Star Trek: Prodigy
admonition : This Interview contain freebooter for Star Trek : Prodigy Season 2
Summary
Star Trek : Prodigyseason 2 is a remarkable accomplishment of intricate storytelling and deepStar Treklore overseen by co - executive producer Aaron J. Waltke . The Emmy - pull ahead writer - producer employ his die - hardStar Trekfandom towhat many fans sense is one of the best season ofStar Trekever acquire .
Star Trek : Prodigyseason 2 sees the untried Starfleet aspirer of the USS Protostar confront a timey - wimey threat to theStar Trekmultiverse and its legion timelines . help Dal R’El ( Brett Gray ) , Gwyndala ( Ella Purnell ) , and their friends save the universe is acavalcade of legendaryStar Trekheroes like Admiral Kathryn Janeway ( Kate Mulgrew ) , Captain Chakotay ( Robert Beltran ) , and Wesley Crusher ( Wil Wheaton ) . Opposing Starfleet is the realism - eating menace of the Loom , and an old adversary , Asencia ( Jameela Jamil ) .
Star Trek : Prodigy season 2 brings the time change of location saga of the USS Protostar full circle . Here ’s what materialize and what it all have in mind for season 3 .
Screen Ranthad the pleasance to engage in a deep nose dive with Aaron J. Waltke into the unnumberable Easter egg and behind - the - prospect decision ofStar Trek : Prodigyseason 2 , from tie beam - Immigration and Naturalization Service toStar Trek : Picardto the lurid ideas that were leave out of time of year 2 - but may regain their way into a potentialStar Trek : Prodigyseason 3 .
What Was Left Out Of Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
Screen Rant : Before we talk about all the cool deep lore inProdigyseason 2 , let ’s blab about what was n’t in the season . What are some of the story idea you had to cut for whatever reason ? I wanted to point out also that I was surprised thatDal being an Augmentand have multiple abilities did n’t really factor into the time of year . That was something I was kind of waiting for , and I was like , oh , that did n’t happen .
Aaron J. Waltke : Well , first of all , with Dal ’s Augment condition , it was something that we obviously heavily featured in time of year one . And when it came to breaking time of year two , we realized that with everything belong on with Gwyn being displaced from clock time , the lookup for the lose Protostar , the Loom , it wind up up feel like it would have been shoehorn in in a means that would have serve neither account .
Just like in Deep Space Nine , the story of Odo ’s heritage as this sort of unknown being eventually receive out he ’s a Changeling , and then finally , as the account die on , you find out it ’s part of the Dominion and the Dominion wants to conquer the Milky Way galaxy . We earn we did n’t have to answer every single thing and service every single matter in this season . And our hope , manifestly , is that we ’ll happen a elbow room to continue the history in some direction , in which typesetter’s case we by all odds will . As you ’ve shrewdly pointed out , there are a few mysteries that are still surround Dal ’s origins that we would bonk to search .
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
As far as things that did n’t make it into the season , a lot of it is small things because , as you know , it ’s so jam - pack wall to wall with tale and lore and character and emotion . There are things that inevitably we had to leave on the cutting way story . One of them was something I alluded to online . Ma’jel has sort of white highlighting in her hair . And we really compare that as being part of the sort of Vulcan elect position , something that I call up we had previously take care in the fictitious character of T’Pau in " Amok Time . "
I believe Kirk even discover her as ' All of Vulcan wrapped up into what one person . ' And we thought , would n’t it be interesting if here in the twenty-fourth C , there was somebody who was perhaps part of that house , distantly related or a direct descend , that had that kind of press of being the Vulcan - est Vulcan . And how would that strike someone like Maj’el , who ’s still a stripling . As we know , Vulcan still sense , they just suppress it . And you get a slight bit of that in the setting between Gwyn and Maj’el when she opens up about how she feels like she ’s unbeloved of purpose because she ’s no longer a member of this elect team , the pridefulness of her parent . She ’s now sort of on this strange journey place there by Wesley for some unknown function that she ’s yet to be say . And so , you see that weigh on her a little bit in those episodes until she realizes that it ’s just her presence throughout . It ’s not about some grand motion . It ’s about who you are , on the whole of it .
