Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 14 - "Crossroads"The Xindi from Star Trek: Enterprise make their return in Star Trek: Prodigy, with the alien villains who battled Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) plaguing the teenage crew of the USS Protostar. In an effort to keep the Protostar's Starfleet-destroying weapon away from Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Dal R'El (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell), and their friends hid the starship in a frozen ice world. But after encountering Admiral Janeway, the Protostar kids flee along with Thadiun Okona (Billy Campbell), who inadvertently ends up on the lam with them.
The Xindi pop up as the security personnel of the trading station the Protostar teens visit in Star Trek: Prodigy episode 14, and they pursue Dal and the others as the kids flee Janeway. It's the first time the Xindi have been canonically seen since they were the main villains of Star Trek: Enterprise season 3. There are six different types of Xindi who originate from the Delphic Expanse, but only the Reptilians were seen in Prodigy. It's interesting to see the Xindi now working as security guards in the Delta Quadrant. Over 200 years have passed between Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Prodigy, but it's gratifying to see that the Xindi have survived. Although Enterprise did show the Xindi in different future timelines, Prodigy is the first canonical 24th-century sighting of the Xindi.
Why Star Trek: Enterprise Created The Xindi
The Xindi was a prime opportunity for Star Trek: Enterprise to do something that hadn't been done in the franchise: create a multi-species alien race instead of the more common monocultures of the Vulcans, Ferengi, Cardassians, etc. The Xindi were conceived as an alien alliance that all hail from the same planet and are genetically similar but physically diverse. There were six Xindi species created but due to civil wars, only five survived to oppose Captain Archer's NX-01 Enterprise: The Aquatics, Arboreals, Insectoids, Primates, and Reptilians. The Avians were believed extinct by the 2150s.
The Xindi attacked Earth to kick off Star Trek: Enterprise season 3, wiping out millions in a path of destruction from Florida to South America. This was Enterprise's version of 9/11 which would set Captain Archer on his crusade to exact revenge on the alien attackers. The Xindi were one of the most memorable creations of Star Trek: Enterprise, and they played a major role that led to the coalition of worlds that eventually became the United Federation of Planets. In one future timeline, the Xindi even become Federation members by the 26th century, but it's good to see them back in Star Trek: Prodigy's 24th century.
Will Enterprise Characters Appear In Star Trek: Prodigy?
Star Trek: Prodigy episode 14, "Crossroads," was a low-key Star Trek: Enterprise alien reunion of sorts. Along with the Reptilian Xindi, the episode also featured the return of Lt. Barniss Frex (Eric Bauza), the Denobulan who crossed paths with the Protostar kids and fled when the Diviner's (John Noble) weapon activated and destroyed Federation relay station CR-721. With two popular alien species introduced by Enterprise now established parts of Prodigy's universe, it begs the question of whether the main characters from Enterprise will also appear someday.
There seems to be a groundswell of momentum pointing to the long-awaited return of Star Trek: Enterprise's characters in Star Trek: Lower Decks and/or Star Trek: Prodigy. As an animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy has various creative means at its disposal to bring back Captain Archer, T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), and other members of the NX-01's crew. Even better, the characters don't have to age and can be voiced by the original actors, and there'd be massive fan interest to see (and hear) the NX-01 Enterprise's heroes once again in Star Trek: Prodigy.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.