History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E01E02TheWayOfTheWarrior

'''Quark:''' ...Every member of that crew thought they were a food critic.

** Seems Garak finally took Odo up on [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E21TheDieIsCast his lunch offer.]]

* NiceHat: A literal use of the phrase by Worf to Kira, who meets him on emerging from the holodeck wearing a MiddleAges dress with a huge two-pointed hat.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[JustForFun/TheOneWith The One Where Worf Shows Up.]]]]

* PutOnABus: Alexander is put on a bus before even appearing on the show. Work says that he's living with his grandparents on Earth again, even though "[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E10NewGround New Ground]]" established that they are too old to raise another Klingon child.

** [[spoiler: Subeverted with the Detapa Council's cameos and blood tests. Even after the aforementioned Season Five revelations, it's never revealed whether any of the Councilors ''had'' been replaced with Founders or not.]]

** In the pilot, the [=DS9=] crew tries to fake out Cardassian attackers into believing that they have a huge stock of photon torpedoes, which they dismiss as "duranium shadows" (referring to a metal in torpedoes' casings). This time, they really ''do'' have a lot of torpedoes (and now a lot of torpedo launchers), but Martok dismisses it with the same.

** When meeting with Sisko, Worf admits he's considering resigning from Starfleet due to what happened to the]] ''[[Film/StarTrekGenerations Enterprise]]''. When advising him not to make any quick decisions, Sisko recalls how he felt the same as Worf way back in "Emissary."

* BilingualDialogue: A lot of Klingonese is thrown about, none of it subtitled.

-->'''Worf:''' You cannot take what one does not have.

* RewatchBonus: [
** [spoiler: All of Martok's scenes after Season Five's "Apocalypse Rising" and "In Purgatory's Shadow" reveal that the General has been replaced by a Founder at this point in the series timeline.]]

*** Notably, Worf is wearing his TNG uniform for most of the story, as he did in ''Generations''. He only changes to the new style after deciding to stay on [=DS9=].

A task force of Klingon ships commanded by General Martok camps out around [=DS9=] to await a potential Dominion incursion through the wormhole. Tensions rise as the Klingons throw their weight around: a gang of them beats up Garak, and Klingon ships begin boarding and searching other vessels for changelings without cause. Captain Sisko decides that the best way to handle Klingons is with another Klingon, so he sends for Lieutenant Commander Worf. Worf challenges Martok by slapping around his son, and learns that Sisko's suspicions are correct: there's something else going on which Martok suggests could determine the future of the Klingon empire.

Worf convinces a friend of his father to tell him the whole story: the Klingons believe Cardassia has undergone a Dominion-engineered coup, so they are preparing to invade Cardassia themselves. The Federation opposes the move, but Chancellor Gowron and the Klingon High Council go ahead despite the harm it could cause to the Federation-Klingon alliance.

Sisko contacts Dukat (now military advisor to the new civilian government of Cardassia) and offers to help him get the Cardassian council members to safety. After a large battle, they get the council on board the Defiant and head for home, pursued by a large Klingon fleet. This brings us to an [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome impressive battle sequence]] as the station (armed with 5000 photon torpedoes and multiple phaser banks) holds off the Klingons until reinforcements arrive. (This was also the last battle in the whole ''Star Trek'' franchise to use models rather than CGI, which makes it an especially impressive achievement for the special effects team.)

The Klingons back off, but make it clear that they do ''not'' forgive and forget. Worf goes through some soul-searching, but decides to stay in Starfleet and becomes [=DS9=]'s new Strategic Operations officer after Sisko provides Worf with some of his own insights.

* ArmorIsUseless: {{Averted}}--the ''Defiant's'' ablative armor protects her while her DeflectorShields must be lowered for transporter use. Though they lengthened the time they could spend without shields with some TractorBeam antics, the little armored brick survives several direct hits from a Klingon heavy cruiser's [[{{BFG}} main gun]] thanks to the stuff.

* BullyingADragon: Downplayed. Five Klingons attack Garak - a former Obsidian Order agent, who later in the episode kills several Klingons - in his shop, but he doesn't bother fighting back. He was likely making it a point to keep the Klingons from realizing he was more than a "simple tailor".
* CallBack:
** When trying to get Worf to play darts, O'Brien likens the game to poker--a game regularly played by Worf and others on ''TNG''. He then compares it to target practice, which was another thing Worf was known to do in the Holodeck.
** In the pilot, the [=DS9=] crew tries to fake out Cardassian attackers into believing that they have a huge stock of photon torpedoes, which they dismiss as "duranium shadows" (referring to a metal in torpedoes' casings). This time, they really ''do'' have a lot of torpedoes (and now a lot of torpedo launchers), but Martok dismisses it with the same.
** Also, Sisko passing intel to Garak under the pretense of getting fitted for a suit is the same pretense Garak used to pass intel to Bashir in [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E03PastPrologue "Past Prologue."]] Given that Bashir told Sisko about it, that makes it entirely plausible that Sisko remembered and decided to use it with the guy who used it first.
** Seems Garak finally took Odo up on [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E21TheDieIsCast his lunch offer.]]

