Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 must deliver on a big priority storyline that Star Trek: Voyager left hanging. Although Voyager‘s series finale, “Endgame,” featured the crew finally returning to Earth after a harrowing seven years in the Delta Quadrant, the show’s ending left a number of unanswered questions about the main characters and their future. Prodigy has already tried to address some of these questions, showing what happened to characters like Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) in the years following Voyager’s return to the Alpha Quadrant. However, one major plotline related to the two characters has still not been addressed.
As Voyager’s command team. Janeway and Chakotay developed a close working relationship after his Maquis merged with her Starfleet crew. However, their relationship was not always strictly professional. Janeway and Chakotay enjoyed a deep friendship throughout Voyager‘s seven seasons, but that friendship also ventured into romantic territory beginning in season 2. Janeway and Chakotay were never an official couple, and the two of them dating each other during Voyager would have been a bad idea for a number of reasons, but Prodigy season 2 is finally the perfect moment to address their complicated relationship head-on.
Why Janeway Dating Chakotay During Voyager Was A Bad Idea
Although Janeway and Chakotay were clearly attracted to each other and were presented with numerous opportunities to take their relationship further, the two of them dating during Voyager’s run would have been a terrible idea. From an in-universe standpoint, Janeway and Chakotay had an obligation to maintain a professional front for their crew, something Janeway especially took very seriously. Given Voyager’s unique circumstances, it was important for the crew to stick to a rigid Starfleet command structure, and fraternization between characters of different ranks would have made an already fraught situation even more tricky.
Outside the show’s story, however, the real-world implications of a Star Trek Captain dating their First Officer were not something the character of Janeway could afford. As the franchise’s first female lead, Janeway was a groundbreaking character with a lot to live up to and had already faced backlash for what she represented. Kate Mulgrew was aware of this fact and worked behind the scenes to ensure that she and Chakotay were never anything more than good friends and colleagues. Despite the creative team exploring the idea on more than one occasion, and audience enthusiasm for the couple, Mulgrew’s decision about Janeway’s love life was unequivocally the right choice.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Is Finally The Perfect Moment For a Janeway/Chakotay Romance
However, while Voyager was not the right moment for a Janeway/Chakotay romance, Prodigy season 2 certainly could be. Voyager did a wonderful job of establishing Janeway as one of Star Trek‘s most important characters and an unparalleled fan favorite. Her reputation within the franchise is now very secure, which has been demonstrated by Janeway’s recent appearances in projects like Prodigy and even Star Trek: Picard, where even a few mentions of her name showed that she continued to be an extremely important player in the Star Trek universe.
Janeway and Chakotay are also no longer in the same rigid command structure they were on Voyager. They are not solely responsible for the same ship and crew, and Prodigy season 1 showed them working together in the upper levels of Starfleet, with Janeway as an Admiral and Chakotay as a Captain. This certainly leaves room for the two to pursue any kind of relationship, including a romantic one. Admiral and Captain couples are not unheard of in the Star Trek franchise and have even been featured in recent projects like Star Trek: Lower Decks, with Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) and her husband, Admiral Alonzo Freeman (Phil LaMarr).
Prodigy Needs To Resolve Janeway and Chakotay’s Relationship (Even If They Don’t Get Together)
Even if Janeway and Chakotay don’t end up becoming a couple in Prodigy season 2, the show still needs to address the complexities of their relationship directly to allow for some closure. Voyager acknowledged Janeway and Chakotay’s attraction to each other on multiple occasions, more notably in season 2, episode 25, “Resolutions.” However, the two always danced around their unspoken feelings, leaving what had been started in the episode frustratingly unresolved. The addition of the sudden romance between Chakotay and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in Voyager season 7 also put a damper on Janeway and Chakotay’s relationship, with the finale focusing heavily on Chakotay and Seven’s budding feelings.
Prodigy has already established the depth of feeling that Janeway still has for Chakotay. In fact, season 1 centered around Admiral Janeway’s quest to find out what had happened to her former First Officer after he and his crew disappeared. Prodigy made it abundantly clear that Janeway still cares deeply for Chakotay and that finding him is more than just another mission from Starfleet. Even if Janeway’s feelings are nothing more than deep friendship, Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 must clarify how both Janeway and Chakotay feel about each other, and hopefully where their relationship is headed, as it explores the rescue mission to save Chakotay in the future.
