Spoilers Star Trek: Prodigy 1x10 - "A Moral Star, Part 2"

[Deks]

The Diviner's motivations behind wanting to destroy Starfleet seem vague still.
There was talk about Starfleet's Mirror rival which seemed to have caused a civil war that splintered Solum's population between those who supported Starfleet/UFP and those who wanted to preserve their way of life?

This part is a bit unclear... the way the Diviner phrases it... it sounds like a ciivil war within Starfleet erurpted... or a civil war on Solum erupted... either one of which caused a division between the Va'uk'Nat (but it looks like a civil war erupted on Solum which led to its demise).

It also looks the Mirror universe is involved in this dreadful issue (which isn't set to occur for another 50 odd years?).

Why the Protostar though? There were probably a number of SF ships he could have picked for his plan in the 70 odd years since he went back in time.

So timeline: year of First Contact between UFP and Solum: unknown (it could have already happened).
Around 2433 (counted from 2383) is the 50 years after presumed FC with Solum by which time Solum is engulfed into a civil war that splintered its population (could be between those that didn't want to acknowledge the notion they weren't 'supreme' at all and those who wanted to integrate with the rest of the galaxy).

The Diviner is sent back in time to prevent First contact between Starfleet and Solum - which would effectively destroy Starfleet.

He sets his sights on the Protostar for whatever reason... meanwhile the Protostar (in 2382 or early 2383) encounters an anomaly (possibly a temporal anomaly which the Diviner used to get to that time frame, at which point, Drednok and Diviner board the ship and plant the code, then the anomaly interacted with the Proto core and pushed the ship over 17 years into the past - the Diviner and Drednok also get sucked into the past - the REV-12 may have originally been from the future too).

 

[The Old Mixer]

Yes, I noticed Janeway seems to have gotten some basic fighting/defensive skills

More than that, with her ability to blink around while fighting.

 

[JoaquinSlowly]

seems to me like Rokh Takh might actually end up being Chief Engineer and Jankom could be her assistant

That could be very cool!

They did these short character videos for the main cast a week before the premiere on the official social media channels that named their roles, with Dal as the Captain, Gwyn as the Communications Officer, Zero as the Navigator, Jankom as the Engineer, and Rok-Tahk as the Science Officer. And Murf is the resident Murf

They might not shake out that way, but given Rok-Tahk’s varied interests in top of her excellent science and math skills, ‪‪it would fit for her.

With how well it works for Rok, on top of them calling out Dal and Jankom in those roles early on onscreen, and with Gwyn getting named the communications officer onscreen as well, it makes me think these roles will end up being what they all settle into.

There was talk about Starfleet's Mirror rival which seemed to have caused a civil war that splintered Solum's population between those who supported Starfleet/UFP and those who wanted to preserve their way of life?

‪‪‪‪I think you misheard that line of dialogue. ‪‪I heard “their mere arrival,” and that’s supported by the captions, which read:

After their mere arrival, civil war splintered our people between those aligned with the Federation and those who would die to preserve our way of life.

Captions aren’t always for certain, but I’m pretty sure that’s what he said.

 

[The Old Mixer]

There was talk about Starfleet's Mirror rival which seemed to have caused a civil war that splintered Solum's population between those who supported Starfleet/UFP and those who wanted to preserve their way of life?

It also looks the Mirror universe is involved in this dreadful issue

Let's nip this rumor in the bud right now.

The Diviner: Starfleet lit the fire and left us to burn. After their mere arrival, civil war splintered our people between those who aligned with the Federation and those who would die to preserve our way of life.
​

Emphasis mine.

 

[JoaquinSlowly]

‪‪I don’t think there’s any implication that there was a civil war in the Federation. ‪‪I thought it was clear that the civil war referred to is the division on Solum between isolationist/traditionalists and pro-Federation Vau N’Akat.

‪‪I could be wrong, but it didn’t seem to be phrased ambiguously to me.

