DS9: “The Siege of AR-558” and “Covenant”

Date: August 27, 2020

Season 7, Episodes 8 and 9

Musical Accompaniment: The DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track has a panel about The Hunt for Red October, which I watched recently, and when that was over I listened to some violin covers.

Interstellar News: Today was not a good day for me or the cats, I hope some sleep will cure us all. Happy 8 months to this blog, though!

So what had happened in “The Siege of AR-558” was…: Sisko and Odo look at the casuality reports before the Defiant heads to the front lines to deliver supplies, along with Quark because the Nagus asked him to make a report. They get to AR-558 where a Federation crew has been holding a Dominion communications array for five months and they are not doing well, they’ve lost a lot of people. Just as Bashir recommends to Sisko that the crew needs to be rotated off, Worf has to leave with the Defiant so the away team stays to help hold their position. Ezri and Kellin work together to detect and move the mines. Nog, Larkin, and Reese go in search of the Jem’Hadar; Larkin dies and Nog loses a leg. Bashir play’s Vic’s recording before the big battle and people are lost on both sides, including Kellin and Vargas, and Quark even shoots a Jem’Hadar that walks into the Infirmary. Worf returns with the Defiant and the Vera Cruz for a change of crew and passage to the hospital. Sisko returns to DS9 just in time for a fresh batch of casualties.

Favorite Quote:

Kira: Sir, the latest casualty reports have just been posted.

Sisko: How many this time?

Kira: Including the troops lost at AR five five eight, seventeen hundred and thirty.

Sisko: Seventeen hundred thirty.

Kira: That’s a lot of names.

Sisko: They’re not just names. It’s important we remember that. We have to remember.

Kira and Sisko talking about what really matters.

“I’m an engineer, not a magician”: Dude who played Lennier looks soooooooo strange with hair, but the voice was unmistakable. I thought this was a great vehicle for all of the characters involved. Quark is trying to protect his nephew and Nog wants to prove has has what it takes. Sisko and Bashir want to help in any way they can, though Sisko provides leadership and Bashir tackles the mental health aspect. Ezri is still trying to get used to her previous hosts and she’s able to explain to Kellin how surreal this all is for her. Unfortunately this shows off more of her science/engineering past as opposed to her counseling skills, but we can’t win them all.

We get to care about all of the crew members who have been stuck for five months, so when they die it’s a blow to the heart just as it would be if a main character has died. Quark delivers some insight to Nog about how hu-mans get when they are not well taken care of, and he’s not wrong, but he also stays armed with a phaser while he’s protecting Nog during the siege, showing that no matter your species you will defend those you love and care for. We also get to see what happens to those who are out in the front lines, especially when you are trying to keep something as vast as space under your control. One thing I found interesting was when the mines were activated, it reminded me a lot of when they detonated the cloaked mines in “Sons of Mogh“. Overall, an excellent episode, 8 songs from Vic Fontaine.

So what had happened in “Covenant” was…: Vedek Fala, Kira’s old teacher, comes aboard DS9 and gives her a crystal that transports her to Empok Nor, now the home to the pah-wraith cult being led by Dukat. Dukat wants Kira to believe, as he does, that the pah-wraiths are the true gods of Bajor and not the prophets. During a service she tries to kill Dukat but is stopped by his followers. Mika goes into labor but the baby is Cardassian looking so while we all know Dukat slept with her, he tells everyone it’s a miracle. Mika says she won’t lie to her husband so Dukat tries to kill her, but Kira finds her in time. Knowing he’s about to get caught he turns full on crazy cult leader and creates a falsehood about everyone leaving their corporeal bodies, but really it’s a mass suicide plan. Kira breaks out of her room and knocks over Dukat and the drugs when everyone realizes he wasn’t planning on dying with them, so they turn on him. Dukat transports out, Fala takes the drug and dies, and the crew of DS9 come to save Kira.

Favorite Quote:

Dukat: Oh, this station has been abandoned a long time. There’s no reason why they’d object to us putting it to use. Your hair. You changed it.

Kira: Your ear. You pierced it.

Let’s point out the obvious my friends…

“That was some kiss.”: Apparently Kira forgot all about the time she was possessed by a Prophet and I feel that was a total missed opportunity. This was, however, a great cult story from start to finish. Kira listens to two hours on forgiveness and then is brought to the one person she can’t forgive, Dukat. He killed millions of Bajorans, he took her mother away, he’s taken advantage of dozens of Bajoran women, and he’s got a god-complex the size of the Gamma Quadrant. He’s finally found Bajorans who will love him and worship him, but he still doesn’t buy his own bullshit and still can’t keep it in his pants. He had an escape plan, on top of his “let’s all drink the Kool Aid” plan, and he wasn’t willing to die for his cause… he was not a true believer. This is the slimy Dukat we have come to know and hate, and he almost has Kira convinced that he’s changed. He’s certainly not as hellbent on revenge as he was when he took on the pah-wraith, but when you’ve been touched by evil not much is left in your heart.

You do have to give credit to Dukat for being an excellent improviser, someone should sign him up for Improv, stat! It’s sad, though, for Kira who has to lose and be betrayed by Fala. It’s also sad for her to be oogled by Dukat again. It’s incredibly sad for Fala who has felt betrayed by his faith, but it’s the worst for Dukat’s child. Yet another child he fathered with a Bajoran woman and then abandoned, but I am glad Benyan didn’t do anything to harm the child once he realized Dukat was the biological father. I hate to know what would happy to the baby after they all realize they were duped by Dukat, but I’d like to think they decided to love it and squeeze it and call it George, or Billy, or Gildo, or even Giovanni. I’d like to throw Dukat out of 7 airlocks, thank you very much.

TA Out!