The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Abigail on 2008-12-26 at 3:58am:
  Maybe time travel isn't really supposed to make sense, but I never got a good explanation out of this episode for how the 8-year-old Molly and the 18-year-old Molly could end up in the portal simultaneously. If it was just because the 18-year-old was sent back a few moments after the 8-year-old arrived, that's not really a good enough explanation. If they had sent her back four years later, would she have found 12-year-old Molly?
  
  Also, it disturbed me that Keiko and Miles were even willing to send the 18-year-old back. I didn't see that as the best option. However, since she ended up finding her younger self, it was still a satisfactory ending (minus the fact that I'm a little confused about how she found her younger self ...)
• From Damien Bradley on 2013-02-18 at 7:56am:
  Bah! Reset button episode. The whole time I was thinking, "they had better not get the 8 year old Molly back." ... but they did. That kind of ruined it for me. I thought it would be really cool to see how this new, 18 year old "feral" Molly would progress and re-integrate herself into society, but no, they of course found a way to magically get the original Molly back. I'm surprised you liked this episode, Eric; you mention reset buttons all the time and how annoying they can be.
• From OmicronThetaDeltaPhi on 2014-06-30 at 2:14am:
  It was an interesting episode. It was a moving episode. But one thing deeply bothers me about it: The outrageous attitude of the Federation Magistrate towards Molly.
  
  He wants to take a frightened girl away from her parents by force, and lock her up in a "special care center". Without even seeing her. Without consulting her parents. Without even having a hearing.
  
  What's the deal with that??!! Is this Star Trek, or "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"?
  
  Fans usually target episodes like "For the Uniform" and "In the Pale Moonlight" as being anti-Roddenberry. But to me, it is episodes like this one which put the biggest stain on the utopian future that Star Trek is supposed to be.
  
  
  
• From ChristopherA on 2021-04-05 at 7:55pm:
  @OmicronThetaDeltaPhi: I don’t remember it that way. The dialog is set up in such a way to make the protagonists sympathetic and the Federation official seem heartless. But actually, she is in jail for knifing someone, presumably she had a hearing but it is irrelevant since we know she is guilty, they don’t need her parents’ permission to detain her, in fact it would be inappropriate to just ignore the crime and release her to her parents. Moving her to a detention facility where she can actually get psychiatric help is actually far more helpful than just a normal prison.
  
  The works into one of Abigail’s points, that even though the narrative is designed to support the O’Brians’ belief that the only solution is to return her through the time portal, that is pretty questionable. Sure, her parents tried to help her and failed, but maybe, just maybe, a staff of experienced psychiatric expert actually COULD help her acclimate where her layman parents could not. Humans are social animals, they could at least give it a try before they commit various crimes and muck around with time travel equipment they don’t understand in order to condemn her to a life of eternal solitude.
  
  I thought the concept of the episode was worthwhile and interesting to think about, but it was kind of boring to actually watch, definitely not my favorite.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From djb on 2009-01-24 at 10:28pm:
  A few comments --
  
  One is just a gripe about a rather consistent habit in Trek to make all people of a certain race have the same hairstyle. The Romulans, for example, always have black hair (except Sela), and always have it in a short bob with bangs (sometimes with a peak in the bangs). Is this realistic? It's not always like this. Probably just a budget issue, and a desire to differentiate different aliens from each other.
  
  The other is that I liked seeing Quark's generous side. Nice touch.
  
  Overall I kind of liked this episode. I liked seeing further development between Bashir and O'Brien, and the twist at the end about the coffee made me laugh out loud.
  
  Also, I liked seeing Keiko's reaction to the news of her husband's death. She was obviously distraught, but she didn't burst into tears uncontrollably. Maybe it's something to do with her Japanese heritage. Also, you could tell (great acting, Rosalind!) that she never quite believed it--call it intuition or whatever--you could see just a hint of doubt on her face when she receives the news. Anyway, another nice touch.
  
  The whole thing of killing everyone involved with the harvesters was kind of dumb. Once the jig was up, and Sisko knew of the plot, the aliens didn't really take seriously that killing two starfleet officers was an act of war that would carry serious repercussions. They're just like, "no everyone involved has to die, blah blah blah," as if there were ever a chance that even if O'Brien and Bashir knew enough about the harvesters, they would misuse that information. Pretty audacious!
• From Bernard on 2011-03-07 at 9:14pm:
  Another episode devoted to the unlikely pairing of Bashir and O'Brien. That is not such a bad thing though, as the pair have an obvious chemistry that works for both conflict and camraderie.
  
  The plot is fairly basic and uninspiring with easy solutions all around. That and the fairly slow pace drag this episode down to below average.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-19 at 5:04pm:
  Sorry, guys, but this episode makes no sense.
  
  We are told at the beginning that these "harvesters" are terrible, devastating weapons that must be wiped from the face of the galaxy. The current crop of aliens is literally willing to kill to rid the universe of this weapon.
  
  Two issues, one minor and one huge:
  
  First issue: Clearly, since O'Brien is infected with the harvesters, the last batch was not successfully destroyed. Some of it clearly remains. There are ways to deal with this, but it is never explained.
  
  Second issue (and this is the biggie): O'Brien is actually infected with the harvesters. And what happens? Does he die a horrible lingering death? Not at all! Several days later, while seriously sick, he is still strong enough to stand. And then when he makes it back to the station, Bashir fixes him up just fine!
  
  Given the fact that the Federation obviously possesses the technology to counter the harvesters, why destroy them at all? They are obsolete. Instead of destroying them, simply make the cure available!
  
  And any putative grasp at the Prime Directive would be useless: The Federation is already interfering by assisting in the destruction process. Why stop at half measures? Simply make the weapon irrelevant.
  
  This creates a logical,issue big enough to drive a truck through.
• From Abigail on 2019-09-15 at 9:51pm:
  I was mostly annoyed by how amazingly easy it was to cure O'Brien after he was infected by the harvesters. The whole episode was about how dangerous these things are, how they must be destroyed, how everyone who knows about them must be killed -- and then when O'Brien gets sick, no worries! It's no problem whatsoever to find a cure -- not even really a plot point. We'll fix him right up!
  
  Kind of ruins the premise of the episode.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-19 at 4:36am:
  I had no issue with the idea that the aliens wanted to kill everyone who knew anything about the harvesters, I thought it was a clever surprise. Exploring the idea of aliens who think very differently from humans is classic Star Trek. But the handling of the harvesters is terrible, I agree with previous commenters that it makes little sense for the aliens to launch their plot before the final harvesters are destroyed, and the main point of the episode is nerfed by making the harvesters be so easily cured.
• From Abigail on 2021-06-11 at 7:02pm:
  I just logged in to review this episode after watching it, only to find that I received it in 2015 and said the same thing, haha. I stand by my previous review. The fact that they could so easily cure O'Brien after being infected by these oh-so-deadly harvesters made the entire episode pointless. Why would you need to make such a big deal about destroying a biological weapon (and everyone know who knows about it) that leads to an easily curable disease??

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From S. Egil on 2009-08-17 at 12:21am:
  This episode cleverly links the idea of Davy Crockett's heroic death with the lament of Cor, who has been denied such a glorious end. Cor's complaints sound remarkably like those found in the old Norse epics. Some modern viewers reject the warrior ethos entirely, but the episode convincingly expresses and even defends it, ending with the traditional and appropriate violence and sentimentality. As Worf says in the prologue, if you belive in the legend (of Crockett), you will believe he died a hero. Worf and the other Klingons would know that a tribe (or nation) that stops believing in its heores is doomed to extinction: an imbedded message in this episode?
• From MJ on 2011-08-04 at 8:57pm:
  I think this is the best episode of Season 7, and one of my favorites in all of DS9. It's got everything you could want in an episode: action, drama, conflict, depth of character and meaningful interactions...and they managed to unfold everything perfectly. You really feel for all the main characters here. Martok, whose hard work and family sacrifices were crushed because he wasn't of noble birth, is consumed with bitterness after hearing Kor's name...at first, of course. Worf, who is trying to do a favor to a revered friend. And of course, Kor, who just wants what every Klingon wants: an honorable death in battle. His quote about savoring the fruit of life was quite a powerful moment. I also loved the character of Darok, the old aid to Martok. He had a couple of funny lines, and his conversation with Kor at the end where he reveals Worf's plan knowing that this will be the opportunity Kor has been looking for was a brilliant way to bring about the end drama. I also like when he offers up blood wine on the bridge, perhaps harkening back to the days when Klingon warriors drank whenever they pleased.
  
  Martok, who is my favorite Klingon character in all of Star Trek, is shown once again why he is a natural leader. He has all the qualities one would want, and most are brought to bear in this episode: a smart plan of attack, fairness in hearing Worf's reasoning and granting his request despite his bitterness toward Kor, and ultimately of course, realizing that seeing Kor a senile old man brings him no real satisfaction, and although he never says it outright, forgives and even honors Kor.
  
  This was DS9 at its best. A well deserved 10.
• From Jim Mumford on 2014-01-26 at 2:20pm:
  - Kor: "Saver the fruit of life, my young friends. It has a sweet taste when it is fresh from the vine. But don't live too long. The taste turns bitter after a time."
  
  Aint dat the truth !
• From Thavash on 2019-01-06 at 7:48pm:
  Fantastic episode. When Kor delivers his “fruit of life” quote it’s one of the best scenes of the season

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Rob on 2008-04-18 at 11:16pm:
  I really like the scene where the Prophets force Sisko to realize that he's "not acting linear" regarding his wife's death. It's heart breaking watching him break down and Avery does a wonderful job to make us feel his heartbreak. I think this one scene probably shows more raw emotion than all of TOS (except Spock's death in Wrath of Khan) and TNG combined.
  
