DS9: What You Leave Behind -- 10 Years Later

[Thanas]

Second Skin - a great episode that might have been better if they kept us guessing in the end.

Wasn't the original ending to have Bashir's medical tests come up inconclusive as to whether or not Kira was Bajoran or Cardassian, with Kira choosing to be her own person?

Correct, at least according to the commentary. They however decided against it because they felt that being Bajoran was too central a pillar of her character.

However, IMO it was a wasted opportunity - they could have made more of it. A few episodes showing Kira to struggle with the possibility of being cardassian etc....

It is noteworthy that characters not being sure if they are something else is exactly what RDM then did in his BSG saga, while Robert Hewitt Wolfe used the same device on his show Andromeda several times.

While this is one of my favorite episodes of the series (and my favorite installment of the Eddington trilogy), it always bugged me that there was never any geo-political fallout/punishment from the Starfleet Admiralty over Sisko's deployment of bio-weapons, even if it was a Maquis colony.

I would agree, but then again Starfleet doesn't really care what happens to the Maquis.

What do you think of the rest of my list, btw?

I can't remember the name of it, but I liked the episode where Sisko compromises his morals to bring the Romulans into the war, and then says that he would do it again.

In the pale moonlight. It is on my list.

Spoiler

Yes, Ezri is a captain, but only becuse the original captain and first officer die in a borg attack.

Spoiler

That makes more sense, but where the heck is Bashir?

[JME2]

I like your list, Thanas; I'm glad you included "His Way", as that's one of the more underrated episodes in the series. And in regards to realaunch questions...
Spoiler

* No, the first officer and captain are killed during a Jem'Hadar attack in the inaugural book, "Avatar" (a rogue faction of Jem'Hadar believed that it was shameful to have surrendered to Federation and attempted to reignite hostilities by attacking DS9). Ezri takes command of the Defiant, stops them, and realizes she has the potential for the command track.

* Ezri and Bashir eventually that the latter's feelings for her are a by-product of his unrequited feelings for Jadzia; they mutually agree to end their relationship during the "Worlds of DS9" novella "Trill: Unjoined".

[Thanas]

I like your list, Thanas; I'm glad you included "His Way", as that's one of the more underrated episodes in the series.

It is IMO the best Trek music episode as well. And after all the things that happened to the two of them, I believe they are entitled to happiness. And I am very glad that it was handled in a competent manner in the rest of DS9 and in the relaunch novels as well.

And in regards to realaunch questions...
Spoiler

* No, the first officer and captain are killed during a Jem'Hadar attack in the inaugural book, "Avatar" (a rogue faction of Jem'Hadar believed that it was shameful to have surrendered to Federation and attempted to reignite hostilities by attacking DS9). Ezri takes command of the Defiant, stops them, and realizes she has the potential for the command track.

Eh, that's not what I am talking about - I have read all up to Unity. A friend of mine informed me that a short time later, Spoiler

Ezri is a captain in her own right. Which caused me to go WTF?

Spoiler

* Ezri and Bashir eventually that the latter's feelings for her are a by-product of his unrequited feelings for Jadzia; they mutually agree to end their relationship during the "Worlds of DS9" novella "Trill: Unjoined".

Heh. Funny considering Spoiler

the section31 book. To me this seems to be going up against canon, but whatever. If you say it makes sense, I'll accept it as a valid plot point - does it make sense?

[Darth Paxis]

I like your list, Thanas; I'm glad you included "His Way", as that's one of the more underrated episodes in the series. And in regards to realaunch questions...
Spoiler

* No, the first officer and captain are killed during a Jem'Hadar attack in the inaugural book, "Avatar" (a rogue faction of Jem'Hadar believed that it was shameful to have surrendered to Federation and attempted to reignite hostilities by attacking DS9). Ezri takes command of the Defiant, stops them, and realizes she has the potential for the command track.

* Ezri and Bashir eventually that the latter's feelings for her are a by-product of his unrequited feelings for Jadzia; they mutually agree to end their relationship during the "Worlds of DS9" novella "Trill: Unjoined".

