So Dal's actual origins are still unknown. We know that he is a product of genetic engineering, that his DNA is based on material from 27 different species and that he may have been created by a student of Arik Soong, we also know that he was initially raised by Nandi but we don't know where and how Nandi found Dal.

I am inclined to believe that Nandi named Dal and this means that "Dal R'El "is a Ferengi name. We know that Ferengi don't have surnames and instead use the "son/daughter of-" concept that Klingons do, therefore I think R'El isn't a surname and "Dal R'El" is just one name.

...but does Dal get any better as a character? He's already getting on my nerves lol

I made this last year, but was never released.

*Prodigy 2x19/2x20 Reviews:

"But that’s probably not in the cards. So I am grateful for what we did get. Two seasons, 40 episodes, of a fantastic show that can stand toe-to-toe with any other version of Star Trek. Gorgeous animation, thrilling adventures, worthwhile returns of beloved characters, new characters that are now also beloved, looking at Star Trek in new ways and adding even more richness and depth to the canon.

And to get to share all this with my kids? Incredible. For old fans and new fans alike, Star Trek: Prodigy is truly a treasure and a gift."

Jenn Tifft (TrekCore)

Link:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2024/11/star-trek-prodigy-season-2-finale-review-ouroboros/

Quotes/Excerpts:

"This superlative season of Star Trek comes to a close with the satisfying two part finale, “Ouroboros.” It has everything you’ve come to expect from Prodigy: exciting action, cool sci-fi concepts, gorgeous animation, heartfelt character moments, deep-cut Trek references.

But this finale stands out even beyond that, as our rag-tag brunch of misfits from “Lost and Found” come full circle and earn their growth and journey. This finale deepens every episode that came before it and holds the promise of great things for the future of these magnificent characters, whether we get to see it or not.

[...]

Our resident geniuses work on the wormhole problem, and as they talk through it, we are treated to a wonderful recap of the Star Trek: Prodigy timeline as a whole, told in glorious flashbacks. This show in general — and this episode in particular — does a magnificent job of not leaving any viewer behind. Skillfully retelling and rewording concepts without it interfering with the rhythm of the show at all.

I did lose the thread a little bit during the long run of technobabble where they figure out that they themselves created the initial wormhole that Chakotay sent the Protostar back through, but my kids and I understood the concept and I’m sure the math checks out. And anyway, their excitement is contagious. Hugs and hoot-hoots all around!

[...]

We get another great matchup, as security officer Murf takes on a bugged-out Drednok (Jimmi Simpson). This fight features two unique character designs so it was incredibly interesting to watch and a surprisingly fair fight.

Eventually, Drednok points his weapon at Dal, and hero Murf grabs onto his head to stop him and pulls him back — all the way off the edge of the tower. My youngest daughter gasped and shouted “Murf-y!” I told her he would be ok falling as he doesn’t have any bones, but I was reassuring myself just as much as her. Luckily, Murf was even better than ok, as he emerged from the bottom wielding Drednok’s head as a trophy. Cute and deadly! What a fantastic combination.

[...]

The Vau N’Akat have been an unexpected highlight of the show and seeing yet another aspect of their mysterious power was delightful. And Gwyn looks incredible as the combined blue power glows even through her eyes. Asencia tries to use her own mind power to fight back and, while it’s not completely clear to me what happens to her, it appears that she overloads her mind and she collapses.

[...]

I don’t know what I would have expected to see with the actual mechanics of Cetacean Ops, but this is handled the way the best science-fiction ideas are, with just enough plausible details that can spark your imagination into filling in the rest of the pieces. Just delightful.

[...]

Holo-Janeway, the hero who sacrificed herself last season to save the Federation — and who will do so again — will remain behind. But while her program was too big to copy at the end of last season, now they are equipped with an EMH backup module (a lovely callback to “Living Witness”), so she gets to stay with her crew and maintain her memories while also fulfilling her destiny. Fantastic! Holo-Janeway is such a special part of the crew. I’m glad they were able to tie that bow.

One last final touch, as Dal leaves behind his Protostar combadge for Rok to find in the past. What a beautiful, poignant detail. They have truly come full circle. I love that they are setting themselves on the path that changed their lives. This is the best part about the entire time loop storyline, that they made their own destiny. What an incredible arc!

