Pictured: The incarnation of Smug Snake.
When we last saw Sisko and his intrepid crew in the previous episode, their warp drive got toasted after trying to Outrun the Fireball when the ketracel-white facility was destroyed. Things go From Bad to Worse when Jem'Hadar fighters responding to the destruction of the depot spot Sisko's damaged fighter and shoot it down. It lands in the ocean of a nearby M-Class planet. Dax is wounded as a result of the attack.The crash alerts a regiment of Jem'Hadar soldiers, led by Third Remata'Klan, and their Vorta. It would appear that their fighter also crashed two days earlier. The Vorta, Keevan, is badly wounded, and none of them can repair their communications relay. To make matters worse, they are running low on ketracel-white. While investigating the surrounding area, Nog and Garak are captured by the Jem'Hadar and brought to Keevan, who learns that their group includes a doctor. When the crew searches for their missing comrades, they're attacked by a Jem'Hadar scouting party who have become too undisciplined to follow Keevan's orders not to fire. Remata'Klan reasserts control of the group and orders a retreat. Keevan castigates Remata'Klan for failing to follow his orders, but the Third refuses to say who fired first, deepening the enmity between the two men.
Remata'Klan is sent alone to negotiate with Sisko, offering Nog and Garak's lives in exchange for a meeting with Sisko and Bashir. Sisko tries to sow some discord between Remata'Klan and Keevan, but the Third doesn't bite. Sisko accepts the offer anyway and heads out with Bashir. After getting patched up, Keevan informs Sisko that there is only one vial of ketracel-white remaining. Once it runs out, the Jem'Hadar will slaughter everything living on the planet before killing each other. To prevent that, Keevan will send them all to assault the Starfleet camp and provide Sisko with their exact plan of attack so that they can be easily wiped out. After that, Keevan will surrender to Sisko and sit out the rest of the war.
Meanwhile on Terok Nor, Kira has settled into a comfortable routine on the station alongside the Cardassian and Dominion crew. She's cautiously optimistic when she learns that a group of unarmed Vorta "facilitators" will visit Bajor to help out with problems that have sprung up since the planet has been cut off from all external commerce. Then Vedek Yassim visits the station, intent on starting a demonstration to protest the Dominion's slow encroachment over Bajor. Kira tries to get the Vedek to cancel her protest, arguing that the new normal is livable and that rocking the boat will only cause problems, but Yassim will not be swayed. On the day of the protest, Kira is ready with Bajoran security to break up any assemblies, but instead, Yassim publicly hangs herself. Horrified, Kira realizes that she has become a collaborator. She and Odo prepare to build a new resistance cell on the station.
Before the Jem'Hadar attack, Sisko contacts Remata'Klan and tells him that Keevan sold them out. The Third already figured it out from the terrible attack plan that Keevan gave him, but he doesn't care. Remata'Klan cannot break "the way of things" and must obey. Sisko glumly returns to his troops and prepares them for the assault. One officer is killed in the ensuing firefight, but the remaining Jem'Hadar are slaughtered. Blithely stepping over his fallen men, Keevan surrenders and gives over the communications relay, as he promised. Sisko and his crew then start to bury the dead.
This episode contains examples of:
- Action Prologue: Our heroes are still trying to repair the damage from last episode when two Jem-Hadar fighters attack them.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Sisko and the rest of the crew collapse in laughter after O'Brien tears his pants.
- A Father to His Men: Keevan demands the name of a Jem'Hadar who made a mistake. Remata'Klan refuses to give it, saying it's his responsibility to discipline his own men. Keevan can punish him for failing to do his job properly, but not his men.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The crew crash-lands on a barren planet, Dax is severely injured, and O'Brien tears his pants.
- Bad Boss: Keevan is verbally abusive to his Jem'Hadar troops, and in the end, shamelessly throws their lives away in order to save his own neck.
- Bittersweet Ending: Sisko's crew survives and with a major Dominion prisoner, but lost one of their own and had a pointless fight with the Jem'Hadar. Vedek Yassim commits suicide, which forces Kira to realize she has to do something against the new Occupation.
