The Reckoning

DVD, DS9 S6 (The Reckoning) (2)

I think of 'The Reckoning' as an almost forgotten episode, lost in the backwater of Season 6, if arguably the strongest season of the series can be said to have a backwater. What I mean is, it's not one of the big exciting episodes that everyone remembers: the six-episode war arc; the wedding; 'In The Pale Moonlight;' the finale… It's just one of those that feels slightly out of place in the grand scheme (it's not, of course, since this is actually what all the grand schemes are about, regardless of what the Dominion, the Romulans, the Klingons or the Federation think, it's all about this one little planet and the personal relationship Captain Sisko has with their Prophets), like it belongs in Season 3 or 4 when the Bajoran side of the story was playing a more prominent role than it did in later seasons. The remoteness stretches to the feel of the episode, too, it being another of those occasions when the station is evacuated down to a skeleton crew, weird things are happening, and the main characters are all alone. Except I never felt that remoteness ever reached the same atmosphere of other such stories as 'Empok Nor' or 'Invasive Procedures' - that second example is very much the vein in which this story runs, with openings of the Wormhole, the strange shudders going through the station and the intermittent loss of power something both use to create an atmosphere of gloom.

They also share the idea of one of the main characters in danger of losing their life in an unnatural procedure that is against their will, with a showdown at the end. I can't articulate why it doesn't come across quite so well in this later episode, perhaps there isn't enough time given to the build up, or there's too much time before weird stuff starts to happen, or the station's evacuation was too quick and easy… I don't know, it just doesn't carry the same impression of isolation, and that could well be because the series is part of the much grander galactic backdrop now, and we're given references to those other parts of its narrative, like Admiral Ross said to have ordered Sisko to allow Kai Winn to take the tablet back with her, or Martok said to be off battling the enemy. We're not in an isolated, distant post any more, and though I probably prefer the execution of later seasons, with the fate of the quadrant at stake, and so many great episodes, one of the things I love about those first three seasons is the aloneness of the situation, happening in a backwater. There we go again, back to the backwater. Yes, that must be why I don't feel so affected by the rising atmosphere of doom.

That doom is truncated, and it may be that after being encased in the tablet for thirty-thousand years, putting even ancient Bajoran civilisation of a few thousand years ago into perspective, these two beings wanted to get on with their battle to the death as quickly as possible. I feel like they could have done more with the idea of a Prophet and a Pah-Wraith occupying the station, preparing for an ultimate duel for the soul of Bajor. But because of the rate at which things happen, I didn't buy all of it, like the Prophet telling Sisko, the Emissary, his job was done. And not enough explanation was given for these two combatants: it's just 'here is a Prophet and the Evil One, Kosst Amojan, they're gonna fight, and if good wins out there'll be a thousand years of peace, so let's hope for a positive outcome there.' Why did this particular Prophet have to fight alone and unaided, what was the significance of the Evil One, and what would have happened if either side had won? How did they become locked in the tablet in the first place? Is Kosst Amojan one or many? Many questions are left unaddressed, and although Kosst Amojan is important later in the series, we never really get answers, these things just are the way they are (though that last question seems to answer itself when you consider it's called the Evil 'One,' it's just you see multiple energy forms depicting both Prophet and Pah-Wraith, so you start to wonder). I like a bit of mystery sometimes, but the same way the Temporal Cold War never fully came to fruition on 'Enterprise,' this central storyline wasn't fully explained by the end of the series, although it could be, as 'Star Wars' is all about the Skywalkers, this series is all about The Sisko, and his fate, not the Bajorans.

