WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy season 2

Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) finally gets the Star Trek: Voyager reward he always deserved at the end of Star Trek: Prodigy season 2. Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) spends the better part of Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 searching for Chakotay and the USS Protostar, and finds a ragtag group of Delta Quadrant kids crewing the Protostar instead her former First Officer. In Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Dal R’El (Brett Gray), Gwyndala (Ella Purnell), Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), Zero (Angus Imrie), and Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) become Starfleet Academy hopefuls, taken under Admiral Janeway’s wing aboard the Lamarr-class USS Voyager-A.

In Star Trek: Voyager, Chakotay was the Captain of the Maquis raider ValJean, which was taken to the Delta Quadrant along with the USS Voyager. Captain Janeway smartly made Chakotay Voyager’s First Officer with the field rank of Commander, commensurate with Chakotay’s previous experience in Starfleet. Putting Chakotay in a position of power ensured that the Maquis would continue to respect the chain of command on a Starfleet ship. Seeing the USS Voyager home to the Alpha Quadrant means that Chakotay earns back his original Starfleet rank. Before Star Trek: Prodigy, Chakotay is promoted to Starfleet Captain, and commands the original USS Protostar when it disappears in 2382.

Chakotay Finally Becomes USS Voyager-A’s Captain In Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2

Prodigy’s Ending Makes Chakotay Captain Of Voyager At Last

At the end of Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Chakotay finally becomes Captain of the USS Voyager-A. Admiral Janeway’s search for Chakotay is stymied by Admiral Edward Jellico (Ronnie Cox), so Dal and the would-be cadets of the Voyager-A take the mission into their own hands. Time-travel shenanigans and the intervention of Traveler Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), Star Trek‘s original prodigy-turned-Traveler who’s determined to set the Star Trek timeline right, eventually lead the Prodigy kids right to Chakotay. Captain Chakotay becomes the Star Trek: Voyager character with the spotlight in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, as the kids rehabilitate both the USS Protostar and Chakotay himself, and bring both home.

Captain Chakotay’s reunion with Admiral Janeway is just the precursor to a new dynamic for Janeway and Chakotay’s relationship. It’s not hard to believe that the mission to locate Captain Chakotay was always going to be Janeway’s last, given the way that Janeway and Jellico were consistently at odds throughout Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, and Janeway’s priority always remained squarely on finding Chakotay. With Chakotay found, Admiral Janeway decides it’s time to retire to a farmhouse in her home state of Indiana, and leaves the Captain’s chair of Voyager-A open for Chakotay as his new command.

Why Chakotay Deserved To Be Captain Of Voyager After Janeway

Captain Chakotay Proves He’s Earned Command Of Voyager’s Legacy

Despite Captain Chakotay’s checkered history with Starfleet, his Maquis past is long behind him, and Chakotay has proven that he deserves command of the USS Voyager-A after Admiral Janeway’s retirement. In the future, Chakotay learns about the Vau N’Akat’s Living Construct weapon inside the USS Protostar, which will decimate the United Federation of Planets from the inside if the Protostar comes into contact with any Federation ships. Even a distress beacon will put the Federation at risk, so Chakotay chooses to remain in self-imposed exile for ten years to protect Starfleet and the Federation. And that’s just the start of Chakotay’s Star Trek: Prodigy arc.

It’s fitting that the position of Voyager’s new captain goes to Captain Chakotay. Admiral Janeway trusts Chakotay with the legacy of the USS Voyager name because they brought the first Voyager home together. The ill-fated journeys of the ValJean, USS Voyager, and USS Protostar pushed Chakotay to his limits, testing Chakotay’s loyalty and mettle. After hitting rock bottom and being helped up again by Janeway’s Star Trek: Prodigy cadets, Chakotay ultimately comes to the other side of his adventures through the Delta Quadrant, through time, and across Star Trek‘s alternate universes. The perfect reward for Captain Chakotay’s incredible journey is becoming Captain of the USS Voyager-A.

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  Star Trek: Prodigy

  Where to Watch

  *Availability in US

  • stream
  • rent
  • buy

  Not available

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  Cast

  Brett Gray
  , Kate Mulgrew
  , Ella Purnell
  , Angus Imrie
  , Dee Bradley Baker
  , Jason Mantzoukas
  , Robert Picardo
  , Robert Beltran
  , Jameela Jamil
  , Jimmi Simpson
  , John Noble

  Writers

  Dan Hageman
  , Kevin Hageman

  Showrunner

  Dan Hageman
  , Kevin Hageman

  Where To Watch

  Netflix

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  Star Trek: Voyager

  Where to Watch

  *Availability in US

  • stream
  • rent
  • buy

  Not available

  Not available

  Not available

  Cast

  Kate Mulgrew
  , Robert Beltran
  , Roxann Dawson
  , Jennifer Lien
  , Robert Duncan McNeill
  , Ethan Phillips
  , Robert Picardo
  , Tim Russ
  , Garrett Wang
  , Jeri Ryan

  Writers

  Michael Piller
  , Jeri Taylor
  , Brannon Braga
  , Kenneth Biller

  Showrunner

  Michael Piller
  , Jeri Taylor
  , Brannon Braga
  , Kenneth Biller

  Where To Watch

  Paramount+