- Blatant Lies: When he gives out only a single vial of ketracel-white, Keevan claims to be rationing the drug. His expression when he opened the container implies, and Keevan himself later confirms, that most of the white was lost in the crash.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: This episode really drives home just how alien the Jem'Hadar really are with their single-minded devotion to "the order of things," to the point that they knowingly walk right into a trap that will kill them all simply because they were ordered to. Sisko himself struggles to understand this and tries repeatedly to convince Remata'Klan to Take the Third Option before having no choice but to kill him and his men.
- Bookends: The captured Jem'Hadar fighter's final appearance mirrors its first, crashing on an empty planet.
- Call-Back:
- After what happened on Empok Nor, Nog refuses to turn his back on Garak.
- Sisko suggests to Remata'klan that he simply frag Keevan the way Omet'iklan fragged Weyoun 4 in "To the Death" for impugning his honor earlier in the episode. Remata'klan refuses, calling that incident a breakdown of unit discipline.
- Combat Pragmatist: Discussed and subverted. Some of the Starfleet crew are outraged about ambushing the Jem'Hadar, only for Garak and ultimately Sisko to smack them down. However, at the ambush, Sisko takes the time to warn Remata'Klan of the coming ambush and gives him a chance to peacefully surrender. It doesn't work.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: Kira had grown accustomed to working alongside DS9's Dominion occupiers (including the former Cardassian Prefect of the station). It isn't until Vedek Yassim's "protest" that she realizes she was turning into a collaborator and commits herself to subverting the occupation.
- Contrived Coincidence: The crew's disabled ship not only finds a conveniently close nebula to hide in, but they find a planet in the nebula, and crash within walking distance of similarly shipwrecked Dominion troops, who have a salvageable communicator and are almost out of ketracel-white. As Keevan himself points out, if they had just a few extra vials of ketracel-white then Sisko and his crew would've been slaughtered instead of negotiated with.
- Curse Cut Short: When Keevan struts over the bodies of his men to surrender, a furious and disgusted Sisko nearly calls him something, but stops himself and simply orders him secured.
- Dirty Coward:
- Keevan might be the most contemptible Vorta ever.
- Kira comes to see herself as this by the end of the episode.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Yassim committing suicide in protest is a direct reference to Buddhist monks immolating themselves in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government.
- Due to the Dead: After killing the Jem'Hadar (and losing Ensign Gordon) Sisko demands his crew form a burial detail.
- Explosive Instrumentation: A console explodes in Dax's face and knocks her to the deck. Fortunately, she's a main character, so she survives.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: As Kira remarks on Yassim's apparent no-show and starts to tell Jake there won't be a story, extras in the background start chattering in alarm and saying things like "what is she doing?!" Cut to Yassim, standing on the railing with a rope around her neck.
- Foil: Remata'Klan is one of the most honorable and noble Jem'Hadar ever portrayed, and Keevan is quite possibly the most despicable Vorta ever portrayed.
- Foreshadowing: When Keevan tells Remata'Klan to locate the Starfleeters and report back, Remata'Klan says "I understand" and Keevan responds with "No, you don't." In retrospect, it's the first hint that Keevan has plans that he doesn't want Remata'Klan to know about.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Not exactly freeze-frame, as there's enough screentime to see, but a careful look in the final battle shows that the neck tubes on the Jem'Hadar are empty.
- Hate Sink: Keevan. He's meant to be a despicable character from the beginning, hated by the characters and audience alike. He's a marked contrast with the far more honorable Remata'klan.
- Heel Realization: Vedek Yassim's suicide causes Kira to come to this.
- Heroic Suicide: Vedek Yassim's "demonstration" leads to Kira realizing she's becoming a collaborator.
- Hollywood Tactics: Played for drama. Keevan both orders the Jem Hadar to use a bad plan to approach in an exposed manner and tells Sisko what it is for good measure ensuring the Jem Hadar's death.
