Recap / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S04E23 "To the Death"

Don't get too used to this.

Sisko and company have just fought off some Breen privateers when they arrive back at the station and discover it in shambles. It's just been hit by an attack of Jem'Hadar who stole a bunch of items and left. Because the attack was so recent, they can track the ion trail back to another Dominion ship, this one badly damaged. They beam the crew aboard, disarming them in the process, and discover a pack of Jem'Hadar who are not thankful to have their lives saved. Luckily they are led by a more diplomatic Vorta, Weyoun, who begs an audience with Sisko.

It turns out that Weyoun's ship is also a victim of the same group of Jem'Hadar. They are a rebel faction who have gained control of an Iconian portal, which could help them not only topple the Dominion but conquer the entire galaxy. Weyoun convinces Sisko that they ought to work together to put down the rebellion, for both their sakes.

In spite of their common cause, the Jem'Hadar and Starfleet officers aren't eager to work together. Their First, Omet'iklan, only begrudgingly admits that they are temporary allies, but after their goal is accomplished, he makes no promises. A particularly pugnacious soldier under his command named Toman'torax targets Worf for some bullying. However, they'll have to work together to invade the rebel base, because aerial bombardment is off the table. Weyoun suggests that Starfleet keep the portal a secret from the Jem'Hadar, lest they be tempted to rebel, but Omet'iklan knows all about it and is insulted that Weyoun doesn't trust him to remain loyal. They run some simulations, with the Jem'Hadar playing as the enemy, and Omet'iklan is critical of the Starfleet officers' reluctance to throw their lives away for victory.

Dax has a conversation with one of the Jem'Hadar and learns about the short, brutal and joyless lives they lead. Things aren't as polite between Toman'torax and Worf, who finally descend into a brawl. Omet'iklan punishes Toman'torax by killing him, while Sisko only confines Worf to quarters on his off time, much to the First's disgust. While this is going on, Weyoun corners Odo and offers him a chance to rejoin the Founders. Odo flatly refuses, but Weyoun insists that Odo desires to return to his people more than he lets on.

Dax and O'Brien prepare for the assault by writing letters to their families in case of their deaths. After being armed, the Jem'Hadar proclaim "Victory is life!" while O'Brien announces that he has no intention of dying. The mixed squad beams down to the planet surface and immediately finds that some interference on the planet is jamming their phasers. The rebels ambush them, and it's a hand-to-hand fight. At the cost of some redshirts, they fight off the rebels and decide to proceed with their mission to the base without the element of surprise. They fight their way past many mooks, with redshirts dropping like flies. The main characters hold off the rebels while Omet'iklan and Sisko go to blow up the portal. Sisko take a hit from a rebel and saves Omet'iklan.

The portal is blown up, and everyone's phasers work again, so it's a tense standoff between the surviving Starfleet officers and Jem'Hadar. Omet'iklan ends his feud with Sisko in recognition of his service but disintegrates Weyoun for his offensive distrust. The First declares that he and his men will stay on the planet to kill the remaining rebels. Sisko wishes him luck, but the First insists that if they ever meet again, it will once again be as enemies.

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This episode provides examples of:

