Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1's Finale - "Supernova, Part 2"The season 1 finale of Star Trek: Prodigy opened up a brighter future for genetically-engineered Augments, continuing what began with Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Bashir was discovered to be genetically engineered in DS9 season 5, and he nearly lost his Starfleet career because of the United Federation of Planets' hardliner ban on Augments. The rights of genetically enhanced people became a touchstone of Star Trek: Prodigy when Dal R'El (Brett Gray) learned that he is an Augment.
Dal's dream, which he shared with his young friends as the former crew of the USS Protostar, is to join Starfleet. The Protostar's teenage heroes embraced the high ideals of the Federation as they tried to protect Starfleet from the Vau'Nakat's plot to destroy them. Meanwhile, Dal never knew which species he belonged to until the revelation that he is the end result of a genetic experiment fusing 26 different humanoid species. Dal is unique in the universe, but because he was made in a lab, he couldn't join Starfleet because of the Federation's policy against eugenics. Thankfully, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) would not let this injustice against Dal and Augments like him continue any further.
How Janeway & Dal In Star Trek: Prodigy Gave Augments A Better Future
In Star Trek: Prodigy's season 1 finale, Admiral Janeway made a persuasive argument for the Federation to allow Dal and his friends to join Starfleet Academy. Janeway's stirring speech pointed out that as the synthesis of 26 different species, Dal is the living embodiment of the Federation's ideals of galactic unity and inclusion. To deprive Dal of the rights of other Federation citizens would be a mockery of what the Federation believes in. Although the council didn't admit the Protostar's former crew into Starfleet Academy, they allowed the kids to serve as warrant officers under Admiral Janeway - and a special exception was made for Dal because of his part in heroically saving Starfleet and the galaxy.
In Janeway's Vice Admiral's Log, she noted that "the exception made for Dal widened the rights of Augments left ambiguous by Bashir v. Starfleet Medical." In DS9, Dr. Bashir was allowed to remain in Starfleet and his father went to prison instead. While Bashir kept his medical career, there apparently were no greater consequences of this ruling in terms of the rights of Augments. But the Protostar crew literally saving Starfleet is harder to ignore, and the Federation ruling in favor of Dal's rights opens the door to a wider conversation about Augments' freedom. There could be a cascading effect for the genetically engineered that may be seen in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 as Dal serves in a non-commissioned role aboard Janeway's new starship.
It's Time The Federation Moved Past Fear Of Khan
The Federation's position against the genetically engineered is a result of the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s, and the fear of the mayhem Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) caused in the 23rd century. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is dealing with a similar issue as Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) was discovered to be a genetically engineered Illyrian, and Number One was arrested by Starfleet for lying about it. As open a society as the Federation is, their denial of Augments rights is one of the biggest blights on their patina.
The acceptance of Dal by the Federation in Star Trek: Prodigy could finally mean a brighter future for Augments, as Admiral Janeway optimistically hopes. There's actually no telling how many Augments there are in the galaxy, but none have caused the destruction Khan has.Khan has been dead for a century in Star Trek: Prodigy's era, and it's time the Federation realized how beneficial Augments can be integrated into society, rather than excluding them out of their dread of creating another Khan-like supervillain.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 is streaming on Paramount+.