  
• From JRPoole on 2008-11-12 at 5:08pm:
  This is probably the best pilot of all the series. The only flaw is noted in the review; the scenes with the prophets drag on and the scene shuffling through Sisko's memory is well executed but borders on corny at times. Still, a fine maiden voyage, so to speak.
• From Bernard on 2009-11-12 at 11:58pm:
  Just started rewatching DS9 back through again on dvd. This two parter/feature length gets better every time I watch it. I would agree with the previous poster that it is most definitely the best pilot episode, setting up the premise of DS9 perfectly. Shame much of the rest of season one does not build on it as well as it could have done.
  Avery Brooks' performance is nothing short of exceptional considering the range of emotion that he has to convey while coming to grips with his new character. I also like the handling of the introductions of all the main cast as well as our first sitings of Rom, Nog, Gul Dukat and even Morn!
• From Cory on 2011-09-28 at 2:45am:
  I'm confused, maybe somebody can clear this up for me, I thought the aliens in the wormhole stated it disrupts them whenever anyone passes though, how did Sisko manage to convince them to not only re open the wormhole but to allow passage from any ship that desires it?
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-09 at 10:54pm:
  Since I keep pointing out scientific issues, I can't resist pointing out the gaping hole in the story with respect to the "wormhole aliens" as they come to be known in DS9. This concerns the temporal nature of these aliens, I.e., that they supposedly exist in a non-linear fashion with respect to time.
  
  Any one remotely familiar with either Einsteinian or Quantum physics knows this is completely nonsense. The existence of a four dimensional universe consisting of three spatial and one temporal dimensions is a basic feature of our physical universe. Only string theory postulates any deviation from this, and that is in a very different form from that shown on DS9. That is, string theory postulates the existence of several temporal dimensions, all of which are linear. (Only one of these has sufficient depth to have any relation to normal matter.) Also, the experimental basis for both Einsteinian and Quantum physics is overwhelming, while the experimental basis for string theory is non-existent, making it a form of intellectual masturbation in my view. But I digress.
  
  Lots of quality scifi concerns the varying rates at which life forms live in linear time. One excellent example is "Dragon's Egg" by Robert L. Forward in which he proposes the possibility of life on the surface of neutron stars. The compounds in these life forms would be nuclear rather than chemical, and thus would be much faster than normal biological processes. Thus, these life forms would live and die very quickly. (Nonetheless, they would be "linear".)
  
  In order for a life form to transcend time it would have to exist outside of the physical universe. The only intelligent being that could exist outside of our physical universe and still relate to creatures within it would be God. (This is the very nature of the definition of God in philosophical terms.) While the writers of DS9 attempt to take on the issues of religion and philosophy in ways that no other series has attempted (in the process going where no other star trek series has gone before), they pull back from making the WHAs truly divine. These creatures are severely limited in their physical locality, for example. They live only in the wormhole. This may be a very strange location in non-Newtonian space. It is nonetheless a single location. A truly divine creature would be capable of co-existing everywhere in the universe simultaneously.
  
  In the end, the WHAs present some difficult scientific and philosophical issues which the writers of DS9 do a pretty poor job of reconciling.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2009-05-06 at 2:30am:
  Two problems here:
  
  1) Doesn't sending Akorem back to live out his life change the time line in a very serious fashion? The cute little tie up of that question at the end is ridiculous.
  
  2) Okay, how gullible are the Bajoran people?
• From John on 2011-01-12 at 7:27pm:
  This episode proves once again that the Bajoran people are the most naive pushovers in the Alpha Quadrant.
  
  One of the things I love about DS9 is that the "Prophets" themselves seem to have little or no interest in what actually goes on on Bajor. They are completely indifferent, in part because they themselves can't even conceive of linear time as we understand it. It's fun to laugh at the Bajorans as they read so much into everything the Prophets do, while at the same time you know the Prophets don't really care one way or another.
• From MJ on 2011-02-07 at 12:45pm:
  The wormhole aliens/Prophets are to DS9 what the Traveler was to TNG: an absurd, unnecessary story arc that reduces the show's credibility. As with the Traveler, the Prophets are used to explain away inconsistencies, do things that make no sense, and kill the climax of otherwise good episodes (see DS9: Sacrifice of Angels). The difference is, we have a lot more Prophet episodes than we do Traveler episodes.
  
  This religion of the Prophets makes the Bajorans look like despicable fools. This is especially true of Kira, who in these episodes is no longer the tough, independent fighter, but a sheep who blindly devotes herself to whatever the religious authorities of her planet dictate. So, the Kira character definitely loses credibility. Then, enter this 200+ year-old Bajoran poet who wants to turn Bajoran society upside down, likely throwing the entire planet into chaos and ruin, and everyone just goes along with it because you don't question the Emissary? It doesn't really reflect well on Bajor overall.
  
  I console myself with this episode somewhat by hoping the point is to show how blind obedience to organized religion can be bad. There are hints this might be the case, such as Odo's excellent questioning of Kira (my favorite moment in the episode) on the Promenade before the new Emissary's first speech, and how the Prophets clearly have no concept of time, rendering the prophecy of who contacts them "first" a moot point. But, I realize it's not Star Trek's place to really take positions; the show simply offers competing points of view to educate the audience, which, of course, is fantastic. But the Prophet storyline takes away from Kira and Bajor in the process.
  
  I do like how the episode reflects both Sisko's being uncomfortable with the position of Emissary while also wearing the uniform, and his true concern for Bajor when the new Emissary starts enacting his agenda. Sisko has come to love this world and its people, however superstitious they may be, and is willing to serve in this role if it's in Bajor's best interests.
  
  We also have an episode that ends rather suddenly (again).
  
  I also wasn't a huge fan of the subplot. Normally I enjoy the camaraderie between O'Brien and Bashir, but this subplot was rather dull and pointless. It went from O'Brien wanting to spend more time with Keiko to missing Bashir. Not interesting.
  
  Below average episode at best.
• From Bernard on 2011-02-07 at 11:01pm:
  I find myself in agreement with MJ over the Prophets but in total disagreement over Major Kira.
  
  I think that you are confusing your personal loss of respect for her character with her credibility. The character is still perfectly credible as we see time and time again on our planet the blindness of faith. Have you never had conversations with believers who can stand there and as perfectly rational people then suddenly say that they believe that a man fed 5000 from a couple of loaves? The Kira character is consistant in this respect all the way through the series, so I think it is perfectly credible that she behaves in this manner. Just because I personally can't understand why people can have blind faith doesn't mean that a character is not credible if they do.
  
  This episode does not mark the end of the Prophets as a well thought out and written species though... just watch 'Rapture' and any episodes from that point onwards involving Prophets/Pah Wraiths or both to see not only the spoiling of a truly fascinating species but also the implication (and later more than just implication!) that they really do have a connection with the Bajorans!
  
  I enjoy this episode as it brings up interesting points and as MJ said is allows the viewer to make up their own mind. I would rate it slightly higher than 5 despite some of the problems.
• From MJ on 2011-02-13 at 1:46pm:
  Hi Bernard,
  
  You make a great point. I have, actually, known some very intelligent believers, and it has been strange to me how they reconcile their faith with some of their other views. Maybe not strange, but interesting. I can see what you mean about Kira still being who she is, and yet still steeped in the traditions of her people. We have had glimpses of how her religion was one of the things that may very well have sustained her during the Cardassian occupation.
  
  I guess it just catches me off guard when I see episodes in which Kira is fearless, answering to no one and taking on anybody who gets in her way, and yet here is willing to abandon her life simply because a spiritual leader told her to do so. The good thing, though, is that she doesn't do so unquestioningly. She voices her frustrations to that Vedek about her lack of artistic talent, which at least makes it somewhat believable.
  
  On another note, I really did enjoy the moment in this episode where Kira informs Sisko of her decision to resign, and advising him on a replacement.
• From Tallifer on 2011-03-31 at 12:23am:
  Original Star Trek was generally atheist: gods were just aliens in disguise. Deep Space 9 recognizes that for most people the universe is mysterious and mystical. The Bajoran religion seems to be a mixture of Hindoo and Moslem ideas.
  
  In this episode, it is the Hindoo caste system. The Cardassian occupation was an aberration and a traumatic experience. Naturally many Bajorans would be eager to return to the halcyon days of yore. Nowadays there is still a segment of Indian society that wants the ancient caste system legalized and enforced.
  
  As for the emissaries, all the major religions have several prophets from the gods. When Akorem assumed the mantle of emissary, many Bajorans could have easily thought of Sisko as a sort of John the Baptist preceding the actual emissary.
• From Hugo on 2012-05-11 at 8:00pm:
  Well, I gave it an 8 - a solid, interesting and engaging episode, with any major flaws - as I see it!
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-06-27 at 5:20pm:
  Keiko has redeemed herself. I was really aggravated by her in the last episode with her in it. In this one she behaved the way I expected a woman returning home after a long absence would behave. :)
• From John on 2013-05-01 at 1:06am:
  I have to agree with Bernard that Kira is still a very credible character.
  
  Specifically, the idea that someone can be stubborn, willful and annoying, while at the same time being indecisive, ignorant, and easily swayed by religious doublespeak is perfectly credible.
• From Mike on 2016-11-03 at 6:16am:
  I'd give this a 2, mainly because it's an episode that didn't really need to be made, or should've been much better.
  
  The whole point of this episode was to show Sisko finally embracing his role as Emissary. And I could buy the premise that the Prophets had Akorem do this brief stint in the future in order to get Sisko to accept his "path". But that's not how the episode is scripted. Instead, the whole thing seems like random action by the Prophets that inadvertently almost upends Bajor, the consequences of which are completely ignored by the end of the episode.
  
  Akorem lays out a pretty good case for his being the Emissary. But apparently, he's wrong. So why exactly did he emerge from the wormhole 200+ years into the future? The vague response from the Prophets indicates that he drifted into the wormhole, they saw that he was injured, healed him, and then released him. Since they're unaware of linear time, they just so happened to drop him into the timeline at this moment. When Akorem and Sisko speak with them, they seem to think something along the lines of, "oh yeah, that's right...Sisko explained this whole linear time thingy to us...ya know, maybe we could just send this Akorem guy back to his time." In other words, as John points out, they do things in capricious ways while the Bajorans foolishly read into everything as intentional. We never find out what the Bajorans thought of why Akorem briefly appeared in this time period. Instead, they seemingly just accept that it happened and go back to their lives.
  
  So Akorem goes back to his time, almost everything returns to what it was at the start of the episode except for Akorem's poetry, the changes to which are written off as mysterious Prophet ways, and Sisko now happily performs the ceremonies that he felt uncomfortable with at the start.
  
