Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — 4x02 — The Way of the Warrior, Part II

Aired 1995-10-02

SpaceOpera.com rating:9

Average reader rating:6.67

Synopsis

When the Klingon Empire withdraws from its peace treaty with the Federation, Sisko must help Klingon Starfleet officer Worf decide where his loyalties lie.

Filler rating: not filler

Numerous major long term plot threads are serviced here.

Remarkable scenes

Worf's reaction to the Defiant having a cloaking device.
The Defiant engaging the Klingons and saving Dukat.
Dukat: "I find this whole procedure offensive." Bashir: "And I find you offensive."
Sisko's bet with Dax.
Quark: "I want you to try something for me. Take a sip of this." Garak: "What is it?" Quark: "A human drink. It's called root beer." Garak: "I don't know..." Quark: "Come on. Aren't you just a little bit curious?" Garak takes a sip. Quark: "What do you think?" Garak: "It's vile!" Quark: "I know. It's so bubbly and glowing and happy." Garak: "Just like the Federation." Quark: "But you know what's really frightening? If you drink enough of it, you begin to like it." Garak: "It's insidious!" Quark: "Just like the Federation."
Several dozen Klingon ships arriving at DS9 preparing to attack.
Bashir: "I'm sure there's more than one Klingon who thinks that slaying a Changeling would be worthy of a song or two." Odo: "Doctor, if a Klingon were to kill me, I'd expect nothing less than an entire opera on the subject."
Gowron: "History is written by the victors!"
Sisko: "I can assure you, this old cat may not be as toothless as you think. Right now I've got 5000 photon torpedos armed and ready to launch. If you don't believe me, feel free to scan the station."
The battle. So awesome.
Sisko convincing Worf to stay aboard DS9.
Morn Appearances; 1. In the background during Quark and Garak's conversation about the Federation and root beer. 2. Is the first person to enter Quark's bar when it is reopened after the battle.

Review

A roaring ride, part two loses none of part one's momentum. The highlight of the episode is obviously the space battle. Indeed, DS9 isn't as "toothless" as it was in the pilot episode. Nothing like 5000 photon torpedos at your disposal. The thing to discuss about this episode is the behavior of the Klingons. Certainly unexpected. The first reaction is to say, wow, the Klingons sure were a bunch of idiots in this episode. It's easy to make this claim with hindsight, but consider the events in order. The Changelings are revealed to be "everywhere." The Cardassians closed their borders. A political shakeup ensues. The Klingons take this as evidence that the Dominion has seized control of Cardassia. Even Odo says that that's how his people would have done it. So the Klingons invade. Then Sisko interferes with their war and thoroughly offends the Klingons. The Klingons then attack DS9. All a very natural course of events from a Klingon point of view. Sisko manages to convince Gowron of why they were all making a mistake fighting like this, but Gowron remains offended by the Federation having sided against them in battle. So who wins? The Dominion. Nicely played.

4 reader comments

The scenes that have Worf talking about leaving Starfleet just don't work. The audience is not fooled for a minute, especially since his name is in the opening credits. I still like the episode though.
by Orion Pimpdaddy | 07/06/2009 at 8:23 pm

Watching DS9 up to this point, I was thoroughly unimpressed by the Federation's response to the Dominion. Don't get me wrong, I love the show. It was really coming into it's own, introducing new story arcs, adding further depth to its circle of characters, and really proving itself as a series to be on par with TOS and TNG, with the potential to outshine them. But within the story itself, the Federation has seemed impotent, while every other power in the region is realistic about the Dominion and doing what they can to stop them.
Consider the Romulans. They have attempted to collapse the wormhole, and then launch a pre-emptive strike on the Dominion. The first plan was stopped by the Federation, and the second plan went forward with no Federation support. Now the Klingons plunge themselves into the fight, and again the Federation hesitates.
The only justification I could come up with for the Federation's behavior is that its fight with the Borg has altered its strategy. Wolf 359 taught the Federation to be wary of massive confrontations, and the fact is, the Federation faced the Borg threat with very little help from the Klingons and none from the Romulans or Cardassians. Maybe in the eyes of the Federation, it's time the others stepped up to face the Dominion threat. That is understandable.
Another thing I don't understand, is where are all the other Alpha and Beta Quadrant powers right now? The Sheliak, the Gorn, the Tholians…surely there is some involvement? This seems to have been the time for Star Trek to summon its prior alien encounters, since the Dominion is clearly something everybody should be concerned about!
That being said, I love the angles DS9 is exploring; it is something unique that neither TOS or TNG have dealt with yet.
by MJ | 01/11/2011 at 10:22 pm

The subspace realm Jake gets sucked into on his second to last try looked a lot like the place where Sisko met the creators of the wormhole in the Pilot.
by AW | 12/15/2015 at 7:26 pm

This certainly isn't unique to this episode, but as an example: right before the final attack on DS9, Gowron says something in Klingon. Worf then translates to "today is a good day to die".
But why didn't the universal translator already translate it? I mean, Gowron wasn't speaking English that whole time, right? He was speaking Klingon.
Anyway, great two-parter.
by tigertooth | 10/18/2016 at 4:03 am