First Season Thoughts: Part 1

The first season of DS9 focused primarily on the post-occupation aftermath. Bajor is still getting used to being free of the Cardassians and dealing with everything that means. Their political instability is perhaps the most notable issue, followed closely by their tenuous relationship with the Federation. Other issues include religion, commerce, power plays, war criminals and war heroes. Here's a rundown of some notable episodes.

S1:E5 - Captive Pursuit: The first alien to from the Gamma Quadrant to emerge from the Bajoran Wormhole appears.

S1:E10 - The Nagus: We are introduced to the Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance and his plans for economic expansion into the Gamma Quadrant. He will be a recurring character in future episodes and his entrepreneurial forays into this unexplored quadrant will hear to the first whispers of an important Gamma Quadrant power. I suppose with those ears, that's no surprise.


S1:E12 - Battle Lines: Kai Opaka is stranded on a prison moon where two groups of prisoners have been waging an eternal war, cursed to immortality. In being killed and reanimated by the biomechanical microbes placed there by the sadistic wardens, and therefore trapped on the moon, Opaka is almost transcended. She sees this all as the "way of the prophets" and her destiny. She feels called upon to teach the warring parties to finally resolve their differences and enjoy peace; a task that will undoubtedly take several years. Thus she becomes an almost mythical legend that ascended to the heavens to work for countless centuries for peace. In some ways, she is like a Christ figure, who quite literally is resurrected and remains living away from her planet. What is the most important thing to note about her departure, however, is that it leaves a significant power vacuum in Bajor that ambitious Vedics will vie for in a cut-throat election to be the next Kai.