Star Trek: Prodigy’s USS Protostar Time Travel Ties Into TNG’s Timeline

Star Trek: Prodigy season 1’s backstory involves the USS Protostar and the Diviner (John Noble) time-traveling from the 25th century into the mid-24th-century timeline of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek: Prodigy‘s backstory establishes that the USS Protostar led by Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) accidentally left 2383 and time-traveled to the 25th century, where they were taken prisoner on the Vau N’Akat’s homeworld of Solum. After the Vau N’Akat hid a weapon called the Living Construct on the Protostar, Chakotay sent his starship back in time to keep it from the aliens’ hands. The Vau N’Akat then sent 100 agents back in time to find the Protostar, including the Diviner, who tracked the Starfleet ship to Tars Lamora.

Twitter/X user Jörg Hillebrand (@gaghyogi49), who was a researcher for Star Trek: Picard season 3, confirmed exactly when the USS Protostar arrived in the 24th century after Captain Chakotay sent it back. Hillebrand matched the Stardates from Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 6, “Kobayashi”, to Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, determining “Kobayashi’s” Protostar flashback happened right before TNG season 3, episode 18, “Menage a Troi”, which took place in 2366, Star Trek: Prodigy season 1’s main story takes place 17 years after the Protostar landed in Tars Lamora, which lines up as 2383. Check out Jörg’s post below:

Related

Everything We Know About Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2

Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 will stream on Netflix after the animated series was canceled by Paramount+, with 20 brand new episodes coming in 2024.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Also Involves Time Travel

Where and when will Admiral Janeway and the USS Voyager-A go?

The ending of Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 set up a huge time travel mission for Star Trek: Prodigy season 2. The destruction of the USS Protostar created a temporal anomaly that leads to an alternate 25th-century timeline. But a distress signal from Captain Chakotay sent through the anomaly was all Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) needed to lead a new mission to find and rescue Chakotay from Solum in the alternate future. With The Doctor (Robert Picardo) from Star Trek: Voyager overseeing the ragtag former crew of the Protostar, who are now Janeway’s warrant officers, the new USS Voyager-A will go to Solum to save Chakotay.

While Star Trek: Prodigy season 2’s initial mission statement is clear and intriguing, it only scratches the surface of Prodigy season 2’s scope, which promises to be even more epic than season 1’s. Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 will reportedly touch upon the entire legacy of Star Trek, and that could involve even more time travel and tie-ins to multiple Star Trek eras. Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 could very well be the most expansive Star Trek adventure in the franchise’s storied history.