WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy’s season 2 finale!
Summary
TheStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2 finale reveals that, thankfully, the USS Voyager-A escaped the devastating Mars attack fromStar Trek: Picard. Orchestrated by the villainous Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita),the Attack on Mars devastated the Utopia Planitia Shipyards, leaving over 90,000 people dead and destroying 20,000 starships. The tragedy, and Starfleet’s controversial response to it, forced Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) to tender his resignation and turn his back on the organization he gave his life to.
Star Trek: Prodigy’s season 2 finalereveals that Jean-Luc Picard wasn’t the only legacy character who objected to Starfleet and the Federation’s insular response. Objecting to abandoning exploration in favor of protecting its borders, Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) authorizes the USS Prodigy, commanded by Gwyndala (Ella Purnell) and her Number One, Dal R’El (Brett Gray) to continue Starfleet’s original mission. Gwyn, Dal, and the rest of the Prodigy crew earned the ship due to their heroic efforts aboard the USS Voyager-A, which escaped the Attack on Mars in the nick of time.
Star Trek: Picard’s Mars Attack Was Worse Than We Thought
Star Trek: Picard season 1 was built upon a devastating attack on Mars that changed the Federation, and Star Trek: Prodigy confirms how bad it was.
Star Trek: Prodigy’s USS Voyager-A Escaped Picard’s Mars Attack Tragedy
The USS Voyager-A departed Utopia Planitia Shipyards just in time.
The Attack on Mars was a coordinated attack on strategic Starfleet targets positioned on the Red Planet’s surface and in Martian orbit.Star Trek: Picardseason 1 revealed that the attack destroyed the Romulan rescue armada, which was being constructed at the Utopia Planitia Shipyards, scuppering Jean-Luc’s evacuation of Romulus. Other key targets during theAttack on Marsincluded:
With Utopia Planitia’s work focused solely on the Romulan rescue armada, it’s entirely possible that the Voyager-A was the final starship to be completed before theAttack on Mars.
The events ofStar Trek:Prodigyseason 2 take place shortly before the Utopia Planitia Shipyard’s synthetic workforce went rogue on First Contact Day. So, by leaving Mars in the days and weeks leading up to the tragedy, the USS Voyager-A escaped destruction. Tragically, the same couldn’t be said for the20,000 starships that were destroyed in the attack, including the in-construction rescue armada. With Utopia Planitia’s work focused solely on the Romulan rescue armada, it’s entirely possible that the Voyager-A was the final starship to be completed before theAttack on Mars.
What Is USS Voyager-A’s Mission Under Captain Chakotay?
WhenAdmiral Janeway retired, albeit briefly, Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) was given command of the USS Voyager-A, presumably to continue the USS Protostar’s mission in the Delta Quadrant.Star Trek: Prodigyseason 1 revealed thatthe Protostar was supposed to return to the Delta Quadrant to fix some of the mistakes made by the original USS Voyager. Now that the Attack on Mars has forced Starfleet to scale back operations, it seems unlikely that their focus will be on the Delta Quadrant. Especially as they’re abandoning the Romulan relief efforts taking place much closer to home.
The Federation’s failure to help the Romulans ultimately inspired Nero (Eric Bana) to reset theStar Trektimeline in J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot movie.
At the end ofStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, Admiral Jellico (Ronny Cox) states that Starfleet’s new mission is defense, which means protecting Federation territory. It’s therefore likely that Captain Chakotay and the crew of the USS Voyager-A will be assigned to patrolling Federation space, rather than redeeming Starfleet’s reputation in the Delta Quadrant and building new alliances. As bleak as that sounds,Star Trek: Prodigyseason 2 provides hope for the future in the form of Gwyn, Dal, and the crew, who will continue Starfleet’s mission of exploration, perhaps with occasional assistance from Captain Chakotay and the USS Voyager-A.
