Sisko and the crew proudly receive their new Defiant-class vessel, the USS Sao Paulo, which they promptly rename the Defiant. Odo has been deemed fit to return to duty, but not before Bashir lets him know that Section 31 was behind the virus. Sisko informs Odo that the Federation has decided not to share the cure with the Founders, which Odo finds hypocritical. The captain discusses the latest Dominion movement, pulling back to a defensive perimeter, and agrees with his follow senior officers that they will need to go on a bloody offensive to prevent the Dominion from rebuilding. When he arrives back at his quarters, Kasidy announces that she's pregnant. She's worried about the Prophets' warning that Sisko will "know only sorrow" for marrying her, but Sisko assures her that nothing will happen to their baby.
Quark receives an extremely distorted transmission from Grand Nagus Zek in which he announces his impending retirement and names Quark his successor. Brunt arrives in short order to become his toady and reveals that Zek has recently enacted taxes to fund many reforms, including social welfare and environmental protection. Quark is horrified and plans to return Feregini society back to the naked pursuit of profit. He sells his bar to Rom in preparation. But when Zek arrives at the station for the handover, he reveals that he never intended to name Quark his successor. He thought he was talking to Rom, his true successor. Rom is stunned, but Zek and Ishka assure him that Ferenginar needs a kinder, gentler Nagus. Rom gives the bar back to Quark, who plans to keep it as a bastion of unmitigated Ferengi greed. He does, however, congratulate his brother.
Bashir and Ezri are acting awkward around each other. It's an open secret that they're into each other, but neither can pull the trigger. Bashir finally decides to talk with Ezri, but the conversation goes nowhere besides affirming their friendship. From the sidelines, Worf states that Bashir is a child and Ezri is confused. Later, however, the pair bump into each other on the turbolift, and the sexual tension is fierce. They reaffirm their friendship as the turbolift starts moving, but by the time they arrive at Ops, they're making out. The whole crew witnesses the spectacle before Worf sends the turbolift away.
Kira, Damar and Garak beam down to Cardassia Prime to meet with Gul Revok and Legate Goris, who have agreed to join the resistance, but it's a doublecross, and all of the resistance fighters are slaughtered as the trio hide. They're stranded on the planet with no support, but Garak leads them to his childhood home as a hideout. Garak's old nanny notes that many Cardassians don't believe that Damar and the resistance is dead, and Kira realizes that they can use that to foster a grassroots rebellion. They bomb a nearby Jem'Hadar barracks. Damar gives a speech urging the citizens to join his uprising, which receives rousing support, before he melts away.
Tropes in this episode:
- Breather Episode: The Ferengi part of this episode serves as a lighthearted comedy amongst and before the epic finale of the show.
- The Bus Came Back: Mila returns for the first time since Season Three's "Improbable Cause".
- Call-Back:
- The USS São Paulo is rechristened USS Defiant, just like how in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the USS Yorktown was rechristened USS Enterprise-A. Also, when the Sao Paulo arrives, Ezri says "I didn't know we were getting another Defiant class ship.", to which Sisko says "That's what happens when you miss staff meetings.", echoing Kirk's reply to Dr. McCoy in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, after he learned Scotty secretly sabotaged the USS Excelsior.
- When Brunt is sucking up to soon-to-be-Nagus Quark, Nog reminds them that he's not Nagus yet in an echo of the Running Gag from "Profit and Lace".
- After Rom becomes Nagus and is in a position to really reform Ferengi society, Quark says that he will stay on DS9 and that his bar will be the last outpost of Ferengi society, which is a callback to the Next Generation episode "The Last Outpost". That particular episode marked the first appearance of the Ferengi in the franchise and in which Armin Shimerman appeared as a Ferengi.
- The Corrupter: How Quark views what his mother is doing to Ferenginar. She gets Grand Nagus Zek to institute reforms that include environmental protections, wage subsidies for the poor, retirement benefits, universal healthcare, and a new legislative body to turn Ferenginar into a liberal parliamentary democracy.
- Darkest Hour: While the Federation Alliance is now fully equipped to go into battle against the Dominion, the Cardassian Rebellion was entirely wiped out and Kira, Damar, and Garak are trapped on Cardassia.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mila (Tain's head of housekeeping) mentions rumors among the people that Damar is hiding in a secret base in the mountains, planning to strike.Garak: You never told me you had a secret mountain hideaway.Damar: I was going to surprise you.
