There have been a total of five, live-action Star Trek television series. Three of them followed the voyages of various generational iterations of the Federation starship known as the Enterprise. Another followed the odyssey of the Federation starship Voyager during its long journey home after being thrown into a far corner of the galaxy. DS9 was unique. It was set on a space station. Let me set the stage for you.
The United Federation of Planets has an ongoing interest in absorbing and adopting prospective planetary civilizations into itself. One such planet is Bajor. Bajor, however, is in rough shape. The Bajorans (those are the guys with little ridges on the bridge of their noses) have just won their liberty, with the help of the Federation, after a 50 year occupation by the Cardassian Union. Cardassians are gray-skinned, scaly bad guys with sinister charm and fascist leanings. Indeed, the best way to understand these guys would be to compare them to the Nazis. The only major difference between the Cardasssians and the Nazis, is that they killed large numbers of Bajorans out of cold calculation for economic or military ends, whereas the Nazis killed large numbers of Jews because that was their ideological mandate.
By the time the occupation has ended, the Cardassians have stripped Bajor of its natural resources and the inhabitants are now struggling to piece together what semblance of governance and unity it can through a Provisional Government (PG). The PG is represented by several (often unfriendly) factions of Bajor and many of the institutions that would have theoretically provided the building blocks for a unified global government are simply absent thanks to the protracted military reign of the Cardassians.
Enter the Federation. Led by Commander Benjamin Sisko, they take over the old Cardassian space station known formerly as Terok Nor. The station was the center of power for the Cardassians in the Bajoran Sector of space. It was built by Bajoran slaves and its original purpose was to refine the uridium ore they were mining from the planet. The station had been managed by the last Cardassian Prefect of Bajor, Gul Dukat, (Gul is a title given to Cardassian military commanders) and he proves to be an early antagonist as the face of Cardassia for our heros on the space station.
The Federation is there by invitation. Their power and influence, at least ostensibly, is self-restrained in dealing with the Bajorans. This may be in an effort to generate trust as their diplomatic overtures continue with Bajor's PG. It also may be emblematic of a genuine ideological and legal adherence to the Prime Directive. At any rate, Federation officers are working side by side with Bajoran officers.
Bajorans are a very interesting species. They may not seem so on the surface (given their lame alien prosthetics; probably a budgetary decision). For starters, they are very religious. Their religion is made up of monk/priests called Vedeks and a matriarchal pontiff figure called the Kai. They have ancient scrolls with scriptures and prophecies. They worship a group of deities known only as the Prophets and they have a number of glowing, mystic relics from outer space known as Orbs. They are also very unique in that Bajorans have had contact with other planets like Cardassia millenia before they ever developed warp technology. How this is possible is revealed in a later episode, but it's important to point out here because in many ways their early space flight is what informed much of their religion. For instance, the existence of a Celestial Temple.
In very short order, Cmdr. Sisko and his crew discover this "temple" in the form of a static wormhole, the first ever found. Wormholes have always been erratic and temporary. Some evidence suggests that this may even be artificially created. By whom, you may ask? Why, the Prophets of course! Yes, as it turns out, these supposed deities are really advanced, incorporeal aliens that live inside the wormhole. Sisko enters to discover it goes all the way to the Gamma Quadrant (a very very far away place in the same galaxy). He also meets the Prophets and teaches them about linear time and humanoid life, seeming to fulfill a prophecy, given to him by Kai Opaka (a sort of Mother Teresa character), that he is the foretold Emissary of the Prophets.
They move the station in a daring move from its high orbit of Bajor to the mouth of the wormhole. In doing so, Bajor changes from a little-known backwater world with scarce resources to the most important center of trade and research in the galaxy. But as we'll soon see, such a distinction seldom goes uncontested, and there are dangers on the other side of this wormhole no one is prepared for.
DS9 deviates from its progenitor series in several important ways. The most obvious is that it is based on a space station rather than a constantly moving vessel. Second is that the station itself is not Federation technology but Cardassian. Third, their crew is an awkward amalgamation of Federation officers and Bajoran officers. Fourth, the wormhole they guard represents a unique and lucrative spacial anomaly; a discovery one can liken to Europeans finding North America. Fifth, the mandate of the crew is not to explore, but to maintain the peace and fast-track Bajoran membership in the Federation. Religion is one of many complications the Federation faces. As a secular organization, with many prerequisites to Federation membership that exclude certain hyper-conservative cultural elements (that religion historically safeguards), they must reconcile their worldly goals with the priorities of a deeply spiritual civilization.
