Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Kobayashi Maru
1. Paradox Of Youth
Kobayashi, the season one episode of Star Trek: Prodigy, began with a basic premise, as writer/executive producer Aaron Waltke told Polygon in 2022:
[We needed to] get Dal to realise that as much as he fantasises about being in the Captain's seat and ready for leadership, that maybe he still has to learn a thing or two.
This led to the question: "Well, what is the greatest leadership test in all of Star Trek?" The answer saw Waltke scouring through episodes and archives to find the precise recordings needed for Dal's holographic "dream team". At one stage, Worf was due to appear in the simulation but had to be cut for the sake of "streamlining". Gates McFadden notably returned as Doctor Crusher, however, assisted by her Star Trek colleagues in a fine tribute.
Were it not for putting his feet up, Dal R'El — not yet a cadet — might well have beaten the unbeatable without resorting to reprogramming. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. Often the youngest stars, like that one at the core of the ship, shine brightly in the most unexpected places. It's not all thinking outside the actual box. It's the 99% persistence of perspiration. Dal still lost, even with all the help. In the end, the no-win scenario was always about finding the value of failure.