Although we are done with DS9 and are now in the Delta Quadrant with Voyager, that doesn’t mean you can’t go back and catch up on the episodes you missed. You can find the rest here!
Deadly Viruses, conspiracies and survival. It is all here in the episode that originally aired on January 30,1994. This is Armageddon Game.
The Episode:
Station log Stardate Undetermined: Armageddon Game
Miles O’Brien and Julian Bashir help two races put an end to their biological weapons only to find themselves at the mercy of the people they just assisted.
The Breakdown:
Bashir and O’Brien are working with the T’Lani and Kellerun people to get rid of a terrible bio-weapon known as The Harvesters. Upon discovering a way to purge the bio-weapon, Ambassador Sharat informs them that, in addition to the stockpile of Harvesters they have collected, every scientific reference to this weapon must be eliminated.
Contacting the station, the Doctor and Chief inform Sisko of their success and plans to return in a few days. However, just as they are wrapping up the final purge, two armed Kellerun soldiers arrive and begin eliminating the entire scientific team. Miles and Julian manage to escape but are unable to get to their runabout.
Sisko is soon visited by ambassadors from the T’Lani and Kellerun people who inform Commander Sisko of a horrible accident of whom they identify Miles of accidentally causing. Providing surveillance to show the event, the ambassadors depart, leaving Sisko the task of informing their next of kin.
Story A: Coffee, Lies, and security footage.
On DS9, the ops team watch the footage showing the deaths of their friends. All of them are upset at the situation and, of course, are having trouble processing their loss. After instructing his team to work on finding replacements for their fallen crewmen, Sisko informs Keiko of the events that led to her husbands death. While she seems to take it well, she requests to see the footage of the accident, hoping to find some closure in the news of her husbands death.
Soon Keiko reports to Ops with news for Sisko. It seems that she believes the film has been altered due to Miles drinking coffee late in the afternoon. She insists that there is no way that her husband would drink coffee in the afternoon as it keeps him up all night. She demands that they find out why the recording has been altered and Sisko joins Dax to retrieve their runabout and find answers in the process.
Sisko and Dax arrive to retrieve their Runabout and investigate the site of the accident. Questioning the T’lani Ambassador, E’Tyshra, Sisko asks if someone may have altered the footage. Soon Dax discovers that someone has erased logs on the runabout indicating that their people were alive minutes after the accident happened. Someone is lying.
Story B: The Great Escape
Back on the planet, Miles and Julian find themselves as refugees on the run. After finding some supplies they begin plotting their escape. It is immediately clear that Miles has had experience in war as he takes command of the situation doing all he can to help them survive.
As Miles begins his work, the two men immediately begin to find themselves at odds with one another. Soon Julian discovers that Miles has been infected by the Harvesters during the attack and they now not only must find a way to survive but have a limited time to do it.
Soon Miles begins to find himself unable to work on the communications device they had found due to his condition and must rely on Julian to assist. As Miles finds himself fading fast, Julian does all he can to keep the Chief talking, working with him to help get the communications device fixed. Things go from bad to worse when Miles discovers he can no longer walk.
Knowing that time is limited, Julian manages to repair the communications device with the hopes that they can get through to someone that can save them. Miles soon believes he is going to die and The Doctor does everything he can to help his friend.
Things seem to take a turn for the better when Ambassador E’Tyshra arrives appearing to be there to help them. Julian is surprised to find that both the T’Lani and the Kellerun have been working together this whole time and killed everyone involved with the experiment to prevent anyone from recreating the Harvesters. Just as they are about to be executed, Sisko and Dax beam the two aboard their runabout and begin to fight their way out of the system. Using the second runabout, Sisko and team trick the T’Lani and the Kellerun into believing they killed the Federation, eliminating the threat of someone recreating the Harvesters.
Back on DS9, Miles finds himself in sickbay in the care of Julian Bashir. It is soon clear that there is a friendship budding between the two men, one that has only begun.
Is this a ‘Good’ Episode:
This is an excellent episode that really showcases both Miles and Julian in a way that starts to establish what will end up being one of the greatest friendships in Star Trek history. These guys could not be more different yet they soon find themselves gravitating to one another, even participating in holodeck programs together in the future. This episode is a pivotal moment in the character development for both Julian Bashir and Miles O’Brien and it is so well done.
Not only is this the start to a deep friendship, we really get a chance to see how the crew deal with the deaths of their fellow officers. One particular moment I love is between Dax, Kira and Quark. After finding out their friends have died, Kira and Dax find themselves in Quarks Bar remembering their fallen comrades. They are soon interrupted by Quark who offers free drinks in honor of the fallen. This one moment really shows that deep down Quark cares for his fellow crew members even though he would exploit them at the drop of a hat. It is a great moment and we even get a new rule of Acquisition out of it!
The story itself is not a bad one, in many ways you can sympathize with the T’Lani and the Kelleruns with their desire to eliminate a horrible weapon. While their methods were extreme, it would be the one way to ensure no one made that particular weapon again, but were the deaths of all those scientists really a good foundation for peace between the two people? While we never find out the results of these events, I doubt their truce lasted long.
Gleanings and Cool Bits:
The end of the episode has a fun bit where Miles asks Keiko for coffee in the afternoon even though she firmly believed that his drinking coffee was the mistake the T’lani and the Kelleruns made in altering the footage. Whoops.
There is a slight continuity error when Sisko informs Keiko of Miles death. He mentions that ‘Miles was a fine Officer’ but it has long been established that Miles is an enlisted man. I guess he was referring to Miles being a Chief Petty Officer? maybe?
57th rule of Acquisition established: Good Customers are as rare as latinum. Treasure them.
Thanks for reading the Retro TV Review, I look forward to discussing the rest of the series with you, one episode at a time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! Next Review: Whispers
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Late To The Game 2/2/2021 (Originally published 5/8/2019)
Special Thanks to Memory Alpha as they are one of the best sources for details on Star Trek information available. Although I have a pretty deep knowledge on the subject, they have proven invaluable as a regular resource.
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