Star Trek: Prodigy
Season 2 – Episode 4
Episode title: Temporal Mechanics 101
Original U.S. release date: July 1, 2024
Plot: Although separated by decades, the Infinity and the Voyager crews band together to save Gwyn’s life. A mysterious messenger reaches out to Gwyn.
* * *
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[thrilling music]
♪ ♪
[blabbering]
Murf, what are you doing in here by yourself?
We’re needed on the… Rok-Tahk
to the bridge.
[gasps]
[cooing]
Commander, status report.
The wormhole is destabilizing, Admiral.
I’ve lost all contact.
Something’s gone very wrong.
These tachyon readings suggest the timeline was altered
in a pattern I’ve never seen,
but if history changed,
why are we still here?
The temporal shielding on their ship,
it’s designed to resist time paradoxes in the wormhole.
Perhaps it’s preserving our reality for now.
But that will only delay the inevitable.
[gasps]
Either way,
we’re in uncharted territory.
I’ve been trying to make contact with The Infinity,
but there’s too much interference
to establish a connection.
We’re running out of options here.
We could try another probe,
but its shielding is too weak. [beeping]
Unless we can find a way to compensate.
Ooh! We could boost the signal
to stabilize the gravitational effects.
It should last long enough
to carry a basic message, at least.
Well, someone’s been reading their manual.
Do it, and have Rok assist you.
Aye, Admiral.
♪ ♪
The “Protostar” is gone.
The odds of finding our weapon in that time anomaly
are 100 to 1.
Then we send a hundred ships.
For now, find the escaped prisoners.
They started the search party,
but I don’t think any of us feel like celebrating.
Jankom, we need to get airborne pronto.
[growls]
This ship ain’t even close to flying,
and complaining won’t fix the plasma injectors.
Jankom politely requests a bit more time!
Time is what got us into this mess.
Actually, it was because of you
that we arrived here too early.
With the “Protostar” lost, the timeline’s been altered.
Who knows what else has changed?
[sighs] I know, okay?
So let’s fix this.
[rapid beeping] This is Admiral Janeway.
It is a hail from the Admiral.
Dal to Voyager!
Can you hear us? [rumbling]
We read you.
Ah.
They’re alive!
What’s going on over there?
Uh…
it’s a long story, but…
Due to their reckless actions,
Captain Chakotay and the “Protostar”
were lost in the wormhole.
Janeway, we tried, but I…
[exhales] We’ll deal with Chakotay later.
I’m concerned your actions have had
more disturbing consequences than you know.
Commander, tell them.
We’ve lost contact with Gwyn’s diplomatic ship,
the “Sacagawea.”
It was shortly after your departure.
We fear this could be the first sign
of a temporal paradox.
No.
Gwyn, is she…
did we?
Dal, repeat. You’re breaking up.
Is Gwyn okay?
[glitches]
[sighs]
♪ ♪
[beeping]
It appears the console is malfunctioning.
Hmm?
♪ ♪
How interesting.
[grunts] “Save Gwyn”?
Well, where’d that come from?
Save her?
How can we do that if she’s 52 years in the past?
[beeping]
Unclear,
but we are receiving coordinates
that lead to somewhere on this planet.
“Is this message coming from Voyager?”
Oh.
If this message wasn’t sent from Voyager,
who was it from?
I don’t care.
Jankom, fix the ship.
The rest of you, with me.
[groans]
If Gwyn needs help…
then we’re going.
♪ ♪
[groans]
Gwyn.
Who…who’s there?
[gasps]
Ah!
Stay present.
This isn’t your time.
You need to be together.
Father?
Gwyndala.
You’re alive.
Solum, I failed you, My Diviner.
[winces]
I’m sorry. I can’t get you out of here,
but I…I won’t leave you.
[groans weakly]
[dark music]
[beeping]
The beeping dot says the coordinates
are just up ahead.
This excursion is illogical.
This may be a trap.
The Vau N’Akat could be trying to flush us out.
Well, sometimes doing the right thing
means taking risks.
I doubt you’d ever understand that.
No, you do not understand.
We are the closest thing to Starfleet officers
on this mission, and we can be nothing less than perfect.
Oh, whatever.
If you’re too scared,
you can go play Starfleet
and help Mr. Polite fix the ship.
While I maintain this is all highly illogical,
it is even more illogical to leave you alone.
♪ ♪
[beeping]
Seems as if the coordinates
are leading us down there.
I sense your hesitance.
It is never too late to abandon a bad idea.
[rock clatters]
Pfft, hesitant?
[laughs] Me?
Still odd.
You laugh, but your mind is reeling in abject terror.
You really gotta stop doing that.