* ContinuityNod: When Sisko warns the Klingons about the station's armaments, Gowron and Martok suggest it is an illusion created by thoron fields and duranium shadows. Both the weapons figures and this TechnoBabble fakery method come quoted from the pilot episode, ''Emissary'', when O'Brien really did fake their presence in this way. But now, three years later, the station really does have all that weaponry.
** The first thing Worf orders at Quark's? [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E15YesterdaysEnterprise Prune juice.]]
** The [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E21TheDieIsCast destruction of the Obsidian Order]] is [[CallBack referenced]], and without the [[StateSec ever-watchful Order]] around, it was easier for [[LaResistance the dissident movement]] to force the Central Command to yield its control of Cardassia to the Detapa Council. Thus, in a way, the Dominion did play a role in the coup; just not the active role the Klingons thought.
** When meeting with Sisko, Worf admits he's considering resigning from Starfleet due to [[Film/StarTrekGenerations what happened to the]] ''[[Film/StarTrekGenerations Enterprise]]''. When advising him not to make any quick decisions, Sisko recalls how he felt the same as Worf way back in "Emissary."

** The Federation's condemnation of the Klingon Empire's attack on Cardassia leads to the Klingons withdrawing from the [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry Khitomer Accords]], ending the peace treaty between the two powers. Later episodes reveal that Sisko's old friend Curzon Dax, the host of the Dax symbiont before Jadzia, was one of the negotiators responsible for the treaty.

* FakeActionPrologue: The episode starts with half the main cast and several [[{{Redshirt}} redshirts]] hunting a changeling infiltrator-- who turns out to be Odo acting as said infiltrator during a drill.

* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: A minor one that illustrates just how brutal the Klingons are in battle. When Garak joins Dukat to defend the Cardassian government officials, they're supported by a pair of Starfleet officers standing unassumingly behind them. The very next scene with them, while Garak and Dukat are bloodily fighting Klingons tooth and nail, said officers are dead in a pile.

* MythologyGag: [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E15YesterdaysEnterprise Prune juice!]]
** Worf's transfer involves switching from the gold uniform to red. On ''TNG'', he wore red in Season 1 and switched to gold in Season 2.

* RewatchBonus: [[spoiler: All of Martok's scenes after Season Five's "Apocalypse Rising" and "In Purgatory's Shadow" reveal that the General has been replaced by a Founder at this point in the series timeline.]]

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Garak and Dukat are forced to work together to protect the Cardassian civillian government, while doing nothing to hide their contempt for each other.

* WhamEpisode: Worf arrives on the station and the camera [[FeetFirstIntroduction pans up from his feet to his face]]. His character develops much more deeply on this show than it could on [=TNG=], and the show itself takes a more serious, arc-based direction at about this point. This is when the scope of the show expands to include all the familiar powers of the Alpha Quadrant, and it puts us on notice that anything can happen to the political situation between them.

* TheWorfEffect: A rare example for [=DS9=]. When Klingons beam onto the station, even the smallest humans and Bajorans knock them out left and right with as little as their bare hands.
** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] for [[TropeNamer Worf]] himself as he cuts down several Klingons, even throwing in an OffhandBackhand for good measure. Also {{enforced}}, as one of Michael Dorn's conditions for joining [=DS9=] was that the writers would stop having the enemy of the week use him as a punching bag.

* YourMom: Drex insulting Odo in Klingon, as suggested by Garak's reaction: "Actually, I'm not sure Constable Odo ''has'' a mother." [[labelnote: If you're curious...]] Rather disappointingly, what he actually says is "Does your mother let you talk to adult men?", i.e. calling Odo a child. Of course, Drex isn't exactly the brightest Klingon in the galaxy, so this may well be [[BigStupidDoodooHead the worst insult he can come up with]].[[/labelnote]]

* RealityEnsues: The Federation can't send a warning to Cardassia because the Klingons are still their allies, so Sisko decides to TakeAThirdOption via the above mentioned PlausibleDeniability.
** Gowron is convinced to back down in the face of Federation reinforcements to avoid a two front war, but as the Federation has committed an act of war against the Klingon Empire he breaks off the alliance with them.

