Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 17 - "Ghost in the Machine"Hologram Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) shockingly emerged as a villain who was working against Star Trek: Prodigy's heroes all along! In Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 17, "Ghost in the Machine," Hologram Janeway locked the teenage crew of the USS Protostar in the holodeck, and she tricked Captain Dal R'El (Brett Gray) into giving her his command codes. However, Hologram Janeway's main programming was actually unaware that she has been working for the Diviner (John Noble) against the Protostar's heroic teens.
Hologram Janeway was following a subroutine preprogrammed by the Diviner to force the USS Protostar to rendezvous with Starfleet. Once Dal, Gwyndala (Ella Purnell), and their friends realized that the Diviner installed the Living Construct aboard the Protostar, and that any contact with Starfleet will cause it to spread throughout and destroy the whole fleet, the Protostar kids decided to give up on their dream of joining Starfleet. Hologram Janeway's subroutine activated and imprisoned the teens in the holodeck. With Dal's command codes, Janeway took the Protostar out of the Romulan Neutral Zone, where they were safe from the USS Dauntless, and sent the Protostar into a collision course with Admiral Janeway's starship.
Why Hologram Janeway Is A Great Villain In Star Trek: Prodigy
Hologram Janeway preprogrammed to serve the Diviner's interests is a fascinating twist in Star Trek: Prodigy, and turning her into a reluctant villain is an amazing obstacle for Dal, Gwyn, and the others. Hologram Janeway is the kids' mentor and their link to the highest ideals of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Even though they're not Starfleet members, the Protostar teens have spent the latter half of Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 earning the chance to be considered for Starfleet by performing good deeds around the Delta Quadrant. Hologram Janeway working against their interests is a shattering realization.
Of course, it's not as simple as Hologram Janeway being evil all along. She didn't realize until "Ghosts in the Machine" that the subroutine that caused her to serve the Diviner exists. Janeway's alt-programming has sabotaged "the Unwanted's" efforts to keep the Protostar away from destroying Starfleet, and as of Star Trek: Prodigy episode 17's cliffhanger ending, Hologram Janeway brought the Protostar right to the Dauntless. What happens next, and whether Hologram Janeway can fight her subroutine and remain on the side of her young charges is a compelling hook as Star Trek: Prodigy warps into its season 1 endgame.
Other Star Trek Captains Had Evil Versions
Hologram Janeway had teased an evil incarnation previously in Star Trek: Prodigy episode 9, and as the avatar of Captain Janeway, she now joins other Star Trek Captains who have had evil alt-versions of themselves. The Mirror Universe introduced diabolical versions of Star Trek: Enterprise's Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and Star Trek: Discovery's Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). Mirror Archer tried and failed to install himself as Emperor of the Terran Empire, and Mirror Burnham similarly failed to depose her adoptive mother, Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh).
The Mirror Universe introduced the first version of an evil Captain, Mirror James T. Kirk (William Shatner), who was trapped in the Prime Universe in Star Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek: Picard season 2 revealed the nefarious General Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who wiped out the Cardassians and the Borg for the evil Confederation of Planets in an alternate reality created by Q (John de Lancie). It's no surprise Star Trek's greatest Captains conversely become fantastic villains, and Star Trek: Prodigy's Hologram Janeway is a unique twist on the trope who could still redeem herself by season 1's end.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.