Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 finale, "Supernova, Part 2." Read at your own risk!
Star Trek: Prodigy recently wrapped up Season 1 over on Paramount+, and it was an emotional finale for those that tuned in. Dal, Gwyn, Jankom, Rok-Tahk, Zero, and Murf were able to successfully destroy the Vau N'Akat's weapon, but it came with a tremendous sacrifice. Hologram Janeway, the EMH who guided the crew all throughout Season 1, sacrificed her life to help destroy the Protostar while the kids made an escape. Fortunately, the crew will move forward with Vice Admiral Janeway in Season 2, but as CinemaBlend exclusively learned from its showrunners, there will be some changes.
I had a chance to speak to Kevin and Dan Hageman about Star Trek: Prodigy, the Season 1 finale, and what's ahead for Season 2. As we saw in the Season 1 finale, Dal and the crew will join Vice Admiral Janeway's crew as warrant officers in training. I asked the showrunners if there will be some difference in the dynamic between the kids and the two Janeways given their differences, and Dan Hageman offered a pretty definitive answer:
A hundred percent. I think you look at Season 1, and it’s the story of these kids and their first mentor. Hologram Janeway was their mentor and we knew when we pitched it they were going to be losing their mentor. But they’re going to be getting a new one, and it’s going to give them a new opportunity to grow. They’re not going to be coddled like they were in Season 1. In order to get into Starfleet, things get tougher. That’s a big thing.
CinemaBlend recently mentioned that the Hagemans originally intended for Dal and friends to be enlisted into Starfleet, but after a conversation with Trek advisor David Mack, felt it was better to keep them on the outside and still try to work their way into the organization moving forward. In doing so, they'll get more training that provides them with more evidence they're capable of joining Starfleet and learning what it really means to be a part of an organization.
In Season 2, this means Dal, Jankom, Rok, Zero, and Murf serving in Starfleet under Vice Admiral Janeway, but in a way that's different than what they were previously used to. Kevin Hageman expanded on the idea of the Star Trek: Prodigy crew not being coddled in the same way in the upcoming season and certainly having less access to the real Janeway than the EMH:
Vice Admiral Janeway is a real person with other responsibilities. She’s an adult, whereas Holo Janeway was designed to support their every need and to be there for them.
Hologram Janeway was able to be there whenever the crew needed direction, advice, or anything else. Vice Admiral Janeway will no doubt have far less accessibility, even if she isn't commanding a Starship the size of Voyager in Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2. One can certainly imagine that may take some getting used to from someone like Dal, who is undoubtedly still coping with his newfound knowledge about his origin on top of other things.
Of course, Star Trek: Prodigy will have plenty to distract the young warrant officers in training as Janeway seems intent on jumping to the alternate future to orchestrate a rescue mission for Chakotay. We've learned previously from Star Trek: Prodigy's showrunners that it's going to be a two-season arc between Janeway and Chakotay, so hopefully, a happy ending is on the horizon. Given Hologram Janeway's death in the finale, I feel a little less sure that one is guaranteed.
Those with a Paramount+ subscription can binge Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 right now. In fact, anyone who hasn't should revisit all the new Trek that happened in 2022 on Paramount+, as it was a pretty big year for the franchise that sci-fi fans shouldn't miss.
