Editing Prime Directive (section)

==== ''Prodigy'' ====
* The villain of the first season, the Diviner, came from the future. In his original timeline the Vau N'Akat saw the arrival of a Federation ship to its planet. This divided their society between those who wanted to join the Federation and those who refused, and the ensuing civil war destroyed them. The Federation refused to take sides in the civil war. The Diviner considered it a subtle act of aggression and jumped to the past, the series' present, to destroy the Federation before it makes first contact with his people.
* In "First Con-tact," a holographic version of [[Kathryn Janeway]] informs the young crew of the USS ''Protostar'' of the Prime Directive before they attempt a first contact mission. However, captain Dal R'El is tricked by his old Ferengi mentor DaiMon Nandi, resulting in a disastrous first contact. Although the crew returns what Nandi stole, Janeway furiously berates them as not only was the Prime Directive broken, but the way that things went down will have a negative impact on any possible relations that the race that they had met will have with outsiders going forwards.
* In "All the World's a Stage," the crew of the ''Protostar'' meet a civilization, the Enderprizians, that experienced massive cultural contamination due to a visit by the USS ''Enterprise'' around a hundred years before. According to the locals' history, the ''Enterprise'' detected a danger to the Enderprizians that Ensign David Garrovick volunteered for a solo mission to address without breaking the Prime Directive. However, Garrovick crashed and was saved by the locals with his presence, technology and stories leading to them basing their whole culture around Starfleet and the ''Enterprise''. One local, Doctor Boons (named after Leonard McCoy's nickname of Bones), reveals that Garrovick had told the people about the Prime Directive and that they weren't ready for the Federation or their technology, but the Enderprizians saw the Federation and its ideals as something to believe in. The ''Protostar's'' meeting with the Enderprizians is treated as second contact rather than a Prime Directive violation. In the season finale, an Enderprizian is seen in a Starfleet class, suggesting that they ended up making more official contact with Starfleet in the end.
* In "Brink," The Doctor mentions that sending the ''Protostar'' crew to Solum wouldn't technically violate the Prime Directive or ''Voyager's'' direct orders as the crew are not Starfleet personnel. However, when Gwyn asks to rescue her father Ilthuran -- the present day version of the Diviner -- Commander Tysess worries that doing so would be taking sides in the brewing civil war which the Prime Directive prohibits. Janeway agrees to allow the rescue, pointing out that nothing prevents them from granting Ilthuran [[political asylum]], particularly as he is the best hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. While Janeway states that Starfleet will disavow their actions if they're caught, she allows ''Voyager'' to supply the crew with various technologies for their mission.
* In "Touch of Grey," despite Janeway previously declaring that the ''Protostar'' crew would be disavowed if they were caught, she personally leads Chakotay, The Doctor and [[Wesley Crusher]] to rescue them. As civil war breaks out on Solum, just like it did in the future that the Diviner came from, Gwyn asks Janeway for help in saving her homeworld which would be taking sides and thus violating the Prime Directive. Rather than staying out of it like the Federation did in the Diviner's future, Janeway instantly agrees to help, having been reminded that boldness isn't only for the young.
* In "Ouroboros, Part I," ''Voyager'' and the ''Protostar'' engage Asencia's forces to buy time for the ''Protostar'' crew to enact their plan. While the battle results in the defeat of Asencia and the favorable end of the civil war, the Federation's direct role is minimal, limited primarily to ''Voyager'' and the ''Protostar'' engaging Asencia's fleet which is in the middle of launching to attack every major Federation outpost across three quadrants. Like in "Brink," the forces sent to the ground who take direct part in Asencia's defeat are non-Starfleet personnel. In the following episode, Janeway leads official first contact between the Federation and the Vau N'Akat which Gwyn had previously tried and failed to establish.