- Defiant to the End: Quark acts in the SPIRIT of this trope. When he finds out Rom is be new Grand Nagus in light of the radical social changes in Ferengi culture, Quark briefly barks Quark's Ferenginar no longer exists, but then finds his resolve, and vows that his beloved ultra capitalist Ferenginar will continue exist in his bar, being the last outpost to the Ferenginar he knows.
- Drowning My Sorrows: The scene of Kira, Damar, and Garak drinking was cut, but when Mila finds them, it's clear that they've hit the bottle.
- Establishing Character Moment: Legate Broca's first line upon being introduced is "I serve the Founders in all things." This firmly establishes him as nothing more than a Weak-Willed Puppet King.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Mila recounting stories Cardassian civilians have been telling one another about Damar's secret survival. Kira naturally wonders why they don't believe he's dead and Damar cynically thinks it's because the Dominion has lied to them so many times that they don't believe any of the propaganda anymore. But Kira realizes the stories mean the Rebellion's activities had more of an impact on the Cardassian people than they'd realized: They've turned Damar into a living legend. While the organized resistance is gone, they've now got all the right conditions for triggering a civilian-led uprising against the Dominion.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Once again, this ends up biting the Dominion in the rear. They assume that if they withdraw to Cardassian space and establishing a defensive perimeter, the "timid" Federation will respond by backing off to regroup. In fact, it's Sisko, a Federation officer, who is the first to recommend that the Alliance go on the offensive; the sole dissenting voice comes from the Romulan representative, who is quickly talked around.
- God Help Us All:Sisko: If we do nothing, the Dominion could sit behind that perimeter for the next five years rearming themselves. And when they're ready to come out, God help us all.
- Heroic BSoD: Kira, Garak, and Damar go into one after La Résistance is destroyed. Mila snaps them out of it by revealing that a new resistance is brewing.
- Heroic Second Wind: As always, Damar stops drinking and acts decisively once he's got a clear path ahead of him.
- Hope Spot: The opening has Damar, Kira, and Garak returning to Cardassia to meet with several officers who can greatly increase their anti-Dominion forces. Unfortunately, one of the Cardassians betrays the resistance, and it's swiftly crushed.
- I Kiss Your Hand: Brunt wastes no time in sucking up to Quark.
- Legacy Character: The new Defiant (which is rechristened from Sao Paulo by a special dispensation from the Chief of Starfleet Operations in recognition of its predecessor and crew's contributions to the war effort).
- Lethal Chef: Despite being Enabran Tain's housekeeper, Mila freely admits she was never much of a cook.
- Literary Allusion Title: To Julius Caesar.
- Living Legend: Damar becomes one.
- Lost in Transmission: Zek thinks he's talking to Rom, but Quark doesn't know it thanks to the static.
- Lured into a Trap: Damar, Kira, and Garak barely avoid being killed. The rest of La Résistance isn't so lucky.
- Mythology Gag: Quark refers to his bar as "the last outpost" of Ferengi values, referring to the TNG episode "The Last Outpost", in which the Ferengi debuted. Armin Shimerman played a Ferengi in that episode, too. He also uses Jean-Luc Picard's "The line has to be drawn here! This far, no further" line from Star Trek: First Contact to protest the new welfare laws on Ferenginar. Ronald D. Moore, co-writer of both episode and film, mentioned on AOL chat
that "I take great glee at mocking my own work." - Nothing Can Stop Us Now!: In his speech to Cardassia, Weyoun says that with Damar dead and his rebellion crushed, there is nothing that will stop the Dominion's march to final victory. Then, in his next scene, the Founder orders their forces to withdraw because the Federation Alliance is now immune to the Breen's energy-dampening weapons.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: Brunt immediately starts kissing up to Quark when it's revealed that he's going to become Nagus. He later tries to do the same to Rom, which he refuses, but Quark tells him to at least accept a pedicure from Brunt first."You'll still be a powerful man! I wouldn't be sucking up to you otherwise."
- The Purge: After Gul Revok's betrayal and Damar's presumed death, the Dominion coordinates a massive strike that successfully destroys all of Damar's bases and wipes out the Cardassian Rebellion.
- Puppet King:
- Legate Broca is an even bigger one than Damar was.
- How Quark sees the office of the Grand Nagus after the numerous reforms instituted by Zek and Moogie.
