AN INTRODUCTION TO DS9AN INTRODUCTION TO DS9Be sure to check out the DS9 FAQ for more on the greatest Trek series ever!
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An excellent resource for DS9 is the recently published (2000) STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE COMPANION. This book has extensive interviews, photographs and analysis of every episode ever produced. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! |
Deep Space Nine was like no Star Trek before it. When it debuted in 1993, it brought the gritty underbelly of the ST universe to the fore. Here we had Starfleet officers who didn't always agree with one another and who sometimes made deals with the devil in order to serve the greater good. Unlike previous Treks, DS9 perfected the use of continued storylines, with subplots that would begin in one episode, play out over several more and then climax months (sometimes years) later. In some ways, it was the most "soap-opera" of the Trek series, but it was also the most violent. Towards the end of its run, the war with the Dominion cost the Federation much and ended up claiming the lives of Benjamin Sisko and Jadzia Dax. As the first Trek series created without the input of Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry, it frequently received criticism that it wasn't "true" Trek. To those who came to love the show, however, it was by far the best of them all. It managed to remain true to the spirit of optimism that epotimizes Star Trek, while creating a far more realitistic view of the galaxy.
The series began with the following premise : After years of Cardassian occupation, the Bajoran system turned to the Federation for aid. The Federation took possession of Terok Nor, a mining station built by the Cardassians. Renaming it Deep Space Nine, the station was placed under the command of Commander Benjamin Sisko, a widower with a 14 year old son named Jake. Sisko is a haunted man, still unable to cope with the death of his wife during the Borg attack at Wolf 359 three years earlier. Soon after arriving on DS9, Sisko and his science officer Lt. Dax discovered the first stable wormhole in the known galaxy, which leads into the Gamma Quadrant. Inside the wormhole, Sisko makes contact with a group of mysterious aliens who dwell within -- aliens worshipped on Bajor as the Prophets. This discovery leads to the Bajorans' belief that Sisko is the Emissary, a being of immense religious importance who would help save the Bajoran people. Gul Dukat, the Cardassian leader who once ran Terok Nor with an iron fist would become the main villain of the series.
Much of the first season involved the characters becoming used to their new roles and positions, though rumors of a dangerous threat on the other side of the wormhole became known. Towards the end of the second season, the Federation had clashed for the first time with the Jem Ha'dar, the footsoldiers of the Dominion.
Season three saw Sisko promoted to the
rank of Captain and the arrival of a new warship, The Defiant.
Thanks to an agreement between the Federation and the Romulans,
the new ship is outfitted with a cloaking device. The Dominion's
rulers are revealed to be the Founders, the same race to which
Odo belongs.
Season four brought Worf from Star Trek : The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine. During this season, relations with the Dominion continued to worsen. The Klingons reemerged as a threat, using the Dominion attacks as an excuse to claim new lands for themselves.
In season five, the crew took part in "Trials and Tribble-ations", in which certain members of the DS9 crew were able to interact with the members of the original Enterprise. Cardassia, led by Gul Dukat, joined the Dominion and eventually re-took the station. Julian Bashir's horrible secret, that he had been genetically altered as a child, was revealed to all. The Klingons joined an alliance between the Federation and the Romulans to stand against the Dominion.
Season six saw Sisko lead a concerted
effort to reclaim Deep Space Nine. With the aid of the Prophets,
he did so. Worf and Jadzia's romance blossomed into love and the
two were married, though their happiness was cut short. Gul Dukat
allied himself with the Pah-wraiths, an ancient race of
apparently evil beings who stood locked in eternal combat with
the Prophets. Dukat, under the sway of the Pah-wraiths, slew
Jadzia Dax.
The final season of Deep Space Nine saw the war with the Dominion grow to terrible proportions as the Federation faced possible defeat. Ezri Dax joined the crew of Deep Space Nine and proved to be an instrumental member of the group. Julian Bashir uncovered a Federation plot by Section 31 to commit genocide on the Founders and he valiantly strove to find a cure. In the end, the Federation alliance with the Romulans and Klingons was victorious when the Founders surrendered. In exchange for their surrender, Odo returned to his people, carrying the cure in his genetic code. Shortly thereafter, however, Gul Dukat and Kai Winn (the spiritual leader of the Bajoran people) revived the Pah-wraiths. Sisko sacrificed his life so that the Pah-wraiths would not be free.
For more on what happened following the war, see the Crew page.