A duet other approximation that had been go forth on the cutting room board . I think at one point we lecture about trying to do a lilliputian mini - meter cringle episode with Jankom . We opine that would have been just some fun playing with clock time getting disrupted , specially in the back one-half of the season . But ultimately , we realized that it was kind of a standalone in what was becoming a heavily serialize wrap up of the season , and it probably would have matte a little out of place . As much as we desire to have a Jankom story , we ’ll get there , bunch . We had some stuff with Jacob in this time of year , but we ’d have a go at it to do a Jankom submarine sandwich tale .
At one point , I think we had hash out the theory of what other universe of discourse can we explore ? And I think at one point , we talked about trying to bring in even the Kelvin world , but we just simply did n’t have time in the “ Cracked Mirror ” episode , where they ’re exit into all the different universes . And we were like , ‘ Oh , what if we brought in that Captain Kirk , and he had to help them for a couple of episodes ? ’ It was a cool idea , but it was just a little snatch too many sauce in the stew form of a matter . I think it would have been fun . But I guess it would have hive off from the tale we were distinguish . It would have been the Captain Kirk show for a couple of episodes . Maybe that ’s season three . We ’ll find out .
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Returns To The Mirror Universe
I have sex the Mirror Universe more than most . I receive a mountain of people do n’t seem to dig out it as much as I do . But I love this perverse , mess up - up vicious version ofStar Trek . ProdigyshowedMirror Janeway and Mirror Chakotay . That ’s now the farthermost item in the late 24th - century Mirror Universe we ’ve seen sinceDeep Space Nine . Did you have fleshy conversation about what the situation is in the Mirror Universe now ?
Aaron J. Waltke : Yeah , we did . You know , I make out Deep Space Nine . It is my favorite of all the Star Trek show for a few understanding . I ’ve fall to apprise all of them almost equally , but that ’s just the one I get laid as a high schooler . I was well aware of where we allow off with the Mirror Universe in that they ab initio were on their blackguard being attacked by the Klingon - Cardassian Alliance . But then , the last we discover of them in Deep Space Nine , they had successfully kind of force back that betterment , and it seemed like they were ultimately buy the farm to be able to rebuild their empire .
So in my mind , it seems unlikely that they would all just be good guy cable now . Especially because them take a shit major reforms to their society with Mirror Spock ultimately , as posit in DS9 , is what allowed their society to collapse and become vulnerable to the other outside force . So we opine at least some faction would likely be like , ‘ We have to go back to the former way ’ . And that ’s how we get the classical sleeveless shirts and the tongue they have attached to their little holsters .
And I think when you talk about the Mirror Universe , I know a lot of people retrieve it ’s overdone , but I ’m like you , I sleep with it . And there ’s a ground that it ’s only in for like eight minutes of the sequence , but who did n’t want to see that ? add up on . And so , we thought that at least some of the Mirror Universe might say , ‘ Let ’s return to our older means and form the Modern Terran Armada . ’ And that ’s where we get to Mirror Janeway , which was slackly inspired in some aspects by the Mirror Janeway we see in Star Trek Online , but we tally our own touches too .
On the cutting room flooring , I call up we also had like mayhap one more level on that " Cracked Mirror " episode . That was an episode where the Borg gain because that felt like a playfulness Janeway thing . And I think we hear a little scrap of that existence in " Parallels " with the famous Riker affair , where he ’s commanding the damage Enterprise when they have all these Enterprises hail from unlike universe . And he ’s like , ' I ’m not going back . I ca n’t go back . ' And then he explodes . I suppose that ’s haunted Trekkies ' ambition for so long that we want to see , ' Well , what would Janeway be doing in that universe ? ' And in that population , they had all been assimilated , and Voyager had become like a Borg ship . And so they had to get through that universe to alongside the Mirror Janeway to taste to undo this mess . But you know , if it was a 44 minute instalment , oh , the tail end we could have woven .