Leaving aside lack of culmination, it's not a bad story, it's just that set in the crown of Season 6, it doesn't come off so well compared with the majority. It feels like a Season 2 episode, no bad thing, but has that incompleteness to it. But like that time we take time to see most of the crew interacting in pleasing ways, most notably in Quark's understanding of Odo ('He always expects the worst'), and Kira's understanding of Odo (and this wasn't even an Odo episode!). It's also about his understanding of Kira and her strength of faith. And what faith! To be chosen by those she worships as a vessel for them at a crucial time is more than Winn could have ever imagined. She's basically ignored by the Prophet, just one more nail in the coffin of her convictions. It's strange, because when we saw her in Season 5, she'd found a common enemy to oppose with Sisko, and accepted what he did truly was for the best of Bajor ('Rapture'; 'In The Cards'). With common cause came a truce, but maybe it was just Winn on a good day: putting Weyoun in his place, and playing an important role in Bajor's affairs as she always wanted. When did she ever really do anything in the service of the Prophets that wasn't self-serving for her own ends of power and aggrandisement? It might have played better if we'd seen some of the political life of Bajor in the preceding year, and how Shakaar and she disagreed on just about everything (did he side with Winn in her mission to recover the tablet for political reasons, or did he agree that it shouldn't have been removed?). Bajor was no longer as important on the galactic stage after the initial threat of the Dominion invasion had been passed over. We might have been privy to her rising frustration so her betrayal of the Prophets and Sisko wouldn't have excessive.

As usual you can believe she believes she's doing what's right for Bajor, except that what she believes is right for Bajor is whatever she decides is right for Bajor! Her own lack of faith in the ability of the Prophet to defeat the Pah-Wraith is what spurs her on to take matters into her own hands and activate the technological solution that Dax and the others had formulated for defence against a potentially station-destroying event (a Bajoran who can operate a Starfleet program on Cardassian technology? - but it's quite easy to believe that Winn would secretly be more technologically adept than you'd think, just in case such an eventuality could be taken advantage of and used in her favour). It's not just that the Prophets have never spoken to her, as they have to Sisko, or even that they ignore her now as irrelevant when she gets a group of Bajorans together for a jolly chanting session on the Promenade. As Kira explains to Sisko, he's one of the infidels (perhaps the only time that term's been used in Trek), an outsider elevated above her political and spiritual role that she'd schemed and strained to achieve, who effortlessly ascends to what she wants without even having full understanding. Kira doesn't resent him for it, she knows it wasn't his choice, but Winn does, and her resentment and jealousy have brought out her already strong dark side so to meddle. She's not lost all faith in the Prophets, or decided to turn her back on them, but she hasn't come to the realisation yet that she isn't going to get what she wants from them: total power and control.

If she can take credit for saving Bajor by stopping the floods and earthquakes, then so much the better for her, ignoring the fact completely that if she'd left well alone Bajor may have entered into the promised land, where people and Prophets become one and everything's happy-doodle-dandy for a thousand years, Bajor's Golden Age. There's actually some quite humorous moments in the episode, mainly coming from Sisko's smashing of the tablet. First, Dax scolds him (in the same manner she criticised Worf for ripping a console out of the wall in 'The Ship'), as Sisko's explanation is simply that he had an uncontrollable urge to smash it. Oh, that's fine then, if you had a good reason… And then he has to explain to the Kai why she can't take this priceless relic back to Bajor as Starfleet had commanded him to allow her to do! It's funny, mainly because you're squirming for Sisko, and it's interesting to see his forceful personality on the back foot, almost penitent, but trying to convince others that the Prophets wanted him to do it, honest! The chat between some of the crew about the validity of the prophecies runs the gamut, Worf seemingly on the fence, Dax heavily sceptical, Bashir saying they're vague enough to be used to explain anything, and Odo and Quark both seeing the effects, and noting that, real or not, their reaction is having an effect. Odo isn't a believer, but he has so much faith in Kira that he backs her to the hilt and always believes the Prophets will triumph, just as Sisko always believes they won't let his son die.

Why did the Kosst Amojan choose Jake for his vessel? Again, it's not touched on, except for the likely malice it bears the Emissary, even mocking him as he cries out to take him instead of his son, anguished at the thought of losing Jake. What would have happened if the Pah-Wraith had been annihilated? Would Jake have survived? He didn't look too well in the battle, or after it, and Kai Winn's happy to take credit for saving both the Emissary and his son's life by her interference. Maybe she did? It's obvious why they chose Kira: her strong faith and openness to serve - Jake was used against his will and knew that it would be better for him to die if it took such an evil entity out too. For once it's Jake in the Infirmary - ironically, in this very episode he'd been telling his Father how he didn't want to see him on a biobed again, close to death after visions. Of course Sisko gets another vision this time, and it chucks him across the cave (he's thrown onto his back a second time by the Pah-Wraith, so it wasn't a good episode for his back!), something scientist Dax has no explanation for. That's another thing that sets this into the mould of an early seasons story, because Dax was often doing experiments and things in science labs. It also has more meaning when you know what's coming at the end of the season (she talks of the penance promised by the Prophets), that she would be so affected by Bajoran relics that she'd want to protect them later, whereas here she has nothing but scorn, slightly different from the more open-minded Jadzia of the pilot who examined the Orb.