  It's an aggravating, unsatisfying end.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jens-Ivar Seland on 2009-07-18 at 5:41pm:
  Come on! Don't you thionk it's a "problem" that Odo's knocked unconscious by a blow to his "head" ? :)
• From Bernard on 2009-12-01 at 10:22pm:
  Okay, this episode has quite a few flaws such as Odo being knocked unconscious and Odo piloting the prisoner back into the gamma quadrant alone!
  
  It does provide a different angle with which to view Odo though. It also seems to have an emotional impact through the storytelling. I love the final line of the episode. I also love that the writers obviously thought their casual made up name for Odo's 'people', changeling (first heard in this episode) was really quite good so continued to use it as seasons two and the rest continued.
  
  I gave this a 5... unfortunately we now head into a run of mediocrity with the next few episodes...

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Roth Mantel on 2009-03-16 at 8:37am:
  One of the things that troubled me throughout watching this episode was that even if Ilon is correct in his legal claim that the relevant Federation treaty with Klaestron IV authorizes the unilateral extradition of a federation officer with no notice to her commanding officer--which seems quite odd itself--it still surely does not authorize them to use violence against federation officers (Bashir) in the process, nor does it authorize the sabotage of the station's tractor beam.
  
  Since the manner in which Ilon attempted to execute the warrant surely violated either Federation or Bajoran law (probably both), it seems to me that they could have held him on the charge and delayed extradition proceedings at least until Klaestron IV sent another representative to pursue the matter through the Bajoran government. Not only would it have been sensible to pursue the charge to deter future sabotage, but this would have created a much more effective delay than a mere extradition hearing with the Bajoran arbiter.
  
  Also, Sisko asked Kira to investigate any relevant legal precedent, but we never heard back anything. That seems odd--I can hardly imagine that the issue, or at least highly analogous issues, have not been resolved before on Trill. Perhaps we heard nothing more on the subject because it wasn't useful for Sisko. Furthermore, tThe "expert" on Trills either doesn't know or nobody bothered to ask!
  
  Otherwise, I though the episode was pretty average. Dax's obstinate refusal to cooperate was irritating, even if it was explained at the end. I also thought that Anne Haney did a wonderful job playing the Bajoran arbiter.
• From Sheriff__001 on 2009-08-23 at 7:35am:
  I found the grounds for extradition entirely absent. The question is broached poorly in the episode, but the initial argument was correct: the defendant named on Tandro's warrant was already dead. Jadzia Dax is not liable for any of the actions of her previous hosts (meaning that others may believe she is, and Jadzia Dax may believe herself obligated but she is in fact not obligated).
  
  I cannot believe that no one thought to ask if Trill law covered such a fundamental question. If there was a Trill equivalent to the Bill of Rights, it would surely say that no joined Trill is liable for the actions of a symbiont's previous joinings.
• From Bernard on 2009-11-23 at 12:06am:
  An interesting episode that brings up an intriguing question about Trill society. Unfortunately the question is never really answered adequately because it turns out that Dax is innocent anyway. Luckily they return to similar themes later on, but not regarding Curzon but Joran.
  
  On the positive side though we learn loads more about Trill society, Dax and even Sisko.
  
  I find it difficult to accept criticism of the way the Jadzia character is played since she is consistantly played in her serene, relaxed manner upto this point in the series. The writers seemed to make an active decision to write her differently around the season two episode 'Playing God'. But this Jadzia came first! I found her to be within character at this point in the series and that aspect of this episode was believable. Another steady episode.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-11 at 5:50pm:
  Again, speaking as an attorney, the idea of "unilateral extradition" is utterly ridiculous. If we are to accept the Federation as being a more evolved version of our own society, how much sense does it make to sign a treaty that authorizes a foreign law enforcement officer to violate the law? There is absolutely no precedent for this in any international law.
  
  Further, as others have pointed out, since the treaty did not apply anyway (DS9 being Bajoran, not Federation, territory), Sisko could have simply clapped Ilon in handcuffs and thrown him and his goons into the brig. Not doing exactly that is simply spineless, and does not accord with Sisko's character.
• From Wes on 2012-11-20 at 10:20pm:
  I guess they didn't have the have the wardroom (or hadn't found it yet) by this point. Thus, they resorted to using Quark's for the trial. This was just a bit annoying, but somewhat understandable. Just interesting that this would have been a great time to introduce the wardroom, but they just didn't think of it. Another trial/hearing took place on DS9, Worf's, and it took place in the wardroom.
• From Bronn on 2013-06-11 at 1:33am:
  Just realized. The person turning 100 years old at the beginning of the episode is Keiko's MOTHER. That means she was at least 60, unless you buy Keiko being over 40 at the time of this episode (Rosalind Chao was 35 at the time). Medicine of the future, I guess.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-03 at 5:57pm:
  I can't believe all of the negative reactions to this episode! The purpose of this episode seemed pretty clear to me: a deeper exploration and explanation of what a Trill is, at least in DS9. I found it very useful in that regard, especially since the Trill species we see in DS9 is very different from the species we previously saw in TNG: The Host.
• From Damien Bradley on 2013-10-02 at 7:59am:
  Poor Dax. Swore an oath to secrecy and bound by honor to keep it. (Later season spoiler alert: even though it's pretty annoying, but she definitely proves herself worthy of Worf, honor-wise.)
  
  I agree with the criticisms about the legal issues here. Unilateral extradition does not mean illegal entry/assault/kidnapping. It would mean "hello, I am so-and-so, I have come to claim so-and-so by order of this warrant." Annoying to see Sisko not throw the book at the intruders. And Trill society would have determined guidelines for legal ramifications of previous hosts' crimes long ago. And Quark's being the only appropriate venue for a hearing? Come on! There would have been dozens of conference rooms, not just the single wardroom that somehow hasn't been discovered yet.
  
  And yet, somehow, I still kind of liked this episode.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Dio on 2009-02-05 at 5:17pm:
  This one got a 9 from me, really enjoyed seeing the young officers trying to fill roles of mature officers. After hearing about "Luna" I wanted to see a shot of it, perhaps to see the girl reunited with her family, oh well. Still, very well done and one of my favourites!
• From MJ on 2011-01-31 at 4:56pm:
  The most interesting scene in this episode to me is when the escape pods are leaving the Valiant. We're used to seeing escape pods get away successfully in Star Trek, but the Jem'Hadar ruthlessly target and destroy some of the pods; others don't get away in time and are consumed by the exploding ship. I think this scene was reinforcing the brutal dose of reality these cadets got. It's as if their mistake was pursuing them even in the end, denying them of the chance to learn from it.
  
  But all the other lessons about the cult of personality, the arrogance of youth, and the danger of the group mentality are aptly explored and upheld here. Nicely done episode, including some interesting moments between Jake and Nog.
• From Christopher Wright on 2012-01-19 at 1:53am:
  I agree with the other comment how it was a dose of harsh realism to see escape pods being destoyed, but having only one escape (the one with our heroes) was a little too contrived. Anyone else wonder why the secret battleship even allowed their pod to survive? I mean was the dominion captain like, "oh well, we missed that pod with one torpedo, better let it get back to federation space with knowledge of our top secret ship."? Other than the plot holes like that a very well-acted and entertaining episode.
• From McCoy on 2017-03-03 at 4:44pm:
  Hm... J.J. Abrams obviously didn't saw this episode before filming his first Star Trek film. If you give a ship to cadets, you can expect nothing more than a disaster.

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• From Tallifer on 2011-03-26 at 4:37am:
  Two problems for me with this episode:
  
  1. Are a few soil reclamators used by a handful of farmers actually supposed to reclaim enough soil elsewhere to support an interstellar trade in foodstuffs? Why not build a couple new reclamators?
  
  Furthermore these reclamators are very ineffective. There is a tiny community of farmers, and yet one of them has not even benefited from the machines yet, but must wait her turn.
  
  2. The politics are startlingly naive. To me it was obvious from the beginning that Kai Wynn was engaged in corrupt relations with a huge corporate agribusiness which intended to exploit Bajoran government funding for profit. The reclamators were intended for the feeding of Bajorans, not the profits of a food-export corporation.
• From Mike on 2016-11-01 at 7:51pm:
  I liked this episode a lot. The Bajorans, like so many real-world peoples, are dealing with internal turmoil and conflict after throwing off their occupiers. In this case, it's driven by an aspiring despot who hopes that boosting her planet's economy will also aid her own personal ambitions. It pushes her to risk civil war, something few others have the appetite for given the issue is the use of farm equipment. It's a well-written, well-acted episode.
  
  Why not build more reclamators? Well, I'm guessing they are sophisticated pieces of machinery that rely on several industries to build. Bajor, still wartorn and relying on aid and loans, can probably only afford to build a couple of them. Plus, they probably have to wait a while because it takes time to detoxify large amounts of land. Real-world soil detoxification takes months or years and requires lots of composting and solarization. Even in sci-fi world, this process probably takes a while. I think the reclamators make a good plot device in this episode for the premise that the writers were going for.
• From Kevin on 2020-08-02 at 3:58am:
  The B plot in this episode is so strange. I know it was just to pad out some runtime in the episode, But maybe I wasn't paying attention to it enough- I don't recall the Chief making plans with Bashir to fake the injury - as i'm pretty sure that is what happened. Bashir played along, and because of it, ended up stuck with Quark at the end instead. That would've made for at least a more logical side story.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-15 at 8:02pm:
  Ah, I love Winn. Love to hate her, anyway. Louise Fletcher is amazing. Seeing her go from calm to livid with the most subtle of facial expressions is amazing. Anyway, I recall from early season 2 that Winn was associated with the Circle, and thus seems to be an isolationist and/or a complete opportunist. Thus her flowery language of joining the Federation is probably all a ruse. It's been so long since I saw the whole series last, I don't even remember! But by now it's basically established that if Winn is breathing, she's up to something, and if her lips are moving, she's lying. And she knows Kira is onto her, but can't let it slip that she knows. Visitor and Fletcher play off each other wonderfully.
  
  I just love the character development in this series, especially compared to my bae TNG. All these events in Kira's life are changing her and affecting her and keeping her interesting. Her covert/overt antagonism toward Winn is always shifting. I like the accumulating backstory of her as a freedom fighter, and how her relationships with other fighters has changed. It's also fun to see Bashir and O'Brien become bros.
  