• Aborted Arc: This episode along with the earlier "Hippocratic Oath," indicates the control the Founders have over the Jem'Hadar is not as secure as it may initially appear and that there is a faction that yearn for freedom. After this episode this plotline is dropped and all future Jem'Hadar we meet are devoutly loyal to the Dominion and the Founders without question.
• Action Prologue: Downplayed—we don't see the attack on the station, just the aftermath.
• Artistic License – Physics: Neutronium is a real substance, but it's not a metal; it's the contents of a neutron star, and it cannot exist without crushing gravity just shy of a black hole. This material was famously what the hull of the Planet killer in the TOS episode "The Doomsday Machine" was made of.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • A panicked Quark appears in the aftermath, showing genuine worry about Rom's safety.
    Quark: Oh, what a relief... Wait 'til I find him, I'll kill him for scaring me like that!
  • In-Universe when Weyoun tells Odo that regardless of what he might have done, the Founders still love him and want him to return home. Odo replies that that may be the case, but he doesn't love them. Weyoun thinks he's lying about not wanting to return to his people, however.
• Badass Boast:
  • Omet'iklan promises to kill Sisko once the mission is over, as he sees him as a weak leader for not killing Worf. Worf hears about this and promises Sisko that if the First succeeds, he won't live long enough to boast about it.
  • When Sisko says that the existence of renegade Jem'Hadar suggests the Dominion might not be as stable as they like, Weyoun replies that the Dominion has existed for 2,000 years and will continue to do so long after the Federation has crumbled to dust.
• Badass Creed:
  Omet'iklan: I am First Omet'iklan, and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This, we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember - victory is life.
  Jem'Hadar: Victory is life.
  • Followed by a Starfleet version:
    Miles O'Brien: I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien, I am very much alive and intend to stay that way.
    Sisko: Amen, let's get it done!
• Badass Bystander: One of the Redshirts during the climax fights off two Jem'Hadar at once in the background.
• Bad Liar: Odo, according to Weyoun. Being a self-professed expert in lies, he would know.
• Blood Knight: Omet'iklan grins as he stabs some of the renegade Jem'Hadar.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: The episode goes into depth regarding the Jem'Hadar's culture and highlights just how off putting their lifestyle is compared to other races. The Jem'Hadar we meet are devoted entirely to serving as soldiers for their "Gods," and have no problem dying in service of their masters no matter what. Many of the Jem'Hadar cannot seem to grasp why any of the members of the Federation wouldn't die at a moments notice if the situation required it. Per Word of God, the purpose of the episode was to establish just how off-putting the Jem'Hadar are, and how they lack any of the humanizing elements of other species.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Dax and Virak'kara share this exchange during the assault.
  Dax: Virak'kara, you still there?!
  Virak'kara: For a little while longer!
  Dax: Don't worry! You'll make! Honored! Elder! Yet!
• Call-Back: The Iconian gateways reappear from the TNG episode, "Contagion." Worf later recalls his experience and what the Enterprise crew was forced to do.
• Cool Gate: The Iconian gateway connects to an instantaneous Portal Network that had allowed the Iconians to rule an empire 200k years ago, so the danger of the Jem'Hadar getting control of it is even more pronounced as a result.