In short, while Star Trek has always been about meeting other cultures, learning about them and engaging them diplomatically, DS9 is the best series for demonstrating the complexities involved with that process, especially with the threat of war on the horizon.
The United Federation of Planets has an ongoing interest in absorbing and adopting prospective planetary civilizations into itself. One such planet is Bajor. Bajor, however, is in rough shape. The Bajorans (those are the guys with little ridges on the bridge of their noses) have just won their liberty, with the help of the Federation, after a 50 year occupation by the Cardassian Union. Cardassians are gray-skinned, scaly bad guys with sinister charm and fascist leanings. Indeed, the best way to understand these guys would be to compare them to the Nazis. The only major difference between the Cardasssians and the Nazis, is that they killed large numbers of Bajorans out of cold calculation for economic or military ends, whereas the Nazis killed large numbers of Jews because that was their ideological mandate.
By the time the occupation has ended, the Cardassians have stripped Bajor of its natural resources and the inhabitants are now struggling to piece together what semblance of governance and unity it can through a Provisional Government (PG). The PG is represented by several (often unfriendly) factions of Bajor and many of the institutions that would have theoretically provided the building blocks for a unified global government are simply absent thanks to the protracted military reign of the Cardassians.
Enter the Federation. Led by Commander Benjamin Sisko, they take over the old Cardassian space station known formerly as Terok Nor. The station was the center of power for the Cardassians in the Bajoran Sector of space. It was built by Bajoran slaves and its original purpose was to refine the uridium ore they were mining from the planet. The station had been managed by the last Cardassian Prefect of Bajor, Gul Dukat, (Gul is a title given to Cardassian military commanders) and he proves to be an early antagonist as the face of Cardassia for our heros on the space station.
The Federation is there by invitation. Their power and influence, at least ostensibly, is self-restrained in dealing with the Bajorans. This may be in an effort to generate trust as their diplomatic overtures continue with Bajor's PG. It also may be emblematic of a genuine ideological and legal adherence to the Prime Directive. At any rate, Federation officers are working side by side with Bajoran officers.
Bajorans are a very interesting species. They may not seem so on the surface (given their lame alien prosthetics; probably a budgetary decision). For starters, they are very religious. Their religion is made up of monk/priests called Vedeks and a matriarchal pontiff figure called the Kai. They have ancient scrolls with scriptures and prophecies. They worship a group of deities known only as the Prophets and they have a number of glowing, mystic relics from outer space known as Orbs. They are also very unique in that Bajorans have had contact with other planets like Cardassia millenia before they ever developed warp technology. How this is possible is revealed in a later episode, but it's important to point out here because in many ways their early space flight is what informed much of their religion. For instance, the existence of a Celestial Temple.
In very short order, Cmdr. Sisko and his crew discover this "temple" in the form of a static wormhole, the first ever found. Wormholes have always been erratic and temporary. Some evidence suggests that this may even be artificially created. By whom, you may ask? Why, the Prophets of course! Yes, as it turns out, these supposed deities are really advanced, incorporeal aliens that live inside the wormhole. Sisko enters to discover it goes all the way to the Gamma Quadrant (a very very far away place in the same galaxy). He also meets the Prophets and teaches them about linear time and humanoid life, seeming to fulfill a prophecy, given to him by Kai Opaka (a sort of Mother Teresa character), that he is the foretold Emissary of the Prophets.
They move the station in a daring move from its high orbit of Bajor to the mouth of the wormhole. In doing so, Bajor changes from a little-known backwater world with scarce resources to the most important center of trade and research in the galaxy. But as we'll soon see, such a distinction seldom goes uncontested, and there are dangers on the other side of this wormhole no one is prepared for.
DS9 deviates from its progenitor series in several important ways. The most obvious is that it is based on a space station rather than a constantly moving vessel. Second is that the station itself is not Federation technology but Cardassian. Third, their crew is an awkward amalgamation of Federation officers and Bajoran officers. Fourth, the wormhole they guard represents a unique and lucrative spacial anomaly; a discovery one can liken to Europeans finding North America. Fifth, the mandate of the crew is not to explore, but to maintain the peace and fast-track Bajoran membership in the Federation. Religion is one of many complications the Federation faces. As a secular organization, with many prerequisites to Federation membership that exclude certain hyper-conservative cultural elements (that religion historically safeguards), they must reconcile their worldly goals with the priorities of a deeply spiritual civilization.
In short, while Star Trek has always been about meeting other cultures, learning about them and engaging them diplomatically, DS9 is the best series for demonstrating the complexities involved with that process, especially with the threat of war on the horizon.
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