Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 had an episode that featured what is likely the last appearance of the franchise’s real Borg. Prodigy aired its first season, featuring the misfit crew of the USS Protostar under the guidance of a holographic Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), on Paramount+ in 2021 and 2022. Season 1 followed the Protostar crew as they attempted to return the ship to Starfleet while being pursued by their former captor, the Diviner (John Noble). Although Paramount canceled Prodigy after only one season, an audience-led campaign found the show a new streaming home on Netflix in 2023.
Despite being marketed as a children’s show, Prodigy season 1 included plenty of entertainment for Star Trek fans of all ages and made sure to connect to the wider franchise universe whenever it could. One of these connections happened in season 1, episode 12, “Let Sleeping Borg Lie,” when the Protostar crew infiltrated a Borg cube in an attempt to get information on how to destroy the Living Construct, a weapon the Diviner had planted on their ship. The Borg are one of Star Trek‘s most famous antagonists, but their appearance in Prodigy season 1 had another significant distinction for the modern franchise.
13 Star Trek Legacy Characters In Prodigy Season 1
The USS Protostar’s ragtag young heroes encounter over a dozen Star Trek legacy characters, many voiced by the original actors, in Prodigy season 1.
Star Trek: Prodigy May Have Shown The Classic Borg For The Last Time
Thanks to the ending of Star Trek: Picard season 3, Prodigy season 1 may be the last time the classic Borg will ever appear in the franchise again. The version of the Borg the Protostar crew encountered in “Let Sleeping Borg Lie” was the well-known version first introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation and expanded upon significantly in Star Trek: Voyager. Other modern Star Trek shows have featured the Borg, but mostly variations of them. In fact, the last time the original Borg were seen before Prodigy was in Picard season 1.
Picard seasons 2 and 3 featured different versions of the Borg, and the events of season 2 created a completely new collective under the control of a fresh Queen, the former Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill). After this, Picard season 3 saw the old Borg Collective wiped out thanks to the former USS Enterprise-D crew destroying the original Borg Queen (Alice Krige) once and for all. Because of these events, it’s now unlikely that Star Trek will revisit the classic Borg except in flashbacks, meaning that their last appearance before being destroyed in Picard season 3 was in Prodigy season 1.
What Is The Borg’s Future In Star Trek?
Although Star Trek destroyed the classic Borg once and for all, the future of the species has arguably never had so much potential. Agnes Jurati’s new Borg Collective are now the only Borg that exist in the galaxy going into the 25th century and have already proven themselves nothing like the Borg that were once Starfleet’s most powerful enemies. After merging with the Borg Queen from an alternate timeline, Agnes worked with her to create a kinder, more peaceful collective, one that didn’t include forced assimilation which was a major aspect of what made the Borg so frightening.
Although Agnes’s Collective was comparatively small, their size no longer matters now that the original Collective has been destroyed. Most importantly, Picard‘s season 2 finale saw Admiral Picard (Patrick Stewart) accept Jurati’s request for her Collective to become provisional members of the Federation, meaning that for the first time in Star Trek history, the entire Borg Collective may begin working with Starfleet as allies. Star Trek: Prodigy may have been the final time the classic Borg appeared in the franchise, but luckily, they are far from gone.
