Emotional moments both expected and shocking are brought in quick succession in the second part of the season one finale. Major Spoilers Ahead
1. A Solution Through The Lightyears
The crew realizes that the only way to save Starfleet is to destroy the Protostar, but the explosion would reach across fifty million lightyears and still wipe out countless ships and civilizations. Jankom and Zero come up with the idea of detonating the core while at warp so that the destruction will be spread across warp space and the damage will be minimized throughout space and time. I found myself getting quite emotional as the gang depart the ship in their escape craft. Watching the ship they put so much time and love into take one last Proto-jump, knowing it is goodbye, really packed a punch that I did not expect to be so affected by. The lump in my throat would not stop with this scene.
Using the ship replicator that everyone seemed to forget about until now, the crew has a way out, but Holo-Janeway must stay behind to destroy the Protostar since the Contruct caused damage to all auto-controls. Thankfully, she is a program and can be saved on an isolinear chip so that her program that has grown and changed so much can be saved and brought with the crew, right? Right?!
2. Goodbye Holo-Janeway
How can a character that is a literal copy of another beloved character make us feel so much and become so connected to her? Because our main characters have grown with her and see her as part of their found family and it is easy to identify with that when done right. And it was done right here. Holo-Janeway discovers that her program is just too large to save to a chip. She’s grown and changed with our crew and her file literally grew with all of that new personality and knowledge. Knowing she can’t go with them, she takes the ship to its destruction as planned, but does send them with a message explaining why she can’t be there and telling them all exactly what they need to hear. It’s a beautiful, poignant moment that has been done countless times in countless shows and films, but it absolutely hit the mark for me. It also allows Trekkies to see what we always thought we’d see, Janeway in the Captain’s chair during a self-destruct sequence. Seeing her use Dal’s go-to-warp phrasing “Go Fast” before hitting the proto-jump was far more emotional than I could have ever imagined. I don’t know how I would have felt if it was the original human (Out of respect for Holo-Way, I won’t dare call her the “real”) Janeway was the one to go down with the ship, but it was almost as important a moment in my eyes.
3. A Crew’s Purpose Comes To Fruition
Upon their arrival to Starfleet Headquarters, the crew is, of course, brought in for questioning and to stand trial for their crimes against Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Even thought their intentions were good and pure, they did cause quite a bit of damage and unwanted outcomes on their way saving Starfleet. Each member of the crew gets a uniform upgrade and is set on a path to find their best position in Starfleet as “Warrant Officers in Training” under direct command of Admiral Janeway on a ship of her choosing.
All but one of our crew is allowed to join Starfleet. Because First Contact has not been made with Gwyn’s planet yet, she must return home to work as a sort of ambassador or messenger to explain what will eventually come to pass and prepare her people to eventually join, or not join the Federation. We will see Gwyn again one day, but who knows under what circumstances. She and Dal finally let each other know exactly how they feel about each other and prepare for their separate paths to begin. As we follow the rest of the crew around Headquarters, we get to see what they’re learning or teaching to those in Starfleet. It’s a fun, explanatory montage that perfectly allows us to jump ahead just enough to see what square one will look like for them in season 2.
Continued below4. U.S.S. Protostar-A
And it just wouldn’t be Star Trek: Prodigy without the Protostar and since the ship that had to be destroyed was just the prototype, we get a shiny new model for Janeway and the gang to explore the cosmos with, and it’s got this fan excited for the next season. I’m sure it will mostly be the same ship, but she’s got to have some surprises up her sleeves and that makes the crew ready to say goodbye to the old girl and take the new one out for a spin.
5. A Man Out of Time
Starfleet Command gets a new S.O.S. recording from a one Captain Chakotay. Time travel is confusing so I guess he is in his own timeline, with his own original Protostar, looking to make a jump through a wormhole to get home? I don’t know exactly what it means, and I’m not sure Starfleet does either, but it gives Janeway hope in finding her lost friend. Looking forward to that reunion!
