Odo and Dax investigate a strange and uncharted planet, Yadera II, with a strange energy of omicron particles that tampers with their sensors. They beam down and discover a small community with a mysterious reactor in its center. Although initially hostile, the town's elder, Rurigan, explains to them that his community is in the grips of a crisis: their inhabitants are disappearing one by one. Odo volunteers to investigate the problem.
He interviews Rurigan's adorable granddaughter Taya, who always seems to be playing with a spinning top. She's initially fearful of him but soon warms to him. She reveals that the town has stories of "changelings" being defeated by mythic heroes. She also admits that no one in the community ever leaves the valley in which their village resides.
Meanwhile, on the station, Quark is trying to exploit Odo's absence by getting up to shenanigans. Kira is on his case, but she gets distracted when her crush, Vedek Bareil, makes a surprise visit to the station. Sparks fly between the pair as they go off on various diversions.
At the same time, Jake is apprenticing under O'Brien to help him prepare for Starfleet Academy. When O'Brien notices Jake's lack of enthusiasm, the boy admits that he doesn't actually want to join Starfleet, but he doesn't want to let his father down either. O'Brien reveals that he found his calling later in life and tells Jake that his father will support whatever he chooses to do with his life.
On Yadera II, Odo interrogates Rurigan. The town elder admits that he is dying but will not speak on why no one in the village ever leaves, saying only that he is sure looking for the missing people outside the valley will not solve anything. Odo goes to investigate the edge of the valley with Taya in tow. When the little girl's arm crosses an invisible threshold, it disappears. When she pulls it back, it appears again. Together with Dax, Odo discovers that the town's reactor is actually a holographic generator. Everything and everyone in town is a hologram.
They reveal the townsfolks' true nature to them and say that they can shut down the generator temporarily to fix it. Although shocked by the revelation, the townsfolk agree. When the generator is shut off, everything in town disappears... except Rurigan. He's the one who put the generator in its place and programmed it to recreate the village he lived in on Yadera I, before it was destroyed by the Dominion. Dying and depressed, Rurigan wonders what the point of restoring the village is, since it's all fake anyway. Odo and Dax argue that the town's holographic life forms are no less valid than those of flesh and blood. Rurigan is convinced to continue living out his final days in his holographic village, but only on one condition: Odo and Dax should not tell the other holograms that he isn't a hologram himself.
Back on the station Bareil and Kira finally kiss and admit their feelings for each other. But an offhand comment by Bareil reveals that he was invited to the station by a man who owes a great sum of money to Quark. Kira suddenly realizes that Bareil's presence was all a ploy to distract her, so she storms off to confront Quark, leaving Bareil nonplussed.
Jake breaks the news to his father that he doesn't want to join Starfleet. Sisko supports him and gives his own condition: that Jake find something he loves and do it to the very best of his ability.
When the village on Yadera II is restored, the holographic villagers wonder who created the generator in the first place. Odo holds to his promise and says only that whoever they were, they did a fine job. Taya bids her changeling friend goodbye, and Odo turns into a spinning top to amuse her before beaming away.
Tropes
- Aborted Arc: Early in the episode, Kira enlists Bashir's help in spying on Quark, with Bashir eager to apply what he's learned from Garak. Bashir's role doesn't come up again, with Kira figuring out Quark's plot by herself after an offhand comment from Bareil.
- Batman Gambit: Quark invites Bareil to DS9 knowing that he and Kira will spend time together, distracting her from intervening in a deal Quark's cousin is trying to orchestrate.
- Be Yourself: O'Brien's advice to Jake, later echoed by Sisko.
- Continuity Nod: O'Brien mentions that his dad wanted him to become a musician and he got to be good at playing cello, which was shown in TNG's "The Ensigns of Command."
- Follow in My Footsteps: Jake's dilemma is that he doesn't want to be a Starfleet officer like his dad. Sisko is perfectly fine with it and encourages his son to find his own path.
- Homage: Taya's tale of the folk hero Tricking the Shapeshifter is lifted straight from Puss in Boots. No wonder Odo immediately predicts the ending.
- Moment Killer: Kira breaks off from snogging Bareil when she figures out why he was invited to the station and that Quark was involved.
- Myth Arc:
- The reason why Rurigan is here is because his home was taken-over by the Dominion, the third mention of them, and emphasizing a highly aggressive nature.
- We find another culture that has legends about changelings; the story Taya tells features an "evil changeling" getting outwitted by the hero.
- Nested Story Reveal: Subverted. Rurigan argues that the holographic simulation he's created should not be restarted once everyone has learned the truth about it, especially since he's about to die anyway. Odo and Dax counter the argument by suggesting that even simulated lives can in some sense be real and not mere fiction, so in the end they bring back the simulation, and presumably it keeps on running long after Rurigan's death.
- Pet the Dog: Odo gruffly refuses to demonstrate his shapeshifter abilities for Taya, because it's a reminder of how he used to do so for the entertainment of humanoids. However at the end of the episode he turns into a spinning toy, to her delight.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Colyus makes a show of detaining Odo and Dax, but he listens to their explanations and once they persuade him of their innocence he accepts their help in investigating the disappearances.
- Relationship Upgrade: After all the Ship Tease they got back at the beginning of the season, Kira and Bareil finally get together — albeit in no small part thanks to Quark's scheming.
- Tricking the Shapeshifter: Taya tells Odo a story in which The Hero does this. Odo figures out how it ends, largely because the shapeshifter in question is an idiot.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Jake is worried about how his dad will feel about him not wanting to join Starfleet. When he does admit this, though, Ben is disappointed, but not in Jake, which is an important distinction.
- Wham Shot:
- Taya reaches out past a bush and her arm partially disappears, revealing that she's a hologram.
- After the holographic generator is shut down, everyone vanishes... except Rurigan.Rurigan: Don't look so surprised. I'm as real as you are.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Rurigan tries to claim that the holographic villagers aren't "real"; Odo's response is that Rurigan certainly treats them as if they're real.