- Rock Bottom: Kira urges Damar to encourage a civilian revolt, not the thing a Cardassian military officer can really get his head around. But he decides that anything is better than being a Basement-Dweller.
- Rousing Speech:
- Kira tries to give one to Damar and Garak after La Résistance is destroyed, but it falls flat, even for her.Kira: Well, we've got to do something! We are not spending the rest of the war in this cellar, are we? (sees Damar and Garak falling into a funk) Are we? (gives up and joins them)
- On the other hand, the one that Damar gives to the civilians after the barracks bombing is a huge success."Citizens of Cardassia, hear me! The Dominion told you that the rebellion has been crushed. What you have seen here today proves that that is yet another lie. Our fight for freedom continues! But it will take place here in the streets. I call on Cardassians everywhere to rise up, rise up and join me! I need you to be my army! If we stand together, nothing can oppose us. Freedom is ours for the taking!"
- Kira tries to give one to Damar and Garak after La Résistance is destroyed, but it falls flat, even for her.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: The last lighthearted episode before the dramatic series finale.
- Shout-Out:
- Zek's speech to Rom advises him to avoid the shoals of bankruptcy.
- The Sao Paolo's name is a reference to the San Pablo in The Sand Pebbles. Sisko and Steve McQueen (actor) both greet their respective ships, "Hello, ship!"
- Skewed Priorities: The Female Changeling tells Weyoun that their PR campaign to pacify the Cardassian civilian population can wait.
- Stock Footage: A rather lazy example, considering the Dominion's great victory footage is mostly Dominion facilities from previous episodes getting attacked.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Kasidy announces that she's pregnant at the end of the episode, as one of them forgot their monthly birth control.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The Federation Council declining to give the Morphogenic Virus cure to the Founders. While it completely goes against the spirit and ideals of the Federation, it's also a realistic response given the current situation. The Dominion has spent the last two years trying to destroy the Federation and their allies just attacked Earth itself a few episodes earlier. The Federation governing body is in no mood to do the Dominion any favors (particularly since curing the Founders will only prolong the war).
- Tactical Withdrawal: Once it becomes clear that the Federation Alliance has become immune to the Breen's energy-dampening weapons, the Female Changeling orders a full retreat to the Cardassian home systems.
- Take a Third Option:Jem'Hadar: Surrender, or die.
Damar: I choose...neither!
(Kira shoots the Jem'Hadar) - This Cannot Be!: A heroic version. Damar's reaction after the Dominion successfully destroys all of the Cardassian Rebellion's bases. To be fair, it's a valid reaction given the Rebellion had followed Kira's advice about compartmentalization to prevent this exact scenario from coming to pass. Damar's also now grappling with the realization that they've utterly failed.
- Twice Shy: Bashir and Ezri give off this vibe, with Worf and O'Brien wondering Will They or Won't They?. In the end, they will, which leads to Worf pulling a variant of Kissing Discretion Shot by pressing the "down" button for the turbolift.
- The Un-Reveal: It is never made clear exactly how it was that all the cells of the Cardassian Resistance were found and destroyed since, as Damar himself states, they had followed Kira's instructions on compartmentalizing knowledge to prevent just such a surgical strike. Since the episode begins with the news that two different Cardassian higher-ups were willing to meet and join the Resistance, only for one of them to betray it to the Dominion, it is possible he somehow obtained that information from the gathering rebels (if there somehow managed to be members from every cell among them). In the end, though, Kira says it doesn't matter how they were found out, and no explanation is ever given.
- Villain Ball: The Dominion grabs hold of a big one when they assume they've killed Damar (the next episode confirms the announcement of his death wasn't just propaganda; they genuinely believed he was dead). Apparently it never crossed their minds to check the wreckage to confirm he was on the ship when they destroyed it.
- Wham Line: When Zek and Ishka arrive, Quark confronts them and says that if he is to be Grand Nagus, he'll need to be allowed to do things his way. Then Ishka asks "Who wants you to be Nagus?"
- What the Hell, Hero?: Odo is less than pleased when Sisko tells him that, even though the Federation frowns upon Section 31's attempts at preventing the Founders from being cured, they still won't give it to them because they're afraid it will prolong the war.Odo: Interesting, isn't it? The Federation claims to abhor Section 31's tactics, but when they need the dirty work done, they look the other way. It's a tidy little arrangement, wouldn't you say?