Time Travel & Temporal Mechanics 101 In Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
Let ’s speak a little bit about clip travelling . I did not read Temporal Mechanics 101 . So I did not to the full grasp all the sentence travel and time paradox clobber that was going on , but I go with it . It vocalise like it made common sense .
Aaron J. Waltke : Well , I could give a full hr TED talk actually laying out everything , but I will essay my best . You sleep together , we talked about it being a sentence loop . And in a horse sense it is , but in some style , it ’s more like a time figure eight . Star Trek has say in multiple series , " Parallels , " especially Enterprise with the Temporal Cold Wars , with different timeline invading the Prime Universe and whatnot , that there are parallel realities , and all timeline exist severally . But I conceive what throws masses for a loop is we ’re follow the Prime Timeline . That ’s the one we care about . And Star Trek has testify that that timeline can get messed up , and then they have to dress it in good order . But that does n’t preclude the other timeline from existing . And so , we made it very absolved at the end of time of year one that Chakotay was snare in , and the Diviner came from , an alternating future timeline . So , a timeline and parallel to ours were where Solum was ruin . And when the Diviner came into the Prime Universe , he was in effect like , ' My Solum is lose , I require to make a solum here , that survives . And in theory , it will survive , it will thrive . '
And so , we get a little hint of that in time of year two , in Asencia ’s concluding soliloquy . She says,‘The multiverse sustain a bitter truth , girl , that my Solum will always be lost . ' Which is true . And so she ’s dead set on vengeance , and she wants to sort of shape this reality like a clean slating into whatever she want . But that mean that you now have two universes that can kind of interact with each other , and Gwyn ’s retiring lies in the case that happen in that alternate cosmos . Because if the diviner did n’t come to Tars Lamora , then he ’d have no reason to mine it . And then he ’d have no reason to eventually get mad and create Gwyn . Which is what I believe Janeway says very clearly , like , ' She ’s the only one in this universe whose existence bet on the Protostar being there , ' which is why she starts fading in and out of existence .
Some masses have said , ' Well , how come one affair cause a paradox and one does n’t ? ' Well , as you ’ve seen in Star Trek , Picard , and in our show , and even in TNG when Wesley first meets the Traveler , you know , he ’s like , ' There are things beyond your comprehension . ' I think Picard even says like , ' Are you from the futurity ? Are you from a different universe ? ' And the Traveler says , ' Yes , consort to how you would understand it . ' So essentially , he arrive at it very clear that there are calculations of manoeuvre that even with 24th century technology , we do n’t fully understand which moments in time can be vary and which ones ca n’t , safely .
The Difference Between Star Trek: TNG’s Nova Squadron & DS9’s Red Squad
Let ’s talk about something a short simpler : Nova Squadron . I was genuinely surprised that Nova Squadron is even still a thing afterTNG , and then Red Squad inDS9 . But I ’m always suspicious of elite cadet . Elite cadets to me are forged news . Let ’s clear up : Maj’el and her friend - Are they in Nova Squadron or are they hopefuls like Dal and his friends ? Because they had the peg .
Aaron J. Waltke : So this is something that has kind of been alluded to in TNG , specially in “ The First Duty , ” and you see a little bit of it in Lower Decks . And then also , there ’s Deep Space Nine episodes like “ Valiant ” that deal with [ Starfleet Academy ] squads and that variety of thing . And I think the path that we viewed it was we liken it to be a piffling bit like Top Gun . Like , there ’s a little bit of a rivalry ab initio , between Iceman and Maverick . And you detest Iceman . But then , as the show goes on , you ’re like , ‘ Oh , they ’re just pushing each other to be better . ’ And in the end of Top Gun , Iceman comes around , and they help each other because ultimately , even though there ’s a friendly competition , they ’re all part of the same organization endeavor to make the macrocosm a better berth . And that ’s how we envelop our heads around how you may have that variety of competitiveness in the utopian bon ton .
