Kevin and Dan Hagerman Break Down the Star Trek: The Prodigy Season 1 Finale

Screen Rant chats with "Star Trek: The Prodigy" creators Kevin and Dan Hageman about the blockbuster season 1 finale and looks ahead to season 2.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 Finale, "Supernova, Parts 1 & 2"

The season 1 finale of Star Trek: The Prodigy wraps up the main storylines of the season, while also raising some compelling questions to be answered in season 2. Star Trek: The Prodigy has been greenlit and in production, with season 2 likely to return to Paramount+ in late 2023

Star Trek: The Prodigy season 1 featured Dal R'El (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell) and their Teenage friends end up sacrificing their starship, the USS Protostar, to save Starfleet and the galaxy. To ensure their success, the hologram Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) gave up her life and passed the torch of the children's mentor to her flesh-and-blood counterpart, Lieutenant General Janeway. The question of whether the young hero of the original starship will be accepted into Starfleet also gives a satisfying and logical answer.

Screen Rant had the pleasure of speaking with Kevin and Dan Hageman, creators and producers of Star Trek: Wizards. They answer burning questions about the big events of the season 1 finale and give tantalizing hints about what's in store for season 2 of Star Trek: The Prodigy.

Kevin & Dan Hageman Discuss Star Trek: Prodigy's Season 1 Finale

Screen Rant: The last few episodes were fantastic. I think you guys need to do a victory lap.

Dan Hageman: I know. We've been telling people, we've written over 200 episodes and episode 20 is our favorite episode. It is so powerful. Kevin Hageman: I've seen it like 100 times, and it still wrecks me. Dan Hageman: We cry like babies every time we watch it.

really so emotional. let's start. I loved Janeway's speech on standing up for the kids who didn't get into Starfleet but who became Warrant Officers under Admiral January. Tell me about that option.

Dan Hageman: I think that was something that David Mack, one of our consultants, he made the point. Because of course, we're like, "Yeah, they're getting into Starfleet!" and he's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nobody just gets into Starfleet. Kevin Hageman: What about all of the people who've been in line, who've done everything to get in? Dan Hageman: Oh, these kids with the hearts of gold -- put 'em in the front of the line! And it gave us a good opportunity [because] they still have stuff to earn. I don't want to talk too much about season two, but I don't know how many get into Starfleet Academy, but it's not very many. So it'll be a difficult task.

Throughout the series, one of the things that always struck me about kids wanting to join Starfleet Academy was that if they were in a school here on Earth, they couldn't possibly be frolicking around the galaxy. I think your solution makes perfect sense.

Dan Hageman: Right, exactly. Kevin Hageman: Your question is right on. When we started to develop season 2, we're like, we don't want just to see our kids in classrooms now. That's not Star Trek: Prodigy. So you have to see where we take it. Dan Hageman: The seeds are laid in there in the finale. Gwyn needs to go to Solum and Chakotay is still out there. That's a lot of stuff.

I mean, I'm sure you guys can write really engaging classroom scenes, but I'm glad you guys aren't going to.

Dan Hageman: You can't go from chilling in your spaceship to going to class. That's not fun.

As you said, Gwyn chose to return to Solum. Why was Gwyn separated from the group? Is she leaving the show?

Kevin Hageman: No, she's not gone from the show. We just realized, when we got to the end of season one, a lot of these things in our initial pitch [were left unresolved], We knew how we wanted to end it, we knew that the ship would have to be sacrificed, we knew that the kids would finally get there [to Starfleet]. But there's a lot of story there that was unresolved. We realized there's so much that we weren't able to fit in season one, some really big ideas and things that we can do [in season 2]. Dan Hageman: We were writing the Diviner's death scene, and we're like, "Well, what would they say?" And it feels like this is a passing of the baton moment. Can she do what her father couldn't?

In terms of the soothsayer's death, what happened to him? Has he turned into the Force? What happens when Vau'Nakat expires?

Kevin Hageman: Okay, here's the truth of it all. Our show has to be safe enough for kids. In the original script, he dies right there. And then we realized we have this finale sequence on the bridge... Dan Hageman: There's a dead body on the bridge! Kevin Hageman: There's a body lying on the ground through this entire scene! And we're like, "Oh my gosh, we can't have that. Dan Hageman: I think [executive producer] Aaron Waltke would argue that that is the canon for a Vau'Nakat. That is what happens when they die.

Fair enough. It's Star Trek for kids. There is no body. I got it.

Dan Hageman: Yeah, no corpses on the bridge.

You destroyed the original star with the beautiful sacrifice of holographic Janeway. Is this the end of Kate Mulgrew's double Jenvis?

Dan Hageman: On destroying the Protostar, I think what's interesting is every Star Trek show is named after their ship. Or Deep Space Nine, so to speak. But this one's not so... that was done by choice. But if we do kill a character, we're just gonna bring the character back. Hologram Janeway was destroyed. We're not gonna walk that back.

