Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — 7x09 — Covenant

Aired 1998-11-25

SpaceOpera.com rating:2

Average reader rating:4.02

Synopsis

Dukat returns and he wants Kira to join his cult of Pah-wraith followers.

Filler rating: not filler

Numerous major long term plot threads are serviced here.

Remarkable scenes

Odo: "A glass of Spring Wine." Quark: "Since when do you drink Spring Wine? Or anything else for that matter?" Odo: "It's for Kira."
Kira: "I've always found that when people try to convince others of their beliefs it's because they're just trying to convince themselves."
Kira, regarding the religious conflict: "We can't both be right."
The revelation that the baby is actually Dukat's.
Kira inciting revolt against Dukat by revealing that he never had any intention of dying with his followers.

Review

An episode exploring the cult of the Pah-wraiths in detail was a nice idea, but flops here. Dukat loses some of his magic in this episode with his two serious blunders, 1. getting one of his followers pregnant and 2. bringing Kira to Empok Nor. The episode is necessary to in a way to show us what Dukat has been up to since he killed Jadzia, but because of Dukat's absurd behavior, the episode almost contributes negatively to the story. I did enjoy Kira's condescending attitude toward the cult followers, but beyond that the episode is mostly filler and pretty annoying.

6 reader comments

Why do doorbells on Empok Nor have a Starfleet tone?
by JJ | 11/15/2010 at 7:54 pm

While it is true that this ep. did not fit in a whole lot to the overall storyline of the series (other then a look at what Mr crazy man has been up to since he killed off the last dax). I saw this episode as a social commentary on the dangers of many of the negative aspects of organized religion. Viewing it from that perspective I thoroughly enjoyed it.
by Omcn7 | 01/09/2012 at 10:19 am

I agree with Omcn, definitely not the best episode, but it had a good message.
by Psycroptic | 07/18/2012 at 2:27 am

I thought it one of the better episodes of the closing season, with particularly strong performances. It was a lucid and memorable commentary on injustice and manipulation.
Empok Nor is displayed at a slightly evil tilt simply to distinguish it at a glance from DS9.
by Joseph Angeles | 08/28/2012 at 11:42 am

The Bajorans are credulous superstitious peasants. How did they ever qualify for membership to the Federation?
This episode was probably a pretty accurate portrayal of the dynamics within a cult. Loved the mural of Dukat.
by L | 08/17/2013 at 12:07 am

Why is it a "problem" every time that Empok Nor is shown at an angle? It's a scenic technique… to signify something that's perhaps odd, irregular, out of "order", broken. In Empok Nor's case, it's an odd/dark counterpart to DS9. So, it's shown at a different angle, it fell out of the normal loop, it's the "wrong" station.
My 'problem' actually is how Dukat is wearing a snake/alligator skin like coat. Isn't it like… if humans were wearing ape skin coats? Cardassians are reptilian…
by Alex | 03/22/2021 at 9:33 pm