As the Federation and Dominion fleets clash, time is running out to reach Deep Space Nine and prevent the dismantling of the mine field. With Kira, Jake, and Leeta all detained along with Rom, it's up to Quark to save the day. The end of the conflict will exact a high price from both Sisko and Dukat.
The space battle depicted in this episode was bigger than anything shown before in Star Trek -- and nothing would come close to challenging it until Star Trek: Discovery, decades later. Not surprising, then, that this was the first time all the visuals were created with CG and no model work. That, in turn, is why "we can't have nice things" like a high-quality re-master of this series as was done for The Next Generation; the effects were only ever rendered for standard definition, and many of the digital files were subsequently lost.
Still, fuzzy though it is on a modern television, the dynamic energy of it all still holds up. The combat here is thrilling, and loaded with memorable images. A pair of Galaxy-class starships fighting in tandem. Ships peeling apart under enemy fire. Klingons riding to the rescue out of the "sunrise." And so much more.
It works in large part because there's actually storytelling and strategy driving what we see. Sisko tries one tactic, goading the Cardassian ships to break formation. In Ops, Dukat recognizes this and (after taking the moment to throw Weyoun under the bus in front of the Founder) counters with a strategy of his own. Sisko in turn spots the trap, but has no choice but to step in. There's a real cat-and-mouse game to it all that heightens the tension.
Even more gamesmanship is happening aboard the station. Damar rounds up the resistance, getting crass digs in on Kira and Leeta in the process. Dukat and Weyoun are needling each other more than ever, Dukat annoyed at Weyoun's inability to enjoy the moment, Weyoun stunned at Dukat's never-ending neediness to control his own narrative.
Dukat's authoritarian nature has never been hidden, but it's explicitly on display here more than ever before. He observes that true victory is making an enemy acknowledge your greatness. He declares that the Bajorans were lucky to have him as their occupying leader. He laments the lack of respect he gets from everyone, despite how clearly he's entitled to it. It's pathological, and built up this high so that the fall at the end of the episode will be greater.
The writers always knew they wanted someone to die at the end of this arc, to drive home the cost of it all. Although they reportedly considered Nog or Garak as options early on, they soon decided it would thwart expectations to kill the villain's daughter, rather than any of the heroes. You could certainly argue this wasn't all that surprising, as Ziyal's death seems selected to motivate the story of men in her life (Dukat and Garak)... though that trope is at least subverted a little, as Ziyal also meant a lot to Kira. It would have been nice to see more of her reaction at the end of the episode, though; instead, the final moments focus on Dukat, babbling much like Norman Bates at the end of Psycho.
Odo's redemption is arguably more a result of the Changeling Leader's hubris. She pushes the control she thinks she has over Odo too far when she all but boasts of Kira's impending execution. And the hubris seems intact even when Odo turns on her; the last dialogue she gives in the episode is a declaration that Odo will still, one day, join the Great Link.
It's arguably Quark who goes through an even greater reversal. Though he was never the focus of any episode in the arc, he still went on a journey -- from believing the occupation was not so bad to actually taking up arms to end it. Though it's easy to focus on the John Woo, double-phaser action of Quark's rescue, the more significant piece of it is his character. From his reaction, it seems pretty clear that for all Quark has done, he's never actually killed anybody before -- not directly by his own hand, at least. It's a big moment for him.
But of course, the biggest moment of all is when Sisko rides into the wormhole to stare down an entire enemy fleet with his one ship. It leads to a divisive moment in the story. On the one hand, it's a literal deus ex machina, with gods arriving at the end to save the hero. On the other hand, the relationship between the Prophets and Benjamin Sisko has been in play since the very beginning of the series. It seems quite clear the Prophets would not have interceded in this way for anyone else, and the series finale ultimately does make good on the price they say they're extracting from Sisko in this moment: that he will never find rest on Bajor.
Other observations:
- I think I side with Nog over O'Brien and Bashir's creepy recitation of poetry at the beginning of this episode. They seem to think it's cool. Not really, I think.
- Dukat's unraveling is physical as well as psychological, with his hair wild and unkempt. The camera following him is unmoored as well, listing around him as he staggers across the promenade.
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