A Moral Star, Part 2 (episode)

When the plan goes awry, the crew must improvise. Meanwhile, Gwyn discovers a dark truth that will forever jeopardize their quest toward salvation.
== Summary ==
=== Act One ===
On the , The Diviner and shrug off Gwyns attempt to retake the ship. The Diviner orders Hologram Janeway, reprogrammed to be loyal to him, to keep Gwyn from interfering any further. Drednok reactivates the Watchers on Tars Lamora, and sets course to reclaim the proto-core.
Back on Tars Lamora, Dal and Zero attempt to gather all the miners so they can all escape on the Rev-12. Jankom Pog and Rok-Tahk go to the engine room to repair the damage to the vessel, but things get complicated as the Watchers start to wake up. While Jankom is at a loss on how to fix the engine, Rok comes up with a solution – use the proto-core to jump-start the engines. Meanwhile, Dal realizes that they can get the word out to the miners by linking the miners' ankle manacles up to his combadge – thus turning them into universal translators.
By this point, the Protostar has returned, and Drednok beams down to the Rev-12 to take back the proto-core. Suddenly, the prisoners burst into engineering and overtake Drednok, with the Caitian child decapitating him. Unfortunately, Drednok manages to send the Diviner the coordinates to the proto-core, which he beams back to the Protostar, beginning the proto-core's rapid regeneration cycle. The crew and the miners launch the Rev-12 to pursue the Protostar and save Gwyn.
=== Act Two ===
Back on the Protostar, the Diviner discovers Gwyn trying to disable the shields. When he tries to intervene, he's stopped by Hologram Janeway, who, thanks to Gwyn, had safeguards installed to ensure the Diviner couldn't override her again. Now upgraded to be able to interact with physical matter, Hologram Janeway takes the Diviner out of commission. Gwyn demands to know the truth about her father's motivation. Hoping to sway her to his cause, the Diviner tells her the story of his homeworld, Solum. When Hologram Janeway reminds Gwyn to focus on the shields, Gwyn temporarily disables her so she can hear more from her father.
Her father takes them to the holodeck and uploads a program to show Gwyn that at this moment in time, the Vau N'Akat people are a technologically advanced society, confident that they were the only life in the universe. Tragically, years from now, first contact with the Federation will lead to a devastating civil war between those who want relations with the Federation and those who want to be left alone. Within fifty years, their civilization will be all but gone. He concludes that he was sent from the future to locate the Protostar and stop Starfleet from ever making first contact.
=== Act Three ===
The Diviner reveals that the Protostar carries a weapon that will destroy Starfleet as soon as it comes in contact with them. Though sympathetic to his cause of saving Solum, Gwyn states that she will not trade one tragedy for another. The computer announces that the proto-drive is finished charging.
At this point, Dal is able to beam aboard the Protostar. The crew's plan to get through the ship's shields by targeting the shield emitters worked, and allows one person to beam over at a time. Dal and Gwyn struggle against the Diviner, but he overpowers them. Dal tells Gwyn to look only at him while the newly arrived Zero reveals their true form to the Diviner in an effort to stop him once and for all. Unfortunately, Gwyn catches a reflection of Zero's true form in Dal's combadge and is incapacitated, as well. In daze, she only repeats the phrase "We can't go" over and over.
=== Epilogue ===
In a training log, Hologram Janeway recounts what happened after the defeat of the the Diviner: Zero stayed by Gwyn's bedside in sickbay until she regained consciousness, but she had lost her memory of the event; the previously Unwanted were given a Starfleet combadge and the Rev-12, allowing them to chart their own future; the Diviner, suffering from mental breakdown, became the only Unwanted, banished alone on Tars Lamora. Janeway declares that each member of the crew has shown exceptional growth, with the potential for so much more than one would think just by looking at them.
With Dal's help, Gwyn slowly walks onto the bridge of the Protostar as Murf, Rok, Jankom and Zero warmly greet her. Taking the captain's chair, Dal orders a course set for Starfleet to return the ship. Gwyn shows momentary hesitation, but soon reassures Dal that nothing is wrong and concurs with his command. With everyone in agreement, the Protostar goes to warp heading for Federation space.
Aboard the , Ensign Asencia, manning the navigation console, reports to the ship's CO, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway, that a proto-warp signature from the Protostar has been detected, noting this is the third such detection recently. Admiral Janeway responds that three times makes a pattern, which indicates the reappearance of the Protostar. She orders the Dauntless to the last detected position of the Protostar at maximum warp, and vows to find out what happened and rescue Captain Chakotay and his crew.
== Log entries ==
* Training officer's log, USS Protostar
== Memorable quotes ==
"The atmospheric shields will only hold for so long. Get to the Rev-12 before this whole place goes!"
"I, understand you!"
"And I understand you!"
"How?"
"It's a shortwave translator. Now, if you would kindly make your way to the--"
"My name is Grjördslat!"
"I'm Trodo. After so many years, it's nice to finally talk! I've been holding in these thoughts and feelings for so long, Grjördslat--"
"Sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment, but you have to go! Now! Go, get to the ship!"