- Honor Before Reason: Played for tragedy. Utterly devoted to "the order of things", Remata'klan refuses to promote himself to First (despite the First and Second being dead) because he questioned Keevan's orders. He continues to obey Keevan despite knowing the Vorta to be a cowardly, smug waste of skin, and in the end, he and his men knowingly walk to their deaths simply because Keevan ordered them to.
- Hypocritical Humor: O'Brien can say "damn", but he tells Nog "watch your mouth!" when Nog does it back.
- Invisibility: The Jem'Hadar's ability to cloak depends on their supply of ketracel-white. When Remata'Klan orders a withdrawal, his men are unable to cloak in order to escape.
- Intrepid Reporter: Jake is still writing articles despite knowing they won't be read, and asks Odo and Kira some uncomfortable questions in an interview.
- Irony: Played for black comedy with O'Brien's torn pants. As Garak later notes, the tear was on the seam and so he could easily fix it with his sewing kit (which he brought with him on the mission). The problem? Garak left the sewing kit behind when the crashed fighter sunk and they have no way to retrieve it,
- Just Following Orders: Remata'Klan says he only came to deliver terms, and even admits that it's a terrible deal that Sisko shouldn't agree to.
- Kick the Dog: Shortly after the Jem'Hadar are killed, Keevan walks up to their corpses and gloats that he would have had the Starfleet officers killed if he had just two more vials of ketracel-white
- Lured into a Trap: The Jem'Hadar—by their Vorta leader. And they know it, but they still walk into it, because it's the "order of things."
- MacGyvering: In-Universe, Starfleet Engineers have apparently achieved this version of Memetic Badass status, as according to Keevan, they can "turn rocks into replicators."
- My Country, Right or Wrong: The Jem'Hadar are committed to the Founders and the Dominion, more than the Vorta.
- Mythology Gag: The episode, in which the Federation's comandeered Jem'Hadar ship is destroyed, is filmed in Sun Valley, Los Angeles, the same location of "The Ship", the episode in which it was obtained.
- Never My Fault: Played for black comedy when Nog recounts how Garak tied him up and threatened to kill him during the Empok Nor incident the year before. Garak reminds Nog there were extenuating circumstances (which, ironically, is true, as Garak was under the influence of a psychotropic drug).
- Oh, Crap!:
- Garak, when he sees that our heroes are headed for a crash landing.Garak: Oh, no!
Sisko: Mr. Garak?
Garak: Hold on! - While the audience doesn't get a look until later in the episode, the look on Keevan's face when he opens the container of ketracel-white says it all.
- Nog and Garak when they realise that they've just walked right into half-a-dozen shrouded Jem'Hadar.
- Garak, when he sees that our heroes are headed for a crash landing.
- Ordered to Die: The Jem'Hadar obey Keevan's order to carry out a suicidal attack on the Starfleet camp.Sisko: Do you really want to give up your life for the order of things?
Remata'klan: It is not my life to give up, Captain. And it never was. - Our Dark Matter Is Mysterious: Sisko attempts to evade Jem'Hadar pursuit by flying into a dark matter nebula, but the ship suffers damage and crashes on a planet inside it.
- Pass the Popcorn: The Jem'Hadar are quite curious about Bashir performing surgery on their Vorta, since they don't have any concept of medical care.Sisko: How was the show?
Remata'Klan: Informative. - Precision Crash: Despite being completely out of control, our heroes manage to crash within walking distance of another Jem'Hadar ship that crashed several days earlier.
- Prisoner Exchange: Garak and Nog are released in exchange for Sisko and Bashir.
- Properly Paranoid: After the events of "Empok Nor", Nog refuses to turn his back on Garak. Rather than be insulted, Garak actually looks quite proud of him for it.Garak: Cadet...there may be hope for you yet.
- Pun-Based Title: On rocks and shoals, things that might cause a (sea) ship to be wrecked, with the name of the Jem'Hadar Invisibility power.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Kira lets her guard down after working for weeks with punchclock villain Cardassians and Jem'Hadar, who simply go about their days doing their banal jobs and even fetch raktajino for her.
