The climax of Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 has arrived! Written by Kevin & Dan Hageman and directed by Ben Hibon, the episode features resolution and revelations alike.
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In the season finale of Star Trek: Prodigy, “Supernova Part 2,” the horrible Starfleet self-annihilation from the previous episode continues. From the bridge of the Protostar, Captain Dal R’el (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell), Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), Zero (Angus Imrie), Murf (Dee Bradley Baker), Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), and Hologram Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) survey the destruction.
Warping away or shutting down the system aren’t possibilities. Dal says they have only one option: destroy the Protostar. Jankom says they can’t destroy their ship. Dal counters that it’s the only way to discontinue the Living Construct’s long-range subspace signal. But Jankom clarifies: they can’t destroy the ship because a supernova core breach would destroy everything in a fifty million mile radius.
Janeway confirms this is accurate: the explosion would be so large, only a Protocore could allow them to escape it. But Rok postulates they could destabilize it at the exact moment they Protojump. The ensuing destruction would then be spread across spacetime, dispersing the energy more safely. Using holograms, Zero illustrates Rok’s idea to the rest of the crew.
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According to Janeway, they can use the vehicle replicator to make a shuttlecraft. Then they can escape before detonation. But Dal points out that because the Protostar’s auto controls are fried, someone will have to stay behind to pilot the doomed ship. As captain, he volunteers. He cites Vice Admiral Janeway’s word that she’ll help the others get into Starfleet. As a genetic augment, he isn’t eligible.
But Hologram Janeway volunteers. By copying her program onto an isolinear chip, she can even be in two places at once.
Apotheosis
The Protostar navigates away from the epicenter of the starship destruction. From the bridge of the Dauntless, Commander Tysess (Daveed Diggs) wonders what they’re doing. Vice Admiral Janeway replies that they’re “saving us all.”
As the Protostar travels away, Jankom confirms the Protodrive is primed and ready to jump. Meanwhile, Rok and Gwyn replicate a barebones shuttlecraft. On the bridge, Hologram Janeway attempts to upload her holoprogram to an isolinear chip. However, the computer (Bonnie Gordon) states there is insufficient memory to accomplish this.
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Dal enters and Janeway gives him a chip anyway. She says he has two of her now. The rest of the crew joins them. Janeway hugs security officer Murf goodbye. Then she places all controls under her authority and tells the Protostar to maintain the course.
Jankom laments that they’re going to blow up the Protostar after all the time and love they have put into it. Rok tells him to think of it as letting a young star become what it’s meant to be.
Dal tells Janeway that they’ll see her on the other side. “Of course, you will, Captain,” she replies. “I just want you all to know what an honor it was to serve alongside you.” When the doors close on the bridge, her cheerful facade falls away.
Shuttlecraft
The rest of the crew pile into the seatless, seatbelt-less shuttlecraft (number 06). Dal looks around one last time before closing the cockpit. As the vacuum pulls the shuttle out of the Protostar, the crew hold onto each others’ hands. Nami Malumad’s score is devastating.
The crew looks at the Protostar as the shuttlecraft drifts. Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Protostar, Janeway takes the captain’s chair. She activates the Protodrive. Then she channels Dal as she says, “On my mark. Ready? Go fast.”
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The Protostar jumps as the Protowarp goes supernova. On the shuttlecraft, the crew silently takes in the sight of the ensuing explosion.
Elsewhere, Captain Trij pilots her Klingon bird-of-prey amid the compromised Starfleet armada. However, with the Living Construct destroyed by the supernova, the corrupting signal is purged from the ships’ systems as they return to normal. Lockout is discontinued, and weapons cease firing.
On the Dauntless, Vice Admiral Janeway orders Tysess to begin searching for surviving Protostar crewmembers. “You got this far,” she says. “Wherever you are, don’t give up now.”
Hologram Truth
On the shuttlecraft, Rok says that Hologram Janeway would want to share their success. But when the isolinear chip is activated, only a small version of Janeway appears.
The pre-recorded message explains that Janeway lied to them. There was no way for her to leave with them. Since she’s met the crew, her program has grown – literally. Her program has grown too complex to be copied out of the Protostar computers onto an isolinear chip in time.
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The crew realizes she stayed on the ship. Knowing they would be too stubborn to accept it (especially Jankom), Janeway did what she had to so they could fulfill their potential. She expresses her pride in them. Her only regret is she won’t get to see them arrive at Starfleet Academy.
Rok protests that they need Janeway for navigation. But Janeway states that after all she’s seen them accomplish, she knows they’ll find their way. “Because together, your potential is infinite,” she says. “Now, go boldly.” The message ends. “Always telling us what to do,” Dal says. “Even to the end.”
The shuttlecraft drifts in front of the energy from the protowarp supernova.
The Golden Gate
It’s one month later at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, California. At a debriefing, a Vulcan science officer explains that the Protostar jump dispersed the supernova energy. However, it created an interspacial rift – a wormhole. From the rift, one of Starfleet’s stations picked up a signal from the Protostar.