* RewatchBonus: [[spoiler: All of Martok's scenes here after Season Five's "Apocalypse Rising" and "In Purgatory's Shadow" reveal that the General has been replaced by a Founder at this point in the series timeline.]]

* RewatchBonus: [[spoiler: All of Martok's scenes here after Season Five's "Apocalypse Rising" and "In Purgatory's Shadow" knowing that the General is actually a Founder.]]

** The first thing Worf orders at Quarks? [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E15YesterdaysEnterprise Prune juice.]]

** When the Klingons board the station they get their asses comprehensively handed to them by pretty much everyone. [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight Trying to charge down phasers with swords doesn't help.]]

* DeathGlare: Worf gives Quark one for laughing at his preferred drink of prune juice and another later when Quark says he's glad that they're rid of all the Klingons.

* FakeActionPrologue: The episode starts with half the main cast and several [[{{Redshirt}} redshirts]] hunting a changeling infiltrator--who turns out to be Odo acting as said infiltrator during a drill.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TheOneWith The One Where Worf Shows Up.]]]]

* ChekhovsGun: Odo demonstrates how he can drink from a glass and then have it return to the cup. This is shown the very next scene after [[spoiler: The Founder that is masquerading as Martok passes the bloodletting test.]]

** The [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E21TheDieIsCast destruction of the Obsidian Order]] is [[CallBack referenced]], and without the [[StateSec ever-watchful Order]] around, it was easier for [[LaResistance the dissident movement]] to force the Central Command to yield its control of Cardassia to the Detapa Council. Thus, in a way, the Dominion did play a role in the coup; just not the active role the Klingons thought [[spoiler: (or was manipulated into- this particular Martok is later revealed to be a changeling.)]]

** When the gang of Klingons confronts Odo and Garak, they accidentally let slip why they're there in the first place, saying that they don't obey the dictates of Changelings "or their Cardassian lapdogs." Worf later learns that the entire reason for the invasion is because the Klingons think that Cardassia has been compromised by Changelings, who they think engineered a coup on Cardassia Prime. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that a Changeling is posing as Martok, duping the Klingons into unknowingly obeying the dictates of a Changeling.]]
*** Additional irony comes from the fact that eventually, [[spoiler: the Cardassians would willingly join the Dominion]]
** Towards the end of the space battle, we see Gowron starting to realize his stupid mistake and consider pulling back. However Martok appears to be goading him to press on.[[spoiler: [[TheMole One season later, you discover why he is pushing this untenable position.]]]]

* ImpostorExposingTest: While it had been used successfully once before, this is the first time we see blood screenings on a large scale used as a standard Changeling test. [[spoiler: Of course, the man who introduces the idea would later be revealed to be a Changeling himself, meaning they had a workaround already.]]

* PalmBloodletting: Martok makes Sisko and Kira do this along with himself so they can all prove that they're not changelings. [[spoiler:Ironically, he's actually a changeling, and the very next scene shows how he was able to break the test.]]

* RedHerring: [[spoiler:This episode makes Kasidy seem like she's a Changeling. She's not.]]

* RewatchBonus: All of the [[spoiler:Martok]] scenes take on a new meaning when the next season reveals [[spoiler:"Martok" is really a Changeling himself.]]

* BullyingADragon: Downplayed. Five Klingons attack Garak in his shop, but he doesn't bother fighting back. Fast forward to the season finale and we see that Garak is able to put up a good fight against ''Worf'' when he wants to. He was likely making it a point to keep the Klingons from realizing he was more than a "simple tailor".
** Nevermind the finale; Garak kills several Klingons ''later in the episode''.

* YourMom: Drex insulting Odo in Klingon, as suggested by Garak's reaction: "Actually, I'm not sure Constable Odo ''has'' a mother."

*** Notably, Worf is wearing his TNG uniform throughout the story, as he did in ''Generations''. He only changes to the new style after deciding to stay on [=DS9=].

*** Notably, Worf is wearing his TNG uniform throughout the story, as he did in ''Generations''. He only changes to the new style after deciding to stay on DS9.

** When the gang of Klingons confronts Odo and Garak, they accidentally let slip why they're there in the first place, saying that they don't obey the dictates of Changelings "Or their Cardassian Lapdogs." Worf later learns that the entire reason for the invasion is because the Klingons think that Cardassia has been compromised by Changelings, who they think engineered a coup on Cardassia Prime. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that a Changeling is posing as Martok, duping the Klingons into unknowingly obeying the dictates of a Changeling.]]

** Gowron ends the Klingon-Federation alliance that has stood for almost 80 in-universe years since ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''.

** "[[WritersCannotDoMath Two decades]] of peace with the Klingons, and it all comes down to this..."