Star Trek: Shippy McStarshipface
Spoilers Star Trek: Prodigy 1x18 - "Mindwalk"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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Commanded by Captain Shiplap.
A
Amaris
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[ me turning off Star Trek: Only Shipping in disgust ]
"This is flagrant false advertising. All it has are starships in it!"
"This is flagrant false advertising. All it has are starships in it!"
The Diviner was indeed much, much more petty and cruel before he got 'zeroed'. Especially his firing on the Rev-12, after he traded this for Gwyn, seemed a really mean move on his part (and quite dumb if he hoped to mend fences with his daughter, somehow). Here, he gets some basic decency from VA Janeway and he lets her go? He's also late to show concern for his daughter.
He still wants to complete the mission, but it seems to be halfhearted now. If Asencia gets to be a serious threat to Gwyn's physical safety, he may turn on her.
The actions of the construct are not quite clear, why did it stop for the Dauntless and then fire up the warp engines again? It did eventually give Ascencia the excuse to strongly suggest to ask for fleet backup, which is what The Order wants (so they can affect them all at once), but was that planned?
I was not a fan of Dal in Janeway's body either, a bit too much slapstick. I would have preferred a slightly more serious take (I'm sure even Dal could have done better; pretending to be sick would have been a good move).
Yes, Gwyn got a lot of focus in the first 10 episodes and still quite a bit from "Asylum" to "Masquerade", but since then she has perhaps been the least focused on of the entire group. But her character development happened already early on,I don't expect much in that regard anymore. The final two episodes will likely see her cross paths with Ascencia and her father, we may get something there.
One thing I noted was that VA Janeway immediately called her Gwyn - shouldn't that have been Gwyndala, the only name she has ever heard for her (from the Diviner)? She also didn't seem surprised at all that Gwyn was in league with the others, so maybe Frex told that after all.
So some of Dal's latent DNA apparently can be activated at times, no less so than (proto)Organian here.
With Janeway telling them that an augment cannot enter Starfleet, I wonder if the teen's enthusiasm to join Starfleet and give the Protostar back may cool considerably. This inspite of VA Janeway's promise that she would champion them (probably including Dal, but then she was pretty definite earlier that he could never get into Starfleet).
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This weeks toon was probably my favourite episode of Prodigy so far. It has always frustrated me how starships can fire on each other with phasers whilst travelling at warp, this was a commonly unexplained problem on Voyager, specifically with Kazon ships. But now we have a pseudoscience explanation which makes sense - the ships enter in to the same warp bubble. I do not know why I did not think of this before. We also get confirmation that Dal can definitely access some of his repressed/dormant genetic traits, this leads for an unlimited number of ‘Dal saves the day’ possibilities, for example if they ever need him to mind meld or shape shift. They can just make an ability up for him that helps saves the day as needed and say that it is a genetic trait. Dal could become a living deus ex machina. But if he cannot go the academy, how will he ever get to serve on the Enterprise F?? 
Nothing much more to say about this weeks toon other than that it was a lot of fun. Kate Mulgrew was amazing as ever too.
10/10
Nothing much more to say about this weeks toon other than that it was a lot of fun. Kate Mulgrew was amazing as ever too.
10/10
Interview with the writers of the episode: https://blog.trekcore.com/2022/12/interview-star-trek-prodigy-julie-shawna-benson-mindwalk/
They say the Diviner doesn't have his memory (of what happened to Solum), which is a bit confusing. After all, he clearly remembered at least part of it once Ascencia told him about it. However, I suppose it makes some sense that he wouldn't necessarily remember/feel it with the same intensity and clarity as before. Apparently, he has retained his memories of Gwyn and his attitude towards her has changed since he was revived.
They say the Diviner doesn't have his memory (of what happened to Solum), which is a bit confusing. After all, he clearly remembered at least part of it once Ascencia told him about it. However, I suppose it makes some sense that he wouldn't necessarily remember/feel it with the same intensity and clarity as before. Apparently, he has retained his memories of Gwyn and his attitude towards her has changed since he was revived.
This show is definitely changing tone as the story moves along and the writers find their feet, characters such as the Diviner are developing circumstantially though rather than naturally. The Diviner for example currently has none of the vengeance driving memories of the Vau N’akat civil war, but this shows us the type of person that he would have been had these events not taken place, proving that his vengeful personality was developed by his circumstantial ‘nurture’ as a result of life experiences, rather than his actual nature. Perhaps the ‘true’ nature of a person is only ever exposed through circumstance though, whatever that circumstance or experience may be on a moral ground. The Diviner has mellowed in his ignorance of events on Solum, I wonder if this will change if something triggers him… his memories could be repressed rather than forgotten? I’m starting to think that perhaps Drednok is pulling the strings from behind the scenes, like AI gone rogue. We only see Drednok like droids boarding Chakotay’s ship… hmmmm.
"Julie and I were big fans of Quantum Leap back in the day, so we knew there had to be a way to just have this be kind of fun, too." 