This plan is irrational.
How will we get to the bottom?
Ah! Oh, ahh.
Ah, what are you doing?
Deescalating the conflict.
Going down?
Ah! Ahh!
Ah! [whimpers]
Ah.
[laughs]
Your coordinates led us to a sinkhole.
It should be right… [beeping]
um…
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
This can’t be right.
Gwyn?
This was a complete waste of time.
Shh. Wait. [light whooshing]
Oh, not this again.
[whooshing]
Gwyn.
[groans]
This is impossible.
[gasps]
She should not be here.
Ah.
[gasps]
Uh, Gwyn?
Can you hear us?
[grunts]
What’s wrong with her?
Dal.
Zero?
Gwyndala, who are you talking to?
[mysterious music]
Gwyn.
She’s in pain.
I can feel it.
I don’t understand.
Her quantum signature is displaced,
like she’s untethered from reality,
fluctuating across time itself.
She is here in the same chamber,
but her existence is uncertain: both always and never,
proverbially trapped in Schrodinger’s box.
Can you two science later?
We have to tell Voyager.
She is degrading too quickly.
By the time they would arrive to the Delta Quadrant,
it may be too late.
The message “Save Gwyn”…
why would someone out there believe we can help her
when we’re separated by decades?
[gasps] Unless the shortest distance
between us isn’t space…
But time.
A fascinating proposal.
We are sharing the same physical location.
If we use The Infinity to go back in time and…
Yes! And somehow harness
the wormhole’s residual energy…
[groans]
Could somebody translate the nerd-speak, please?
It’s simple.
We need to build a time machine.
[gasping]
Father, did you hear that?
No.
Are you sure you can’t stand?
I thought I heard my friends.
It sounded like they were right here.
Hmm, perhaps you need rest.
You think I’m crazy.
These friends,
I look forward to meeting them.
You did, in a different timeline,
a different you.
It’s complicated.
What else can you tell me about this other time,
when I’m Your Diviner?
I’m not sure you wanna hear that.
What?
Was I some sort of monster?
Depends who you ask.
A soldier, a tyrant,
always a father last.
I’m not him.
I’m here now,
and I’m putting you first.
What did you mean earlier
when you said, “We need to be together”?
I never said that.
Then who did?
♪ ♪
Jankom!
We got an emergency.
Huh?
Any progress on the ship?
[grunts]
That the warp relays are busted.
The hull integrity is shot.
Jankom has done everything by the Starfleet book,
and she still won’t fly!
What if I said “It didn’t need to”?
Uh…huh? [sighs]
[beeping]
Admiral? We’re reestablishing
our connection to The Infinity.
Open a channel.
[beeping]
Voyager to Infinity.
[gasps]
This is Janeway.
Janeway, Gwyn’s in trouble!
But don’t worry. We’re gonna save her.
You’ve made contact with her?
How?
We’re not sure,
but it’s like she’s here,
but she’s not.
Like a ghost.
I’d have to examine her.
I’m a doctor, not an exorcist.
The altered timeline is already unraveling the past.
Gwyn is the only one whose very existence
is tied to Tars Lamora.
We might be able to help with that.
We hope to travel backwards in time directly to Gwyn.
Backwards in time?
And how would you achieve this?
While studying on Voyager,
I came across a mission log where Lieutenant Worf was able
to jump between quantum timelines
by generating an inverse warp field,
siphoned from a temporal anomaly.
[gasps] They’re gonna steal some energy from the wormhole
to send their ship back in time and save Gwyn!
[sighs] It’s worth a shot.
How can we help?
Uh…
could you be ever so kind and send us all the information
you have on “Temporal Mechanics 101,”
please?
You got it. Coming your way now.
[chiming]
So you have questions about time travel?
Well, you’ve come to the right place.
I’m Starfleet’s science officer, Dr. Erin,
and I’ll be your instructor today.
Don’t worry.
We’ll get through this in no time.
Chapter one.
The simplest way to understand time travel
is to think of events like a series of dominos.
These dominos represent time as we know it.
Some events are bigger than others,
and altering the past is a little like…uh-oh…
removing one.
The most important part is,
you have to make sure these big events still happen
so the rest of the timeline proceeds normally,
which means…boop…
sometimes you may need to give history a little nudge.
[fast forwarding]
Chapter five, so you want to build a time machine.
You sure about that?
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it.
But if you have to, let’s look at your options:
slingshot around the sun,
get on the wrong side of a Q,
but your best bet is a classic interspatial flexure,
in other words, a wormhole.
Finally, chapter fifteen.
Quantum realities are a whole other mess,
so please try to avoid them.
