Sacrifice of Angels

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"Sacrifice of Angels"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 6
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Written by Ira Steven Behr
Hans Beimler
Featured music David Bell
Production code530
Original air dateNovember 3, 1997 (1997-11-03)
Guest appearances
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"Sacrifice of Angels" is the sixth episode from the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , 130th episode overall. The episode's plot details the efforts of the United Federation of Planets to retake space station Deep Space Nine from the forces of the Dominion. This is the second half of a two-part episode, continuing the story immediately from the end of the previous episode, "Favor the Bold". The episode features a large guest cast and numerous VFX scenes with spacecraft.

Contents

Story background

Deep Space Nine tells the story of a space station near the planet Bajor administered by the United Federation of Planets as the Bajorans recover from a brutal decades-long occupation by the aggressive Cardassians. The station guards a wormhole leading to the distant Gamma Quadrant, home of an expansionist empire known as the Dominion, which is ruled by the shapeshifting Changelings. This episode is part of the Dominion War plot arc, in which the Dominion allies with Cardassia and wages war against the Federation and their allies. [1]

This episode is the conclusion of a six-episode story that spans the start of the sixth season. At the end of the previous season, the Dominion captured the titular space station, but the Federation blocked the wormhole with a minefield to prevent reinforcements from arriving from the Gamma Quadrant. Over the following episodes, DS9's Starfleet crew, led by Captain Benjamin Sisko, continue the war against the Dominion on the starship USS Defiant ; the main characters remaining on the station, led by Major Kira Nerys, work to undermine Dominion rule; Dominion representative Weyoun and Cardassian leader Dukat attempt to dismantle the minefield; and DS9 security chief Odo, a rogue Changeling, receives a visit from another Changeling hoping to persuade him to return to his people. By this point, the technician Rom has been arrested by the Dominion authorities for attempting to prevent destruction of the minefield; and Sisko is leading a Federation fleet aimed at retaking DS9 for the Federation before the minefield comes down.

Plot

With eight hours before the minefield is destroyed, Sisko's fleet engages the Dominion fleet defending DS9. Sisko orders Federation fighters to engage the Cardassian warships, hoping the less disciplined Cardassians will break formation and create a hole in the Dominion lines. Aboard DS9, Dukat sees through Sisko's ruse; he deliberately allows some of his ships to open a hole in the formation to set a trap for the Federation fleet. Aware that Dukat is setting a trap, Sisko nonetheless orders his ships forward, desperate to reach the station.

Meanwhile, Dukat's aide Damar arrests Kira, Sisko's son Jake, and Rom's wife Leeta, correctly surmising they are part of a conspiracy against Dominion rule. The visiting Changeling, attempting to break Odo's bond with the "solids" and return him to his own people, tells Odo of Kira's arrest.

As the Federation fleet becomes overwhelmed, a Klingon fleet arrives and flanks the Dominion. They clear a path for the Defiant, though the rest of the allied ships are unable to follow.

Rom's brother Quark and Dukat's daughter Ziyal free Jake, Kira, Rom, and Leeta from jail. Kira and Rom set off to sabotage the station's weapons. They are cornered by Dominion soldiers, but are rescued by Odo and his security team. Rom disables the weapons, but seconds too late to prevent the destruction of the minefield.

Sisko orders the Defiant into the wormhole, where they encounter a massive Dominion fleet. As Sisko prepares for a desperate suicide mission, he receives a vision from the Bajoran Prophets, the powerful aliens who live in the wormhole, who are upset that he intends to sacrifice himself before fulfilling their purposes. Sisko pleads with them to help the Bajorans, who created a religion around them. The Prophets cause the Dominion ships to vanish, but warn Sisko that a penance will be exacted.

The Defiant exits the wormhole and fires on the station, which cannot respond due to Rom's sabotage. Meanwhile, the Klingons and the Federation have outflanked the Dominion fleet, with 200 ships heading for Deep Space Nine. The Dominion evacuates, but Ziyal refuses to leave, confessing to her father that she helped Kira and her friends escape. Damar overhears her confession and shoots her as an enemy of the state. Dukat collapses in grief as she dies in his arms.

By the time Sisko arrives on the station, Dukat is in a holding cell, sobbing over the loss of his daughter. As he is escorted to the infirmary, he returns Captain Sisko's baseball.

Reception

This had Nielsen ratings of 6.4 points, which was about 6.3 million viewers when it was broadcast on television in November 1997. [2]

In 2013, IGN ranked "Sacrifice of Angels" the 23rd best episode of all Star Trek television, noting it has a "dramatic showdown" that helped set the stage for the Dominion war story arc that continues in this season. [3]

A 2015 binge-watching guide for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by Wired recommended not skipping this essential episode. [4]

In 2015, Geek.com recommended this episode as "essential watching" for their abbreviated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine binge-watching guide. [5]

In 2016, IGN ranked "Sacrifice of Angels" the 23rd best episode of all Star Trek up to that time. [6]

In 2018, Vulture rated "Sacrifice of Angels" the ninth best episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. [7] They also recommended the entire sixth season, remarking "It's that good" and praising the war saga's evolution. [7] They note how "Sacrifice of Angels" is the culmination of a story arc that spans the six previous episodes. [7]

io9 ranked "Favor the Bold " when paired with "Sacrifice of Angels", as the 88th best episodic presentation of all Star Trek in a 2014 listing. They note this as featuring a special effect sequence depicting a large space battle for Star Trek. [8]