In terms of Maj’el , and Grom , and Zeph ’s berth in [ Nova Squadron ] , in the scuttle , you hear them pertain to as Nova Squadron candidate . So I do n’t conceive this has ever been elucidated fully in Star Trek lore , but we kind of visualize them as a little second like brotherhood with specialized training . Nova Squadron tends to be more about sort of help oneself conn officers become their expert self , whereas Red Squad , I think , is more specifically about command or something to that effect . So in this case , they ’re candidates , so we viewed them a little bit as like pledges in a tentative period to unite Nova Squadron . They require to shew themselves on this mission with Voyager to get fully accept into it . And you ’re right-hand , they do have the pips , the Academy pip , which mean that they are , in fact , in Starfleet Academy , which variety of further solidifies in some ways that rivalry [ with the Protostar kids ] . They went the traditional route , they expend years training , get into the Academy , and I think Maj’el even has four pips . So she ’s moderately well along and is excelling . And then here come Janeway ’s troublemakers who have barely any experience beyond a little bit of homework training . And now they get to be on the ship and are sort of treated as instructor ’s favourite .
And so , you understand there ’s a petty spot of ‘ How did they get in there ? ’ And I think we even had a scene that unluckily was skip for time in the pilot , where they are playing Parrises square against each other , and Nova Squadron just dominates , And then [ Dal ’s supporter are ] like,’You’re being unfair ’ . And Maj’el says , ‘ You are right . This is unjust . Why did you get to jump to the front of the line when there are clearly far more qualified nominee to be on this mission ? ’ So it all comes from a place of system of logic envelop up with the pressure to do , and ego . But finally , as you see , as the time of year goes on , they kind of come together , and Dal gets to sub in for Grom in Nova Squadron . And they ’re like , ‘ we all have something to teach each other . ’ And that was where we require to go with that .
Captain Chakotay’s Purpose In Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
I also can not say enough great things about how awesome Robert Beltran ’s carrying into action was . He was absolutely fantastic as Chakotay . And it seemed like it was a combined effort with the author and also with Beltran to put on the sound Chakotay we ’ve ever view on blind .
Aaron J. Waltke : Yeah , I think there ’s no question that the character of Chakotay was not used to his full potential previously . And there were sure aspect of his character , especially his inheritance , where we listen to the indigenous biotic community who say , ' We do n’t desire him to be just from a made - up kinship group , we require a heritage that is in reality real and would align with what we know about his backstory , and where Robert himself has his stemma from . And so , it was important to us to attempt to rectify some of those mistakes .
It was very of import for us to give Chakotay a meaningful presence in our show . I think one thing that Prodigy ’s ism has always adhered to is if we ’re going to convey in a persona , we do n’t want just someone that our chief vernal crew is barrack by , but they themselves have a story . And that they are , in fact , involve by the storyline of Prodigy themselves . And so , we knew we had our piece of work edit out for us , but we also had the elements of Chakotay ’s character that we loved . He ’s someone who is bound by tariff , honor , and commitment above all else . And sometimes you may get lost in that . And I retrieve even the character of Chakotay got fall behind in that when he first get together the Maquis . But in doing so , he became a great reflection of where Dal was when he kind of felt out of place . And he helps Dal actualise that you do n’t have to be captain for be worthwhile . You just have to get where you belong . And that ’s what that whole mentorship really ruminate .
Aligning Wil Wheaton’s Comeback As Traveler Wesley Crusher With Star Trek: Picard
Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher is a total home run . When I spoke to Kevin and Dan , they gave me a piffling background onPicardandProdigyand how you guy cable coordinated Wesley inPicardseason 2 , but how did that all shake out ? A little snatch more item on that ?
