. Sure it might be a tad off putting when a "replacement" episode arrives on the scene, but the series is not broken anymore. You can easily start either from Caretaker or Aggression and reach Back To Normal with no issues other than a brief "wtf" whiplash during Love Spell or something.
Hang on, you said replacement. Does this mean the originals will be deleted?
No. They'll simply not be considered canon anymore.
I complain at length about the original One, but I couldn't stomach deleting them. Though it took me a lot of willpower to not delete World Domination. Nope, without Season One there wouldn't be a series to speak of, that much is obvious. While I dislike what they are now, they're the backbone of the site and series.
Plus I know that people did like the original versions, so even if I hated them that much I'd still keep them for that reason alone.
Where can I read the originals?
The originals have a devoted section in the Episode Archive. Simply select Originals in the menu and you'll find them all there, all (mostly) intact.
Mostly?
I'd say about 95% of the original material is still there. 4 out of 5% of what's missing are extremely minor problems I discovered during my ReReads project. Things like spelling and grammar mistakes fixed, that sort of thing. Edits that happens to modern episodes as well.
The final 1% is episodes like Broken Wreck and Interactions (just them, I think). Both were due reboots at the time but had a couple of problematic scenes I desperately wanted getting rid of, full stop.
Why is the reboot such a mess? You've got Season Three, Four and prequels, as well as Season One. What gives? I thought you were doing Season One first?
Actually, funny story. The Reboot started with Caretaker originally back in 2008, two years before the project got off its feet.
I initially chose the prequels first for a few reasons. One was that one of the last episodes I ever finished was Alternate Scorpion, so I thought it was too soon to tackle its main season older sister Aggressions. Two was I originally wanted the prequels to be a second starting choice. Rewriting them would be quicker since it's only two shorter seasons (the third's a pride and joy so won't be touched). Three, Season One seemed like such a mammoth task. And I was right, ha.
The thought never occurred to me that I technically chose Aggressions to be set in Season 3/4 for a reason other than "it suits the plot." Scorpion was the episode that got me into Voyager. I love Scorpion. I remember being so bored with Caretaker, it didn't hook me into Voyager at all. I didn't see another episode until Threshold (yes!), then didn't tune in again until Q and the Grey. This is why my first attempt at Caretaker was so copy and paste dull, and why my reboot got as far as Part 1 of 8 at the time.
When I tried again a year later with Aggressions it still wasn't so easy. I was setback another year because of personal problems, and so by then I lost my Aggressions buzz. I figured the Reboot project would be off to a slow start with Season One being a more difficult and time consuming season, so perhaps to get me going I should do some less taxing ones first. Enter Season Four.
S4 only needed a few episodes tended to, and even then I probably could've gotten away with only messing with Flesh Eaters. I had four episodes with minor issues which wouldn't have been issues at all had they been in earlier seasons, but Season Four was my favourite season at the time and it deserved better, I felt. I got an idea on how to fix Flesh Eaters, whose problem was the really weird main plot that was a Season One era reject, and so got started. It only got halfway through but I was re-energised. It didn't take long to get Half of the Heart, Sibling Rivalry and Happy Ever After fixed, more than in time for the planned date for the site's revival. Flesh Eater's replacement Dissidia ironically ended up being an almost literal last minute entry, written and finished the same night the update was due.
B4FV Season Two was the next season I thought wouldn't take long. They weren't time consuming, I did them over a couple of days occasionally and was done within two years.
It took years to find the time to finish Caretaker, since it was demoted to something like third priority and that was AFTER B4FV Season Two was done.
Then there was the ex-Season Three Monkey Island parodies, which caused quite a headache for both One and Three since I uploaded them far too early. It meant there was a massive gap between the current release of One and them, as well as gaping holes in Season Three. As I was busy with One and Season Five, I didn't get around to filling the gaps in Three until 2016/7.
So yeah, it WAS a huge mess. It's a stretch to call it a mess now since all of those issues have been resolved, hmm? Sure I want Outside of Time Part 2 bulked up, but the episode is more than readable.
Okay, I don't need to leave and wait, or never come back at all. So where do I start and what order do I go in?
As mentioned, it's as simple as its ever been since before the reboot as there are no gaps, Season One's finished, and I'm at a place where I don't panic at the thought of people moving from the reboots into the originals.
You can either read the main seasons first with the prequels on the side (or after if that's your poison), or you can read chronologically.