One thing they're good at is setting up with the teaser, and this one is no exception, with another visit to the lost city of B'hala that Sisko unearthed in 'Rapture,' and a monk that doesn't seem the brightest Orb in the Temple - after Sisko's had his vision, he protests that they didn't see anything! I thought the direction generally good, but this vision sequence stood out as being less polished than usual, even a bit clunky. Prophets in the form of Jake, Kira and monk, Ranjen Koral (Ranjen a form of rank in theological research), take it in turns to talk over Sisko's shoulder before walking away, but I felt it should have had more cutting as you could see them moving, when they should have just appeared and glided away like waves on Sisko's beach - instead it was as if they were trying not to step on each other's toes, or bump into each other! That's how the episode felt: the foreboding there, but not potent (even with the visual display of the power struggle between the two forces). The tension wasn't strongly felt, spooky without getting creepy or chilling. I don't know how the battle could have been bettered because you don't want physical fight scenes in a battle of wills; power and intensity, yes, movement, no. Could it have been done as a metaphorical battle, Sisko forced to watch a game of chess, either literal (like 'The Seventh Seal'), or metaphorical? At least in the way it was done there were no corny bad guy insults slung between them (the closest being the Kosst Amojan asking if the Emissary of the Prophets was offering himself to him).

Though the result of the battle was denied, it leads to thoughts about the future. Was there really a millennium of great times to come upon the destruction of the Kosst Amojan, or was that just one thing that was going to happen before the Golden Age, because although we don't have any knowledge of Bajor following Sisko's battle with what I think was the Kosst Amojan-inhabited Dukat in the final episode of the series, you don't get the impression the way it all ends that the Prophets and the people ushered in the Golden Age. So I'm unsure if the promised benefits came to pass at that time, or not. If it had happened at the end of this episode, I suspect it wouldn't have made for a Golden Age for the series, even if everything wouldn't have been smooth sailing with the Dominion still to defeat, but you can imagine that the 'Temple' would have been closed (as the Wormhole would be in this season's finale), as Bajorans welcomed Prophets to reside among them somehow. It's all rather uncertain, but one thing you could draw from the events is that this could have been a test, not for Sisko, but Winn, her lack of faith and inability to take the leap when it came to having a choice to make to allow or step in and control, setting her on the path of tergiversation.

Choice and faith are among the big themes this time, but just as the battle was literally postponed, the story is unfinished, not fully fleshed out. Although it was good to see Jake made part of it, it's for his position as the son of the Emissary, not himself, and he doesn't get any more to do than show concern and be possessed. The battle is an anticlimax, partly because of it's incompleteness, and there's a lack of vitality to proceedings, like wading through treacle - it's like the writers weren't fully turned on, or perhaps it was the difficulties of working within myth and legend? I do like the idea that Sisko had to get annoyed enough to throw the tablet against the wall, and that it wasn't an easy answer for what the Prophets wanted him to do, although if he thought explaining to Winn what he'd done was going to be the hard part of his day, he had yet to deal with his son as a potential sacrifice, so his bad day was only going to get worse. Yet even in that he held fast to a faith that wasn't even part of his culture, which does make a fascinating character study, at least. 

Though the war feels distant, we have meetings and reminders of the ongoing threat, tying it to the way the Prophets prevented the Alpha Quadrant from being overrun in 'Sacrifice of Angels.' It's good to hear worries about the future, with talk of Vulcan as a potential target, and post-war, Romulans may not give up Benzar and other worlds won from the Dominion (parallels with Russia after the wars of the 20th Century, and even today). Even the Runabouts make a contribution, assisting with the evacuation. And this episode also does a good job of filling in the gaps for those that might not have followed every episode, contrary to what some might think of many of the series' mythology episodes. It reminds us clearly of all the relevant pieces: why Sisko is Emissary, his attitude now of acceptance, and how Winn feels about him. All easy to follow for the casual viewer, I reckon!

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