  Watching this I thought O'Brien and Bashir faked the injury together so O'Brien could get out of the spotlight. I like how they left it open to interpretation.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Remco on 2009-01-29 at 3:59am:
  Odo called the station "DS9" in this episode. I don't think we've heard this abbreviation on the show before.
• From John on 2011-01-12 at 5:27pm:
  I found this episode highly enjoyable, and the fact that it features Leeta has absolutely nothing to do with it. :)
• From hugo on 2012-05-09 at 5:37am:
  Just dull and uninspired, and a plot where not much happens. And Leeta is not a good actress.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-30 at 9:05am:
  This is THE Rom episode. It provides all the reasons and feelings why Leeta will love Rom (soon after her affair with Bashir). It is very funny how O´Briens´ story of his ancestor Sean (made up or real) inspires Rom to stand his ground against Ferengi laws and tradition. Although Rom seems to trade his Union ideals in the end, he wins: all his conditions for the workers will be accepted by Quark and he gets his job in Starfleet as technician "junior grade"! Similar to Damar he will do things in the future that decide the war against the Dominion. Also, the tiny subplot of Dax and Worf prepares the basis of their relationship. A very great episode, if you know what is coming later on!
• From Martin on 2014-04-02 at 6:29pm:
  Nice episode.
  One detail i couldn't stop noticing is Liquidator brunt's bodyguards are Nausicaan...the same nasty race that stabbed picard on the heart.

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• From EKH on 2008-01-12 at 10:53pm:
  I think we can assume that Star Trek has been "re-dubbed" for a modern audience, and that Bashir actually uses a term we wouldn't recognize. Otherwise, the language of the future represents a huge break of realism.
• From Benjamin Baxter on 2008-07-13 at 4:15am:
  There are also several occurrences of "man" in the series that could be explained away with the above explanation.
• From JRPoole on 2009-02-08 at 8:16pm:
  I hate to see Bareil die in such a seemingly pointless way, but the character had to be killed off. He's just too humble, too pure, to be interesting.
  
• From A. Rust on 2009-04-18 at 3:43pm:
  I find Bareil's decision neither meaningless nor foolish. His people were constantly haunted by the shadow of Cardassian Occupation and the only way to totally move forward was through a process of forgiveness of the enemy. Though Bashir may have been right in his analysis of Winn's less than noble motivations, I think Bareil would have been in sympathy with her statement that one man's life meant little in comparison to what could be gained. Having not gotten further in the series, I don't know if his sacrifice is in fact meaningful in the long term, but as Kira observes at the end, he was comfortable with his confusion and made the best choice he could for his people under the circumstances. While I think the episode could have had more scenes of drama at the negotiating table to reinforce what he was fighting for, I found Bareil's sacrifice both noble and totally consistent with is character.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-06 at 4:58pm:
  I don't think Bareil was being foolish. Some things are worth dying for. He couldn't live with himself knowing he didn't do everything he could, especially if the talks had failed in his absence. In his own way, he went out fighting. Kira would have died for her cause as a freedom fighter too. I also think Bashir was being rather bullheaded, stubbornly and myopically trying to prolong Bareil's life and ignoring the various reasons it's not so simple.
  
  I really think the original writers of the Ferengi painted themselves into a corner with the Ferengis' over-the-top misogyny. In a different episode, Quark protests that the Ferengi have never had slavery, but that's false on its face: they continue to treat half their population as slaves/livestock when we know full well that female Ferengi have equivalent mental abilities to the men. I can't exactly blame Nog for being the product of his culture, but I can't entirely let him off the hook, either. The writers were right to point this out in the dialogue, of course; it just seems half-hearted. It's treated as an annoyance rather than a moral emergency. It's like nobody really cares too much that this species is keeping half its population in a state of abject bondage and degradation for no logical reason. It's almost played for laughs here. Yeah, sexism is absurd, but it's not all that funny. At least, it's not funny to those of us who experience it as a fact of life. (Thanks, Rick Berman.)
  
  Winn seemed unusually not-evil in this episode to me. She really seemed sincere! It added some character depth. One reason for that might be that, according to Memory Alpha, Louise Fletcher was rather ill during filming and couldn't quite bring herself to act the nasty and conniving overtones usually present with Winn. It's quite telling how useless Winn is in this situation, though. She managed to become Kai but can't handle the heat. Whoops! Bad luck, Adami! Gosh, I hope she doesn't freak out and do anything reckless later.
  
  The "humanity" thing bothered me too; I suppose I'll have to assume he meant something like "humanoid-ity." Lazy writing in an otherwise quite interesting and important episode. Good call in killing off Bareil, too. He became sort-of interesting, but he became even more interesting as a quasi-martyr. Bareil would have been a great Kai for Bajor, but Winn is a much better Kai for storytelling. :)

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• From Bronn on 2013-07-10 at 10:23pm:
  I can understand that Worf's black and white morality makes it difficult for him to know what to do with Quark. But any time there's a plot based upon a misunderstanding because of a lack of communication, it's a hackneyed plot. Odo says that he's not in the habit of talking about his long term undercover work-that's fine, but since Worf is ALREADY snooping around in the investigation, it's probably better to limit the damage. He mentioned that Worf's surveillance was useful in keeping up appearances...but if that was the case, he could have just told Worf the plan and asked him to cooperate, and it would have worked out fine.
  
  There's also a whole contingent of Starfleet security on the station at this point that nobody seems to have remembered. That doesn't really bother me, it's the culmination of events surrounding Worf. It's stupid that Odo's investigation fails not because Worf won't leave it alone, but because Odo refused to tell Worf what he was doing despite having plenty of golden opportunities to do so. And somehow Worf comes out looking like the idiot here.
  
  The A-plot for this episode, however, is awesome. There's conflict between Bashir and O'Brien, the tension of a young idealistic officer and a veteran non-commissioned officer. It's a complicated issue, and O'Brien raises a few valid concerns: What if freeing the Jem'Hadar dependency turns them into renegades? What if the Founders decide this interference is an act of war by the Federation? It's really a huge decision for a Lieutenant to take full responsibility for, even if his motives are completely pure. If only they'd sacrificed the stupid B-plot, they could have focused even more on this part of the episode.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-23 at 10:26pm:
  Regarding the problems with "Goran'Agar doesn't eat, doesn't drink, ...": Goran'Agar explains to Bashir that he came back to the planet in order to cure his men like himself from the Ketracel White addiction. He thought the environment contained some healing factor. Roughly around minute 15 in the episode he clearly states "we breath the same air, eat the same food". Thus, the Jem Hadar do eat, although it is not mentioned whether Goran'Agar might have started eating after he stopped taking the drug. But then his body seems to produce always small amounts of the drug, as Bashir finds out. Also, it would be very unlikely to get all the energy the Jem'Hadar need from small doses of a drug.
• From Martin on 2016-03-10 at 10:30am:
  I understand Odo could've told Wolf about his long term plan, that could've saved them all the trouble. Still, there is a chain of command and Odo's the chief of security in that station. Worf was out of line to interfere with the investigation without explicitly telling Odo. Lesson lerned, we hope.
  About the other part of this episode, being this episode about black and white moral standars, i honestly think O'brian's a stupid man. After all those years looking up to Picard and another few years learing to change his beliefs about cardassians and other ethics related issues, he shoud NOT have decided to see the matter in a black and white manner. Bashir could see beyond his own experiences with the Jem'Hadar and that the matter was a big plain grey. They were dealing with a group of people trying to break free from slavery, trying to be free. Isn't that a top priority for the federation? To help people in such meaningful manners? What about TNG "I, Hugh"? They understood that Hugh was becoming an individual with his own rights to be, and chose to help him instead of taking the oportunity to cripple the Borg right there, taking his life. O'brian was right there, wasn't he? Shouldn't he have learnt the lesson? Damn him! Damn him i say!
• From Mike on 2016-10-31 at 9:49pm:
  Yes, this was definitely an episode that deserved a sequel of some sort where we find out something more about Goran'Agar's fate. The premise of the episode was too interesting to simply leave alone. Other episodes dealt with the Ketracel White addiction, but not in an interesting way like this one.
  
  Re: Martin, O'Brien makes it clear that the reason he opposes what Bashir is doing is because there's no way to predict what the Jem'Hadar will do once free of the White. Bashir is doing what we'd expect a Federation doctor to do, but O'Brien makes a good counter-point; they could indeed turn into a destructive, uncontrollable force that kills at will. Using the Hugh example, the next time we saw Hugh in TNG: Descent, he explained the confusion and chaos that resulted when those Borg were free of the collective.
  
  That's what makes all these episodes great, IMO. The Federation values of freeing sentient beings from things like the Borg collective or the Dominion are portrayed as the right path, but not an easy one and with plenty of opposing views and unforeseen consequences.

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• From Bernard on 2011-03-17 at 9:13pm:
  Really dull I'm afraid, there is no real chance of discovering Odo's background in this episode and no real chance for his character to develop. As a result nobody really cares what is going on.
  
  The B plot might be well handled but it could have been done during any episode and in a way that actually complimented an A plot.
  
  Thankfully bigger and better things are just around the corner....
• From Tallifer on 2011-03-19 at 9:34am:
  10 points for Noley Thornton and Odo. The stories were pretty good too. (I found out that Thornton is now a university student studying to become a director.)
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-12 at 3:51pm:
  Why are Dax and Odo so surprised to learn that one of the people in the valley is not a hologram? Doesn't it seem obvious that this must be someone's personal planetary holodeck? Why else would it exist?
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-04 at 9:59pm:
  A rather emotional episode, which lacks action, but is just very nice. Besides the Yadera holograms with the Odo-Taya friendship and the Sisko-Jake plot, the third story of Quark´s diversion was overlooked in the comment. He managed that Vedek Bareil came to DS9 and met Kira. This encounter is certainly the start of their relationship (already predicted by the orb of prophecy). Since this development is very important for the DS9 story arc, I suggest a reduction of the filler quotient.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From John on 2011-09-21 at 12:04am:
  While I love the O'Brien's, and would have enjoyed seeing more of their story, in this case I was more than willing to do without, since any story about them would also involve Kira, whom I cannot stand.
  
