Martok confronts Worf on never even mentioning his son even after joining Martok's house. Worf admits that once Alexander made it clear he had no interest in becoming a warrior, Worf felt he had nothing to teach him and essentially disowned him. Alexander fits in with the Klingons about as well as you'd expect an Earth-raised Non-Action Guy to, and he's quickly bullied by the others. Worf intercedes, angering both the crew and Alexander, who refuses to speak to Worf about his motives for joining the KDF.
After Alexander makes an embarrassing mistake on sensor duty, Worf tries to make up for lost time by training Alexander in hand-to-hand combat, but the sparring match ends up as a shouting match between father and son. Martok decides to step in and urges Alexander to admit why he's there, but Alexander again refuses, causing Martok to accept Worf's request to reassign him. But just as Alexander confronts Worf over the request, a wing of Jem'Hadar fighters attacks the convoy they're guarding. Alexander takes his post and identifies a way to destroy one of the Jem'Hadar fighters, which Martok exploits. When the Rotarran springs a plasma leak, Alexander volunteers to fix it, and his former bully volunteers to accompany him. Together, they fix the ship, and Martok is able to drive off the attackers. After the battle, Alexander accidentally locks himself in a corridor, prompting laughter from the crew, but they still respect him for his recent heroism.
Back on Terok Nor, Kira is surprised to meet Tora Ziyal back on the station. She was having difficulty fitting in on Bajor, and Dukat managed to patch things up between them and bring her back. She invites Kira to dinner with her and her father, and Kira begrudgingly accepts. A shared love of Ziyal and appreciation for her artwork help the two rivals remain polite throughout the evening. After Dukat manages to get Ziyal's art displayed in a Cardassian gallery, he invites Kira to the party, which she accepts, but when he sends her a sexy dress to wear, she realizes that he's back up to his old Abhorrent Admirer tricks and spurns him. When Ziyal gets the news and begs Kira not to make her choose between her and Dukat, Kira tells her that there is no choice to make, because Dukat is her father.
Worf reconciles with Alexander, agreeing that he will teach Alexander to be a warrior, while Alexander will teach him to be a father. In a ceremony, Martok and Worf formally induct him into the House of Martok as Alexander, son of Worf.
This episode contains examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Dukat, per his idiom.
- Aesop Amnesia: Worf has apparently forgotten all those lessons he learned throughout The Next Generation about learning to be Alexander's father.
- Alien Art Is Appreciated: Inverted. Dukat and Kira only see their own culture's art influence in Ziyal's paintings.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Alexander identifies damage to one of the Jem'Hadar fighters in the form of an antiproton leak in its starboard nacelle. Martok thus orders the weapons officer to target the nacelle on that fighter. When that nacelle goes boom, the fighter does too.
- Bittersweet Ending: Alexander joins the House of Martok and is on the road to becoming a warrior, but Kira must end her friendship with Ziyal due to her father's behavior.
- The Bus Came Back: After years of almost completely ignoring his existence, Alexander returns.
- Butt-Monkey: Alexander, who keeps screwing up.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Alexander challenges his father to a fight to the death; Worf charitably declines. There is no rational universe in which Alexander would have even stood a chance of winning.
- Captain Obvious:
- Martok's observation on Worf and Alexander's relationship.Martok: When a father and son do not speak, it means there is trouble between them.
- Worf too, when Martok reprimands him for not mentioning Alexander when they're Fire-Forged Friends.Worf: It is a...difficult subject to discuss.Martok: That much is obvious.
- Martok's observation on Worf and Alexander's relationship.
- Continuity Nod:
- Sisko's crew who were stranded in the previous episode have been rescued by the Rotarran and dropped off at a Federation starbase.
- One of the new soldiers on the Rotarran is Katogh, son of Ch'Pok.
- Similar to TNG's "Cause and Effect," destroying a nacelle is a perfectly good way to destroy a ship.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Martok tells off Worf for interfering in the Bar Brawl, as his son would have only got a few cuts and broken bones, nothing more. Instead by interfering, Worf has made his son look even weaker than he is.
- Dodge by Braking: The Rotarran pulls this off during a dogfight with some Jem'Hadar attack ships, letting the pursuing JHAS pass over top of them so they can bring their disruptors to bear and turn it to scrap metal.
- Flat "What": Martok when Alexander refuses to divulge his true motive for being here.
- Food Slap: Alexander tosses his food in the face of a crewmember who's bullying him.
- The Fool: How Alexander is viewed by the Rotarran's crew. Worf is not pleased.
- I Am X, Son of Y: How all the new crewmembers on the Rotarran introduce themselves—except Alexander, showing how bad his relationship with his father is.
- I Have No Son!: Worf has never mentioned Alexander to his Klingon colleagues or tried to communicate with his son in years, so he's doing this trope in all but name.
- Mandatory Line: Sisko and the rest of the crew only appear in The Teaser. Having been rescued by the Rotarran, they're being dropped off at Starbase 375 for a debriefing.
- Moment Killer: The episode opens with Worf and Jadzia snogging passionately in their quarters, until Sisko calls on the comm.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Martok points out the similarities between Alexander and his father.Martok: You're as tight-lipped as your father.
Alexander: I am nothing like him!
Martok: Both stubborn, tiresome qu'vatlh. The only difference is I need him. I do not need you. - Oh, Crap!: Alexander grins when a fistfight is impending with a much larger Klingon, but then the Klingon draws a dagger. When Alexander draws his own dagger, it's clear he has little idea how to use it.
- Palm Bloodletting: Wouldn't be a Klingon ceremony without it.
- Secret Test of Character: Martok gives one to Alexander. Despite it being a fairly obvious ploy, he still fails.
- Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: This episode takes place in 2374. Alexander was born in 2366, making him 8 years old. He appears to be about 16 years old. Hand Waved by
Word of God stating that Klingon children mature much faster than humans and repeated from Star Trek: The Next Generation, where he appears as 1-4 years old, but looked about 4 years old at a year old then about 10 at age 4. - Rousing Speech: Although he'd just been griping about how the war is going against them, Martok still gives a stirring speech to the new recruits.
- Took a Level in Badass: Alexander at the end is still considered an incompetent warrior, but he gained some respect from the crew for showing bravery (which definitely counts to Klingons) and volunteering and succeeding in an assignment that saved the ship from a plasma leak.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Despite vigorously denying it, Alexander would not be on the same ship as Worf if he wasn't trying to get his father's long-overdue acknowledgement.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Martok is rather annoyed that in all the time they've known each other, Worf never once mentioned having a son. Later he tells off Worf for not acting as First Officer—who is responsible for the efficiency and discipline of the crew. Alexander lacks both and needs to be brought into line.
- Alexander tells off his father — far from accepting Alexander has not chosen the warrior's path, his lack of communication with his son indicates that Worf is disappointed that his son is not like him.
- Martok to Alexander — all the other recruits know why they're here. By refusing to acknowledge his own reasons, Alexander is just getting in the way.
- You Fight Like a Cow: Ch'Targh has no respect for Alexander's (non-existent) fighting skills."He fights like a Ferengi!"