 

[Tuskin38]

Dauntless reminds me a bit of one of the early versions of Voyager.

Overall a good episode but did feel a little rushed.

Hm I wonder if the original dauntless was inspired by that then

 

[bookworm8571]

How many Solums has Star Fleet left in its wake? We don’t know the circumstances of the First Contact but, presumably, the crew of the Protostar saw a warp capable, advanced civilization, made contact and then left. A world that had believed itself alone in the universe then tore itself apart with a civil war, probably over some toxic combination of religious and social unrest triggered by Star Fleet’s drive by. The seeds of the conflict were always there, but Star Fleet lit the match. Star Fleet ships pay a visit and then take off and don’t return to see what happens to the worlds they changed.

 

[Tuskin38]

From the little we see of the Dauntless’s bridge, it does seem based on the fake dauntless just like the exterior

 

[Mike McDevitt]

I still have to mull over Diviner’s terrible choices and whether he was already mad before Zero flashed him. But these episodes were a fantastic start, and I really appreciate a cliffhanger with lower stakes than last week. The fate of Solum can take a back burner- things either went wrong any minute now or in 50 years that will only feel like a minute.

 

[eschaton]

I loved this episode as a closure to the ten-episode arc as a whole. But I think it sort of failed as a discrete episode. Similar to my complaint last week, this is pretty clearly just the second half of the runtime of double-feature - not even a "part 2" per se. But it wasn't enough to make me not enjoy the experience.

Everyone gets some character growth here, which is great. There were arcs which were set up right from the beginning, like Rok-Tahk's discomfort at being pegged the "strong one" - and the possible romantic tension between Dal and Gwyn, which have further development/payoff here. This episode had a ton of feels, and Janeway's closing monologue was absolutely perfect, making it feel like my heart was swelling in my chest for these kids.

I do feel a bit underwhelmed by the antagonists and their fates however. Drednok went down like a chump in the end, and we never even really got to find out anything about him. The backstory of the Diviner was tragic, but a lot more straightforward than I had expected - I was hoping for something which showcased the Federation making a real mistake. I suppose though that it might be too much to expect from a kid's show.

I don't care what CBS calls it, this is pretty clearly the end of Season 1, and what's coming in the Summer/Fall is Season 2. The main antagonists have been taken out. Drednok is a pile of scrap, and The Diviner is just a crazy hermit now, and not a threat to anyone. It seems clear the next arc will deal with the fallout from the crew actually making contact with the Federation, and introduce a new antagonist (probably the disguised Vau N'Akat from the casting sheets who's hiding on the real Janeway's ship).

 

[Ralph O Ward III]

Let's nip this rumor in the bud right now.

The Diviner: Starfleet lit the fire and left us to burn. After their mere arrival, civil war splintered our people between those who aligned with the Federation and those who would die to preserve our way of life.
​

Emphasis mine.

Reminds me of the the TNG episode first contact. An alien race faced a similar situation. So it's leader suspended its warp drive program and asked Starfleet to stay away to prevent a civil war

 

[Sakonna]

Interesting uniforms and commbadges! So the AGT/Visitor/Endgame commbadge is in the prime timeline now. And the timeline of early 2380s uniforms and badges is getting even more messy! XD

Not that far off from peak Berman era Trek. In 2374, we had three different “standard duty” Starfleet uniforms being used in different parts of the galaxy simultaneously. Characters even changed uniforms back to the TNG style when getting on and off DS9 in “Emissary” and “Homefront.”

I think it's clear that the messiest Starfleet officers, in any era, are always serving in the Uniform Design division.

I am ready for "Star Trek: Uniform Design Division" to be the first live-action Star Trek sitcom. I propose a setting in the 2270's. Whatever madness was going on there during the development of the TMP uniforms seems like the most fertile ground for comedy.

True! Though, ‪‪I figure it’s only a matter of time before Gwyn remembers. She did seem to react when Dal said they’d head for the Federation like a piece of her might still remember on some level.

