Last Episode
In the last episode, Janeway was informed that Dal and company were not Starfleet Cadets and in fact, stolen the Protostar. Although some might argue that they salvaged it. But that’s a case for Federation lawyers to resolve. In the meantime, Starfleet crew or not, they found themselves working together to solve a puzzle in time. With the work of all involved and the skill maturation of Rok-Tahk, they found out they were more of a crew than they had believed.
An Ultimatum
Now Rok was still regaling the team with her adventures in learning and how she restored Janeway back to the holo-living. They also were contemplating what ended up being the remains of Drednok from the vehicle replicator. As Dal played around with the seeming shell, a looping message was shown to the team from the Diviner. He was demanding that the Protostar be returned to him. If the “thieves who took HIS ship” failed to comply, he would take out his wrath on the miners on Tars Lamora. If they agree, he will free the miners. He also added a request that his progeny, his daughter Gwyn would return to him.
The Only Choice
The problem was how could they trust a man who had proven to be untrustworthy. The choices they had were these. Take the Protostar to the Federation and let them go to Tars Lamora to deal with the Diviner, or to concede to his demands and take the Protostar back. The dilemma was that there was not enough time to go to the Federation and HOPE that they would intervene. So, that left truly only one alternative. Return with the Protostar and hope the Diviner would keep his word. Unless they decided to do nothing. In the end, the decision was their Captains to make. And while Dal struggled with it, he decided they would return to Lars Lamora. But…not without making some plans in the meantime…together.
Go Fast
After some intense planning and construction, their plan was set. For better or worse, they were all in this together as a crew. Or a Gwyn likes to refer to it as, they were in “Catboots” (Cahoots). With that in mind, it was time for them to LOOK like a Federation crew. So out came Protostar Starfleet Cadet Uniforms. Even Janeway changed her appearance to reflect her crew. There was nothing left but to make the jump to Lars Lamora and HOPE that the Diviner would keep his end of the pact. That was a huge gamble. Nonetheless, the crew was ready, so Captain Dal gave the command: “Go Fast!” Not quite Captain Picard’s “Make it So” and more in the line with Captain Burnham’s “Let’s Fly,” but it works.
Captured
As could be expected, the minute the Protostar arrived at Tars Lamora, the Rev12 locked on to the ship with a tractor beam. They were being pulled in. Dall gave the order to drop the ship’s shields. They had expected this possibility. The time had come for Gwyn and the crew to face her father again. As the ramp lowered, the crew slowly descended as the Diviner and Drednok approached. Dal asked the Diviner how he and his crew could hope to rescue the miners if he and his mechanical henchman took the Protostar? The Diviner replied that the asteroid they were on was more than his crew and the “unwanted” (his term for the miners) deserved. Plus, as probably should have been expected, the Diviner added a contingency to his deal. He now wanted Gwyn included with the Protostar. Dal and the crew didn’t want any part of that change to the program.
Gwyn’s Choice
However, in the end, it was Gwyn’s choice. She agreed to go with her father, in exchange for the miner’s release and her father’s ship the Rev12 to use in their transport. Her father agreed to these stipulations, having Drednok release the miner’s ankle monitors. So, Gwynn made her way to join her father and Drednok, who advised against bringing her along with them. But before she left, Gwyn said goodbye to her friends telling Dal to look after them as she hugged him. Once she joined the Diviner, he told her to remove her Starfleet communication badge and hand it to him. He quickly dropped it and ground it under his boot as they walked toward and entered the Protostar. Watching her go and the Protostar become the property of another felt like they lost according the Jankom. Dal assured them that they did the right thing. Even though it might not feel like it right at that moment.
Promises Made, Promises Broken
Once aboard the Protostar, the Diviner assumed the captain’s chair. Janeway appeared telling him that the chair did not belong to him. Slightly annoyed, the Diviner asked Drednok to remove “this Starfleet Nuisance.” He did so, replacing her with a version of Janeway that looked more like him. Pale with an icy blue pallor. She welcomed the new Captain onboard as he ordered the ship to get underway. But of course, the Diviner wasn’t done yet. He ordered the Rev12’s power generators targeted, much to the dismay of Gwyn. The Diviner had promised them a ship. He never said anything about promising their lives. He fired, taking out the generator and gravity with it. With that accomplished, the Protostar left the asteroid belt. Leaving Dall and the rest of the crew floating.
Something Missing
Back on the Protostar, Gwyn was trying to understand where her father was wanting to go. What was so important about the Protostar that he would choose it over his own daughter? He started to explain as he linked to Gwyn. But…he sensed her trying to hide something from him. Pushing her away, he ordered the Protostar to jump using the Proto-Drive. But a piece was missing. They could not jump. Gwyn smirked and asked he father if he was missing something. The Proto-Core had been taken. I wonder who did that?
Back on Tars Lamora, the crew initiated the next part of their plan. One that had been contingent on the Protostar having left the asteroid belt. They revealed that they had created a pseudo Zero to conceal Murf, who had swallowed the Proto-Core and was protected inside the Zero doppelgänger. Thanks to the time that Gwyn had bought the team by stalling her father, they hoped to restore the power to the Rev13 and gather all the miners. That is, if the plan works like…well…planned.
Thoughts
This first of a two-parter, “A Moral Star” (anagram for Lars Lamora….although bigger minds than mine figured that out) hints to unravel what the secrets of the Diviner are and how both the Protostar and Gwyn factor in. We get a nice glimpse of our rag-tag crew dressed in their Federation finest. But most importantly, we watch as they begin to resemble the team that they were trying to pretend to be. Dal has started to find his place as captain, but he needs Gwyn and the rest of his team to get things accomplished. Especially if they have any intentions of thwarting the Diviner and whatever HIS plans are. This requires a trip back to where it all started on Lars Lamora. It was nice to see the team readily take on the challenge of helping the “unwanted.” Even though it meant returning to a place they never wanted to see again.
Supposition: Somewhere along the way I foresee Drednok turning on the Diviner, probably because he disagrees with how he handles Gwyn. We shall see. In the meantime, I did like how Gwyn described to her father what the Federation meant to her. Janeway would have been proud. Also, I really hope the team’s reliance that Murf is “indestructible” doesn’t come back and bite them in the ass…or whatever Murf’s equivalent of that is. So, let’s stay tuned to Part 2 to see what other secrets are revealed.
Being a two-part episode, I’m going to withhold my grading until I see how they bring Part 1 home. Although, the fact that it was intriguing enough to make seeing part 2 a necessity speaks well for it. Star Trek Prodigy can be seen on Paramount+ with new episodes releasing on Thursday.
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Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