  I thought the Ferengi plot was more entertaining anyway.
• From Martin on 2014-04-04 at 3:57pm:
  until the very last moment i actually though garak would appear out of nowhere and try to fulfill his part of the contract, killing quark without he even knowing it...
• From Abigail on 2021-08-20 at 8:58pm:
  I actually thought this was a cute and entertaining episode. I really like Quark and Rom, so I enjoyed it. I also agree with John that Kira is really not my favorite character. (I don't love Jadzia, either.)
• From The Obam-Hadar on 2022-10-18 at 7:02pm:
  The contract says Brunt gets Quarks bodyparts when he dies. Is there a timelimit or something? I don't see why he needs to kill himself.
  Brunt can still get his parts when he dies in 50 years or whatever.
• From Alex on 2023-01-18 at 12:33am:
  @The Obam-Hadar: Brunt directly quotes the contract - the dessicated remains must be available within 6 days. Surely this means 6 days since the auctioning.
  -----
  I think this episode is definitely above 3 for me. 6, maybe 7? What I enjoy the most is the delightful acting. I always was fond of Ferengi episodes due to the actors and them having to perform in that kind of heavy makeup, and they always put up a great show, intentionally caricaturish. And the comedy was just really good as it usually is on DS9.
• From Rob Uk on 2023-01-26 at 1:19am:
  Rule of acquisition 17
  
  A contract is a contract is a contract... but only between Ferengi
  
  As long as Quark is not in drag I usually enjoy a Ferengi-centric episode, especially when Brunt is involved ????

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From John on 2011-01-12 at 4:28am:
  I have to agree that this episode starts out really well, but descends into childish bickering by the 25-minute mark. By 30 minutes you're just tired of seeing it. I find this rather distasteful, given that Worf has, until now, been the hallmark of honor in the Star Trek franchise. I don't like seeing him scheming or plotting "like a Ferengi", as he would say.
  
  I give it a 5, only because the beginning was so good.
• From Laroquod on 2012-06-12 at 12:35pm:
  The DS9 producers apparently chose this episode as their first to focus on Worf in order to demonstrate that they completely fail to understand him as a character. They brought on this character to try to win over fans of Worf from TNG and then immediately pissed all over his honourable image treasured most by exactly the fans they were trying to court. I found it extremely insulting at the time, but now it's just one of the many signals that the producers of DS9 did not really understand much about Star Trek or its fans.
• From Axel on 2015-05-31 at 4:46pm:
  For a while there, it seemed like the sword had been forged by the Dark Lord Sauron in Mt. Doom. It was having the same effect on people as the one ring :)
  
  Anyway, I do buy the bickering between Worf and Kor although they dragged it on way too long and screwed up by making it the story. Worf, as honorable as he is, has never been confronted with the opportunity for this kind of power, and it can make good people go a bit nutty. It did for Kor as well. But it would've been a lot more interesting to explore the impact of Federation officers helping to retrieve the most prized artifact in Klingon history.
• From lumzi23 on 2016-12-27 at 7:44am:
  What an amazingly bad episode. It starts off well then takes a left right into crazy town. A virus that changes people into loonies would have been preferable than both of them just suddenly losing their mind. TBH I have not really watched much of TNG but it seems to me that the DS9 people/makers really did the famous Worf a disservice here.

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• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2008-11-26 at 4:27pm:
  Gul Dukat and Garak are fantastic characters, both have a large role in this episode. The best part is where Keiko cooks Cardassian food. SO ackward -- since she does not know the kid hates the Cardassians.
• From Bernard on 2010-04-05 at 8:17pm:
  Further to Orions comment, I love the moment when O'Brien and the boy push their respective plates away from each other.
  
  This episode shines a light briefly on O'Briens own prejudice, hats off for that, furthering his own development as such a small part of an episode.
  
  As usual Gul Dukat and Garak are a treat to watch. I would rate this episode slightly higher, 6 I think.
• From omg@kthx on 2011-08-22 at 7:39pm:
  This episode was decent but vaguely unsatisfying. Perhaps a custody battle just doesn't make for very good Star Trek... a similar thing was attempted in TNG: Suddenly Human, and I think done much better there... at least in the TNG episode there were weird alien rituals, traumatic flashbacks, and more credible accusations of abuse... oh yeah, and Picard got stabbed in the chest...
  
  There just wasn't enough here to be really interesting... I guess Garak got his hand bitten, but that's not quite the same, is it?
  
  Speaking of Garak, as much as I like his character, and as much as I liked how he explained away his computer expertise as "dabbling... a hobby... like sowing on a button," I think this episode brought him too much into the spotlight. Bashir mentioning him to Dukat, Sisko calling him in to questioning, his attending the custody hearing at the end... I think it's too much limelight and detracts from the mysteriousness of his character.
  
  Garak was more compelling when he worked out of the shadows, spoke in pure riddles, and "sold suits" out of his tailor shop... when his role was to observe and facilitate the "back channels" of communication, as Sisko put it.
  
  So, I agree with the reviewer, decent but a bit flawed and unsatisfying. Probably a 5.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-19 at 7:04am:
  Obvious glaring problem: in every legal system in the Western world of which I am aware, a child this age has the right to decide which parent he / she wants to live with. This episode completely misses that point where TNG: Suddenly Human gets it perfectly. In that episode, Picard attempts to persuade Jeremiah Rosa to agree to come live with his human grandmother. Picard obviously knows that the child's choice will be decisive.
  
  This is of course absent any other compelling issues like abuse, or mental incompetence in the parent. The abuse issue was explored and disproven. The Bajoran father is obviously capable and loving. There is no compelling reason to violate the wishes of the child in this case.
  
  The end of this episode is terrible: The child is forced to go live with a parent He neither knows nor loves, and the rights of the adoptive parent are trampled upon. (What has he done wrong here, other than provide a loving home for the child?)
  
  In the end it is not the best interest of the child that prevails: It is the Cardassian father. And where has he been for all these years? did he make any effort to investigate, to determine if his child is still alive?
  
  A very cruel, irrational and unrealistic ending to an otherwise great episode.
• From Mario on 2012-03-20 at 1:22am:
  I did like this episode very much, much more than the average here. It has a lot of intriguing moral dilemmas in it and does not paint them black and white. But I really hated the ending: Forcing the child to leave his adoptive parents (the only one he knows) against his will is in my mind the absolute wrong moral decision and I guess I am not the only one who shares this view.
  
• From Penguinphysics on 2013-01-16 at 3:09am:
  Also, in terms of long term plot development, this is the first episode to refer to the station's original name: Terrok Nor

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-12-11 at 1:15am:
  Isn't Malcolm McDowell's character in "Generations" another El-Aurian?
• From Paul on 2010-09-18 at 2:23pm:
  Generations came out after this episode
• From Bernard on 2011-02-15 at 12:32pm:
  I do have a soft spot for this episode, but it is fairly predictable and ultimately only serves to continue the Bashir/O'Brien friendship story that runs throughout the series.
  
  My favourite moment is when O'Brien walks into the racketball court to find Bashir squatting on the floor showing him the 'V-sign'. Probably not funny to Americans but Colm Meaney's expression has me in hysterics every time I watch it.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-19 at 12:48pm:
  Obvious perhaps, but I enjoyed the appearance of Chris Sarandon (possibly best known for his role as Prince Humperdink in the Rob Reiner film "Princess Bride" who played Martus in this episode.
• From Selador on 2013-01-21 at 11:09pm:
  The luck devices were preposterous, but not actually impossible so the episode wasn't spoilt. I'm starting to like Bashir, he's irritated by the strangest things. Saw the twist coming a mile away, strange that the conman didn't, but on the whole a solidly fun episode with good dialogue that asks the viewer to suspend just a little too much belief.
• From AW on 2015-12-01 at 7:31am:
  "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." I think this might might be my favorite rule.
  
• From Mike on 2017-05-20 at 2:39am:
  What I've always liked about Star Trek science fiction is that it offers some ideas that are plausible, some that are annoyingly ridiculous, and some that are implausible but entertaining or interesting. This episode falls in that last category. Sure, the devices are nonsense, but the attempt at explaining how they work, as well as the plot of the episode itself, are all just good fun. The Martius/Quark rivalry is enjoyable, as is that between O'Brien and Bashir. This episode strikes me as being more of the DS9 trademark standalone episode. The crew isn't out exploring the galaxy; instead, the galaxy's intrigue comes to them. Usually it's serious, but occasionally it's lighthearted. A well done episode, worth watching a second time.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From rpeh on 2010-07-29 at 9:08pm:
  Decent episode, but one problem. When Quark is blocking his ears, his skull visibly compresses. I don't recall any information about Ferengi skulls being made of rubber... Apart from that it's a good episode for background on the Ferengi.
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-06-26 at 1:40am:
  Best line: Rom about his father, "He couldn't hold on to latinum if you sewed it into his pants!"
  
  I liked this one.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-17 at 9:23am:
  This episode, if any so far, puts the lie to Quark's protestations that the Ferengi have never practiced slavery. How their society treats women is, no two ways about it, abject slavery and utter degradation. It's completely inexcusable, given the glaringly obvious evidence from both Ishka and Pel that Ferengi women are just as capable as men -- and in many cases, more so. I know it's portrayed in the show as backward and wrong, but it's still kinda hard to watch. It might be funny if it didn't resemble the way many women are still treated right now in the real world. I try not to judge individual Ferengi characters too harshly -- after all, the sexism is systemic and deeply conditioned.
  
  From a practical economic perspective, these male-dominated races like the Ferengi, Jem'Hadar, Pakleds, etc. are unfortunate, simply by the fact that they end up employing way more male actors. Give us a recurring race of women, already! (Like the Gems in Steven Universe. It is doable, has been done, and is very refreshing!)
  
  I do have to hand it to the DS9 writers for developing the Ferengi, though, after the joke they were on TNG. As problematic as they are in-universe, they've certainly become much more multi-dimensional since they were first introduced. A fine salvage operation.
  
  OK, I changed my mind on one point. The way the men look utterly scandalized when they see a woman NOT naked -- that's fucking hilarious. My dudes, get over yourselves.

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• From AW on 2015-12-29 at 7:07am:
  Props to Morn for plot relevance.