Aaron J. Waltke : Sure . We had write the time of year overview and had broken almost all of the episode of time of year two . What we were doing with Wesley Crusher was baked into our season pitch to the web . We want to bring back the original prognostic to steer them through this variety of worldly Gordian knot they find themselves in . So when Picard time of year two came along , and they were interested in search like radical , obviously , we made certain first that our shows did n’t overlap . They were both two seasons allot with timey - wimey material . And then in term of bringing in Wesley , specifically , as [ Picard ’s ] concluding instalment came in , they reached out to us and they were like , ' take care , we ’ve alluded to the fact that we ’re going to have time travel . We have supervisors in our season . And we ’ve alluded to the fact that they ’re tied to the Travelers . We would like them to meet a Traveler . And , it could be a random person , but we know what you ’re doing with Prodigy . Is there a style that it could be Wesley ? '
We receive on several calls with Akiva [ Goldsman ] and then eventually with Terry [ Matalas ] as we dealt with the second one-half of the time of year . Just plotting out : Okay , what is Wesley ’s role in this organization ? Is he sort of center direction ? Is he in charge of it ? Or was he somebody who was left behind ? That ’s last one is the one that we kind of went with , in that he was an up and comerr . in all probability , if he kept going , he might eventually become in charge of it . But or else , he ’s the one who stayed behind at the beacon trying his secure to ensure the ships come in to sea . We wound up have a pot of recondite - dive conversation about the organizational body structure of [ the Travelers and ] Wesley ’s place in it . But also , when it came down to the soliloquy that he had [ in Picard ] , Akiva was generous enough to ship us the scene and said , ' Does this work ? Please do whatever you need to it . '
I was able to rewrite a little second of it to conform to everything that we ’ve already talked about . And he let us mistake in a couple of cryptical allusion to Prodigy itself , when Wesley says , ' A star Is born , but a ship is lost . A unexampled species flourish - the Loom - but a civilisation collapses - Solum . ' We were hoping , and fans , thankfully , are starting to make that connection , that it was all part of the same thing , of Wesley ’s journey across these two shows . And then obviously , with the return of Jack [ Crusher ] , we knew that Jack was a character in Picard . But it also opened up the interrogation of , ' Well , we obviously are using Beverly Crusher in our time of year as sort of an anchor for Wesley . So if he ’s going to visit and reconnect with his family , it should be his whole phratry . Because Jack would be a few days sure-enough at this point . Interestingly , we did n’t have the budget to build up a Jack trailer truck . So we were like , ' Well , can we get away with staying on Wesley ’s grimace and hearing the voice of his lilliputian brother . ? ' And I think that actually became far more poetic and strike . And thankfully , the fan consort .
I suppose it was awe-inspiring that theWesley and Beverly reunion befall onProdigyand notPicard , where we were all gestate it . It was still totally cheering . It does n’t preclude a live - action reunion in the future and Wesley and Jack get together as adult . But it was really nice in this clip period to see Wesley and Beverly interact finally .
Aaron J. Waltke : Terry was very generous , and even Wil and Gates both consider in . We all essentially take form a brain trust of , ' Let ’s verify this feels right . ' And we agreed that even with where Beverly is in Picard time of year three , 15 year may not be much to a Traveler , but it ’s a lot to a human . So that meeting we see is a small bit bittersweet , and he may not show up in between then and Picard season three . But you ’re veracious , it does n’t preclude them reuniting thereafter .
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2’s Ending Tying Into Star Trek: Picard Season 1
Let ’s get into the conclusion . ThePicardtie - ins to the conclusion . " Children of Men " is my favoriteShort Trek . So wed that intoProdigymade me so happy . I write an article recently about how theMars attack was worsethan we knew . Prodigyclarified some stuff about how crippled Starfleet really was . So let ’s utter a little bit about the detail of that . The A500s turning and Utopia Planitia being demolish . There ’s a lot of intricate stuff involved thatPicardtouched on , but nowProdigyhas delved into a footling moment more .