In the Destiny trilogy:
Spoiler

Ezri is Captain of the Aventine, but she is still supposed to defer to captains with more experience, like Picard

[Steve]

When it comes to For The Uniform I think Starfleet let Sisko's actions slide because Eddington was the one who opened that door. Sisko simply walked through it to go after Eddington.

It was Eddington who upped the ante of the DMZ conflict by using bio-chem weapons on civilian targets. That was an act that calls for retaliation. Frankly if I were a Maquis member I'd be utterly fucking incensed with Eddington at that point. If not for their whole "Have Sisko play the bad guy to appeal to Eddington's hero fantasies and defeat him that way" I think a more proper ending would've been the Defiant finding a hogtied and unconscious Eddington in a life support pod somewhere because the Maquis want to wash their hands of him.

[Thanas]

Why? The Maquis are essentially terrorists who have attacked cardassian civilians and civilian ships before - indeed their whole rationale is targeting civilians because the military would be too tough a nut to crack - so why would they be that incensed about Eddington?

[neoolong]

How accurate is Memory Alpha on that subject? I don't recall the specifics of the Maquis as a group, but according to Memory Alpha, the Cardassians were arming their civilians and they attacked the former(?) Federation colonists first.

[Thanas]

How accurate is Memory Alpha on that subject? I don't recall the specifics of the Maquis as a group, but according to Memory Alpha, the Cardassians were arming their civilians and they attacked the former(?) Federation colonists first.

That does not actually disprove my point, you know.

[neoolong]

I never said it did. But, I don't think the intention was to make them target civilians only because it was easier than attacking the military. Which they also did go after.

[Steve]

The Maquis were, I think, terrorists in more of the partisan mold than modern al-Qaeda. When they hit any civilian targets it was because those targets were in the way of military ones like supply depots and arms caches. Most of the shows did seem to show an emphasis on hitting Cardassian military ships (transports mostly), not bombing Cardassian civilians. Not until Eddington decided to spread biochem agents specifically poisonous to Cardassian physiology on the Cardassians' colonies.

Frankly, if Sisko hadn't done what he did, the Cardassians probably would have. Sisko IMHO prevented the DMZ insurgency from becoming a biochem free-for-all thanks to Eddington.

[JME2]

Sisko IMHO prevented the DMZ insurgency from becoming a biochem free-for-all thanks to Eddington.

It may not have mattered to the CU or Dukat as he had more or less completed his negotiations for Dominion membership around this time. In fact, he may have been hoping something like this would happen as it would give him the excuse to sic his new Dominion allies on the Maquis in retaliation (though ultimately, of course, the Dominion went into the DMZ anyway).

[Steve]

That's assuming the Cardassian government was actually involved in those talks instead of Dukat and a group of supporters in the military pulling off a fait accompli on the civilian government, leaving them alone and without military support to resist Dukat and his new Dominion allies.

Of course, Dukat himself was a fool for what he did IMHO, he overestimated his capabilities and condemned his people to being the Dominion's first conquest in the Alpha Quadrant from his belief that he could manipulate the Dominion and simply use its power to restore Cardassia's pride without paying the attendant price.

[JME2]

That's assuming the Cardassian government was actually involved in those talks instead of Dukat and a group of supporters in the military pulling off a fait accompli on the civilian government, leaving them alone and without military support to resist Dukat and his new Dominion allies.

True. That's actually part of the reason I'm looking forward to the upcoming novel "The Never-Ending Sacrifice". While the focus is primarily on Rugal, the orphan from Season 2's "Cardassians", we'll nevertheless get to see the Klingon-Cardassian War and the initial stages of the Dominion's occupation of Cardassia from the Cardassian perspective. Rugal's status as the son of Detapa Councilor Kotan Pa'Dar will hopefully allow us to see the Detapa Council go ape-shit firsthand over Dukat's coup.

Of course, Dukat himself was a fool for what he did IMHO, he overestimated his capabilities and condemned his people to being the Dominion's first conquest in the Alpha Quadrant from his belief that he could manipulate the Dominion and simply use its power to restore Cardassia's pride without paying the attendant price.

I've always wondered if that was part of the reason Dukat was stalling on taking down the minefield; while not canon, the novelizations of that arc suggested, IIRC, that he was playing for time to get the Cardassian war machine back up to full speed to take on a weakened Dominion expeditionary force.