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• From martin on 2007-09-26 at 8:21pm:
  I think the Defiant did not cloak because of their deal with the Romulans about not being permitted to use it outside the Gamma quadrant.
• From Pemmer Harge on 2010-06-19 at 9:51pm:
  The best episode of Deep Space Nine
• From McCoy on 2017-01-04 at 8:30pm:
  You've rated this only 5? Same as previous, boring Dax story? I really don't understand. This episode is absolute 10 for me. Intiguing mystery, solid emotions, great development of Kira-Cardassians relationships. Truly, one of best DS9 episodes!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Abigail on 2008-12-18 at 5:11am:
  I sometimes feel that the writers of DS9 were unaware that you can develop characters through normal sci-fi epsiodes. You don't have to invent an episode with no external plot to do so. If I wanted to watch a goofy soap opera, I would. No need to turn "Star Trek" into one.
• From Christopher Wright on 2012-01-16 at 9:20pm:
  I disagree with the previous comment. I am not normally one for sappy romance stories, and redcuing this episode down to such isn't fair. The romantic tension between Odo and Kira has been so well-developed and stretched out that when the kiss came I almost jumped up and yelled "yeah!" with clenched fist. I also liked Vic a lot. This episode should have a higher rating. Lastly I would like to say that the costume design on DS9 if by far the best. Odo's tux and hologram Kira's dress were very nice touches. Those combined with Quark and Garak's wardrobes in other episodes really show off the designers' talents.
• From hugo on 2013-01-20 at 7:40pm:
  through the first half of this ep, i thought this was developing into a yawner - no suspense or sense of urgency. Then I found myself smiling through the rest of it, don't really know why. I liked vic too!
• From carsonist on 2013-09-29 at 4:36am:
  I can't believe how annoying this episode is. Instead of a second plot, they have four unbelievably long songs. Vic is fine, but takes up a lot of time in a series in its next to last season during a major war.
  
  Kira and Odo getting together is great, but there's nothing else that happens in the whole episode. You could cut the whole thing down to maybe ten minutes.
• From Scott on 2018-10-15 at 2:15am:
  I didn't think I would like it, but I did. Normally the holosuites are an overused story device, but Vic's just a great character. Wouldn't it be great to have a guy like that you could talk to about your problems?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-29 at 6:29am:
  This finale makes "All Good Things..." look like an article of trash. DS9 stayed true to itself down to the bitter end. Everyone doesn't live happily ever after and stay together on the station for a set of new movies. No, DS9 is a very human show, a very realistic one. Though I've heard the writers and producers say that DS9 contains so many shades of gray, the finale was very clear cut. When the founder ordered the eradication of the Cardassians, you could see pure evil in her face. On the same token, Sisko made the ultimate sacrifice for Good in the end.
  
  The finale captured everything DS9 was about, as well. It had awesome action sequences, political intrigue, ethereal matters, and of course emotional and moral matters. Towards the end, when Sisko sacrificed himself, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. When he kissed Kassidy in the celestial temple and she realized what he had done, I absolutely burst into tears. I'm a grown man, and there are very few things that make me cry. The conclusion was truly powerful, and it is something I will never forget.
  
  In the end, the show is about people. It's about the imperfection of humanity, something not covered in other Star Trek series. However, contrary to many critics' opinions, DS9 shows the most optimistic picture of the future of any of the Star Trek series. It shows that, even with our faults, humans will make the right decisions and contribute positively to the universe in the future when all is said and done. For every man like Sloan or the Female Shapeshifter, there is a greater man like Sisko or O'brien. I wholeheartedly agree with Eric when I say that DS9 is, without question, FAR superior to every other Star Trek series.
  
  Finally I know it's kind of corny to award this to the finale, but I am absolutely compelled to award "Best Episode of DS9" to "What You Leave Behind". It simply embodies everything DS9 is about; all the things I mentioned above. If I had to take an episode of DS9 to someone and say "this episode is what DS9 is", then this is the one. It is indescribably powerful and moving, especially if you have seen all 7 seasons culminate up to that point. It may very well be the best episode of Star Trek period, but I haven't seen all of Voyager or Enterprise yet, so I can't pass judgement.
  
  All I can say is "Deep Space Nine, you will be missed."
• From rpeh on 2010-08-05 at 10:05pm:
  A good finale; nay, a great one - but not without its flaws. The flashbacks were mawkish and sentimental, and I have a feeling that the war was over a bit too quickly.
  
  There's also a sense of an attempt to seal the fates of several characters - and the DVD extras even have Ira Behr saying that was the intent. Resolving O'Brien and Worf looks to me like an attempt to give closure to TNG more than DS9, but what's next for Kira, Dax, and Bashir?
  
  Turning the battle between the Prophets and the Pah-wraiths into a christian-like Heaven vs Hell struggle didn't sit well with me either.
  
  DS9 set new heights for Star Trek. I think two or three TNG episodes were better than anything the series had to offer, entirely because Patrick Stewart was the best actor ever to grace the Trek franchise, but there can't be any doubt that the average on DS9 was higher than anywhere else, and it had its own fair share of hits.
  
  The only problem is that by wrapping up some characters and not others, the writers essentially ruined any chance of a film being made.
  
  This episode gets an 8 for being too sentimental, but the series gets a full 10.
• From MJ on 2011-01-29 at 6:00pm:
  Decent finale. But not great. DS9 bit off more than it could chew in this final episode. In TNG, they focused the entire two-part ending on the one problem and involved the entire crew coming together to solve it, while also being able to reflect back on earlier themes throughout the show. In DS9, they tried to wrap up the Dominion War, the Prophets/Pah-Wraith thing, and also send the individual characters on their separate paths all in one two-parter. And it didn’t go well in my view.
  
  The Dominion War ended very suddenly. This was DS9’s greatest contribution to Star Trek, and while the final battle was spectacular, there are just so many unanswered questions. Most of the episode should have been focused on the war and its aftermath, and maybe Section 31 which is a potentially huge subplot. Instead, a lot of time is spent wrapping up this Pah-Wraith struggle, which is probably DS9’s worst contribution to Star Trek and I think damages the show’s credibility somewhat. Not only that, but we have to endure one final scene of Vic Fontaine’s singing rather than actual plot. What a waste of time.
  
  Then we have a series of scenes that try to clarify what will happen to each person. It’s an odd transition between the Dominion War struggle and the Pah-Wraith fight. It slows things down and gets you ready for the end, but then suddenly Sisko goes back to fight a possessed Dukat and "dies" in an apocalyptic battle that also ends very suddenly. Following this is a quick attempt to focus on how this impacts Yates and Jake, and then a series of flashbacks of everyone's fondest memories.
  
  The whole thing was fast, and seemed a very forced attempt to end so many themes and plots that it really didn’t give me the same sense of finale that I had after viewing “All Good Things”. I agree that DS9’s average episodes were more exciting than TNG’s average episodes, and that DS9 had just as many ethical, political, and social messages as TNG. But as finales go, I think TNG outshines this one just a bit. But even if you’re not into the whole comparison thing, it’s just a weird way to end a spectacular saga.
  
  The flashback moments were touching, and Odo’s rejoining the Great Link was a nicely done scene. I didn’t like Odo and Quark’s parting; DS9 has done some awkward goodbyes (like Picard and O’Brien at the opener) and this one was no different.
  
  But overall I’d give part 1 a 9, and part 2 a 6.
• From PaulBW on 2012-05-26 at 6:51am:
  Underwhelming as a follow up to the excellent part one. Gul Dukat's 15 minutes as a super-villian felt unnessary, especially for all the tedious build-up we had to endure to get to that point. Though I did get sentimental towards the end of the episode when the characters met their final conclusions in the series.
  
  After Quark says, "hasn't there been enough change around here already." I felt like it would of been a perfect moment for Morn to say a word or too. A simple "ya" would have been hilarious. It would play into the times-are-changin theme they got going on this second half.
• From L on 2013-08-19 at 10:07am:
  Then I guess everything's wrapped up in a neat little package.
  
  Awesome battle scenes.
  
  I think what made this show great was the writing and development of the villains, which was made possible by doing the larger arcs, and also that they were able to make them complex and sympathetic with shades of grey well as all-out evil. The acting of the Cardassians, Vorta, Jem-Hadaar and the Ferengi eclipses everyone else's (all the 'nice' races) performance for some reason, or they're just more compelling to me.
  The exploration of darker and heavier themes was also to its merit.
  The development of the Ferenghi culture over TNG was very welcome and priceless.
  
  I wasn't particularly moved by the wrap-up however - I think the only flashback that touched me was that showing the relationship of Jake and Sisko, truly one of the greatest father/son relationships ever portrayed on television.
  
  I feel a bit let down by the fact that I didn't really care in the end about the fate of the characters - possibly it's the 'spiritual' ridiculousness of Sisko's fate that poured cold water on it for me, plus the farewell party in the Vegas holosuite seemed pointless and cheesy, as that whole Vic/smooth jazzclub sub-plot always did.
  The best flashback to me was the one showing a lanky Bashir in a lycra body-suit playing whatever that squash game was with O'Brien.
  
  This just did not have the same impact as TNG for me, that felt so much more of a family and had a really positive feeling. Perhaps it's the lack of optimism in this ending, as lots of heavy stuff has been going on - we've all lost our Star Trek innocence and future idealism now.
  
  My lack of emotional investment started half-way through the last season with my resistance to the Bajoran culture and religion and the blind faith being advocated, so I'm just glad to have got through it.
  
  I can see why it's praised. Definitely some fantastic moments.
  Now onto Voyager.
• From Rob UK on 2013-12-01 at 6:23pm:
  I will write something more on this episode at some point as in regards to the ending of a Star Trek season i think it is the best, sidetracked.
  
  My reason for writing now is Major Kira who seems to have turned into first a Sith lord (see previous episode as she lurks all cloaked up conducting the dissent on Kardasia) an then in this episode she goes all Princess Leah invading Jabba's Palace with the captured Chewbacca and the thermal detonator as she is dressed as the Breen to save Garrick and co, if she had just said "Someone who loves you" in response to someone asking "Who are you?" from under the Breen helmet we were complete in the homage.
  