Then I'll let you on the spot. When Admiral Janeway Says She Has 'Bigger Ideas' My first thought over the Protostar is: are we talking about the Voyager-A?

Kevin Hageman: ([aughs] We can't answer. We can't answer anything yet. It's just... it's gonna be big. Dan Hageman: We're very adamant [when we say] they will not be on the Protostar [in season 2.]

Does Prodigy plan to get a new ship every season?

Dan Hageman: I don't think we've thought that far ahead. No, that's not something that we've orchestrated. Kevin Hageman: You're asking some pretty hard-hitting questions. There are season 2 answers that we can't give.

Let's talk about Chakotay. They broadcast this message on Starfleet, and Vulcan says it's from another future. Does the ending mean that the Seer and Asencia remember that the first contact with Solum didn't happen or won't happen now?

Dan Hageman: It hasn't happened yet. I think the confusing part is Chakotay and the Protostar's mission left two or three years before this time, and then they shot 52 years in the future. But First Contact [with Solum] has yet to happen. That civil war has not happened yet. Kevin Hageman: And the Protostar was sent back to Tars Lamora, which created a new thread. Dan Hageman: Although, technically, when the Diviner went back in time, that would create a new thread.

Mechanics of Time.

Dan Hageman: It's a lot. Kevin Hageman: Let's get our books out. [laughs]

It's so much easier when Kirk travels back in time and finds the whale. This is a closed loop. Is it safe to say Admiral Janeway and the kids will get Chakotay in Season 2?

Kevin Hageman: I can say vaguely that we're going to deliver the goods. There's been this search for Chakotay, and we know that in season one, there's a lot of teasing. And in season two, we're gonna deliver. Dan Hageman: Yes, there will be a moment with Chakotay in season 2.

I also love the relationship with Dahl and Gwen in the last few episodes, their kisses are really sweet and tasteful. If the kids go to Solum with Janeway to find Chakotay, is there any chance that Dal will meet Gwyn as an adult?

Kevin Hageman: Gwyn's not going to the future. She's staying on present-day Solum.

Yes, but if she stays in Solum, won't she grow old into the future?

Dan Hageman: No, because she would not be in that timeline. It would be a different reality. The one Chakotay went to, Gwyn wouldn't be in that. Because she didn't exist.

Thank you for not killing Asencia. She is such a villain.

Dan Hageman: I want to give credit to the Bensons [writers Shawna and Julie Benson] on that. I think Kevin and I wanted to [kill her off.] Kevin Hageman: Yeah yeah yeah, you're right. Dan Hageman: We were like, she's done her job. The Bensons were like, no, she's too good. She's too good. And then we're like, okay,

In that case, Asencia may return in season 2. she is still outside There.

Dan Hageman: We're not just gonna have her floating in space in that Drednok. Kevin Hageman: In the most general sense [about] season 2, since there's still a lot of unanswered questions from season 1, we're going to answer those. We're going to go there. There won't be any stone left unturned. But also, season 2 is going to feel like a brand-new chapter, as well, for our kids. Hopefully, you guys will be happy seeing that balance. We're delivering and paying off all these things we've set up and promised, yet also feeling like it's a brand-new season.

Let me ask you guys, after all these years, season 1 is now over. What are you most proud of?

Dan Hageman: I'm proud of episode 1 to 20. I don't think there's a stinker in there. I feel like we got stronger as a group as well. I think some of the episodes really started to kick into high gear. Kevin Hageman: I'm really proud that we were able to break the mold a little bit for Star Trek shows, and create a little bit of a different voice to it, yet still stay true to the heart of what we think Gene Roddenberry intended for Star Trek. And I'm really proud of that. I think we're able to deliver some of the more emotional Star Trek that people have seen. Dan Hageman: And I think what's mind-blowing is that people will be finding the show 20 years from now. Because people are still watching The Original Series, and people are watching The Animated Series. Imagine in 20 years, everyone's gonna have the same experience watching this show from episode one to 20. So we're very proud of that.

Before I let go, I just want to say one more time how much I love 18, the body-swapping episode. Will there be Brett doing Janeway and Kate doing Dal?

Kevin Hageman: Oh man, someone's gonna have to dig that up. If we have any outtakes. Maybe the Bensons have already said it, but the joy there was recording the actors first. And then letting the other actor listen to how they perform the line and copying it. You hear Brett, you hear Kate, [and] you hear Brett and Kate so well. It works so wonderfully.

Kate can't believe it. Please pass it on.

Dan Hageman: We saw her this morning and sold her so. Kevin Hageman: We're like, "Kate, people love it. You're hysterical." It was a whole new side to her. I remember first hearing her read those lines. I was like, "Oh my gosh!" Dan Hageman: Oh, she loved it. Kevin Hageman: Yeah, she had a blast.

About Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: The Prodigy follows a group of lawless teens who discover an abandoned Starfleet ship and use it to find adventure, meaning, and redemption.

Check out our other Star Trek Prodigy interviews here:

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