:- Dal tries to get some miners to get to the Rev-12 to escape, but Grjördslat and Trodo ignore him as they are overcome by being able to communicate with each other
"Keep that hatch shut while Jankom works his magic."
"You know, I can do more stuff than just hold the door... I didn't know you could fix an engine by just staring at it."
"The blast emptied out the entire energy core. So, let Jankom figure it out. Unless you've got a better idea?"
"What if you interplex the plasma conduit, adjust for input variances in the dilithium matrix, and siphon off the energy of the proto-core to jump start it?"
"Uh, new plan--Jankom holds the door, and you do all of that."
:- Jankom and Rok-Tahk
"You can all breathe easy now. Except for me, of course. A benefit of being non-corporeal."
:- Zero
"I cannot believe I'm saying this. Target the Protostar!"
:- Dal, using the Rev-12 to give them a chance to beam over to their own ship
"He alone is no match for the Vau N'Akat."
"Who said he was alone? I will not let you hurt my friends!"
:- The Diviner incapacitates Dal, but Zero comes to the rescue
"You used me to hurt others! It's time I showed you who I truly am, so you cannot hurt anyone else!"
:- Zero, before exposing their true form to The Diviner
"Look at me! Don't look or you'll go mad!"
:- Dal, warning Gwyn not to look at Zero
"Where to, Captain?"
"It's time we return their ship. Set a course for Starfleet."
:- Zero and Dal, before getting underway
"Is everything okay?"
(Gwyn hesitates)
"Everything's fine, captain. Let's go to Starfleet."
:- Dal and Gwyn, though Gwyn can't yet remember that they actually shouldn't go to Starfleet
"It's time we rescue our missing ship and get some answers. Take us to the last Protostar signature, maximum warp. I'm coming, Chakotay."
:- Admiral Janeway
== Background information ==
=== Title ===
* The title was announced by Paramount+ on . 
* "A Moral Star" is an anagram of Tars Lamora.
=== Cast and characters ===
* Kate Mulgrew reprises her role of the actual Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway after last portraying the character on-screen in in as well as for the Star Trek: The Experience attraction Borg Invasion 4D in .
=== Continuity ===
* The Diviner confirms that he had been sent back in time, thus clearing up apparent inconsistencies with the chronology of events leading up to .
* The USS Dauntless crew wears uniforms resembling the Starfleet uniform design introduced on .
** Their combadge design was previously seen in multiple alternate futures including , , and .
* The is based on a fake Starfleet vessel of the same name that appeared in the fourth season finale .
=== Production history ===
* : Premiere on Paramount+
* : Broadcast premiere on 
== Links and references ==
=== Cast ===
* Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk
* Dee Bradley Baker as
** Murf
** Two Headed Alien
** Miners
* Brett Gray as Dal
* Angus Imrie as Zero
* Ella Purnell as Gwyn
* Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog
* John Noble as The Diviner
* Jimmi Simpson as 
;And
* Kate Mulgrew as
** Hologram Janeway
** Vice Admiral Janeway
* Laila Berzins as
** Ankle Restraint
** Miner #1
** Miners
* Bonnie Gordon as Ship Computer
* Jameela Jamil as Asencia
* Rania Sharkawy as Caitian Child
* Ben Thomas as
** Spike Headed Alien
** Miner #2
** Miners
* Debra Wilson as Miners
=== Background characters ===
* Noum
* Tysess
* Alien miners 1 and 2
* Vulcan command lieutenant
* Human operations lieutenant
* Lurian miner
=== References ===
alliance; Andorian; ankle monitor; ; atmospheric shields; brig; Brikar; Caitian; ; Chakotay; civil war; civilization; computer; coordinates; course; Dal R'El's species; ; ; dilithium matrix; door; energy; energy core; engine; engine room; ensign; Federation; feeling; first contact; freedom; friend; gift; hand; hatch; head; heirloom; history; holodeck; idea; input variance; insanity; interplex; jump start; jury rig; life; Lurian; magic; manacle (aka ankle restraint); maximum warp; Medusan; Mellanoid slime worm; memory; meow; Milky Way Galaxy; miner; minute; mission; name; non-corporeal; offspring (aka progeny); percussive maintenance; plasma conduit; ; prodigy; proto-core; proto-warp; proto-warp signature; ; ; protostar drive (aka proto-drive); reflection; Rev-12; Rhino; security protocol (security protocol s-29); shield emitters; shields; short wave communicator; short wave translator; siphon; Solum; Solum-1; star; Starfleet; ; Tars Lamora; Tellarite; thought; time travel; ; training log; transporter; Trill; truth; universal translator; universe; ; upgrades; Vau N'Akat; Vau N'Akat Civil War; voice; voyages; ; worlds; year
==== Console references ====
code keypad; communicator; diagnostic check; engineering; flight operator; Hibon; keypad; level; navigation; proto-engine; RADAR; short range sensor; short range sensor analysis; stat; synch; temperature; turbine; ventilation; warp; warp mode; wireframe mode
=== External link ===
* 
de:Rückkehr nach Tars Lamora, Teil II
es:A Moral Star, Part II
fr:A Moral Star, Part II (épisode)
pl:A Moral Star, Part 2