Darkling ( episode ) The Doctor alters his personality subroutines while Kes contemplates leaving " Voyager " for a man . Summary . Teaser . Captain Kathryn Janeway talks with a Mikhal Traveler , who is later revealed to be called Nakahn . They ' re in his lodge at the Mikhal outpost and he ' s animatedly telling the captain the incredible story of one of his travels , involving a monstrous , living asteroid . Kes comes in with Zahir , the Mikhal pilot with whom she ' s been working on the transfer of medical supplies to the outpost . Zahir picks up the last part of Nakahn ' s story and it ' s immediately obvious that he ' s skeptical of it . When he makes that clear , tempers flare and there ' s a short argument between the two Mikhal but eventually , Kes , Zahir and the captain are left alone . Zahir explains to the captain that there is no such thing as a living asteroid in the space ahead of the but points out that the asteroid in question is rich in vorilium , whereupon the captain decides that might be worth a detour . Later , The Doctor is in the holodeck , discussing passion with Neelix and the holographic simulation s of two historical figures : Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Byron . He ' s taking note of their arguments on a PADD . When Kes comes in and asks him what ' s going on , he explains to her that he ' s working on a " personality improvement project . " He ' s been interviewing all the holographic versions of important historical figures in the database , including Socrates , Leonardo da Vinci and T ' Pau , in order to select the character traits he finds admirable and merge them into his program . In this manner , he hopes to accomplish , among other things , an improved bedside manner , a fresh perspective on diagnosis , more patience , etc . He adds that he could have used her assistance on his project if she hadn ' t been " otherwise engaged " on the planet , making it clear that he ' s not happy with this " infatuation " of hers with the Mikhal Travelers , whom he considers to be " " risk - taking thrill seekers with no responsibility to the ideals of exploration " . " Kes counters that she finds them intriguing , especially Zahir , but The Doctor warns her that how she feels about him now may just be a reaction after recently ending her relationship with Neelix . He then tells her that Gandhi would likely advise her to " " take a cold bath " " and walks away . Act One . The Doctor is in sickbay with Lieutenant jg B ' Elanna Torres who is complaining of nausea , after having eaten a small salad on the planet , despite The Doctor ' s prior warning that Klingon physiology lacks the enzyme s to digest the vegetation of that planet . The Doctor reacts to this in a rather uncharacteristic way , coming awfully close to her and when Torres tells him to back off , he instructs the computer to isolate the recent additions to the EMH program and hold them for review . He then explains to Torres the project he ' s been working on , whereupon she tells him to be careful with adding behavioral subroutine s to his program , as they have a tendency to interact with each other in unpredictable ways . She promises him to take a look at his program after her shift in engineering and as she leaves sickbay , The Doctor deactivates himself . Meanwhile , Kes is with Zahir on the planet . They ' re walking an old path in a wooded area , left behind by other spacefarers like Zahir in long forgotten times . When they reach the end of the path , Kes discovers a strange kind of inscription in a rock . According to Zahir , it says " " My course is as elusive as a shadow across the sky . " " Kes thanks Zahir for the evening and they kiss , while a cloaked figure appears in the background watching them intently . Act Two . Back on " Voyager " , a dreamy look in her eyes , Kes bumps into Lt . Tuvok in the corridor , who reminds her that it ' s 0300 and that she has an away team report due at 0800 . Kes assures him she hasn ' t forgotten and leaves . A few moments later , Kes enters sickbay , where The Doctor , who ' s working on a report Kes should have done but forgot , gives her a lecture about becoming increasingly unpredictable . She lashes out that everyone ' s treating her like a child and that she ' s not a child anymore , then assures The Doctor that she knows he cares about her and that she won ' t forget that . Then she goes to finish the report . The next morning , Kes enters the captain ' s ready room , looking very tired and after having handed her the report , asks to have a word with Janeway . She then proceeds to tell the captain that she wants to spend more time with Zahir and asks to be granted permission to temporarily leave the ship . The captain tells her to think about it for a few more days and Kes leaves . That evening , Zahir and Tuvok are discussing which route " Voyager " should take to avoid the Tarkan sentries . Kes interrupts them and tells Zahir that she wants to spend time with him but must catch up on her sleep . Later Zahir walks the same path where he was with Kes the day before . Suddenly , he hears something and pulls out his weapon . He appears to have discovered something horrible on the ground before him but he is knocked off a cliff by the same cloaked figure that was there the day before . A few moments later , the cloaked figure enters Nakahn ' s lodge and pulls his cape off his head , revealing that he is The Doctor , with a curious expression in his eyes . He drags Nakahn ' s hands into the fire , then demands a ship and safe passage off the planet . Act Three . Kes enters sickbay the next morning and activates the EMH . The Doctor appears to be back to his normal self . When Kes tells him Zahir has been found unconscious and that he needs medical attention , nothing in his behavior suggests he knows anything about it and he ' s immediately prepared to help . However , as they reach the transporter room , Torres stops them , telling The Doctor she needs to run a full diagnostic on his Holomatrix , because something is wrong . While running the diagnostic , she explains to him that , while all the historical personalities he ' s chosen to incorporate into his program had some very admirable traits indeed , they also had less desirable attributes and all those , combined within The Doctor ' s personality , have caused his program to destabilize . She then asks him to deactivate himself so that she can purge his matrix of the added elements but when he attempts to