Summary
- The replacement for the spore drive, the pathway drive, may never be explained in the final episodes of Discovery season 5.
- The focus in the last three episodes should be on securing the Progenitors' treasure and defeating the Breen, not introducing new technology.
- Starfleet replaced the spore drive due to lack of navigators, leading to the development of the pathway drive.
Star Trek: Discovery teased an exciting new replacement for the spore drive, but with only three episodes left to go, this new technology may never be explained. Discovery season 5, episode 1, "Red Directive" revealed that Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) was mourning the closure of his spore drive program, abandoned in favor of an alternative warp drive replacement. The USS Voyager-J replaced Discovery's spore drive with the pathway drive, which it had been testing since Discovery's season 4 premiere. This created the possibility of seeing the pathway drive in action later in Discovery season 5.
However, with seven episodes down, the USS Voyager-J is yet to make an appearance in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. In Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah", written by M. Raven Metzner and directed by Jon Dudkowski, a fleet of four Starfleet ships protected Federation Headquarters from the Breen Imperium. The Voyager-J was not among these ships, presumably because the Federation wanted to protect the pathway drive from falling into the hands of the Breen Imperium. As Discovery only has three episodes left before it ends for good, time is running out for the show to reveal Starfleet's spore drive replacement.
Star Trek: Discovery’s Spore Drive Replacement May Not Be Explained By The Series’ End
As Star Trek: Discovery season 5's treasure hunt builds to its climax, it doesn't feel like there will be much room to introduce another starship into the mix. The focus in Discovery's final three episodes should be on securing the Progenitors' treasure, defeating the Breen, and wrapping up the overall stories of the show's lead characters. A diversion to visit the USS Voyager-J to explain how a pathway drive works would be an unnecessary distraction that would kill the pace of Discovery season 5.
It was revealed earlier in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 that Lt. Commander Nilsson (Sara Mitich) transferred from the USS Discovery to the USS Voyager-J.
What's more likely is that the USS Voyager-J and the pathway drive were potential set-up for the abandoned Star Trek: Discovery season 6. As Discovery season 5 wasn't expected to be the show's finale, it's possible that the writers' room was planning to ditch Discovery's spore drive altogether in season 6. When Discovery season was canceled, so too were any tentative plans for the story of season 6, and the potential to explore how a pathway drive works. This means that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is now the most likely show to explore Starfleet's latest innovation in starship propulsion.
Why Starfleet Replaced Star Trek: Discovery’s Spore Drive
Ultimately, Starfleet replaced the spore drive because it was an incredibly complex piece of technology that required several moving parts. The horrific fate of the USS Glenn in Star Trek: Discovery season 1 revealed that spore drives need a navigator who could accurately steer the ship through the complex mycelial network. Without a skilled navigator, a ship with a spore drive could spin out with catastrophic consequences for its crew. Stamets was trying to fix this navigation issue between Discovery seasons 4 and 5, but was unable to crack it before Starfleet shuttered the project.
The dilithium shortage caused by The Burn led Starfleet to explore alternatives to warp travel in the 32nd century to reduce their reliance on the mineral.
Stamets' Tardigrade DNA enables him to pilot the USS Discovery through the mycelial network, but there's a lack of other viable navigators. The only other candidate was Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) whose empathic gifts as a Kwejian enabled him to interface with the mycelial network. However, due to the destruction of his home planet in season 4, he's one of the last of his kind, vastly reducing Starfleet's available candidates for spore drive navigators. With so few navigators, Starfleet opted to go with the pathway drive, which it's hoped will appear in a future Star Trek show following the end of Star Trek: Discovery.
