Summary
- Vice Admiral Janeway returns to Starfleet after early retirement due to the Mars attack first seen in Star Trek: Picard.
- Janeway becomes a full Admiral and starts a pilot program with the USS Prodigy, promoting the young crew from Prodigy as Starfleet Ensigns.
- Janeway encourages the USS Prodigy crew to be a "beacon of light" for the Federation, continuing her dedication to exploration and Starfleet.
As revealed in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) decided to retire early, but the events of Star Trek: Picard forced her to return to Starfleet. After returning with the USS Voyager from the Delta Quadrant, Kathryn Janeway became one of the most decorated officers in Starfleet. Not only did she spend seven years commanding Voyager while 70,000 light years from Earth, but she also continued to aid Starfleet even after her return. No one would have blamed Janeway if she had decided to retire soon after returning to Earth, but she remained a dedicated officer, continuing to take on potentially dangerous missions.
After her good friend and former First Officer, Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran), went missing with the USS Protostar, Admiral Janeway set out to find him. This brought her into contact with Dal R'El (Brett Gray) and his ragtag crew. In Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Vice Admiral Janeway took the Protostar kids under her wing, and they became crucial in the mission to rescue Chakotay. By the end of Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Janeway had made the decision to take a much-deserved early retirement. This retirement didn't last long, however, as every Starfleet officer, including Janeway, was called back in after the devastating attack on Mars on First Contact Day in 2385.
Star Trek: Picard’s Mars Attack Ruined Admiral Janeway’s Early Retirement
Janeway only got to enjoy retirement for a few months.
As described in Star Trek: Picard season 1, rogue synths turned on their creators on April 5, 2385, attacking Mars and the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting the red planet. Not only did this devastating attack kill over 92,000 people, it also destroyed at least 20,000 ships, many of which were being built for the United Federation of Planets' mission to rescue the Romulan people from their sun going supernova. In the wake of the attack, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) fought to continue evacuating Romulus, even threatening to resign his commission. To his surprise, the higher-ups at Starfleet accepted his resignation.
The attack on Mars was orchestrated by the secret Romulan sect known as the Zhat Vash and carried out by Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita), who had infiltrated Starfleet to become Head of Security.
When the Mars Attack occurred, Janeway had already begun to enjoy the life of retirement, before Chakotay showed up to inform her that all reserve Starfleet officers were being called back into service. Janeway returned to Starfleet and voiced her protests regarding the decision to stop the Romulan evacuation and scale back missions of exploration. As the new Protostar Class ships were built for exploration, they were due to be decommissioned. Janeway, however, managed to have one Protostar Class ship, the USS Prodigy, assigned to a new pilot program under her command.
Janeway is promoted from Vice Admiral to a full Admiral.
Although Kathryn Janeway had initially refused offers of promotion after returning with Chakotay, she accepted a promotion from Vice Admiral to full Admiral after being called back into Starfleet. As part of her new pilot training program, Janeway grants Dal and his friends field commissions as Starfleet Ensigns and assigns them to the Protostar Class USS Prodigy. With this starship, the new Prodigy crew will fly off to continue Starfleet's mission of exploration, with an upgraded Janeway Hologram as their guide. The real Janeway encourages the Prodigy kids to be a "beacon of light" to those the Federation cannot reach.
Admiral Janeway remains with Starfleet after the Mars Attack, presumably running her pilot program and staying busy. Sometime after the attack, Lt. Commander Raffaela Musiker (Michelle Hurd) seeks out Admiral Janeway, in search of someone who will support her claim that the attack was a conspiracy. Commander Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) also seeks out Janeway regarding the Changeling infiltration of Starfleet in Star Trek: Picard season 3 but never manages to speak with the Admiral. Star Trek: Prodigy filled in the blanks of Admiral Janeway's life after the USS Voyager's return to Earth and offered insight into how Starfleet Command reacted to Star Trek: Picard's Mars attack.
