Star Trek: Prodigy’s USS Protostar was created to fix the mistakes made by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and her crew during seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager. As the only Federation vessel in the Delta Quadrant, the USS Voyager had to make some difficult decisions while traveling this previously uncharted region of space. Mistakes were certainly made, and Janeway was always willing to accept the consequences of her actions. Her new starship, the USS Dauntless, was a reminder of those mistakes, as its namesake was an elaborate trap designed by a vengeful scientist, widowed due to Janeway’s temporary alliance with the Borg Collective.
Star Trek: Prodigy established that, by 2383, it was much easier to travel between the Alpha and Delta Quadrant. This opportunity was made possible by the experimental proto-drive equipped aboard the USS Protostar. Janeway hoped the Protostar’s mission would go some way to mending the mistakes she had previously made. Commanded by Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran), the Protostar fell through a temporal anomaly into an alternate reality and never got to carry out its mission. However, once Vice Admiral Janeway and her crew of warrant officers rescue Chakotay from this alternate timeline in Prodigy season 2, the third season could send them all back to the Delta Quadrant to fix these 10 mistakes from Star Trek: Voyager‘s past.
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8 Janeway Can Make Up For Her Borg Alliance
The temporary alliance between the USS Voyager and the Collective averted the Borg’s destruction at the hands of Species 8472. However, the consequence of this was that the Borg Collective went on to assimilate the Species 116, a humanoid race that possessed vital quantum slipstream technology. Only 10-20,000 escaped assimilation, including Arturis (Ray Wise) a grieving man who used the USS Dauntless as a lure for his revenge plot. Arturis can’t have been alone in hating Janeway for saving the Borg and dooming their civilization. A return to the Delta Quadrant to help rebuild their society could be the perfect first step to making amends.
7 A Delta Quadrant Return Can Revisit Voyager’s Hologram Colony
In “Flesh and Blood”, the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and the Voyager crew clashed over how to handle a violent hologram uprising aboard a Hirogen outpost. In an attempt to reduce the number of biological species being hunted by the Hirogen, Janeway gave them holographic technology to create simulated prey. However, the Hirogen’s advanced Federation technology to create sentient holograms that could feel pain. Predictably these mistreated holograms grew tired of their brutal treatment and led an uprising against the Hirogen, before settling on a planet of their own. It would be fascinating to revisit the planet, to see the peaceful society that the holograms created, providing a perfect opportunity for the Doctor‘s Star Trek: Prodigy return.
6 Voyager’s Kazon Can Finally Find Peace In Star Trek: Prodigy
Star Trek: Voyager‘s Kazon were the first Delta Quadrant species to be encountered by the crew of the USS Voyager. The warrior species were a recurring foe in Voyager‘s first three seasons, but Janeway once attempted to negotiate peace between the warring Kazon sects. Sadly, the peace process collapsed when the Kazon’s original masters, the Trabe attempted to commit a massacre to crush their rebellion. While Janeway and the crew of Voyager managed to avert the catastrophe, relations with the Kazon further worsened. In returning to the Delta Quadrant, Starfleet could better negotiate a truce between the warring Kazon sects, and end their vengeful war against the Trabe.
5 Star Trek: Prodigy Could Fix Tom Paris’ Voyager Demotion
In Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 9, “Thirty Days”, Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan MacNeill) was demoted to Ensign. Although he was later promoted again, Paris’ punishment felt slightly unjust, given that, if successful, his attempt to destroy an oxygen refinery would have saved the Monean World Ocean. In returning to the Delta Quadrant, Star Trek: Prodigy could reveal if Tom Paris’ attempts were successful in changing the minds of the Monean Maritime Sovereignty, who seemed intent on continuing their oxygen extraction processes, despite the harm it was doing to the ocean.
RELATED: Admiral Janeway Needs Tom Paris Now As Much As Star Trek Voyager
4 Star Trek: Prodigy Can Revisit Voyager’s USS Equinox Disaster
The Star Trek: Voyager season 5 finale introduced the USS Equinox, another Starfleet ship that had been stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Unlike Janeway, Captain Randolph Ransom (John Savage) and his crew abandoned the principles of the Federation and took whatever means necessary to shorten their journey home. The Equinox crew oversaw the slaughter of innocent aliens, referred to as “Spirits of Good Fortune”, whose remains could advance the starship’s warp capabilities. The destruction of the Equinox was accepted by the aliens as a suitable punishment for the crew’s crimes, but it feels like Starfleet should return to the Delta Quadrant to atone for the crimes committed against the Spirits, and initiate the first proper First Contact with them.
3 Star Trek Should Bring Back Paris & Janeway’s Kids From The Delta Quadrant
Star Trek: Prodigy referenced Janeway’s salamander transformation in the episode “Mindwalk”, which could set up a continuation of the story. At the end of the infamous Star Trek: Voyager episode “Threshold”, Paris and Janeway evolved into salamanders, mated, and then were returned to Voyager as their human selves. However, their salamander babies were left behind on the planet’s surface to fend for themselves. This felt cruel, so perhaps Janeway and Paris can finally return to the planet, to find the thriving ecosystem that their progeny have built. The salamander kids could even join the young cast of Prodigy as the next generation of Starfleet officers.
2 Janeway Can Make Up For Dooming Voyager’s Ocampans
In Star Trek: Voyager‘s pilot, “Caretaker”, Captain Janeway’s decision to destroy the Caretaker array left the underground Ocampan city with enough energy to sustain it for five more years. As the planet’s surface was arid and ruled by the Kazon, this didn’t feel like an ideal situation to leave the Ocampans in. Janeway’s decision was the right one, given that the Kazon could have used the array for their own nefarious ends. However, the Ocampans limited time span to sustain their underground city was a concern, especially as Kes never returned home on-screen. Star Trek: Prodigy could finally return to Ocampa to see if the planet thrived, and if not, the crew could help rebuild Ocampan society.
1 Star Trek: Picard’s New Borg Queen Can Meet Voyager’s Borg Cooperative
Star Trek: Picard season 2’s new Borg Collective were a more benign version who sought to use their hive mind and advanced technology for the good of others. A similar idea was explored in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Unity”, in which Chakotay discovered a community of rehabilitated Borg drones. The Borg Cooperative used their shared connection to communicate telepathically and heal the wounded, like Chakotay himself. They also sought to bring peace to their planet by assimilating the inhabitants into their collective, which broadly succeeded. However, “Unity” ended with Janeway and Chakotay pondering just how long this cooperation would last.
Agnes Jurati’s Borg Collective don’t make contact with the Federation until 18 years after Star Trek: Prodigy. However, they’ve existed since the 21st century, so could conceivably come into contact with the Cooperative after Voyager departed their planet. It would be an interesting way to continue exploring the complex moral issues of a shared hive mind from the Star Trek: Voyager episode, while also continuing the story of Agnes Jurati’s new Borg Collective in Star Trek: Prodigy.