With everything exactly as is should be, the episode takes the time for a montage reliving the story of Star Trek: Prodigy. Of our Protostar crew’s journey with their found ship. The clips and sound bites are chosen so specifically with love and care. I’m a sucker for a great edit like this. It honestly brought tears to my eyes to see how far these kids have come. It also was a great reminder of how much fantastic Star Trek this show has given us.

[...]

Our gang sits on campus near the Golden Gate bridge. Zero and Maj’el share a Vulcan-style public display of affection as they touch fingers and I’ve never seen anything cuter. Behind them, a banner in the sky reads “Happy First Contact Day” and I was taken aback and thought to myself, “No. they wouldn’t go there, right? It’s just an Easter Egg from ‘Children of Mars.’“

The conversation they have is so distinctly normal. They talk about what track they want to do and how their adventure has bought them a certain amount of cache on campus. And then everyone gets the alert about the Mars attack. And it turns out it wasn’t just an Easter Egg — this is the day that Mars is attacked by rogue synthetics, seen both in that Short Trek and in Picard Season 1.

[...]

I never in a million years would have expected this finale to take such a turn. This season has made reference to the time period it exists in several times, mentioning the Romulan evacuation in particular, but I would never have guessed it would so explicitly insert itself into the events of the live action show of this time period.

I love how much this bold choice “legitimizes” Prodigy by placing it so centrally within the greater Star Trek timeline. It’s a pretty heavy concept to introduce 5 minutes before the end of the show’s finale, but Prodigy has never been a show to shy away from making an interesting choice just to avoid complication.

[...]

The crew gets the further bad news that classes have been canceled until further notice. This specific disappointment is something my COVID-generation kids can relate to. They don’t need to understand the details of what a Synth attack is to empathize with how events beyond their control can have a huge impact on them. This little scene with our young crew commiserating about how unfair (and illogical!) it all is really hit home for my kids.

They lost their school, too. I think this shared experience, more than anything else, made my kids feel like they were part of the crew. The show really felt like it was speaking right to the unique experience of their generation here.

Bringing in “Children of Mars” and Picard was a big swing, and a risk that really paid off. They took something very complicated from the newer canon and found a way to make it resonate with both seasoned Trek fans and the actual intended audience of the next, next generation. It’s one of my favorite creative decisions of the whole series, and a template that the new live action shows should look to when thinking of ways of uniting all the different incarnations of Star Trek.

And this all makes the grand finale so rewarding. Janeway, Chakotay, and the EMH beaming at our crew as they get their ensign pips. I feel as proud as our legacy characters look here. Janeway introduces the gorgeous new Protostar-class USS Prodigy (Variable geometry nacelles! This ship is gorgeous!). Starfleet was ready to scrap it, but thanks to Janeway, the ship will go out on a mission of exploration, maintaining the ideals of the Federation and Starfleet at this time of closing ranks.

I love that for our crew, but I also love that for this time period in the Star Trek Universe. Knowing this crew is out there doing good is such a comforting thought. It’s also earned enough that I can believe in the premise, knowing what Starfleet is currently going through.

[...]

Janeway says: “Somehow, somewhere, you are going to make a great difference,” and I wish we could be there to see it. A third season of Prodigy is unlikely, and that’s such a missed opportunity for some more fantastic Star Trek. Ending it here is leaving endless possibilities on the table. My kids’ final thoughts were summed up when my daughter said: “They have to make more now! They set it up so perfectly!”

But that’s probably not in the cards. So I am grateful for what we did get. Two seasons, 40 episodes, of a fantastic show that can stand toe-to-toe with any other version of Star Trek. Gorgeous animation, thrilling adventures, worthwhile returns of beloved characters, new characters that are now also beloved, looking at Star Trek in new ways and adding even more richness and depth to the canon.

And to get to share all this with my kids? Incredible. For old fans and new fans alike, Star Trek: Prodigy is truly a treasure and a gift."

Jenn Tifft (TrekCore)

Full Review:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2024/11/star-trek-prodigy-season-2-finale-review-ouroboros/

Is it really one of them?!!?? How could they beat the Protostar to starfleet academy?

This pic is from Supernova pt2, 19:32 in. I had to pause Prodigy at work and this is where I stopped it at.