Season One
Episode Title Air Date ----------------------------------------------- -------- Emissary (2-Hour Premiere) 01/03/93 Past Prologue 01/10/93 A Man Alone 01/17/93 Babel 01/24/93 Captive Pursuits 01/31/93 Q Less 02/07/93 Dax 02/14/93 The Passenger 02/21/93 Move Along Home 03/14/93 The Nagus 03/21/93 Vortex 04/18/93 Battle Lines 04/25/93 Storyteller 05/02/93 Progress 05/09/93 If Wishes Were Horses 05/16/93 The Foresaken 05/23/93 Dramatis Personae 06/06/93 Duet 06/13/93 In the Hands of the Prophets 06/20/93
Season Two
Episode Title Air Date ----------------------------------------------- -------- The Homecoming 09/25/93 The Circle 10/02/93 The Siege 10/09/93 Invasive Procedure 10/16/93 Cardassians 10/23/93 Melora 10/30/93 Rules of Acquisition 11/06/93 Necessary Evil 11/13/93 Second Sight 11/20/93 Sanctuary 11/27/93 Rivals 01/02/94 Alternate 01/09/94 Armageddon Game 01/30/94 Whispers 02/06/94 Paradise 02/13/94 Shadow Play 02/20/94 Playing God 02/27/94 Profit and Loss 03/20/94 Blood Oath 03/27/94 The Maqius (Part 1) 04/24/94 The Maqius (Part 2) 05/01/94 The Wire 05/08/94 Crossover 05/15/94 The Collaborator 05/22/94 Tribunal 06/05/94 The Jem'Hadar 06/12/94
Season Three
Episode Title Air Date ----------------------------------------------- -------- The Search (Part 1) 09/25/94 The Search (Part 2) 10/02/94 The House of Quark 10/09/94 Equilibrium 10/16/94 Second Skin 10/23/94 The Abandoned 10/30/94 Civil Defense 11/06/94 Meridian 11/13/94 Defiant 11/20/94 Fasincation 11/27/94 Past Tense (Part 1) 01/01/95 Past Tense (Part 2) 01/08/95 Life Support 01/29/95 Heart of Stone 02/05/95 Destiny 02/12/95 Profit Motive 02/19/95 Visionary 02/26/95 Distant Voices 04/09/95 Through the Looking Glass 04/16/95 Improbable Cause 04/23/95 The Die Is Cast 04/30/95 Explorers 05/07/95 Family Business 05/14/95 Shakaar 05/21/95 Facets 06/11/95 The Adversary 06/18/95
Season Four
Episode Title Air Date ----------------------------------------------- -------- The Way of the Warrior (2-Hour Special) 10/01/95 The Visitor 10/08/95 Hippocratic Oath 10/15/95 Indiscretion 10/22/95 Rejoined 10/29/95 Little Green Men 11/05/95 Starship Down 11/12/95 The Sword of Kahless 11/19/95 Our Man Bashir 11/26/95 Homefront 12/31/96 Paradise Lost 01/07/96 Crossfire 01/28/96 Return to Grace 02/04/96 The Sons of Mogh 02/11/96 The Bar Association 02/18/96 Accession 02/25/96 Rules of Engagement 04/07/96 Hard Time 04/14/96 Shattered Mirror 04/21/96 The Muse 04/28/96 For the Cause 05/05/96 To the Death 05/12/96 The Quickening 05/19/96 Boby Parts 06/09/96 Broken Link 06/16/96
Season Five
Episode Title Air Date ----------------------------------------------- -------- Apocalypse Rising 09/29/96 The Ship 10/06/96 Looking for Par'mach in All the Wrong Places 10/13/96 ...Nor the Battle to the Strong 10/20/96 The Assignment 10/27/96 Trials and Tribble-ations 11/03/96 Let He Who Is Without Sin... 11/10/96 Things Past 11/17/96 The Ascent 11/24/96 Rapture 12/29/96 The Darkness and the Light 01/05/97 The Begotten 01/26/97 For the Uniform 02/02/97 In Purgatory's Shadow 02/09/97 By Inferno's Light 02/16/97 Doctor Bashir, I Presume 02/23/97 A Simple Investigation 03/30/97 Business as Usual 04/06/97 Ties of Blood and Water 04/13/97 Ferengi Love Songs 04/20/97 Soldiers of the Empire 04/27/97 Children of Time 05/04/97 Blaze of Glory 05/11/97 Empok Nor 05/18/97 In the Cards 06/08/97 A Call to Arms 06/15/97
Season Six
Episode Title Air Date ----------------------------------------------- -------- A Time to Stand 09/28/97 Rocks and Shoals 10/05/97 Sons and Daughters 10/12/97 Behind the Lines 10/19/97 Favor the Bold 10/26/97 The Sacrifice of Angels 11/02/97 You Are Cordially Invited 11/09/97 Resurrection 11/16/97 Statistical Probabilities 11/23/97 The Magnificent Ferengi 12/28/97 Waltz 01/04/98 Who Mourns for Morn? 02/01/98 Far Beyond the Stars 02/08/98 One Little Ship 02/15/98 Honor Among Thieves 02/22/98 Change of Heart 03/01/98 Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night 03/29/98 Inquisition 04/05/98 In the Pale Moonlight 04/12/98 His Way 04/19/98 The Reckoning 04/26/98 Valiant 05/03/98 Profit and Lace 05/10/98 Time's Orphan 05/17/98 The Sound of Her Voice 06/07/98 Tears of the Prophets 06/14/98
Season Seven
Episode Title Air Date
---------------------------------------------- -------- Image in the Sand 09/27/98 Shadows and Symbols 10/04/98 Afterimage 10/11/98 Take Me Out to the Holosuite 10/18/98 Chrysalis 10/25/98 Treachery, Faith, and the Great River 11/01/98 Once More into the Breach 11/08/98 The Siege of AR-558 11/15/98 Covenant 11/22/98 It's Only a Paper Moon 12/27/98 Prodigal Daughter 01/03/99 The Emperor's New Cloak 01/31/99 Field of Fire 02/07/99 Chimera 02/14/99 Badda-bing Badda-bang 02/21/99 Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges 02/28/99 Penumbra 04/04/99 'Til Death Do Us Part 04/11/99 Strange Bedfellows 04/18/99 The Changing Face of Evil 04/25/99 When It Rains... 05/02/99 Tacking into the Wind 05/09/99 Extreme Measures 05/16/99 The Dogs of War 05/23/99 What You Leave Behind (2-Hr. Series Finale) 05/30/99
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