  I know Star Wars and Star Trek comparatives i have probably broken all the rules of fandom, anyone sitting there melting at their computer at my foibles please forgive, count to ten and breath deep, no offense was ever intended as i am a fan of it all
• From Alex on 2014-05-19 at 11:08pm:
  I`ll be honest,i personally thought DS9 was the most overrated steaming heap of manure ever to masquerade as anything to be connected with star trek.The star trek ethos is meant to be to boldly go and explore,not to bore everyone whitless about the inane goings on (and lets face it,for the first 2 series the SCI-FI CONTENT was negligible)at a second rate Babylon 5 effort.The only thing that made it bearable was the introduction of Worf,the Defiant(something to get off that bloody station)and the Dominion story arc which at times was brilliant,especially the episode Rocks And Shoals.To finish this is not a series i will miss in anyway,good riddance
• From mandeponium on 2014-08-03 at 12:39am:
  This is the episode I've been waiting for since Episode 1 and the start of the Dominion War. It all finally culminates here with the fight that means everything but also changes everything.
  
  It's the last task to save the thing that you love the most. But in doing so, the fighting changes the thing and you can't go back to it. You can't go back to the way things were. You've saved it but it's different now than when you left it. Garak lost 800 million countrymen. He can never go back to the Cardassia he knew. Even if the thing hadn't changed, you still couldn't go back because now you're different. The struggle changed you. Sisko now lives with the prophets.
  
  It reminded me a lot of the end of Lord of the Rings. Maybe DS9 copied it or maybe they both copied the broader archetype: the struggle to save followed by loss.
  "We set out to save the Shire, Sam and it has been saved - but not for me," says Frodo as he makes way to the ships that will take him to the White Shores.
  
• From RichD on 2016-09-29 at 9:26pm:
  A great finale for a great series. I recently re-watched the entire series on Netflix. DS9 gets my vote as the best ST series. TOS was the 1st so it must be respected. TNG had the master thespian. ENT and VOY had their moments, but DS9 was much more complex and diverse. It told so many different stories, and it told them well. I loved the series when I first watched it, and I love it even more now after watching it again. I'm almost a little misty that's over, ha!
  
  My top ten episodes:
  
  In the Pale Moonlight
  The Visitor
  The Die is Cast
  By Inferno's Light
  The Siege of AR-558
  In Purgatory's Shadow
  Duet
  The Way of the Warrior
  Trials and Tribble-ations
  A time to Stand
  
  
• From ChristopherA on 2021-09-13 at 3:06am:
  I like that DS9 has a proper finale to wrap things up. The timing of network television made it hard for many series to have satisfactory finales (look at how poor Babylon 5 went through the ringer), so it is great that the series had a proper finale, though it really varies how well each storyline was wrapped up.
  
  The conclusion to the Dominion war was really the long-awaited part and I thought the finale was really quite an excellent ending to the war, with the Dominion turning on Cardassia, Cardassia turning on the Dominion, and the female shapeshifter fighting to the bitter end until Odo links with her and brings peace by rejoining the Great Link. My only complaint is not with the finale itself, but rather that it seems like there was something rushed in the episodes leading up to this. After the war going on and on seemingly indefinitely throughout the show, with our heroes just able to hold their own, suddenly the Breen appear and turn the tides against the Allies, but shortly after that the heroes turn around and start doing better than ever, despite the presence of the Breen. Maybe the Breen are actually a rather weak military power and became largely insignificant after the special energy damping weapon was nullified? But as early as episode 5 of this very season a big point was made that the power of the Dominion was so overwhelming that their victory was inevitable, and that was before the Breen joined the war. Suddenly, after the Breen are neutralized, the Dominion are outright losing and forced to retreat. What happened? There were a few little things that helped the Federation Alliance, like the Cardassian rebels and the Changeling disease interfering with shapeshifting, but none of it seemed to clearly explain the incredible turnaround. Feels like there were some episodes missing from the middle of the season to explain this.
  
  It is nice that they had the time to wrap up the pah-wraiths storyline, rather than just leave it hanging, but boy did it feel rushed. All that elaborate build up for multiple episodes only to suddenly end without very much happening. Also, I am really starting to agree with some of the other commentators that the religious mysticism is getting out of hand. Originally the idea was that the Prophets really were super powerful wormhole aliens living outside of linear time, and the religious aspects were created by the Bajorans, and by the way that contacting the prophets feels like a religious experience due to the weird and confusing effects of primitive humanoid brains trying to communicate with beings on another plane of existence. Part of what made them interesting was that every experience with them could either be looked at through a religious Bajoran viewpoint, or through a scientific Federation viewpoint. But the Pah-Wraiths just seemed to be inserted from a fantasy novel – reading spells from a mystic tome to unleash the demons from their mystic prison, hand to hand combat between the chosen ones with the fate of good versus evil hanging in the balance. What’s up with that? It just seems out of place.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-12 at 2:45am:
  I enjoy any O'Brien episode, but this one is spectacular. I especially love the speech O'Brien gives Odo in the cell about his personal convictions and morality, as well as loyalty to the federation despite his own opinions. He is truly a good man, and one of my favorite characters in Star Trek. It's a damn shame he didn't get more screen time in TNG. Him and Picard would have gotten along well
• From milesmust on 2011-09-04 at 1:39am:
  This is very clearly a quintessential "O'Brien must suffer" episode (the producers intentionally put Miles through the meat grinder at at least once per season, src: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine).
  
  This is quite fascinating to watch, although I agree with the reviewer there is a touch of absurdity about the court proceedings.
  
  The judge is too lenient at certain times, too stubborn at other times, depending on what the plot requires. It really doesn't seem to make much sense - since the purpose and proceedings of these show trials is so well established, why wouldn't she just find Odo in contempt and have him removed, rather than put up with his attempts to defend Miles?
  
  I haven't fully thought it through, but it might make more sense in light of the revelation at the end: that this was a highly politicized ploy from the very beginning, rather than some ordinary trial. This particular show trial had an interplanetary audience as well as its usual audience, and Odo had a legal right to serve as Nestor (which was a cool twist, btw).
  
  So, pretty good episode, but whether it makes sense or not, much of the trial proceedings are kind of irritating to watch.
• From Axel on 2015-05-17 at 7:09am:
  So let's see, we have TNG: Face of the Enemy (Troi abducted), TNG: The Mind's Eye (La Forge abducted), DS9: In Purgatory's Shadow (Bashir abducted), and also this episode...O'Brien abducted. It seems to me that the Federation has a border control problem, and going anywhere on your own in a shuttlecraft is pretty risky.
  
  I also thought the Cardassian judicial system was a little too absurd. Granted, trials are often for show in dictatorships and military juntas of any kind, but in this episode it seemed to be almost comically ridiculous. It would be more apropos to have a Cardassian regime that simply makes its victims disappear, denying them the opportunity to be martyrs or visibly oppose the state. This insidious reality of totalitarian regimes is something that has been described by those who opposed both the Nazi and Soviet systems.
  
  In any case, I did enjoy a few of the plot twists and I thought it had some terrific acting.
• From Zorak on 2016-05-14 at 4:03pm:
  Episodes like this annoy me a bit. It's hard for me to take the plot seriously when it's based off of the fact (shown time and again throughout Star Trek) that any foreign government can abduct a Federation citizen for whatever reason they choose with no consequences. They kidnaped the Chief of Operations for Depp Space 9. How is that not an act of war? The excuse of the week should hardly be relevant.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-21 at 6:46am:
  I was amused by the Cardassian “legal system”. It is sort of a cross between two real-world concepts – show trials which look like a modern trial and pretend to determine guilt or innocence but are actually rigged by the state, and the fact that many cultures have simply given authority figures the job of deciding who is guilty and punishing them, with nothing like a modern trial at all. It was somewhat absurd, but interesting. However, not quite interesting enough to fill a whole episode, it did get somewhat repetitious and stretched.
  
  I agree that the idea the Cardassians could just abduct anyone at any time with no repercussions was disturbing and kept weighing on my mind the entire time. Another episode where I felt our heroes were insufficiently outraged by what was going on, as if the Cardassians were justified in entering Federation space, overpowering and capturing a Federation vessel, and kidnapping a Federation officer simply because they unilaterally declared that person to be a criminal (which, in Cardassian terms, means an enemy of the Cardassian state – a category which likely includes an awful lot of Federation citizens).
  
  Now, I can believe that the episode could have gone forward as shown anyway, with the Federation letting it slide. Previous episodes with the Cardassians have made clear that the Federation really wants peace and is willing to make sacrifices to get it. Starfleet Command may well be willing to sacrifice one life to avoid the devastation of a war they do not feel ready to fight. But you would at least expect more displays of outrage, saber-rattling, and heightened tensions over this act of war.
  
• From Steven Wrieden on 2023-08-26 at 8:14am:
  This was certainly inspired by Franz Kafka's The Trial.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Bernard on 2010-01-20 at 10:47pm:
  I like the way they decided to continue on from the end of season one with more Bajoran stuff. One would have thought that after a fairly lacklustre first season that they would begin season two with something quite generic and 'easy' for non-trek fans to get into, I'm glad they did not.
  
  This is by no means a standout offering, but it is steady enough and keeps the interest flowing into the next installment.
• From Amaterasu on 2010-12-08 at 2:44am:
  You don't consider The Best of Both Worlds and Family a three parter?
• From Gul Duviewer on 2011-08-17 at 10:37am:
  I thought this was an excellent episode. I think Chief O'Brian being sent on a successful special ops combat mission, and personally dispensing several guards, deserves a mention in "Remarkable Scenes." Quite a change of pace for him from repairing food replicators and the like.
  
  His deceptive pimping of Kira was also amusing. (How the hell does he do such a convincing job of being so unsavory? Are there other sides to old Miles that we haven't seen yet?)
  
  Everything just seemed nicely lined up and well executed. I really liked how there were a few things on the side that fit in the with the major plot lines, like Quark's mentioning Rule of Acquisition #76 in the very beginning, "declaring peace for the sake of confusion," which ties into Gul Dukat's conciliatory reaction at the end. Also, Jake's date's father not letting them see each other because Jake isn't a Bajoran (ties into xenophobic extremism spreading on Bajor).
  
  There were also some great tidbits of continuity, for instance Miles being eager about, and then actually participating in the Cardassia IV mission. This ties in with his having fought Cardassians before on Setlik III under Captain Maxwell, and personally witnessing atrocities there (TNG: The Wounded).
  
  And another tiny bit of continuity when Quark walks in on Major Kira in the middle of a Bajoran ritual... In the previous episode she talked about wishing her faith was stronger.
  
