Star Trek: Prodigy’s U.S.S. Protostar is different than other ship in the fleet
By Chad Porto
The Protostar in Star Trek: Prodigy is different from any other ship in the fleet.
Star Trek: Prodigy has introduced the first-ever ship crew that has no ties to Starfleet at all. A group of young Delta Quadrant aliens, on the run, commandeer an abandoned Starfleet vessel called the U.S.S. Protostar. They’re navigated and helped by an Emergency Command Hologram, that is designed after Voyager Captain Kathryn Janeway.
It’s a show of firsts. First time Kate Mulgrew (Janeway) has returned to the franchise following her cameo in Star Trek: Nemesis. It’s also the first time Star Trek made a show specifically targeted towards kids. It’s also the first time the show has followed around an entire crew of Delta Quadrant aliens.
It’s also the first show to introduce a ship with this specific brand new type of engine.
Star Trek: Prodigy gives the Protostar a unique twist.
We’ve seen Star Trek shows chase after new modes of propulsion all the time, Discovery has the Spore Drive for instance. This is the first show, however, to make use of an actual protostar. While the show has kept the engine largely a secret, for now, the speed that the ship can apparently travel at while at warp may explain how and why the ship got so deep in the Delta Quadrant.
It could also open up the possibility of being able to break the Warp Barrier without suffering the same side effects that Tom Paris did. If the ship is powered by a different form of energy, then perhaps the effects of such an engine will have far more complicated and possibly beneficial effects on crews.
Either way, it’s a neat little hook to give the crew of the Prodigy a brand new ship with secrets and surprises around each corner.
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