I wondered if in the next block of episodes, they might play around with the question of whether Gwyn has been turned -- is she faking her memory loss, has she adopted the Diviner's mission as her own now?

Well, in fairness, the Diviner DID enslave multiple different species from unknown backgrounds. It stands to reason some of them had basic ship manning skills (and that Dal asked those to accompany him to the bridge) - plus the kids would have likely helped them out.

If you recall, Jankom Pog was already an engineer (or at least was able to do percursive maintenance - seems to me like Rokh Takh might actually end up being Chief Engineer and Jankom could be her assistant

That was how I read this as well -- the older & more experienced Unwanted who were taken from more Jankom-y backgrounds jumping forward, the less knowledgeable younger ones off-screen and hanging back.

 

[Deks]

Let's nip this rumor in the bud right now.

The Diviner: Starfleet lit the fire and left us to burn. After their mere arrival, civil war splintered our people between those who aligned with the Federation and those who would die to preserve our way of life.
​

Emphasis mine.

Now that you pointed it out, and upon reexamining the episode, I can hear 'mere arrival' now. The way John Noble said his lines, sounded like he partly swallowed some words.

Well, with that in mind, then Starfleet making First Contact with Solum eventually led to a civil war because some of the population was unable to grasp the concept that they're not alone in the universe it seems.

Reminds me of the the TNG episode first contact. An alien race faced a similar situation. So it's leader suspended its warp drive program and asked Starfleet to stay away to prevent a civil war

TNG epsiode 'First Contact' to be precise.
Seems to be a pretty similar situation... only in the case of Va'uk'Nat, it ended up in an actual civil war which decimated Solum.

Wouldn't Starfleet have observational teams studying Solum (maybe not on the planets' surface this time) to determine if they should initiate First Contact or not?

Though, I can also see why the Diviner would blame SF, in reality, I don't think Starfleet as such is to blame for a species lack of emotional maturity.
Precautions are made to AVOID FC whenever possible if a species is deemed not suitable for FC, but obviously, there is no way to 100% predict how they would react... this is probably why SF draws a line at 'Warp capable species'... because its then (usually) that a species tends to be more emotionally capable of handling the concept of other species existence.

A civil war was likely seen as an internal Solum matter, Starfleet couldn't interfere due to the Prime Directive... hence the situation.

This is a bit of a problem in Trek as the definition of what is deemed appropriate or not in terms of Prime Directive is sketchy.

Interference in matters of evolution of another species is fundamentally unavoidable when FC is actually made (whether they are Warp capable or not). The simple realization that a species is not alone in the universe could have remifications that SF couldn't account for.
Heck, even a simple visit to a species that IS Warp capable and their interaction with Starfleet or UFP (either via pleasant chat or even a trade) could result in problems.

Non interference seems a bit of a problem here as Starfleet and UFP DO in fact interfere whenever they interact with another species (however limited it may be).

 

[Tuskin38]

There’s a couple shots where the lighting made Dal’s uniform look yellow, and I really liked it

 

[ToyBoxComix]

From the Diviner's description, the Vau N'Akat were an arrogant race. First contact shook their world view and resulted in a civil war. Presumably, they were on the verge of warp travel. So if Starfleet hadn't made first contact, somebody else would have soon, and the result probably would have been the same.

Pretty cool that Starfleet built their own Dauntless. Presumably, it has slipstream drive, otherwise there's no point. It may or may not come up explicitly, but I think we can assume that it can reach the Protostar fairly quickly.

Badge design aside, the Dauntless uniforms are similar enough to the Lower Decks uniforms that they could be intended as the same design with artistic license taken for the different art style.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Now that you pointed it out, and upon reexamining the episode, I can hear 'mere arrival' now. The way John Noble said his lines, sounded like he partly swallowed some words.

It's not just me; it's in the closed captioning.

Wouldn't Starfleet have observational teams studying Solum (maybe not on the planets' surface this time) to determine if they should initiate First Contact or not?

