This episode is a shining beacon of hope on the Olympus of Star Trek morals and values. It shows the very essence of what holds the United Federation of Planets together at its heart. Everything that Picard and Janeway have preached to us for years about a union of equals, built on the foundation of cooperation, participation and the peaceful exchange of ideas, knowledge and technology, finds its ultimate culmination in this episode. Gene Roddenberry's vision of an optimistic future and peaceful coexistence of different peoples - even on a galactic scale - is crowned with this episode. And this episode also impressively shows why Star Trek is, metaphorically speaking, the mighty pen while Star Wars is more of the crude sword (or light saber) type.
Janeway impresses with her unwavering adherence to her convictions and her firm belief in what holds Starfleet and the Federation together at their core. Even in the face of impending death, she does not abandon the path of righteousness and defies even Tuvok's logic and Chakotay's pragmatism. And her actions appear authentic, believable and convincing. While some crew members put their values aside because of the desperate situation, Janeway insists that the values of the Federation - the values of humanity - don't just apply at times when you have the luxury of affording them. Especially in times when all hope seems lost, these values are a guarantee not to lose one's own humanity through selfishness, greed and opportunism. A very strong episode for Janeway, in which she proves once again that she can compete with the great Jean-Luc Picard - at least in certain moments.
The only drawback of this episode is the annoying beeping of the PADDs that these strange speechless goblins use to communicate with each other. That took some of the seriousness away from the episode.