Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 12 - "Let Sleeping Borg Lie"The Borg returned in Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 12, and the cybernetic villains proved they have the power to potentially assimilate Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Changelings. The teenage crew of the USS Protostar boarded a Borg Cube in the hopes of finding a way to deactivate the Living Construct, a doomsday weapon against Starfleet installed on the starship by the Diviner (John Noble). Zero (Angus Imrie) merged his mind with the Borg Collective, but his attempt to ask for a solution about the Living Construct fell on dead ears. Instead, the Borg quickly assimilated Zero.

What was shocking about Zero's conversion into a Borg Drone in Star Trek: Prodigy episode 12 is that Zero is Medusan and thus, he is a non-corporeal energy being. Yet Zero not having a physical body didn't impede the Borg, who proved they had the technology to assimilate the Medusan. Nor were the Borg susceptible to the Medusans' ability to drive anyone who sees their true form insane. Zero also conveniently has a cyborg shell just like most Borg Drones. But the ease with which the Borg assimilated Zero indicates that the cybernetic hive would have no issues doing the same to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's villains, the Changelings. The shapeshifters are liquid-based beings, but this probably wouldn't stop the Borg from possessing the Founders any more than being an energy-based Medusan saved Zero. The Borg has technology from countless assimilated worlds, and it's very likely they would solve the Changelings and make them Drones if they ever met.

Related: What Happened To Chakotay? Every Star Trek Theory

The Borg Have Never Met The Changelings In Star Trek Canon

Borg Cube Protostar Prodigy

The Borg have appeared in multiple Star Trek TV series and in Star Trek: First Contact while the Dominion was the sole purview of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where they were created to be the series' primary villains. Therefore, despite being among the franchise's top villains, the Borg and Odo's (Rene Auberjonois) people have never canonically met in Star Trek. The Borg hail from the Delta Quadrant while the Changelings invaded from the far-flung Gamma Quadrant, but there is no known instance of the Borg and shapeshifters encountering each other when either was in the Alpha Quadrant. As such, Star Trek fans have debated for decades about what would happen if the Borg met the Founders.

The Borg had no role in the Dominion War that was waged for years on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It's possible the machine-hybrids were aware of the Dominion's attempt to conquer the Alpha Quadrant and simply stayed back to wait and see who would be victorious. Concurrent to the Dominion War, the Borg stalked Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the USS Voyager throughout the Delta Quadrant in Star Trek: Voyager. But once the Dominion lost the war and retreated to the Gamma Quadrant, the chances of them meeting the Borg decreased exponentially. However, there's one way the Borg could prove they could conquer a Founder: they may one day encounter one of the 100 Changeling infants sent into the galaxy, like Odo was, and assimilate it.

Will The Dominion Return To Star Trek?

Odo Shapeshifting DS9

The Dominion has been mentioned a few times since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine went off the air, but there has been no attempt to bring the Changelings, the Jem'Hadar, or the Vorta back as Star Trek villains. The Dominion seems to be considered an invention that's strictly bound to DS9, and they have not crossed over officially with any other Star Trek series. A female changeling resembling a Founder did appear in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, but it wasn't confirmed that she was from Odo's race as there are other shapeshifters in Star Trek, like the Chameloid played by Iman in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The Borg vs, the Dominion is a Star Trek alien dream match that would settle once and for all if the Borg can assimilate Changelings. Perhaps Star Trek: Prodigy can make it happen one day.

Next: How Janeway's New Star Trek Ship Compares To Voyager

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.