The following comprises minor spoilers for episode six of ‘Star Trek: Prodigy.’
Star Trek: Discovery could have gone on an surprising hiatus, however the brand new 12 months does imply the return of its franchise stablemate Prodigy. When we final left the younger crew of the USS Protostar, they’d simply left the Murder Planet and efficiently fled the Diviner’s ship due to the activation of the ship’s secret experimental engine. Episode six, Kobayashi, picks up this thread, pushing the story… and probably the timeline ahead in some vital methods this week.
The title is a useless giveaway to one of many threads operating by means of the episode, at the very least: “Kobayashi” is the identify of the ship from the notorious “Kobayashi Maru” take a look at (“Maru” means ship in Japanese). It’s mainly a no-win situation that cadets at Starfleet Academy are run by means of to check their readiness for command, besides this time it’s self-proclaimed captain Dal within the huge chair through a holodeck simulation.
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That plot in itself is a reasonably predictable set of circumstances, as Dal refuses to just accept failure and tackles the holographic take a look at time and again… and once more. Aside from absolutely the hilarity as Dal’s frustration mounts, it’s a reasonably commonplace character research, designed to flesh out Dal and craft him extra into the chief he desires to be.
There’s additionally some fan service right here due to cameos from some favourite characters dropped at life due to the wonders of CGI and well-chosen sound clips. As with Janeway, the present being animated retains the older characters from having that creepy Rogue One Princess Leia look, however the audio samples may have used much more processing to have them match up. And why a present designed for newcomers wanted this a lot fan service, I don’t know, however at the very least it’s not Rise of Skywalker unhealthy.
The actual progress within the episode happens within the B-plot, the place Gwyn is sulking after her father’s betrayal and she or he and Zero attempt to study extra concerning the protostar engine on the coronary heart of their ship. Janeway has the information, besides they’re categorised and it’s as much as Gwyn and Zero to attempt to open them up. And, although the preliminary reveal from them is a little bit of a shocker (to be delved into subsequent week), it’s the flashback sequence early within the episode that yielded the juiciest data for now.
We’re proven the Diviner 17 years earlier, in horrible well being and already in search of the USS Protostar. He decides to create a “progeny,” within the hopes of continuous his race, although it’s in opposition to the principles. (Whose guidelines? That’s one other unanswered query.) But the attention-grabbing reveal right here is that the Diviner was already in search of the Protostar 17 years in the past, suggesting that this sequence could not occupy the 2383 timeframe we got in press supplies (although by no means talked about on-screen).
Star Trek: Voyager returned from its Delta Quadrant journey in 2378, which means that to ensure that a holographic recreation of Kathryn Janeway to exist (and the captain of the Protostar to be who it’s) the earliest the Protostar may have disappeared is 2379. Even assuming the Protostar is constructed and launched in a 12 months (which I doubt), Prodigy can’t happen any sooner than 2396, putting it firmly across the time of Picard, which is ready in 2399. It’s attainable that Prodigy is definitely a couple of years later, nonetheless, making it the primary Star Trek sequence set within the twenty fifth century. Or the Protostar traveled by means of time, complicating issues even additional.
But assuming the time interval is, in reality, the twenty fifth century, this isn’t the primary time we’ve seen the way forward for the Federation or Starfleet: Discovery is now set within the thirty second century, in any case. But being a lot nearer to the time interval of earlier reveals like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and, in fact, Voyager makes Prodigy extra of a direct continuation of that period. The inclusion of Janeway as a coaching hologram already gave us a peek because the vaunted standing the Voyager crew holds after their Delta Quadrant sojourn, however now the superior tech seen in episode three “Starstruck” abruptly makes much more sense realizing it is perhaps a couple of years… or many years since Voyager.
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With the exception of Picard, the live-action reveals have largely stayed away from the fast way forward for the TNG-DS9-Voyager period, selecting as a substitute to retread the twenty third century and even leap ahead almost a thousand years. It’s actually odd given the recognition of these reveals, however in leaving it’s Paramount+ has left loads of room for Prodigy and Lower Decks to do one thing attention-grabbing there, experimenting with new genres whereas nonetheless appeasing hard-core followers. This will be the future we’ve been ready to see on Star Trek.