Hello Everyone and Welcome to What Did I Miss, where today I am counting down my Top 10 Favorite Deep Space Nine Episodes of all time. If you are new to the channel, here we talk about all things Star Trek as well as a lot of other cool sci-fi and comic book media. I love Star Trek, and the quality of stories and characters that Deep Space Nine produced week after week is a big reason why. If you do follow the channel, you probably already know that I put out a video a few months ago about why I think it is the best series, so I won’t continue to gush here. I will go over each episode briefly and then give you why I think it is one of the best but let me know in the comments what is your list…
So here it is, my top 10 Best Deep Space Nine Episodes list of all time.
10. Soldiers of the Empire – Season 5 / Episode 21
Summary – The premise of the episode deals with the Klingon General Martok trying to regain his former form after being a prisoner of war, which is a sign of great dishonour in their culture as Klingon warriors routinely commit suicide rather than be captured. He is given command of a vessel and due to his relationship with Worf asks him to be his first officer. Worf & Jadzia Dax come along and they soon learn that this ship has not won a battle in some time and is filled with discontent. Martok also struggles with gaining the respect of the crew as they believe he has been weakened by captivity. Soon, after Martok decides against a chance at the battle and the crew is on the verge of mutiny, Worf steps up to challenge Martok for the leadership of the ship. Martok ultimately wins the faceoff and gains the respect of the crew, as well as proving to himself that he is capable of command again. In the end, the ship is able to defeat a Jem’Hadar vessel, which regains their honour, while Worf accepts a place in the House of Martok, formally joining Martok’s family.
Why it’s so good – The reason I love this episode is that it really gives us an intimate look at Klingon culture. Even though the Klingons are one of Starfleet’s oldest enemies, there was little revealed about them until the 90’s and even some aspects of their culture, and certainly their appearance, have been changed and retconned over the years. The episode accentuates this aura of mystery when the crew is talking at Quarks and O’Brien mentions how he believes serving on a Klingon ship would be like serving with a band of bloodthirsty pirates and Dax has to correct him given her own experience as a former host. Each Klingon on the ship has a distinct personality, which allows us to see that not all Klingons are outwardly brave, that they have doubts, and fears and they can actually make emotional connections with each other. This episode dispels the common troupe of what Klingons were shown to be up until then, mostly as one dimensional, boorish character’s without depth, with General Chang from Star Trek 6 being a notable exception. At one point, Worf explains to Sisko how he and Martok were able to communicate subliminally while in battle which is another example of the enormous depth of connection we learn that Klingons feel to their culture and race. My favourite scene is almost at the end of the episode, where the entire bridge crew breaks into a song after Martok wins the crew over and orders them into battle. It gives me chills every time I see it and makes me want to grab my bat-lath and shout, “Qupla’!” This episode also solidifies Martok as a valiant Klingon general and brings Worf back into the fold in Klingon politics as a member of the House of Martok. Few episodes in Star Trek have been so important to the Klingon race as Soldiers of the Empire.
You can watch the rest of my countdown in the video below… And be sure to drop a comment below and share your top 10…
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