do so , it doesn ' t work . He merely shimmers a bit . Meanwhile , by the turbolift , Tuvok is explaining to Janeway that the one who attacked Zahir has curiously left no tangible evidence of his crime at all on his victim . Also , Zahir cannot recall anything . Tuvok and Janeway make their way to sickbay and when they enter it , they find Torres unconscious on the floor . Tuvok activates the EMH and although he ' s a little irritated , he seems to be his normal self . He diagnoses Torres with delayed anaphylactic shock from the salad she ate the day before and puts her on a biobed for a few hours of observation . After Tuvok and Janeway leave however , The Doctor starts to shimmer again . When he reappears , he ' s got the strange look in his eyes once more . He grabs a few hypospray s and goes over to Torres . Act Four . After waking her with one of them The Doctor tells her he simulated the anaphylactic shock using a drug and as she discovers that he has paralyzed her from the waist down to get her cooperation , she quickly realizes he has a new personality , created from the new subroutines . He tells her she is correct and that he wants to know from her how to delete The Doctor from his matrix , threatening to torture her if she doesn ' t . When Torres still refuses to help him , and his subroutines visibly begin to destabilize , he turns to the historical figures in the holodeck for help . Meanwhile , Tuvok is interrogating Nakahn before going back to the scene of the crime and it ' s clear that he suspects him . A few minutes later , Kes finds The Doctor in the holodeck , surrounded by all kinds of malfunctioning holograms . He explains to her that he ' s the new master of the EMH and the old Doctor is locked up inside him . He then takes her hostage and transports off the ship , after having created a dispersion pattern so that " Voyager " won ' t know where to look for them . Act Five . On the bridge Ensign Harry Kim reports an unscheduled transport . At the same time , Tuvok reports to the captain that he has found residual holographic signatures at the scene of the crime . Meanwhile , The Doctor and Kes are in the lodge , waiting for Nakahn and the scout ship . The Doctor is attempting to remove the EMH from his program and Kes talks to him and for a moment . She explains to him that both should survive . It almost seems as if she ' s going to manage to convince him that a place can be found for both him and the original Doctor , until Nakahn enters and tells him he won ' t be able to escape , because Janeway and her crew have cordoned off the entire area . The Doctor flees , planning on taking the ship onto another continent but Janeway manages to disable the dispersion field long enough to get a lock on Kes ' and The Doctor ' s location and transfers the coordinates to the away team on the planet . Not long thereafter , the away team finds Kes and The Doctor and Tuvok blocks their path using a phaser to shoot some rocks down . The Doctor then threatens to jump off a cliff with Kes , eventually doing so ; right at that moment , they are beam ed up to the ship . He is also apparently his normal self once again . Back in sick bay , Torres informs The Doctor that she has rid him of all the extra subroutines . Kes enters and The Doctor explains his gratitude that Kes has decided to remain on board " Voyager " with those that know her and care for her . After she leaves , The Doctor considers what recently happened and recites to himself the Hippocratic Oath pledging that he will " " do no harm " . " Memorable quotes . " " Men and women should refrain from enjoying each other . By that I mean to say , even their mutual glances must be free of all suggestion of carnality . " " " " Free of passion ? One might as well be free of Humanity . " " " " It is said the angels themselves take pleasure in their bodies of light . " " " " And you should take a cold bath . In such cases , it is the finest preventative . " " " " I ' ll keep that in mind . " " " " In my opinion , you ' ve become far too infatuated with these Travelers . From the away team reports , they seem afflicted with terminal wanderlust , risk - taking thrill - seekers , with no responsibility to the ideals of exploration . In short , bad news . " " " " I think I am detecting a reaction to your recent break - up with Mr . Neelix . The Mahatma would recommend a cold bath . Simplistic and no doubt effective . " " " " But everyone seems to be treating me like I ' m still a child . I ' m three years old now . " " " " Any sharp pains ? Heartburn ? There ' s nothing like a heart that burns . Your pulse is – lovely . Ah - hah . Mmm , does that feel . . . good ? " " " " Doctor , unless you want me to knock you into the middle of the next millennium , you ' d better back off ! " " " " The fine art of putting off an important task to the very last minute . . . then rushing through it . In my Academy days , I was the acknowledged master . " " " " The flesh is weak , Kes . Never forget that . " " " " What am I doing here , and why am I wearing these ridiculous clothes ? " " " " Put those phasers away , before you hurt someone and I have to clean up the mess ! " " " " I swear this oath by Apollo Physician , by Asclepius , by Health and by all the gods and goddesses : In whatsoever place that I enter I will enter to help the sick and heal the injured , and I will do no harm . " " Links and references . References . Aesculapius ; alizine ; Algorithm ; Alpha Quadrant ; anaphylactic shock ; angel ; asteroid ; away team report ; bath ; bedside manner ; behavioral subroutine ; cateline ; cc s ; command sequence ; ; ; dermal regenerator ; divine intention ; EMH program 4C ; enzyme ; emergency outpost facility ; empathy ; heartburn ; Hippocratic Oath ( Hippocrates ) ; holodeck ; holographic technology ; H ' ohk ; ice pack ; infrared ; intraspinal inhibitor ; kilometer ; Klingon Physiology ; logic ; low - altitude ship ; Mahatma ; mannequin ; medkit ; meter ; Mikhal Traveler s ; moonquake ; Nakahn ' s navigator ; Nakahn ' s ship ; navigator ; osteo - regenerator ; Philosopher ; pilot ; plasma belt ; poet ; preventative ; preparatory report ; preparatory report ignorers ; procreation ; ravine ; romanticism ; salad ; scientist ; scout ship ; saint ; sex ; speech center ; Starfleet Academy ; subspace wave guide ; Sylleran Rift ; Tarkan ; Tarkan Sentries ; tricorder ; tongue ; Tropical Resort Simulation 3 ; trophy ; turbolift ; vorilium ; Vulcan ; Vulcan ( planet ) ; waist ; wanderlust