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter rated "Sacrifice of Angels" along with its five preceding episodes as among the twenty greatest episodes (or sequences of episodes) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This six-episode arc is noted for its serialized format, compared to shorter two-episode stories that had been more common to the Star Trek franchise up to that time. [9]

As a six-episode arc: [9] [4]

The last two in the sequence have also been reviewed as a two-part saga. [8] [10] Sometimes the episode prior to "A Time to Stand", "Call to Arms" is also included in this story arc, for a full seven-episode saga. [4]

In 2018, CBR ranked "Favor the Bold" and "Sacrifice of Angels" as the third best episodic saga of Star Trek overall, behind "The Best of Both Worlds" (Parts I & II) from Star Trek: The Next Generation. [11]

In 2016, Empire ranked this the 45th best out of the top fifty episodes of the 700 plus Star Trek television episodes. [12]

In 2016, The Washington Post called the Dominion war story arc possibly the "richest narrative" of the Star Trek universe. [13] [1]

In 2020, The Digital Fix ranked this episode as the eighth best episode of Deep Space Nine. [14]

Related Research Articles

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the Star Trek media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from January 3, 1993, to June 2, 1999, spanning 176 episodes over seven seasons. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, its narrative is centered on the eponymous space station Deep Space Nine, located adjacent to a wormhole connecting Federation territory to the Gamma Quadrant on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy.

In the Star Trek universe, the Dominion is an interstellar state and military superpower from the Gamma Quadrant, composed of hundreds of dominated alien species. The Dominion is commanded by The Founders, a race of shapeshifters, responsible for both the creation of the Dominion and all strategic decisions undertaken through its history. The Dominion is administered by the Vorta, clones specifically genetically engineered by the Founders to act as field commanders, administrators, scientists and diplomats. The Jem'Hadar, also engineered by the Founders, are the military arm of the Dominion and one of the most powerful military forces in the galaxy during the Dominion's height.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bajoran</span> Fictional extraterrestrial species from Star Trek

The Bajorans are a fictional species in the science-fiction Star Trek franchise. They are a humanoid extraterrestrial species native to the planet Bajor, who have a long-standing enmity with the Cardassians, owing to decades of subjugation under a military dictatorship which saw many of their species enslaved or forced into exile away from their homeworld. They were first introduced in the 1991 episode "Ensign Ro" of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and subsequently were a pivotal element of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and also appeared in Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kira Nerys</span> Fictional humanoid in the TV Series Star Trek Deep Space Nine

Kira Nerys is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). She was played by actress Nana Visitor. The character is from the fictional planet Bajor, a world which has recently emerged from a brutal foreign occupation. She was a member of the resistance, and the decades-long conflict has left her tough and uncompromising, but she is sustained by her strong faith in traditional Bajoran religion. She has been assigned to Deep Space Nine, a space station jointly operated by the United Federation of Planets and the new provisional Bajoran government, where she serves as second in command as well as the ranking representative of her people.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">What You Leave Behind</span> 25th and 26th episodes of the 7th season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

"What You Leave Behind" is the series finale of the television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 175th and 176th episodes, the 25th and 26th episodes of the seventh season. The episode was written by showrunner Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler and directed by Allan Kroeker. It originally aired the week of May 31, 1999.

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"The Changing Face of Evil" is the 170th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was first aired on syndicated television on April 26, 1999.

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"By Inferno's Light" is the 113th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 15th episode of the fifth season.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep Space Nine (fictional space station)</span> Fictional space station in Star Trek

Deep Space Nine is a fictional space station, the eponymous primary setting of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine which aired from 1993 to 1999. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens. It is run by a joint crew of Starfleet and Bajoran officers and it is the home port of a number of Starfleet runabouts, as well as the starship USS Defiant.

References

  1. 1 2 Handlen, Zack (26 September 2013). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Favor the Bold"/"Sacrifice Of Angels"". TV Club. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  2. ↑ "Nielsen Syndicated Ratings: Season 6". WebTrek. Archived from the original on 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  3. ↑ Scott Collura; Jesse Schedeen (20 May 2013). "Star Trek: The Top 25 Episodes". IGN . Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  4. 1 2 3 McMillan, Graeme (2015-05-13). "WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Wired . ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  5. ↑ Ryan Whitwam (2015-01-19). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine condensed: How to watch the most story-driven Trek". Geek.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-20.
  6. ↑ Collura, Scott; Schedeen, Jesse (2016-05-22). "Star Trek: The Top 25 Episodes". IGN . Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  7. 1 2 3 Bastién, Angelica Jade (2018-01-04). "The Best Episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ranked". New York . Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  8. 1 2 "The Top 100 Star Trek Episodes Of All Time!". Archived from the original on 2016-02-22. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  9. 1 2 "'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' — The 20 Greatest Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter . 2016-09-22.
  10. ↑ "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Favor the Bold"/"Sacrifice Of Angels"". 26 September 2013.
  11. ↑ Star Trek's Greatest Episodic Sagas, Ranked by Michael Weyer – on Nov 23, 2018
  12. ↑ "The 50 best Star Trek episodes ever". Empire. 2016-07-27. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  13. ↑ Drezner, Daniel (September 13, 2016). "The top 10 'Star Trek' episodes ever". The Washington Post . Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  14. ↑ "TDF Top 10 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". The Digital Fix. 2020-08-17. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
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