- The Quisling: Kira fears that her following the plan for Bajor to stay neutral and keep out of the war has turned her into this.
- Red Shirt: Lieutenant Neeley and Ensign Gordon were never seen again after this episode, though Neeley defies the trope by surviving.
- Running Gag: As ever, Garak again being delighted when people don't trust him.
- Shoot the Dog: Sisko tries his best to prevent it, but in the end he's left with no choice but to slaughter the Jem'Hadar.
- Shout-Out: The episode title is a reference to the Articles for the Government of the United States Navy, which was the formal name of the military laws that governed the Navy until it was replaced by the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1951. Informally they were known as Rocks and Shoals, a reference to one of the sections that said someone could be sentenced to death for grounding their ship, or, as it was known at the time, "run upon rocks and shoals".
- Skewed Priorities: They've crashed on a barren planet, have no means to call for rescue and face the possibility of the Dominion finding them, but then the other shoe drops: O'Brien tore his pants.Sisko: (cracking up) You... You tore your pants?
O'Brien: (realizing) Yeah, I tore my pants. (everyone starts laughing) I guess... I guess I'm really in trouble now! - Smarter Than You Look: Remata'Klan says this of all Jem'Hadar."Despite what Keevan may think, the Jem'Hadar are often one step ahead of the Vorta."
- Smug Snake: Keevan, the smuggest of them all.
- Spotting the Thread: After they're captured, Garak tries to paint himself as a Cardassian soldier in loyal service to the Dominion, but then Keevan asks why he was wearing a Starfleet communicator. A resigned Garak admits he was hoping Keevan wasn't going to ask him about that.
- Suicide by Cop: Despite being aware that Keevan had betrayed them, the Jem'Hadar proceed with their attack partly because they were ordered to, but also because the lack of ketracel-white will soon cause them to go berserk and attack each other before dying. While Sisko offers to put them under sedation and take them in as prisoners, Remata'Klan refuses. Any outcome outside of a suicidal attack will invariably mean going against "the order of things".
- Suppressed Rage: While watching Keevan casually stroll among the bodies of the Jem'Hadar he just sent to their deaths, Sisko is clearly on the verge of shooting him before having him taken to base camp as a POW.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: It turns out that being tied up and threatened with death tends to stick with a person; Nog holds a grudge against Garak ever since the Empok Nor incident, and refuses to turn his back on him.
- Take It to the Bridge: Where Garak and Nog are released in exchange for Sisko and Bashir.
- Undying Loyalty: Despite knowing that Keevan is setting them up, none of the Jem'Hadar go against orders.Sisko: Keevan doesn't deserve the unwavering loyalty you're giving him.
Remata'Klan: He does not have to earn my loyalty, Captain. He has had it from the moment I was conceived. I am a Jem'Hadar. He is a Vorta. It is the order of things.
Sisko: Do you really want to give up your life for the 'order of things'?
Remata'Klan: It is not my life to give up, Captain – and it never was. - Unfriendly Fire: Discussed. In a Call-Back to "To the Death", Sisko suggests that Remata'klan frag Keevan the way Omet'iklan fragged Weyoun 4, but Remata'klan calls this a breakdown of discipline and refuses.
- Ungrateful Bastard: When Keevan shows up at the battle site moments after his Jem'Hadar have all been killed, he looks down at their dead bodies with disdain, then smugly tells Sisko that if he'd only had a few more vials of White, the Starfleet officers would all be dead.
- Uriah Gambit: Keevan's plan to deal with his Jem'Hadar, who are slowly losing their minds from lack of Ketracel White. He'll order them to attack Sisko's forces, but gives the Starfleet officers the exact time and plan of attack, so they can stage an ambush. Sisko reluctantly agrees to the deal.
- Wham Shot: The rope around Vedek Yassim's neck."Evil must be opposed!"
- Worthy Opponent: Remata'Klan is arguably one of the most honorable Jem'Hadar ever portrayed.