  To cap this all off, I thought the acting was all around very good - even though there weren't any intensely dramatic scenes. I thought it was all very smooth and even, perhaps just half a notch better than most episodes. In almost every other episode (thus far) I find Avery Brooks' performance of Sisko to be kind of mechanical and... jumpy or something... not quite convincing, at least in certain moments. But here Sisko is very consistent and believable. I hope it holds from here on out.
  
  Anyway, good episode. 8 or 9.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-06-29 at 11:48am:
  Victor Maitland from Beverly Hills Cop! He plays such a good slimeball! :)
• From Selador on 2013-06-19 at 11:05pm:
  A decent idea, poorly executed. I must disagree with the view Hagath was a brilliant character played by a brilliant actor. He was a one-dimentional stereotypical villain, overplayed by a below average actor with no imagination.
  
  Quark's turnaround came too late - he had already played apart in selling weapons to very dubious character. He should have been sent to prison for it for a very long time.
• From Bronn on 2013-07-17 at 12:12am:
  Trek writers tend to want it so clear that they're not supporting something even slightly controversial by getting a bit heavy-handed with the plot. That's what happened here. I thought this could have been a bit more intriguing without this guy showing up halfway through the episode and announcing that he's the villain of the week by saying, "I would like to indiscriminately kill 28 million people, please." Real people don't talk like that, not even bloodthirsty despots. I would have preferred if they'd moved a bit slower with this plot, having Quark getting drawn in more and more over his head until he realized what he was doing. It seems like they TRIED to do that, but they couldn't help but pass on the message that "People who sell weapons have no souls," so they cut it short pretty quickly.
  
  This could have been more intelligently done. There was apparently some awareness among the writing staff, since they pointed out that people like Hagath had supplied weapons to the Bajoran resistance. The weapons carried by even Federation security personnel were obviously researched and developed by SOMEBODY-and sure, while they have stun settings, they also have kill settings, and we'll see our heroes using lethal settings on their weapons rather arbitrarily over the remainder of this show's run. Then there's people out there who are supposedly supplying weapons to the Maquis, whom we're supposed to view at least with some degree of sympathy since they were among the heroes on Voyager. We hear about plenty of members of Starfleet who help supply weapons TO the Maquis, so obviously not everyone in the whole Federation hates weapons suppliers.
  
  Instead of a designated villain who just wants to kill everyone, you could write someone like an ACTUAL bloodthirsty despot. Bring in someone who's running an authoritarian regime that says he wants to snuff out the rebels-it should serve as an echo for the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. The arms merchants could offer him precision weapons that will allow him to eliminate the leaders and blow up rebel hide-outs, but instead, he wants large scale weapons to use to take out entire villages that harbor resistance members. At least make it seem realistic. It also helps leave just a bit of a gray area in which actual weapons developers can exist, even if the ones represented in the episode are unscrupulous.
• From Axel on 2015-06-09 at 3:29am:
  I disagree a bit with the reviewer Bronn. I do think this episode did a decent job with the moral gray area that is weapons dealing. Even in the real world, weapons dealing is one of those things that we know goes on and that we overall consider to be evil, but which we tolerate because we also know it makes possible certain things we believe to be worthwhile. It allows causes we believe in to take hold.
  
  The best scene in this episode is the one where Gaila confronts Quark about his hesitations. This scene reminded me of the movie “Lord of War” which focuses on this same issue. Gaila points out the same thing that Nicholas Cage’s character does in that movie: the universe is made up of people who are committed to the destruction of other people. You’ll never be able to stop it, and refusing to sell weapons doesn’t mean the genocide won’t occur, it just means someone else will profit from it instead. Quark, I think when talking to Jadzia, also offers up the age-old excuse of the weapons dealer: I’m giving people a means to defend themselves.
  
  I do agree the Federation characters come across as a little too holier-than-thou in this one. Of course, this is before they found out that Section 31 was using biological warfare against the Founders with the hope of wiping them out.
  
  The eccentric Hagath was definitely an enjoyable character.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-09 at 3:55am:
  Weyoun is a very entertaining character. I enjoyed his scenes immensely. However, Kira's emotional problems really brought this episode down. Reminded me of those Troi suffering episodes on TNG. After awhile it's like "We get that you are fucked up about your daddy's death. Get OVER it and stop being a bitch." The Legate was only a foot soldier on that battle and she acts like he was the mastermind behind it. I absolutely can't stand her when her Bajoran bitchiness kicks in and she starts whining.
• From rpeh on 2010-08-02 at 12:01am:
  I cannot believe this terrible, boring, overblown and over-sentimental pile of rubbish gained a 7 here.
  
  It's not interesting in any way. The plot is obvious within a few minutes and the acting is absolutely bloody awful. This episode is the only one where I used the DVD controls to skip ahead to see if there was something more interesting about to happen. I didn't even do that with TOS The Empath!
• From John on 2011-09-23 at 3:38am:
  I have to agree with the other commenters, this episode deserves well below a 7. For me it's 2, 2.5 tops, and both of those points are for Weyoun.
• From Selador on 2013-06-18 at 12:32am:
  I agree with the other comments. Kira is awful, Weyoun is brilliant. It's also completely unrealistic that Gul Dukat and Weyoun would be allowed to freely roam DS9 - the Federation and the Dominion are in a state of war for god's sake. Very dull episode on the whole. It was worth watching solely for the scene in Quark's bar where Weyoun drinks the poison. Classic.
• From Tarondor on 2018-09-06 at 11:21pm:
  I found it to be very moving and understood Kira’s ambivalence well. It was more to do with how she failed her father than anything Ghemore had done. And her anguish at how Ghemore struggled in death rang very true to me. Icon ur with the 7 rating.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-11-20 at 1:54pm:
  I think the complaints about Kira "overreacting" to Ghemor's participation in that attack are unfounded, and I'm frankly not sure if we watched the same episode.
  
  Just as Kira looked for an excuse to leave her own father's deathbed, she wanted to get away from Ghemor's. Dukat gave her a reason, and she hates that it was *him* that did what she wanted. It's her guilt that is eating her, guilt over her lack of presence at her father's death and the guilt she knows she will feel if she avoids Ghemor's. In the end, she makes the right decision and is able to take some peace from it, burying Ghemor next to her own father on a hill that was once barren but is now verdant.
  
  This episode speaks to any child who has lost a parent or a parental figure. Those questions of "did I do enough?" never go away. Fantastic entry.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Tallifer on 2011-05-01 at 12:20pm:
  How do some people rate this zero or one? Do they simply hate Star Trek and stumbled onto the wrong website in their search for Jersey Shore?
  
  This final story was amazing. Space battles. Intrigue and rebellion. The final battle between the pah-wraiths and the prophets.
  
  And I must confess that the extended epilogue detailing everyone's final fate brought tears to my eyes.
• From Inga on 2013-07-06 at 3:37pm:
  The last two episodes were indeed marvelous, but the pah wraith battle was pretty silly and banal (a tired concept of good vs evil).

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-10 at 1:50am:
  Yeah I still don't understand what they did with the universe. Did they beam it back into space in the gamma quadrant? If so, wouldn't it just destroy the area? And they tried so hard to make the episode really epic, with sisko's comments about the Borg "stepping on" other races.
  
  Just a very crappy episode
• From Remco on 2008-10-06 at 9:27pm:
  According to Jadzia, Runabouts are 14 meters wide, not 17. The tight passage was 17 meters wide.
  
  Arjin: I don't see it! I don't see it!
  Arjin: I see it! It's less than 17 meters across.
  Jadzia: This ship is only 14 meters wide. That gives you over 2 meters to work with.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-27 at 9:51pm:
  Another problem. When flying into the wormhole towards the end, the shuttle accelerates to "50 kilometers per hour" and then we're told that it'll take 17 seconds to enter the wormhole. Is the station really just 236 meters from the wormhole?
  
  The universe size "problem" isn't a problem. Read some Iain M. Banks for ways around it. Otherwise, this is a decent episode that adds a lot of back-story.
• From Bernard on 2011-03-27 at 8:52am:
  With this episode marks a big change for the series dynamic. The reason for that is the complete turn around in the writing of Jadzia Dax. Gone is the aloof, ageless, purely scientific young woman. In comes the raunchy, loud, aggressive Curzon... Sorry, I meant new Jadzia. This is the first big shift towards a more action orientated series (the later changes are the dominion, the defiant, bad-ass Sisko and finally the introduction of Worf).
  
  I don't complain about the change in the Jadzia character, but you have to ask why not change the host? You have the only species in the Star Trek universe that allows you to completely change actors legitimately and instead they decide that Jadzia will be written completely differently to before.
  
  This episode is okay but it does contain loads of interesting tidbits of Trill info that will be built upon later in episodes like 'Equilibrium' and 'Facets'.
  
  I don't care about bad science in the slightest... when the story is good enough to make you suspend disbelief. Here it isn't, and I found myself scratching my head just as some of you have commented.
  
  So, poor outing, but the first steps toward making DS9 into the best of the Star Trek series' have been taken.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From djb on 2009-01-22 at 8:49am:
  Watching this episode, something occurred to me: I can wrap my head around the idea of a shapeshifter, but how can Odo change into objects as small, or more importantly, light as he regularly does? I mean, he could change his density, but he can't change his mass, can he? Like when he's trapped in that box in "Invasive Procedures." He not only becomes smaller, but obviously much lighter, light enough to carry. Either that, or he has hardly any mass, and when he's in a humanoid shape his density goes way down. That doesn't really fly either. What gives?
• From Miles on 2009-04-06 at 9:11pm:
  Starts out good, but it ultimately fails with odo's monster transformation, which is never brought up ever again. That cool/scary obelisk also serves no further purpose. :(
• From Bernard on 2011-02-15 at 1:51pm:
  7 or 8 for the Odo's 'dad' story, 2 or 3 for the monster story.
  
  James Sloyan is a veteran of Star Trek by now and produces a good performance as Dr. Mora. Rene Auberjonois also turns in a good performance and these largely buoy the episode up a bit.
  
  We're well and truly into the 'messy, middle bit' of DS9 season 2. Muddles plots, half thought ideas coming to the surface in the last 4 episodes. Let's hope they get back on track soon!