They may have been forced into it by circumstance.

this is probably why SF draws a line at 'Warp capable species'... because its then (usually) that a species tends to be more emotionally capable of handling the concept of other species existence.

I think the "warp capable" thing is more a matter of needing to make first contact at that point, as once a species is running around space at FTL speeds, they're going to find out they're not alone sooner rather than later...better to introduce them to their neighbors under controlled circumstances.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

It is odd though that the main badge goes back to the GEN version after the AGT version and before the PIC version...

Though, much like how Deep Space Nine and Generations established you can have more than one uniform style active at once, Lower Decks has established there was more than one communicator style active at once.

So I'd venture the Generations-style communicators just never went away in-between.

 

[Deks]

From the Diviner's description, the Vau N'Akat were an arrogant race. First contact shook their world view and resulted in a civil war. Presumably, they were on the verge of warp travel. So if Starfleet hadn't made first contact, somebody else would have soon, and the result probably would have been the same.

That's what I got from his description too. Their perception of the universe as well as their 'superiority' (at least from the Diviner's point of view) stroke me like a cultural problem which resulted in a conflict between Va'uk'nat who shed those perceptions and those who retained them.

And I was also thinking the same thing. If SF hadn't made FC, someone would have soon, resulting in pretty much the same outcome.

Pretty cool that Starfleet built their own Dauntless. Presumably, it has slipstream drive, otherwise there's no point. It may or may not come up explicitly, but I think we can assume that it can reach the Protostar fairly quickly.

This.
The Protostar is back at the edge between Delta and Beta Quadrants and a bit further away from the galactic core.
But we're still talking about thousands of LY's away from Federation space (about 16 000 lightyears away).
But yes, I would surmise the Dauntless has its own Slipstream drive so they can traverse that distance fairly quickly. Only thing is we don't know which version of the QS drive they use (v1 - 300 Ly's per hour, or v2 from Timeless which needs Benamite crystals and upper speed of 10 000 Ly's per minute).

Badge design aside, the Dauntless uniforms are similar enough to the Lower Decks uniforms that they could be intended as the same design with artistic license taken for the different art style.

Prodigy could be seen closer to more serious live action representation of Trek vs a comedy that is LD (but still canon evidently)... so I don't see a problem with the uniforms being similar.
It's likely though they are just different uniforms dependent on the ship itself.

It's not just me; it's in the closed captioning.

Its just the way he said it... sounded like the words were partly swallowed/mashed together, hence the lack of clarity.

They may have been forced into it by circumstance.

Interesting... though it seems like FC may have been initiated in a similar way as it was with the Malkorians.
It will be interesting to see if this arc is further explored down the line in the series.

I think the "warp capable" thing is more a matter of needing to make first contact at that point, as once a species is running around space at FTL speeds, they're going to find out they're not alone sooner rather than later...better to introduce them to their neighbors under controlled circumstances.

That, and better to introduce them to UFP which has no hostile intent vs potentially more hostile species.
Although it makes me wonder as to just WHERE in the Milky Way is Solum.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Poor Murf was violated! That core was removed by from his inside by a transporter beam! The horror! I don't recall this being done before in any series.

 

[Yistaan]

After a whole season of saying this crew is the spirit of Starfleet, leaving their brain damaged enemy in slave mines to suffer is probably as anti-Starfleet as you get. It's not like they left him off at a hospital or something.

I'm guessing the "17 years ago" thing from before means the Diviner accidentally jumped too far back in time, and Drednok's attack and subsequent crashing of the Protostar was only a few years ago? The revelation that it's indeed our Chakotay who commanded the Protostar does not clear up the timeline issues at all, and in fact makes them even more confusing.

Am I the only one thinking that Solum's first contact with the Federation ends up being a predestination paradox? The Diviner going back in time to stop Federation first contact kicks off the events that end up causing it to happen. He caused what he's trying to prevent.