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!
Prophecies collide with the mission and Sisko must decide what to believe on the episode that originally aired on February 13,1995. This is Destiny.
The Episode:
Station Log Stardate 48543.2 Destiny
When the Federation and the Cardassians agree to help each other setup an array that will allow communication through the wormhole, things become complicated as a Bajoran Prophecy indicates that it will all end in doom.
The Breakdown:
As Commander Sisko prepares for Cardassian scientists to arrive in order to help with the Communications Array, he and the crew do all they can to ensure their stay is to be uneventful. After finishing with their quarters, Sisko returns to his office only to be greeted by Vedek Yarka who informs the Commander that the Cardassians must not be permitted on board the station as they will bring ‘Destruction to us all’.
Clarifying his worlds, Yarka informs Sisko and Kira that he is siting Trakor’s third prophesy:
When the river wakes, stirred once more to Hanir’s side, three vipers will return to their nest in the sky, When the vipers try to peer through the temple gates, a sword if stars will appear in the heavens. The temple will burn, and its gates shall be cast open.
He fears that this prophecy indicates that the communications array will cause the destruction of the wormhole and he hopes that the Emissary, Sisko, will help him prevent it. Sisko refuses and asks Kira to keep an eye on Vedek Yarka.
The Cardassians arrive and indicate that everything is on track to setup the transceiver, both excited to have a peaceful interaction between the peoples. During the meeting, it is clear that one of the scientists, Gilora, is at odds with Miles but they appear to be able to work things out. It soon comes as a surprise when Ulani informs them that a third colleague will be joining them, making Kira think that they are the three vipers of the prophecy.
When the third Cardassian, Dejar, arrives it soon becomes clear that she is not comfortable with the other two. Something is amiss here and it is apparent to Miles and Dax. Not long after Miles and Gilora begin working in ops when she begins to criticize his work to bring the station up to Star Fleet code. She is dismayed and dismisses him when he tries to help her treating him as little more than a servant, much to his frustration.
Boarding the Defiant, the rest of the team head toward the Worm Hole to setup the relay. Just as they arrive a comet appears resembling the sword of stars from the prophecy. Sisko is unnerved at the mention but is reassured by Ulani and Dejar that it should not have any affect on the experiment. Sisko, takes Kira aside and asks her to keep the prophecy out of their project as it has no place in their mission. She understands but makes it clear that she believes in the prophecies and that Sisko is indeed the Emissary. He finds this difficult to accept, not seeing himself as a religious icon, and informs Kira that he can not call off the project unless he has something concrete to go on. She argues that the Wormhole aliens may have shared the future with Trakor. He agrees that it can be interpreted that way but there are many ways to see things.
Back on the station, Gilora and Miles continue to work on the project. Soon he finds that Gilora does not believe males do not make good engineers and she has a hard time working with him. Miles stands his ground and assures her on this station HE is the chief operations officer and HE will make the necessary adjustments to accommodate her work. Stepping aside, it is clear Gilora finds Miles to be…fascinating.
On the Defiant, they send the signal through the wormhole and begin adjusting the waves. Soon a neutrino surge occurs causing the wormhole to violently open attracting the nearby comet. If the comet hits the wormhole, the entire wormhole could collapse.
After reconvening on DS9 when to discuss how to neutralize the comet before it hits the wormhole, Gilora and Miles begin working on the situation where it becomes clear Gilora has feelings for the Engineer. When Gilora makes a move, Miles informs her that he has no intention to pursue her embarrassing the Cardassian woman. Meanwhile, Dax pays a visit to Sisko finding him reviewing Bajoran prophecies about the Emissary. He is concerned that the prophecy is coming true as to which Dax asks what he would do should he have never heard the prophecy. He says that he would continue his mission and there he finds his answer.
Returning to the Gamma Quadrant, they prepare the new phasers prepared by Miles and Gilora only to find that they do not work as planned. The Comet breaks up into three fragments further complicating matters. Miles can not believe he would mess up the phasers and Gilora informs them that Dejar is infact a member of the Obsidian Order who sabotaged the phasers so that the project would not succeed.
Knowing that they do not have time to destroy the three fragments, Sisko takes a shuttle pod into the wormhole with Kira in order to form a warp bubble around the fragments, preventing them from harming the wormhole. Clearing the shuttle-bay, they align themselves with the fragments, engage the field and begin their mission.
As they progress through, some of the silithium from the comet fragments leak through but they make it across safely. Just as they arrive, Miles notices that they can detect the test signal from the Gamma Quadrant. It appears that the silithium cracked the wormhole open just a touch in order to let the signal get through. Sisko and Kira realize that the prophecy was correct, just misinterpreted somewhat over the years.
As the Cardassians depart, Gilora leaves Miles with a parting kiss as Sisko talks with Vedek Yarka where the Commander learns of Trakor’s Fourth Prophecy, one that where the Emissary will face a fiery trial where he will be forced to choose…
Is this a ‘Good’ Episode:
Yet another solid episode, although it is one that was aired quite often when the series went into syndication. I swear that this one was always on in the reruns. That being said, it is another very important one in character and plot development for the series, really focusing on who Sisko really is to the Bajoran people.
Sisko has been at odds with his place in Bajoran history as The Emissary from the beginning of the series. Clearly concerned as to how it would influence his duty as a Star Fleet Officer, Sisko has maintained a respectful distance from the title and position given him by the Bajoran people. However, this is one of the first instances where he realizes that he may need to at least entertain the possibilities of actually being this Emissary to the Bajorans as they find their place in the universe.
The real lesson of the episode is one of belief,interpretation, and the dangers of blind faith . Even now, on our own humble planet, there are people who see prophetic writings as concrete evidence of how things are and how things will pass. There are as many prophetic stories in religious texts, cultural beliefs and even psychic predictions depicting apocalyptic events as there are people. The interesting thing about many of these is that most of these predictions are little more than an attempt into convincing others to follow a specific path, no matter how odd that path may be. Even people following those such as Jim Jones and David Koresh firmly believed that the prophecies given them were real predictions of the future, causing many of these followers to act in unreasonable and often deadly ways. Bottom line, no matter where a prophecy comes from, if it is indeed ancient or modern, the ravings of a mad man or from a truly holy source, the interpretation is in the eye of the reader. We all have had different experiences and see things from many different views, to claim only one is correct is to be very narrow minded indeed.
As for the series, this is one that firmly sets up a communication between the Gamma and the Alpha Quadrant, something that was not possible without significant effort. This relay will play an important role in things to come.
Gleanings and Cool Bits:
We lean that Cardassians enjoy Vole fights, something that Odo will not allow on the Promenade.
So it seems that the Federation love it’s backups as according to O’Brien, there is a second backup for every major system. Hmmm, I guess that became standard AFTER the Enterprise D was destroyed? Or maybe because of that…
We never see or hear from Ulani or Gilora again but I imagine that they are going well with Gilora still pining after that one Engineer that got away.
New Rules of Acquisition! #34 and #35 War is good for business. Peace is good for business. I guess a proper Ferengi can find profit in any situation huh?
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: Prophet Motive
If you would like to read more reviews I have a weekly series called Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday and for more retro TV goodness check out the rest of the Retro TV Reviews here.
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Late To The Game 5/30/2021 (Originally published 7/12/19)
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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