Is it just a guy in a green shirt?

I feel like Tom Paris should have been on the Prodigy when it first launched on its mission. The fastest ship with his love of propulsion design and the need to be on the leading edge. With the time between them getting home and it launching he would be a good first officer or maybe captain (a bit of a stretch). Then having the need for the Janeway hologram would make sense, Chakotay wouldn't have needed it but he would have liked it.

I just finished binging the series (fingers crossed for a season 3) and the entire time I couldn’t help thinking how similar Dal and Tom were, they were cut from the same cloth. Honestly it would be so interesting to see how the dynamic between an older, more mature Tom Paris, with some experience as a father, and Dal who was just like him not that long ago. Plus it’d be cool to see him teach Dal and Maj’el some tricks since Dal likes flying and Maj’el is the Prodigy’s Conn Officer.

Side note, seeing Jankom and B’Elanna arguing about engineering would be hilarious.

Voyager is my favorite Star Trek series. I've always wanted to see more of what happened to the crew once they returned to Earth. This show was such a fun treat for that reason alone. They created a solid cast and the voiceover work was great.

Jankom Pog is my favorite of the crew because I'm a HUGE Jason Mantzoukas fan, but they are all loveable. Having The Doctor come back in season 2 was awesome. The shorter season versus a live-action show also means fewer filler episodes. The show kept moving forward at a solid pace and had satisfying conclusions. My fingers are crossed for a season 3.

#r/LowerDecks ...

... your home for discussion on the animated comedy as it begins its final season on Thursday, Oct. 24!

With nods to every corner of the franchise -- the more obscure, the better -- Star Trek: Lower Decks has wormed its way into fans' hearts just like Ceti eels worm their way into ears. Yes, there is consternation that Paramount+ is ending the show while it's still going strong, but there are ten more episodes of churro-flavored goodness to enjoy. May your bananas remain hot and may the Cerritos keep on trekkin'.

Other active subs in our network:

r/StrangeNewWorlds (third season coming in 2025)

r/TrekAcademy (for the upcoming Starfleet Academy series)

r/StarTrekS31 (for the upcoming Michelle Yeoh movie)

r/ClassicTrek (for discussion of TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT and the films)

r/StarTrekDiscovery

r/StarTrekPicard

r/StarTrekLegacy

Maybe that's how the crew and Picard got the Enterprise D and returned to the solar system so quickly 🤣

"As the episode ends, we get the reunion scene that we’ve been waiting for between Prime Chakotay and Prime Janeway. It’s an incredibly lovely and understated moment played exactly the way you’d think these two characters would react in this situation. You can feel the love between these two and, for now at least, there is no reason to try to define the type of love that is. [...]

Prodigy has done a great job of expanding on Chakotay’s feelings about Janeway. Only hinted at in Voyager, here they are completely obvious but at the same time not intrusive; it’s not a focus of the plot, but just another layer on a very well defined character. He’s not trying to hide his feelings, or his nervousness at seeing her again. I find it incredibly endearing."

Jenn Tifft (TrekCore)

Link:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2024/10/star-trek-prodigy-review-tribble-quest-cracked-mirror/

Quotes/Excerpts:

“A Tribble Called Quest” and “Cracked Mirror” are two fun stand-alone adventures that are more pointedly aimed at the younger set. Similar to “The Fast and the Curious” and “Is There in Beauty No Truth?” from earlier in the season, they mostly take a break from the main story line action to introduce newer fans to classic Star Trek setups — with a Prodigy spin. They manage to do justice to the tribble and the Mirror Universe concepts by maintaining the inherent silliness of both within well-structured adventures that had my kids spellbound.

[...]

We get a little Tribble 101 from Rok — for the watchers who are having their first tribble encounter — while we enjoy the familiar soothing sounds of the tribble “coo.” We live in this scene long enough for even first timers to understand that it is unusual when Rok gets bitten by one of her “cute babies.” And the fact that this bite was strong enough to hurt a rock person is enough to make these tribbles menacing, even before we are introduced to the gigantic boulder-sized tribbles rumbling down their path. They makes the giant tribbles in “More Tribbles, More Troubles” look like pebbles!

[...]

