History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E08ThingsPast

* BrokenPedestal: Kira is disappointed to discover that Odo isn't the perfect champion of justice she thought he was.

The four apparent time travelers realize that they are a few years in the past. Gul Dukat is still the commander of the station, and the current chief of security is a Cardassian named Thrax, Odo's predecessor. They discover that everyone perceives them as Bajorans even though they see each other as their real selves. Odo is also spooked by the apparation of a walking dead man, though he reveals nothing to the others. Cardassians interrupt them and haul away Dax, saying she's been "selected" by Dukat. When Garak tries to bribe the guards, they punch him in the nose.

** To future episodes: Bashir tells Odo that he might instinctively have brought his crewmates into a version of the Great Link, suggesting that his transformation into a human may not be as permanent as previously thought.

** Although given the reveal that it's a construct of Odo's memories, it's possible that it's a recollection of Quark informed by his biases.

* OutDamnedSpot: Odo hallucinates that his hands are covered in blood as a manifestation of his guilt.

** When Quark is talking to "Thrax" about not being able to sell ''maraji'' crystals, he talks about how Cardassians dislike them as if he weren't talking to one.

* BeAllMySinsRemembered: Take this trope, [[SympatheticMurderBackstory Sympathetic murder backstory]] and [[PsychicLink psychic link]], put them in a blender and you'll get the whole setup for this episode.

Overhearing a conversation between Thrax and Quark, Garak realizes that they are seven years in the past, when Odo was already chief of security, not Thrax. Putting this mystery aside, the four meet with a Bajoran resistance member hoping to get a ticket off the station, but suddenly an explosion rocks the promenade close to where Dukat and Dax were standing. The four time travelers are quickly arrested and accused of committing the assassination attempt. Dax visits their holding cell, and Odo pleads with him to make various investigations that would prove their innocence, but Thrax rebuffs him. Sisko is becoming increasingly aware that Odo knows more than he lets on, but he avoids elaborating and says nothing of his ghostly visions.

Odo requests an audience with Thrax and again pleads with him to do his job, but Thrax states that he's only interested in keeping order. He then admits to knowing who Odo is and addresses him by name. Reality becomes even more fluid as the four prisoners find themselves on the promenade ready for execution. Odo disarms the executioner, declaring that this is all his fault. Across the promenade, he sees a vision of himself wearing a Cardassian uniform and presiding over the executions of their Bajoran counterparts. He finally admits that he was the real constable during these events and failed to properly investigate the suspects' innocence before it was too. Upon this revelation, all four patients awaken on the station.

Later, Bashir explains that Odo must have instinctively brought the other three crewmembers into a version of the Great Link. Odo is apparently still more changeling than he realized. After Bashir leaves, Kira arrives, having read the report and discovered Odo's shame. She admits that she'd placed Odo on a pedestal and has been unpleasantly surprised to discover that he's just as flawed as anyone else. She asks him if those were the only innocent people he'd allowed to die on his watch, but Odo can only state that he hopes so.----

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Any number of real life cases where suspects from the fringes of society are convicted on the basis of dubious forensic evidence and witness statements by law enforcement officers more concerned with closing the case than getting to the truth.

* NeverMyFault:
** Garak complains at having been (literally) labelled a "former Cardassian oppressor" at a conference. Did we mention he chose to attend the conference in the first place?
** Gul Dukat, in the way only he can provide. He insists the multiple assassination attempts are his fault... because he ''loves'' the Bajorans too much. Obviously, it's not because he's part of the systemic brutalization of an entire culture.

Odo, Sisko, Dax and Garak find themselves warped 7 years in the past and on Terok Nor. And Odo has to find a way out of the situation without revealing a dark secret about his past.
----