• Crazy-Prepared: There is a transporter protocol that removes weapons during beaming, which Sisko orders before rescuing the Jem'Hadar and Weyoun.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: When Toman'torax (the Jem'Hadar Second) gets in a fight with Worf, both are punished. However, Omet'iklan kills his second as punishment, and calls Sisko weak for not killing Worf, who is confined to quarters when not on duty for the remainder of the mission. This also extends to other areas, as the episode serves to showcase the Jem'Hadar mentality.
• Dispense with the Pleasantries: Sisko isn't impressed with Weyoun's hollow pleasantries.
• The Dog Bites Back: After the Jem'Hadar report the gateway has been destroyed, Weyoun insists on inspecting the wreckage. The implication that Omet'iklan might be lying is the final straw and he vapourizes Weyoun on the spot.
• Dramatic Irony: Odo's declaration to Weyoun that he doesn't love his people or want to be with them. Only the audience is aware that he made quite the opposite confession to Garak a year earlier (though to his credit, a savvy Weyoun doesn't buy this).
• Enemy Mine: The only time that Starfleet and the Dominion work together to defeat a mutual threat.
• Establishing Character Moment: Weyoun's first scene with Sisko has him providing flattering remarks and offering to install him as absolute ruler of the Federation.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Omet'iklan makes it clear to Sisko that, while he hates the Federation, the only thing he hates more are renegade Jem'Hadar.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: After Sisko saves Omet'iklan from one of the renegades.
  Omet'iklan: I threatened to kill you, but you were still willing to sacrifice yourself to save my life.
  Sisko: Looks that way.
  Omet'iklan: Why?
  Sisko: If you have to ask, you'll never understand.
• Fallen Angel: Odo finds himself cast in a Satanic role—the Founder who denies his own divinity and killed another Founder. The Jem'Hadar make it clear that it's not their place to judge him, as the Founders will do that themselves. Weyoun tries a more conciliatory approach, but he admits he finds it disturbing that Odo allows himself to be ordered around by these Federation people when he should be ordering them.
• Funny Background Event: When Worf and Toman'torax fight in the mess hall, Weyoun can be seen keeping his distance while cradling the ketracel-white repository.
• Good Is Not Soft:
  • Omet'iklan chides Sisko for not having the stomach to kill Worf for defying his orders—saying the unit comes first. Sisko retorts that killing a subordinate for such a thing would prevent that person from learning from the mistake, as well as jeopardize the morale of his team and the trust they have in him.
  • Later, when they attack the base camp, Omet'iklan asks Sisko if he wants to call off the mission because they've lost the element of surprise and their weapons are not working. Sisko responds by picking up a Jem'Hadar polearm and leading the charge into the camp.
• Honor Before Reason: Toman'torax immediately confesses to Omet'iklan his role in starting the fight—knowing full well of the punishment he's likely to receive.
• I Shall Taunt You: Toman'torax just can't help taunting anyone in a Starfleet uniform. He ends up Bullying a Dragon when he gets Worf pissed off.
• Jerkass Has a Point: During a training exercise, Omet'iklan told the Starfleet side that there would be three Jem'Hadar soldiers on guard duty per their usual training. They take two, but they can't find the third and then fail the exercise. Omet'iklan reveals there was no third guard and chides the Starfleet officers—saying that nothing in battle is ever a certainty. When the actual mission begins, things quickly don't go to plan due to variables that no training could account for.
• Let Me Get This Straight...:

  Jadzia: We're going to work with the Jem'Hadar to fight the Jem'Hadar.

  • She does it again after learning about the Jem'Hadar:
    "So let me get this straight: no sleep, no food, no women. No wonder you're so angry."
• MacGuffin: The Gateway.
• Made of Indestructium: The structure is made of neutronium to handwave why they don't just use Orbital Bombardment and then go home (which would result in a short and boring episode).
• Mandatory Line: Kira, Bashir, and Quark only appear in the teaser. Kira is injured during the attack and stays to coordinate relief and defense. Bashir stays to take care of the wounded. Quark briefly appears calling for his brother.
• Neck Snap: How Omet'iklan kills Toman'torax for disobeying his orders.
• No Macguffin No Winner: The goal of the mission is to destroy the Iconian gateway so that no one; Starfleet, the Dominion, or the renegade Jem'Hadar, can make use of it.
• Not So Similar: While both were spoiling for a fight, Worf only engaged Toman'torax to defend O'Brien from the Jem'Hadar's harassment.
• Oh, Crap!: The assault team realizes that their weapons aren't working, seconds before the rogue Jem'Hadar show up.
• Older Than They Look: After getting into a discussion about his own age:
  Virak'kara: How old are you?
  Jadzia: I stopped counting at 300.
  Virak'kara: You don't look it.
  Jadzia: Thank you.
• Outside-Context Problem. The discovery of the Iconian Gate and the ensuing Jem'Hadar betrayal ends up being one for the Dominion — and not simply because it's ancient technology just as advanced as the Dominion's. The Founders carefully set up their governing system so that, in theory, neither the Jem'Hadar or the Vorta could independently rebel and threaten the Great Link (the Founders would simply order the Jem'Hadar to kill the Vorta while the Vorta would simply cut off the White and run like hell). For all their foresight, however, the Founders didn't anticipate a situation where the Jem'Hadar could get their hands on a de facto WMD and use it to not only go rogue, but to rally all Jem'Hadar units.
• Plot Armor: In hand-to-hand combat with a Badass Army, all of our named characters survive without much difficulty.
• The Profiler: According to Weyoun, Sisko's psychological profile is required reading for all Vorta.
  Weyoun: I probably know things about you you don't know yourself!
• Red Shirt: The assault team has almost a dozen random security goldshirts. Only one of them survives, and he's not walking under his own power. Everyone whose name we know, however, survives.
• Renegade Splinter Faction: The antagonists are a detachment of Jem'Hadar who went rogue from the Dominion.
• Restraining Bolt: Weyoun admits that this is one purpose of the Ketracel White (as the Founders' ability to control the Jem'Hadar isn't as effective as they've propagandized previously).
• Running Gag: Again, Dax cannot keep a secret.
• Sequel Episode: A very loose one to TNG's "Contagion".
• Serious Business: How the Jem'Hadar view the White distribution, much to the annoyance of Weyoun, who looks and sounds supremely bored as he recites his lines.
• Smarter Than You Look: Weyoun's Jem'Hadar knew about the gateway all along, much to his surprise.
• Soldier vs. Warrior: The difference between Starfleet and the Jem'Hadar is defined here. The Jem'Hadar fight "to reclaim their lives," whereas Starfleet fights to attain an objective.
• Stating the Simple Solution: O'Brien suggests blowing up the Iconian facility from orbit instead of launching a ground assault. Unfortunately, the building is made of neutronium, so even a barrage of quantum torpedoes wouldn't destroy it.
• Taking the Bullet: Sisko takes a hit from an enemy Jem'Hadar to save Omet'iklan, but it's a non-fatal wound.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Jem'Hadar and the Defiant crew are united only by the desire to wipe out the renegades and make it explicitly clear (more so on the Jem'Hadar's side) that, if they were not on this mission, they would kill the other side in a heartbeat. Sisko also makes several snide remarks to sow dissent between Weyoun and Omet'iklan.
• This Is My Chair: When Bashir sits down in the mess hall, Dax and O'Brien warn him that he's sitting in Worf's favorite seat. Bashir is unimpressed — until Worf and his Death Glare show up. It's to no avail anyway, as the moment Worf sits down, a Red Alert goes off.
• Too Dumb to Live: Weyoun thought it would be a great idea to question the loyalty of the Jem'Hadar to the Founders, right in front of a Jem'Hadar who later shows Weyoun just how devoted he and his men are to the Founders.
• Undying Loyalty: Omet'iklan tells Weyoun that the Jem'Hadar are more loyal to the Founders than the Vorta will ever be. Ironic, considering that the antagonists of the episode are a group of renegade Jem'Hadar, not a group of renegade Vorta.
• Unfriendly Fire: Omet'iklan shoots Weyoun for questioning the Jem'Hadar's loyalty to the Dominion.
• Ungrateful Bastard: The Jem'Hadar are ready to kill Sisko and his crew for saving their lives. Weyoun has to order them not to.
• Video Wills: Dax and O'Brien record them. O'Brien hopes that Keiko and Molly don't end up hearing his.
• We Can Rule Together: Weyoun asks Sisko what he would say to being absolute ruler of The Federation. Sisko naturally rejects the offer and Weyoun says, "Just doing my job."
• We Have Reserves: Omet'iklan effectively says during training that the best course of action is to detonate the explosives while still in the room (to make sure the enemy doesn't come in and disarm them), something O'Brien is appalled at. Given that the Jem'Hadar are supersoldiers who are grown to battle-ready status in three days, you can see why the First would prefer this course of action.
• Wham Shot: DS9 with one of its docking pylons blown off at the beginning of the episode. Status Quo Is God, however, and it's completely repaired by the next episode.
• Worthy Opponent: Omet'iklan ends up being impressed by Starfleet and compliments them on how well they fought.
• You Have Failed Me: Reconstructed when Omet'iklan executes Toman'torax for failing to follow his orders. Omet'iklan says they had served together for three years, so he knew of Toman'torax's value and ability. However, following orders is essential to their way of life, so Omet'iklan executes him as a reminder to the others of the consequences of disregarding that.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Weyoun was going to pull this on his Jem'Hadar, who promptly kill him once the mission is over because he had outlived his usefulness.
• Younger Than They Look: The Jem'Hadar that talks to Jadzia is eight years old, saying the species is able to fight by their third day of life and that living to age 20 grants "Honored Elder" status.