"Brett recorded Dal-in-Janeway’s lines, and Kate apparently recorded Janeway-in-Dal’s lines, so the two were able to hear how the other would deliver the dialogue. That gave them something to work from, which I think is incredibly insightful."
The Sovereign seems to have a blue deflector, like in that early poster, but unlike in its canon appearances. The early model kit also had a blue deflector that you had to paint over to make it accurate. Maybe there are two types now? In that case, they should also show the Playmates early concept design and the Turkey version
"Brett recorded Dal-in-Janeway’s lines, and Kate apparently recorded Janeway-in-Dal’s lines, so the two were able to hear how the other would deliver the dialogue. That gave them something to work from, which I think is incredibly insightful."
The Sovereign seems to have a blue deflector, like in that early poster, but unlike in its canon appearances. The early model kit also had a blue deflector that you had to paint over to make it accurate. Maybe there are two types now? In that case, they should also show the Playmates early concept design and the Turkey version
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Maybe it’s a honeypot. Lure as many Starfleet ships into one place as possible, including the Dauntless, then wait for someone aboard to give the command to fire the weapon.
glad I’m not the only one to remember that.and the Turkey version
Was it ever said on-screen that they can't fire phasers at warp? I thought it was a bizarre anomaly from old tech manuals, since TOS did it all the time
it was stated on screen that they normally *can* in TMP
This may be an assumption on my part, I assumed that a phaser beam would ‘dissipate’ in to a cloud of energy if fired at warp, like p*ssing in to the wind. The starship firing the weapon may damage itself with energetic ‘splash back’.
Firing within a shared warp bubble works though.
I agree this is what they seem to be going for, also because Gwyn as a clone is in some ways another version of the Diviner. The Diviner also apparently was pro-Federation at some point, and now he may have (partially?) forgotten what made him change his mind.
Still, it's going to be very difficult to sell a redemption arc, considering all that he did on Tars Lamora (and the way he raised her, as well). A redemption arc, if it doesn't culminate in his death, also may put Gwyn in a very difficult position psychologically. By the time of "Crossroads", the mentioning of his name and presence was enough to put her in an immediate panic attack/fight or flight mode, and her crewmates all have good reasons to hate the Diviner's guts.
But I think chances are he will save her from Ascencia and/or her Drednok at some point, again waking that hope that somehow, her father does love her anyway. He may also deactivate the construct. So, how should she react to that? Give him a hug anyway?
It's definitely Ascencia's intention to use it as a honeypot. But this episode (and the interviews that go along with it) seems to establish that Ascencia nor the Diviner gave specific orders to the construct (given that chronologically, for the crew of the Dauntless, this episode picks up immediately after "Preludes" whereas the Protostar crew apparently was behind in the timeline and had to catch up).
So what is the strategy of the construct? In "ghost in the machine", it set a direct course for the Federation (makes sense) while neutralising but not hurting the crew (makes less sense, but maybe it has standing orders not to harm the crew on the ship and/or Vau N'akat on the ship, as its programmers may have build this "neutralise but don't harm" in as a failsafe should an agent of the order have second thoughts). However, then it sought out the Dauntless (why? was it counting on the Dauntless calling for backup? Wouldn't continuing on a course for core Federation systems not have caused a fleet to gather anyway?) while not using the chance to infect its systems (it merely needed to answer the hails for that).
Ascencia did use the opportunity to make sure there will be a big welcoming party, but she seems to merely react to a fortuitous opportunity and the construct may not even be aware of her presence.
It all seems rather convenient, to make the plot of this episode happen.
It also seems to me that this episode did Dal no favours in his role of captain. It shows just how far he still is from being a capable Starfleet captain. The contrast with Janeway on the Protostar is enormous.
With Dal not being allowed into Starfleet, I think it's clear that at least Gwyn will not go either. And the rest will probably follow suit. This may be what keeps them on the Protostar and away from (most of) Starfleet, even should the construct be neutralised in the season finale.
The other option on the table is the search for Chakotay and his crew.
Both options probably also give reasons for VA Janeway to continue to pursue them (I suppose she will want them to enter Starfleet regardless), though with a clear knowledge of the situation and with good intentions. Not too mention, Starfleet would still like to have their prototype back.
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Yes, the actions of the construct are really confusing. Also, if it controls the ship why doesn’t start hailing all by itself?
Perhaps Drednok is controlling it secretly from behind the scenes. Drednok has been quiet… suspiciously so.
I wondered this myself.
There appears to be a limited degree of autonomy to the construct, but I still think its unable to act on its own.
I think its still following holo-Janeway preprogrammed course and is able to do what its programmed to do.
Why she programmed the ship to stop at the Dauntless and then warp into the heart of UFP space is anyone's guess. Possibly to lure as many SF ships as possible in one place.
The last episode suggested that Holo-Janeway's corruption occurred when the ship was initially merged with the construct... but, now that VADM Janeway purged the construct's influence and reconstructed holo-Janeway's memories, she seems to be free of it (and won't be affected again - I guess her corruption may have been unexpected the first time around and not something that can happen again due to the nature of her being 'non-essential').
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