Main Season Route:
Starting with Aggression, you'll eventually hit theee "dreaded probably only to me" originals somewhere in Season Two. You'll know when you reach them as the format of the pages are different (different font, colours and there are no previous/next links at the top). After that there's no issue, you'll "next episode" until Back To Normal. The Archive itself will also redirect you to the next original after the final reboot.
The only real issue is the prequels. It's up to you when you read that. I used to recommend waiting until at least early Season Three, but not anymore. They're fine to read at any time.
Chronological Route:
Starting with Reboot Caretaker you'll be quickly thrown into the originals with Parallax. B4FV1 can be a bit choppy at times but is average/ok. B4FV2's been rebooted already, and B4FV3 is in my opinion the most consistent of the seasons (yes even more than Season Five, which was intended to have a slow start but hey). Then you'll be into Reboot Season One. Then it's the same advice as above; "Next Episode/Part" some more until Back To Normal. Viola.
Release Order Route:
Okay, "Release Order" is not entirely accurate. It's in the order of when each season was entirely finished. If you want a reading order that safely includes the prequels mixed in with the least amount of spoilers, this is the one I recommend.
Season One
Season Two
Season Three
B4FV Season One
B4FV Season Two
Season Four
B4FV Season Three
Season Five
What's Left To Do
Now that 60 odd percent estimate doesn't look too good, does it? It'll also be outdated since I did the calcs back in 2017. I wanted a rough number, so got it from how many episodes could/did need work done and how many have been done, no matter how little or much. It's not going to be accurate, not in the slightest. Comparing an episode like say World Domination's three part rewrite to a few new scenes added to Into The Darkness doesn't make sense does it? One takes a few hours, while another a few weeks to a month.
I could waste time trying to determine how long everything will take more accurately, and believe me I have tried. I've got a terrible Excel addiction, yes I'm weird but you should know that by now. I think it's more accurate to say I'm addicted to wasting time. Anyway I won't... anymore.
What I will share with you is what needs to be done.
Now I've read a few early entries to this season and while I will admit it needs a bit of work, I don't think it'll be as extensive as Season One. Sure The Love Spell is trash, Dimension Jump needed burning in a fire and Disconnected needed to have its copycattiness slapped out, but what I've read so far hasn't been screaming to me "rewrite everything!" every other scene like a lot of later Season One episodes have.
While I don't think it'll take an age like Season One, even if you exclude the time it took to do Season Five, I still think it's a time sink.
> Reboot Season Two Episode Listing >
Some good news! Season Three not only has a head start, it should in theory not take as long to do. While I want to have another go at writing Oasis of Abatua, New Earth and Put The Knife In, what's there should primarily be edits. Hopefully. I do dislike Season Three because I tried to add edge to everything, which mixes badly with the oddball FV "humour". It bothers me more because Season Three had some potential. Hopefully by the time I get to it I might be a little tired of this, and be more lenient. Or have given up by then, which wouldn't be so bad I guess. Maybe someday I'll get Put The Knife In done in advance, just in case.
> Reboot Season Three Episode Listing >
With a mere 20 episodes to do, you probably won't be surprised that I considered rebooting this before Season Two. Yep, the bookends Caretaker and Outside of Time Part 1 are already in the Done column, the season is short and so are its episodes, so it was very tempting. The problem, other than a big desire to get to at least Dimension Jump in S2, is B4FV1 is very Season One'y despite being written around Season The Edge Three. What with the reorganisation and new episode plans, B4FV1 doesn't seem like such a quick job after all. Originally I thought it'd be like B4FV2's few reboots.
I don't think B4FV will need Season One style work throughout, but it won't be a quick task like I think. Still faster than Season Two though.
> Reboot B4FV Season One Episode Listing >
There's really only one extremely minor change I want to make to this before I class it as complete. Make Outside of Time Part 2 as good as Part 1, definitely longer as it is like half its size. I'm hoping it's little more than a week's job.
So yeah, there's still quite a bit left to do BUT the majority of the bigger tasks are out of the way.
What's Been Done Already?
It may seem like the rest of the reboot's an age away from being finished, and you'd be right. It doesn't mean that little has been accomplished already. Four seasons are already out of the picture, three remain. Let's take a quick look.
Season One - 29 episodes. Season complete.
Season Two - 10 episodes.
Season Three - 6 episodes.
Season Four - 6 episodes. Season complete.
B4FV Season One - 8 episodes.
B4FV Season Two - 9 episodes. Season complete.
B4FV Season Three - 1 episode. Season complete.
Comparisons Sake
- Coming Soon -
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