Summary[]
Kai Winn's and Vedek Bareil's vessel is nearly destroyed on their way to secret peace talks with the Cardassians. While Winn escapes with small injuries, Dr. Bashir can only revive Bareil after extensive stimulation of his damaged brain. He suggests that the Vedek be put into stasis in order to receive a treatment at a later date. But Kai Winn is afraid that the crucial negotiations may fail without him, and Bareil himself insists on staying awake to advise the Kai. The doctor administers a drug that maintains Bareil's brain activity, but towards the end of the negotiations his left brain half fails and can only be kept alive using positronic neural implants. Bareil is not the same any more and he has seemingly lost his feelings for Kira, but he brings the talks to a successful end when the peace treaty is signed. Dr. Bashir, however, has to tell the distressed Kira that he would not attempt to keep Bareil alive using even more implants, and so the vedek eventually dies.
Errors and Explanations[]
The Nitpickers Guide for Deep Space Nine Trekkers[]
Plot Oversights[]
- In his log entry Sisko claims that he is sitting in on the Cardassian/Bajoran peace talks as an impartial observer. However, minutes later, he gives advice to Kai Winn. Since when do “impartial observers” give advice to one side in a negotiation? Sisko is the Emissary of the Bajoran Prophets. CdnTim 1144 EST 5 Feb 2021 - He'd probably by willing to give the Cardassians advice too!
- At one point the Cardassian representative to the peace talks, Legate Turrel, suggests that Cardassia will make reparations for all Bajoran property damaged in the occupation provided Bajor returns all Cardassian property. Winn is uncertain how to respond, and later she tells Sisko that she suspects Turrel is up to something. Well...wouldn’t this “property” include the station? If Bajor had to return the station, wouldn't that put a kink in their ability to lay claim to the wormhole? Technically, the station is now Bajoran property, as the Cardassians abandoned it when they withdrew. CdnTim 1145 EST 5 Feb 2021 - probably an example of the complexity of negotiations...in theory, a perfectly fair agreement, but how far will it be applied? What about DS9, as mentioned? What about buildings the Cardassians built? What about personal property they appropriated...if they compensate for it, do they get to keep it?
- After the above exchange, a frustrated Kai Winn tells Sisko that she was chosen by the Prophets to lead her people, but not to sit in a room with a Cardassian debating legalisms and diplomatic nuances. This is actually a very sensible statement. After all, Bajor does have a provisional government. Wouldn’t peace negotiations with Cardassia Prime fall in the purview of the civil government? Why is Kai Winn conducting these negotiations in the first place? Maybe the government thought it would have more impact to have the Kai - a representative of the religious group that was suppressed during the Cardassian occupation – reaching an agreement with the Cardassians. CdnTim 1147 EST 5 Feb 2021 - Although not as Provisional as when Sisko arrived, the Bajoran government is probably not universally popular. Given that the Kai is a unifying figure on Bajor, using her might be their way of ensuring the negotiations are supported.
Nit Central[]
- Keith Alan Morgan on Saturday, May 08, 1999 - 7:08 am: Kai Winn says that she knows that the Prophets picked her to be Kai. Clearly she was just putting on an act since to become Kai, Winn has resorted to sabotage, attempted murder, allowing a follower to be executed, siding with an extremist and granting sanctuary to a collaborator. (And those examples were just off the top of my head.) Josh G. on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 - 12:09 pm: She is certainly self-righteous enough to believe that she was "chosen" by the Prophets. (Although, now we know that she never really believed in them, anyway.) CdnTim 1149 EST 5 Feb 2021 - Yes, she was putting on an act. Winn is power-hungry, untrustworthy and uses religion to support her goals...how is this a surprise?
- My nephew, Jon, wondered why they didn't just stick Bariel in stasis and then bring him out when Kai Winn had enough questions to justify taking him out? Putting Bariel in stasis may have done more harm than good.
- Josh G. on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 - 12:09 pm: Does anyone else think that it was unethical for Bashir to tell Bareil about a potentially lethal, unproven, dangerous drug? Desperate times call for desperate measures.
| Deep Space Nine Season 3 |
| The Search Part 1 I The Search Part 2 I The House of Quark I Equilibrium I Second Skin I The Abandoned I Civil Defense I Meridian I Defiant I Fascination I Past Tense Part 1 I Past Tense Part 2 I Life Support I Heart of Stone I Destiny I Prophet Motive I Visionary I Distant Voices I Through the Looking Glass I Improbable Cause I The Die is Cast I Explorers I Family Business I Shakaar I Facets I The Adversary |