Star Trek: Janeway’s Log Reveals Connection to Picard: “Jean-Luc Would’ve Never Forgiven Me”

Vice Admiral Janeway’s log reveals a connection between her and another Star Trek captain, Jean-Luc Picard, that recent episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy threaten to strain. In Prodigy, Janeway is chasing after the USS Protostar and its young crew under the false belief that they stole the experimental ship from Capt. Chakotay. The Protostar crew want nothing more than to join Starfleet, but the experimental weapon that the Diviner place aboard the vessel prevents them from making contact without destroying Starfleet. To escape Janeway’s pursuit in the U.S.S. Dauntless, the Prosotar heads into the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Janeway intends to pursue, justifying her actions by weighing the threat of Romulans possibly getting ahold of the experimental ship’s technology. However, her feelings about Chakotay’s disappearance are also in play, and her first officer, Tysess, refuses to go through with the order, citing the consequences, at best, dissolution of “the treat” and, at worst, the threat of war.

That threat that Tysess is worried about is the one between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire that would allow Picard to lead an evacuation fleet into Romulan space to rescue Romulan Star Empire citizens on planets that will be affected by the Romulus’ star going supernova. Janeway’s actions could have destroyed all of the progress that Picard had made at this point in the Star Trek timeline. Here’s what Janeway says in her log, found on the Star Trek Logs Instagram page:

Vice Admiral’s Log, Stardate 61326.1. We’ve found them.

It was during a rendezvous at Denaxi Depot — the only habitable outpost within three sectors. Like a watering hole in the arid desert, it’s drawn the worst of the Quadrant here… including the outlaws who stole the Protostar.

What Officer Frex failed to mention was their age. Little more than teenagers by human standards…

But appearance can be deceiving. The Ocampa are adults at 9 years, while those on the Miri homeworld look like children for centuries.

And these thieves are no strangers to deception. Posing as innocent refugees, they deployed an unknown weapon that ripped a Starfleet station to pieces. Once we seize the Protostar, we’ll download their logs to the Dauntless and corroborate any lies, per Starfleet regulations.

Despite our efforts, they escaped into the Neutral Zone. We nearly endangered our fragile truce with the Romulans and the evacuation dealings there. Jean-Luc would’ve never forgiven me.

Janeway doesn’t enter the Neutral Zone, and Picard continues on his mission. However, we know from Star Trek: Picard, which begins several years after Star Trek: Prodigy, that the Attack on Mars would later derail his attempts, setting the stage for the state of the galaxy at the turn of the 25th century.

Star Trek: Prodigy is streaming now on Paramount+ and debuts new episodes weekly on Thursdays. The first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard are streaming now on Paramount+. The third and final season of the series debuts on Paramount+ on February 16th.