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After quibbling over the designation used for our still-missing Protostar crew, the message is played. It’s an unheard message from Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran), sent from 52 years in the future. He says that half of his crew is gone, and recounts the Living Construct plan for the Protostar.
The science officer explains that before the Protostar was destroyed, Hologram Janeway’s last act was duplicating the parameters of the original wormhole in which Chakotay was lost. This creates “a spacetime flexure to approximately the same spacetime coordinates.” Hologram Janeway pointed them toward Chakotay’s location in an alternate future.
An exploratory mission is being considered. Vice Admiral Janeway wants to be on it. But the meeting is interrupted. The Protostar crew has arrived. Their battered shuttlecraft is floating in San Francisco Bay.
Trial of Error
Soon the Protostar crew is on trial for “stealing a Federation ship, impersonating officers… even illicitly inhabiting the mind of an esteemed Admiral.” But Vice Admiral Janeway is present to speak out on their behalf.
Nevertheless, many Starfleet leaders are against allowing the crew to enroll in Starfleet Academy. One specifically cites the fact that Dal is an augment. Another questions the lack of traditional admission standards like psych evaluations and written tests. He says good intentions don’t make up for crimes.
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But Janeway counters with an inspirational speech. She says that not one of the crew had even heard of the Federation a year ago. However, they found their way to them through their own ingenuity. She says their hope is to explore in order to find others who share their values. Janeway says what they’ve accomplished goes far beyond psych evaluations or written exams.
Then she specifically speaks out in support of Dal. She calls them out for “forgetting” his name. She also points out that he obviously hasn’t been engineered to be a superbeing. His DNA embodies 26 out of the more than 150 member species of the Federation. This means he’s a living embodiment of the ideals for which the Federation stands.
As Janeway speaks, some of the Starfleet officers present stare at Dal. This makes him uncomfortable. But then he looks at the encouraging visages of his crewmates and draws strength.
The Unifier
The Protostar crew waits outside the courtroom. They eagerly approach Janeway as she exits. She tells them that they’ve dropped all charges. However, they did not feel it was fair to fast-track admission to Starfleet Academy for non-Federation members. Nevertheless, Janeway was able to convince them to permit five of them to be taken under her wing as warrant officers in training. They’ll be under her personal command on a ship of her choosing.
Rok notes that only five have been accepted. The crew immediately assumes this means Dal has been excluded. Dal is gracious and encouraging to his friends. But Janeway interrupts that he got in. The person who isn’t coming is Gwyn, by her own choice.
Gwyn wants to journey to Solum. Although first contact with the Vau N’Akat hasn’t happened yet, it will someday. She wants to be there to help her people when that inevitably transpires.
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“My father made mistakes, but he was right,” she says. “I need to save the Vau N’Akat, in my own way.” Janeway states that Starfleet has offered aid to return Gwyn to her home planet. Gwyn hopes that hearing about the greater universe from one of their own will open them to a brighter future.
“Gwyndala, The Unifier,” says Zero. The crew will miss her, and she’ll miss them.
Admiral’s Log, Supplemental
In voiceover, Janeway says that she has the pleasure of having grown up with Starfleet. However, there are parts of the universe that are unexplored. “Those uninitiated who have never been under the protection of an alliance, or pursued dreams that are beyond their scope.” She says the crew of the Protostar has been given a chance to discover who they are, a chance to prove what they’re capable of, a chance to improve themselves, and a chance of finding their place in the universe.
A montage includes Doctor Macdonald (Erin Macdonald) introducing Rok to the idea of Xenobiology. Jankom shows a quartet of Starfleet officers that he has more than percussive maintenance capabilities up his sleeve. Zero gets a brand-new sleek and sophisticated containment suit. And is that an Enderprizian in the background?
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Gwyn and Dal sit together and joke about “Catboots.” Dal asks how far away Solum is. Gwyn says she’s recognized some star clusters from the Protostar’s Solum holoprogram. Dal notes that her father, The Diviner (John Noble), is still out there. Gwyn confirms this to be the case, thanks to time travel. Dal says he doesn’t want Gwyn to leave, and Gwyn says she knows. She kisses him.
They promise they’ll see each other again before holding each other.
The Adventure Continues…
During the golden hour over San Francisco Bay, the rest of the crew watches Gwyn’s shuttle take off from the steps of Starfleet HQ. Dal says he hopes Gwyn finds what she’s looking for.
A large hanger opens nearby, drawing their attention. Inside is what appears to be the Protostar. Vice Admiral Janeway appears and explains that the Protostar was just a prototype for the new Protostar Class. Dal excitedly asks if the ship before them is their ship. But Janeway says she has bigger plans for them.
Parts of the themes for Star Trek: The Original Series and Prodigy can be heard. Dal begins to follow his crewmates, but before he does, he pauses and turns. Federation flags wave over Starfleet HQ in the setting sun. Above them, Gwyn’s shuttle travels past Earth’s moon and towards the stars. And that concludes the first season of Star Trek: Prodigy.
RELATED: Read all of our recaps of Star Trek: Prodigy!
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