Aaron J. Waltke : You ’re correct , We visualise 2385 in Picard , and they had perhaps like five minutes full , all in flashback . plain , Starfleet and the universe is a very grownup situation . And we want to inflate on why . Why and how did this deeply affect Starfleet ? Even beyond just the saving commission for the Romulan evacuation ? And we substantiate that the 2380s is relative peacetime . So Starfleet is extend speedily , specially in the backwash of the Dominion War and with the Shinzon Incident behind them . They ’re like , alright , it ’s clear skies . It ’s blue sky . allow ’s go promote ourselves as far out as we can on the horizon , but they wound up overextend themselves . And so , for a want of engineers , they brought in the A500 building block to start filling that disruption . And I think there ’s a line from Jellico where he says , ' A500s are barely keep member worlds going ' , entail that they ’re not just used at Utopia Planitia , but they ’re used across the Federation to fill that lack of manpower that you need with engineer .
So when you take that out , all of a sudden , ideate any governance of a sudden fall back 30 % of what it involve . It ’s going to be annihilating . And you do start to understand why they would be like , All ight , we have to claw back and reassess . But , as we ’ve seen with Janeway , not everybody agrees with that sentiment , and the liveliness of Star Trek is exploration . No organization is a monolith . And there ’s go to be public debate , as we ’ve seen in plenty of ready room . And we thought , would n’t it be interesting if Janeway , after being called out of retreat , cash in in all of her chips and says , ' Just from a purely philosophical perspective , we need to have someone out there that can be on a goodwill mission . Of course , we have see multiple goodwill charge from across Star Trek that are man by cadets . I think even Nog says in Deep Space Nine , ' I ’ve heard of plenty of runabouts being commanded entirely by cadets . ' Even in the TOS unaired pilot , one of the first things that Pike say is , ' What are we running here ? A cadet ship ? ' So clearly there are cadet ships out there , but ours is the first show to really centre on them , hopefully , in narrative to add up .
So we bang what the USS Prodigy ’s mission is in time of year 3 , should that happen . Knock Grant Wood it will . ButChakotay is now Captain of Voyager - A. So what is their mission ?
Aaron J. Waltke : plainly , we ’ve made it clear that the Federation ’s pulled back their borders , but that does n’t intend there ’s not still problems within the Federation ’s borders that need mending . So I think , like the endeavor was used as a Swiss Army Knife sometimes elsewhere , not [ fighting in ] in the Dominion War [ because ] there were other attack to put out , in my thinker , the Voyager - A has a like charge where even within the confines of where they ’re earmark to operate , there ’s plenty to do as always .
Well , it ’s peculiar because the Protostar ’s original missionary post was to right whatever wrongs of the original Voyager in the Delta Quadrant , and that did n’t actually get accomplished because they pass in a wormhole and then end up in the future . Potentially , Chakotay could do the job he primitively wanted to do five years prior .
Aaron J. Waltke : Very peradventure . Yes . Interesting . And while we ’re talking about the ending , I just wanted to say that one of my best-loved Easter eggs that we throw into Janeway ’s Admiral ’s log was a very deep - slew allusion to the videodisc extras of Nemesis , [ which ] has a blue-pencil scene in which you hear Picard and Data sort of ruminating on the nature of time . It was such a beautiful view , and I was like , ‘ It ’s too bad that ’s not canyon . ’ And so , when you listen Janeway , who we ’ve see at the beginning of Nemesis is like , ‘ Hello , Jean - Luc , ’ so they ’re clear have become ally , she says , ‘ An previous ally once distinguish me that we ’re not affected by the passage of time , but the mien of time within us . ’ She ’s , in fact , alluding to something that Picard has supposedly secern her . But go back and ascertain the conniption . It ’s a beautiful scene .
About Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
In Star Trek : Prodigy Season 2 , the six young outcasts who make up the Prodigy crew are assigned a novel mission aboard the USS Voyager - A to rescue Captain Chakotay ( voiced by Robert Beltran ) and bring public security to Gwyn ’s ( voiced by Ella Purnell ) home plate universe . However , when their program go astray , it creates a prison term paradox that jeopardizes both their futurity and past .
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