Another comic outing for the crew of DS9, Odo's suspicion that Chancellor Gowron may have been replaced by a Founder leads to plastic surgery for the bunch and an incognito foray into Klingon territory. Armed with emitters which they believe will force a Founder back into liquid form, Sisko and the bunch attempt to erect the emitters around Gowron, but are spotted and imprisoned by General Martok before they can complete their mission. Martok's increasingly odd behavior leads them to eventually rub their two brain cells together and determine that Martok is, in fact, the Founder in disguise. With Martok revealed as an impostor, Gowron agrees to call a cease fire in the seemingly pointless Klingon-Federation war.
In this installment, Sisko and the bunch have the unmitigated good fortune to stumble upon a downed Jem'hadar warship which has crash landed with no survivors. Hoping to capture this technology for the Federation, the crew moves into the warship, just in time for another Jem'hadar ship to land on the planet and demand the return of their property. However, rather than swiftly dispatching Sisko et. al., as they no doubt could, the Jem'hadar maintain a stalemate with them while their Vorta commences negotiation for the return of their property. The Vorta confesses that they do not want the ship but only desire the return of an item on board and generously offers to allow Sisko to maintain control of the ship in exchange for the item, but Sisko cannot see past his Federation influenced anti-Dominion prejudices to trust her. Sisko's refusal provokes a Jem'hadar attack, after which the crew realizes that the Jem'hadar have been attempting to negotiate for the return of an injured Founder. Their pettiness ultimately precipitates the death of the Founder. Sisko's suspicious nature results in the deaths of both his own crewman and the Founder.
A touching look at Odo's redemption and reinstatement as a Founder, this episode follows Odo's attempt to care for an injured, infant Founder. Concerned that the infant will be mistreated by solids in the same way that Odo was tortured and manipulated by the Bajorans, he seeks to keep the foundling Founder out of their callous hands. However, when confronted by Starfleet Command's orders that he properly train the infant or risk losing custody, Odo is forced to accede to the evil ways of his captors. While these draconian methods produce quick results in teaching the Founder to transform its shape, the injured infant dies shortly thereafter. Despite its plight, the infant recognizes Odo's role in treating it with some leniency and adsorbs into Odo, restoring his lost shape shifting ability.
In this installment, a stirring prelude to the Dominion's glorious entry into the Alpha Quadrant, Garak and Worf travel into the Alpha Quadrant in search of the source of a message from Garak's father/mentor, Enabaran Tain. There they discover an awe-inspiring Dominion fleet massing in a nebula. Worf attempts to send a message of warning into the Alpha Quadrant but is apprehended by Jem'hadar soldiers before his message can penetrate the nebula. Worf and Garak are taken to a Dominion internment camp where they discover General Martok and Dr. Bashir, in addition to Tain. After engaging the combined brain power of the entire group, they deduce that this means Bashir must have been replaced by a Founder some months ago. Meanwhile, Sisko learns of the impending invasion and, stricken by terror, frantically attempts to seal the wormhole. However, his cowardly scheme, when enacted, fails, and Sisko is greeted by the heart warming sight of droves of Jem'hadar ships pouring through the wormhole.
This continuation finds Sisko and the crew of DS9 trembling as the Dominion fleet hurtles through the wormhole and into the Alpha Quadrant. However, despite his fears, Sisko is spared death at the hands of the Jem'hadar soldiers (for today) as the fleet reveals that the Dominion has joined forces with the Cardassians, and they are bound for Cardassian space. Back at the internment camp, Garak and Bashir have sketched out a feeble plan to escape while Worf spends his time training Jem'hadar soldiers in how to defeat the Klingons. Terrified of the new Cardassian-Dominion alliance, Sisko convinces the Klingons to fall back into the arms of the Federation, and the two forces mass a fleet at DS9. During all of their self-congratulatory head-butting, they fail to notice that Founder/Bashir has stolen a run about and is piloting it into Bajor's sun. Garak completes his work on a transmitter which allows the prisoners to contact their ship and beam out of the internment camp while a Dominion/Cardassian fleet closes on Federation space, threatening to take on DS9. At the last minute, Sisko receives a message from the real Bashir, alerting him to the presence of Founder/Bashir who is attempting to detonate a device in Bajor's sun which will send the whole system up in flames. In the knick of time, Founder/Bashir is stopped and Sisko realizes that the fleet heading for DS9 was only a hoax. This installment, perhaps the least credible of the series for its suggeston that a) Worf could defeat Jem'hadar soldiers in hand to hand combat b) prisoners at a Dominion internment camp would be able to contact their ship c) Sisko could outsmart a Founder and d) the Dominion could not crush DS9 under its thumb whenever it wished, is nonetheless significant in that it marks the true beginnng of the glorious Alpha Quadrant War.
Low comedy of the worst kind, this installment finds Worf and his would-be-wife Jadzia aboard a Klingon vessel commanded by General Martok and crewed by one of the most pea-brained assemblages of Klingons ever put together. Intended to instill pride and hope in the hearts of Klingon soldiers grown weary of watching their ships destroyed by the Jem'hadar, we follow along as Worf and Dax attempt to restore the morale of these down but not defeated Klingons by recovering a Klingon ship damaged and stranded behind Dominion lines. However, when they find the lost Klingon ship, Martok is paralyzed by fear of entering Dominion territory and Worf is forced to challenge him for control of the ship. Worf allows Martok to win but the challenge restores his self-confidence and the plucky Klingon commander rescues his Klingon compatriots.
The touching tale of Jake Sisko attempting to find a present for his dad, cloaks within its midst the story of how this youngster inadvertently brought a powerful piece of technology to the attention of the Dominion. Most of this episode occupies itself with recounting the details of Jake's purchase of a gift for his dear old Dad, depressed by the astounding losses the Federation has lost at the hands of the Dominion. We can scarcely imagine how even slow-witted Federation sympathizers could enjoy this tripe. Nonetheless, the episode concludes by revealing Jake's detainment by Dominion commander, Weyoun, to whom he ultimately surrenders the secrets of a life extending device. We also learn that Bajor has signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion (smart people!) So indeed, even this cloud of an episode has a silver lining.
Terrified by continued Dominion penetration of the Alpha Quadrant, Starfleet orders Sisko to stop any further reinforcements from coming through the wormhole in any way he can. Aware that his ships are hardly a threat to the Jem'hadar, Sisko opts to mine the entrance to the wormhole. Weyoun warns Sisko that mining the wormhole is an act of war and will force the Dominion to take control of DS9. Although, Sisko and crew have time to complete the mine field, they flee the station at the first sign of the Dominion, leaving it ripe for conquest. We are left with the heart-warming image of Gul Dukat returning to his old command on Terok Nor and Weyoun and the Jem'hadar being warmly welcomed by the station's Bajoran residents.