In conclusion, don’t screw up time
if you don’t have to, kids.
It will give you a headache every time.
Whew, lookin’ good.
Now let’s save Gwyn.
[chittering]
Warp engines online,
Ton inverter inverting!
Jankom might have actually pulled this off.
Yes, yes, and now perhaps we should move along.
I believe we’ve got company.
[chittering]
♪ ♪
Hit it! [whirring]
♪ ♪
[whooshing]
[electricity crackling]
Energy levels are optimal.
On my mark.
Ready?
Go fast!
[whirring]
♪ ♪
Jankom, what’s going on?
Why aren’t we time traveling?
Uh, uh…
Jankom did everything right.
Uh, Jankom did everything by the manual.
Jankom stayed calm, didn’t argue.
Now Jankom doesn’t know if he can fix anything!
Everything is falling apart!
Why won’t you work?
Ahh!
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
Aha! Ha!
Percussive maintenance! [laughs]
Jankom is back, baby!
♪ ♪
Ah!
[sound moving backwards]
♪ ♪
We’re coming, Gwyn.
Hang on.
[rumbling]
[fluttering]
This isn’t in your head.
I can feel it, too.
[whooshing]
Ah… [panting]
[all coughing]
We didn’t explode.
Who ordered the smoke?
[laughs]
Dal.
Gwyn!
both: Gwyn!
Ahh!
Oh! The Diviner!
H…he’s okay.
He’s on our side.
Intelligent life.
Intelligent?
From oth…from other worlds.
♪ ♪
Gwyn, are you okay?
How…how did you get here?
We received a mysterious message
from someone.
Uh, I think I heard them, too.
You did?
But how is that possible?
Ah! [groans]
What’s happening to her?
We accidentally altered the timeline.
Now she’s caught between quantum realities,
a superposition where she both exists and doesn’t.
Oh, ho, ho!
What?
Haven’t you read “Temporal Mechanics 101”?
I’m using a Chronitonic hypospray.
This won’t stabilize her for long,
but it will be enough to move her.
[groans]
We need to get her to Voyager.
[gasping]
[grunts] Will she fly?
Uh, fly?
You told Jankom you didn’t need it to fly!
We salvaged every part of that ship.
The circuits are totally fried.
We’ve got no clue how to reroute the power.
There’s no way that trash heap is gonna get off the ground,
and Jankom is all out of miracles!
[splutters]
Uh, what is happening?
Another gift from our mysterious benefactor.
Coulda done that earlier.
This is all completely illogical.
Right now, it doesn’t matter.
Let’s go home.
I’ve spent so long searching for purpose in the stars,
and now…
and now you have given me one.
I wish we had more time.
Thanks for not leaving me.
I’ll be back. I promise.
You can write your own future.
I’ll do what I can here.
I hope to see you again, my daughter.
Take care of her, please.
There are enemies among us, enemies above.
We must militarize for an uncertain future.
No!
As I said, enemies among us.
[grunting]
Hang on, Gwyn.
Just a bit longer.
I couldn’t save Solum.
There’s always time.
Once we get you better,
you’ll go back to being the Queen of Solum.
[laughs]
This interlude has been unusual,
but you are the most logical in your group of misfits.
[laughs] Oh, my.
I think you are, um, also… oh…
Shields holding,
warp is warping.
Nice work, magic mystery friend.
[beeping]
We’re receiving a hail.
It’s Voyager.
Put it through.
Janeway to Infinity.
Welcome back to our century. Status report.
Janeway, we have Gwyn, but we’re losing her.
Set a course for a rendezvous.
It’ll be all right.
We’ll figure this out when we’re back together, okay?
[whispering] You need to be together.
You need to be together.
[gasps]
Who…
She’s awake.
How wonderful to see you well.
[soft music]
How’s our patient doing?
Better.
Listen, Janeway, about the mission,
I’m sorry.
Chakotay, we almost got him back.
We’ll discuss it in the debrief.
Gwyn is what matters right now.
What’s this?
Ah, glad you’re awake.
You were bouncing between quantum timelines,
so I had to improvise a bit with a phase discriminator
to build you that new Temporal Stabilizer.
Not a permanent solution, but at least you’re here.
It’s a miracle they got you back when they did.
It was a miracle.
We’ve still got no clue who sent us that message
to save you.
Or who fixed the ship.
As Maj’el would say,
It’s all been quite illogical.
But they were helping us.
I heard them.
Someone out there is going through a lot of trouble
to bring us together, but why?
Wait a second.
Where’s Murf?
[gasps]
[coos]
Finally you’re all here,
but I don’t have much time.
They’re coming for me.
Good luck.
[chirps]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
