The First Sighting Of The Defiant Since DS9 Is Confirmed By Star Trek
Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Prodigy’s “Supernova, Part 1,” episode 19 of season one.
In episode 19 of Star Trek: Prodigy, the “tough little ship” made its first appearance since the conclusion of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. A Starfleet armada intercepted the USS Protostar after it was launched into Federation orbit by the Living Construct in “Supernova, Part 1.” The Vau’Nakats planned this so that the Living Construct could signal Starfleet and cause the Federation starships to self-destruct.
The young crew and Dal R’El (Brett Gray) had to battle Asencia (Jameela Jamal), the Diviner (John Noble), and Deadnok while aboard the USS Protostar (Jimmi Simpson). Unfortunately, the kids were too overwhelmed to stop Asencia from turning on the Living Construct manually. When the Diviner attempted to defend his daughter Gwyn, Ascencia killed him and made off with Drednok. The young heroes of the Protostar were powerless to stop the Living Construct’s signal from corrupting all Starfleet ships, including the USS Defiant and Admiral Kathryn Janeway’s (Kate Mulgrew) USS Dauntless.
Prodigy Debuts The Defiant in Star Trek for the First Time Since DS9
The Defiant is unmistakably the same starship Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) originally piloted in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is a member of the Starfleet armada sent to intercept the Protostar. The call sign for the Defiant, NCC-74205, is clearly visible on the screen. Naturally, the original Defiant, which was obliterated in DS9 season 7, is not this one. It’s the second Defiant, a replacement ship that was once the USS Sao Paulo but changed its name to the USS Defiant to aid Sisko in winning the Dominion War. Fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, however, just refer to it as the Defiant.
The Defiant had no defence against its systems being overridden to fire at every other surrounding Starfleet ship, hence it was powerless to block the Living Construct’s signal like the rest of Starfleet. Fortunately, the Defiant was spared destruction in Star Trek: Prodigy, but it did sustain significant damage and inflict significant punishment on its sister ships. There was a brief sight of the Defiant’s bridge, but no one from Starfleet could be made out. Starfleet might have transferred the Defiant away from Deep Space Nine after the Dominion War was over and Captain Sisko rose to join the Prophets.
Star Trek: The DS9 Episode of Lower Decks Omitted The Defiant
The USS Defiant from Star Trek: Prodigy is pleased to join the recent animation revival of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. When the USS Cerritos travelled to the former Cardassian space station in Star Trek: Lower Decks, DS9 made a long-awaited return so that Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) and her crew could meet Colonel Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and Quark (Armin Shimerman). While a Defiant-class ship belonging to Section 31 did appear in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 8, “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus,” the Defiant was absent from the DS9 crossover episode. Hopefully, in the season 1 finale of Star Trek: Prodigy, the Defiant will withstand the Living Construct’s signal and the hardy small ship will keep up on flying.