WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, “Red Directive”
The 32nd century’s version of the USS Voyager is the reason that Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is abandoning Starfleet’s revolutionary spore drive technology. Since they arrived in the 32nd century in season 3, the USS Discovery crew’s one-of-a-kind spore drive has represented a potential replacement for dilithium-reliant warp travel in Star Trek‘s future. However, various obstacles, most notably rogue Risan scientist Ruon Tarka (Shawn Doyle) and his theft of the only working prototype, have prevented the spore drive from being rolled out.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, “Red Directive”, Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) reveals that Starfleet has shuttered further development on the spore drive. Starfleet’s decision means that the USS Discovery will remain one-of-a-kind, making season 5 the last outing for Starfleet’s spore drive. Instead of taking Discovery’s spore drive further, Starfleet are instead forging ahead with the new pathway drive, first trialled by the USS Voyager-J in Star Trek: Discovery season 4.
In Star Trek: Discovery‘s season 4 premiere, “Kobayashi Maru”, it was revealed that the USS Voyager-J had been newly fitted with a protoype pathway drive. President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) was looking for the right captain to command the ship and test out this new technology. Now, Discovery‘s season 5 premiere, “Red Directive” reveals that those tests were successful, leading to the pathway drive being the new standard for future Starfleet ships. The rollout is still in the early stages, however, as Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) states that his ship, the USS Antares, doesn’t have a pathway drive fitted.
It feels appropriate that the USS Voyager is responsible for replacing Star Trek: Discovery‘s spore drive, given its namesake’s impact on warp travel centuries earlier. Star Trek: Prodigy revealed that, after returning to the Alpha Quadrant, much of the technology the USS Voyager encountered in the Delta Quadrant was adapted by Starfleet. For example, the USS Dauntless, commanded by Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) had a quantum slipstream drive fitted, first encountered in Star Trek: Voyager‘s season 4 finale, “Hope and Fear”.
The specifics of how the pathway drive works are still a mystery in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, but it’s presumably rooted in traditional warp travel. The spore drive was an incredibly complicated method of travel that required specific calculations and a willing host to navigate the mycelial network. In “Red Directive”, Stamets states that, with more time, he could have worked out the issues with navigation, but never got the chance. The grisly fate of the USS Glenn in Discovery season 1 revealed that the slightest miscalculation in spore drive navigation could have devastating consequences for the crew.
Presumably, the pathway drive is a means to achieve warp travel while using less dilithium, to reduce the Federation’s reliance on it following the scarcity caused by the Burn. This is therefore a less risky proposition, which will be why Starfleet are now rolling it out following the USS Voyager-J’s successful trial. While it may be disappointing for Stamets in Star Trek: Discovery, the pathway drive’s potential to make warp travel safer and more sustainable should be something to celebrate.
Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 is streaming on Netflix.