Dal laughs when Dr. K’Ruvang calls the tribbles the Empire’s “ancient blood enemy”, which is always a funny joke and made even funnier when Gwyn shakes her head at him that it’s not a laughing matter to the Klingons. It turns out, the gigantic, toothed tribbles are a result of Dr. K’Ruvang’s experiments and he has lost his honor since he can not figure out a way to fix his mistake.

Luckily, we have our resident expert on all things cute and cuddly and Rok comes up with a solution right away. The events of “Time Amok” are referenced in a really funny way as Chakotay (Robert Beltran) asked Dal exactly how smart Rok is and Dal recounts everything she accomplished in “ten minutes.” My kids thought this was really funny and it sent them off on another round of conversation about exactly how long Rok was alone during that episode, which is something that sparked conversations between my kids for a long time after that episode dropped.

I have to say, seeing just how great at so many different areas of science she’s been this season, my estimate for her alone time has increased. I’m still in awe of how Prodigy truly earned their “science genius” with that fantastic episode and it’s been really satisfying seeing them take advantage of it this season.

[...]

The Protostar is back in peak performance with both warp and protowarp drives fully functional, as the crew make their way back to the Voyager-A. Chakotay is being very cute about seeing Janeway once more, and Dal makes a hilarious — and surprisingly suggestive — joke about Chakoatay being sent to the Admiral’s ready room. Prodigy has done a great job of expanding on Chakotay’s feelings about Janeway.

Only hinted at in Voyager, here they are completely obvious but at the same time not intrusive; it’s not a focus of the plot, but just another layer on a very well defined character. He’s not trying to hide his feelings, or his nervousness at seeing her again. I find it incredibly endearing.

But the reunion will have to wait as the gang soon realize they are in an alternate universe where Janeway, Tysess, and Noum went on the Infinity mission — instead of the Protostar gang — and perished. I liked learning this about their mission because it adds something good about the Protostar crew’s interference with the timeline. This universe’s version of the EMH (Robert Picardo) beams away to meet them at sickbay and the gang take turbolifts… but end up on decks that exist in other parallel universes.

[...]

Each deck is a different reality, similar to the Voyager episode “Shattered,” and it’s a nice oblique reference to that episode when Chakotay says “I’ve been through something like this before.” It’s truly a shame that “Shattered Mirror” is already an episode of Star Trek, because that would have been a perfect title and reference to an amazing episode of Voyager that really showcases Chakotay. I’m definitely adding “Shattered” to the list of episodes to watch with my kids!

[...]

The bridge is eight decks away, and despite her claims to the contrary, Gwyn can not handle that many reality shifts. They have Okona try to beam them there. He beams them to another reality, but which one?

The reveal is delicious. Stepping into frame is Mirror Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and she is glorious. Voyager never had a mirror universe episode — the closest we ever got was the false history in “Living Witness” — and this feels specifically like the Prodigy writers trying to make up for that. Mirror Janeway has the classic Mirror Universe swagger, rolling up in a leather uniform and slicked back hair, rocking both a cool scar and a Seven of Nine-style Borg implant. Pinch me.

Kate Mulgrew has a lot of fun leaning into the sarcastic side of evil, giving us yet another flavor of Janeway in the way only she could. Prodigy somehow manages to imply an intimate relationship between Mirror Janeway and Mirror Chakotay — who wears the classic Mirror Universe facial hair very well — while still maintaining the show’s kid-friendly status. It was just provocative enough to be a fun tease to the “will they or won’t they” status between their prime universe counterparts this season.

[...]

As the episode ends, we get the reunion scene that we’ve been waiting for between Prime Chakotay and Prime Janeway. It’s an incredibly lovely and understated moment played exactly the way you’d think these two characters would react in this situation. You can feel the love between these two and, for now at least, there is no reason to try to define the type of love that is.

These two episodes were a joy to watch with my kids, as I could see them falling in love with the silly side of Star Trek that I adore. One really big strength of this season is the wide variety of types of episodes in a way that is pretty representative of the longer seasons of classic ‘90s Trek — and they were a really great lead-in to the reunion we’ve been waiting for.

And now that everyone is back where they belong, it’s time to save the universe!"

Jenn Tifft (TrekCore)

Full Review:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2024/10/star-trek-prodigy-review-tribble-quest-cracked-mirror/