10 Greatest New Beginnings In Star Trek

5. The First Flight Of The USS Prodigy

Star Trek: Prodigy remains one of the greatest entries into the overall Star Trek universe. It combines the optimism and joy of the franchise at its most explorative with the scale and drama of the darkest moments. Its second season saw creatures that could erase people from history, a terrifying thought with existential implications. 

The final episode to date sees the show tie in with the beginning of Star Trek: Picard, linking the synth attack on Mars with these recruits to Starfleet Academy. After two years of following the Protostar, Hologram Janeway, and then the Voyager-A, this blew the scale of the show wide open.

For a moment, it seems as though everyone's career is about to stop in its tracks while Starfleet focuses its attention on everywhere but exploring strange new worlds. Thankfully, Admiral Janeway, Captain Chakotay, and the Doctor have other plans. Though the Protostar is lost, the USS Prodigy is fully prepped and ready to fly. All she needs is a crew.

Gwyn, Dal, Rok-Tahk, Jankum, Zero, Murf, and Ma'jel are given field commissions and instructed to continue Starfleet's primary mission: to seek out new life. Everything about this moment fulfils the promise of Star Trek: Prodigy, and of the wider universe itself. While there may be excitement in those big space battles, that's not what Star Trek is about at its core. 

The maiden voyage of the USS Prodigy exemplifies this.