Star Trek Headcanon Reimagined, 11: Dark Frontier

The Dominion War is probably the biggest Long Story Arc in Star Trek's history.  It takes up several seasons of Deep Space Nine's story, and it will reverberate through Lower Decks and Picard in future seasons.We also continue to monitor Voyager's prgress through the Delta Quadrant, and have a couple very heavy episodes of Strange New Worlds.

Given how breezy and fun last season was, it makes sense that things get really dark for a bit. 

Season 11:
Dark Frontier

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TOS - The Original Series, 1963-1967           DS9  - Deep Space Nine, 1993-99 
 VOY - Voyager, 1995-2001           LD - Lower Decks, 2020-24         
SNW - Strange New Worlds, 2021-ongoing

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1101. By Inferno's Light (DS9)
(Sisko,  Garak, Kira, Bashir, Dax, Odo, Worf, Gul Dukat, O'Brien, Nog, Rom, Martok, Jake)

It's official, The Dominion War is underway. Who will the Cardassians align with? How about the Klingons? Will Worf, Bashir, and Garak escape the internment camp? Will Bashir succeed in his...hang on, are there two Bashirs?


1102. Episode 20: Call To Arms (DS9)
(Sisko,  Garak, Kira, Bashir, Dax, Odo, Worf, Gul Dukat, O'Brien, Weyoun, Nog, Rom, Martok, Jake)

The Dominion War is already, and will continue to be depressing, but here's a somewhat upbeat episode where Jake and Nog try to cheer everyone up through some unusual means.


1103. Ultimate Computer (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Leslie)

So many of TOS episodes are just the crew of The Enterprise versus crazy or incompetent Starfleet personell that it's nice to see them have to battle technology every once in a while.


1104. Where Pleasant Fountains Lie/I Excretus (LD)
(Boimler, Freeman, Rutherford, Mariner, Tendi, Billups, Ransom, T'ana)

While the Upper Decks crew deals with their own rogue computer, Billups, who has had minimal screen time gets to be the focus of an episode when his mother, a member of a very Rennaisance style race, needs his help to save the planet where he is supposed to be the next ruler. Then the crew is tested on how well they would function as lower decks crew, and lower decks crew would function on the bridge. 


1105.  Sacrifice Of Angels (DS9)
(Sisko, Gul Dukat, Odo, Kira, Rom, Ziyal, Weyoun, Quark, Jake, Garak, Worf, Martok)

Both sides in the Dominion War begin to suffer horribly.


1106. Lift Us Where Suffering Can Not Reach (SNW)
(Pike, Spock, Chapel, 1, M'Benga, Uhura, Ortegas, Sam Kirk, Kyle)

Pike's old girlfriends don't seem as dangerous as Kirk's old girlfriends, and yet, when one shows up asking for help protecting the messiah of her paradise planet, everything quickly falls apart.


1107. Waltz (DS9)
(Sisko, Gul Dukat, Odo, Worf, Kira, O'Brien, Dax, Bashir, Weyoun)

This is a defining moment in the series, and I considered making it the end of a previous season but, uhm, there are some events that happen that I don't want to give the sense of importance that the original series of Deep Space Nine did.


1108. Who Mourns For Morn? (DS9)
(Quark, Sisko, Worf, Odo, Kira, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir)

Quark's most reliable, most silent customer, who's been in almost every episode in our chronology, and yet has never spoken a single line, dies and leaves Quark a fortune.


1109 & 1110. A Year Of Hell  (VOY)
(Janeway, 7of9, Tuvok, Chakotay, Paris)

There are species that even The Borg avoid. When this new threat attacks Voyager, they try a series of increadingly desperate tactics to survive. Nah, something ain't right here.


1111. In The Flesh (VOY)
(Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Doctor, Boothby, 7of9, Torres, Paris, Neelix, Kim)

I remember thinking that Barclay was the weirdest legacy character to show up on a Star Trek series where they're lost in an uncharted region of space. But then Riker showed up. And now ... Boothby? The crew of Voyager is back on Earth at, of all places, Starfleet Academy. Nah. Something ain't right here, either. 


1112. All Those Who Wander (SNW)
(Pike, Ortegas, Hemmers, Uhura, Spock, Chapel, 1, M'Benga, Sam Kirk, Kyle)

A regular old, every day, let's respond to a distress signal mission turns into an homage to Ridley Scott's Alien. It's another great example of how this series manages to seem fun and light, despite having sometimes greater consequences than the very dreary "Discovery" series that preceded it.


1113. Change Of Heart (DS9)
(Worf, Dax, Sisko, O'Brien, Bashir, Kira, Quark)

Worf's relationships have traditionally Not Gone Well. His first wife died just after surprising him with the existence of their son. Then he was married to Troi in a parallel timeline. Now he's married to Dax, the parasitical symbiont who can be any species, race or gender. And it's been going really well. But can he prioritize his most recent marriage over his duty to Deep Space Nine?


1114. Inquisition (DS9)
(Bashir, Sisko, Worf, Odo, O'Brien, Quark, Kira, Weyoun)

Wait...is Bashir a spy for The Dominion? Section 31 (Holy Holy, we haven't seen them since the Discovery story arc. Finally, we see their origin in the Star Trek Universe.) is determined to find out.


1115. One (VOY)
(7of9, Doctor, Janeway, Paris, Torres, Kim, Chakotay)

When radiation from a nebula threatens the lives of everyone else on the ship, 7of9 becomes the crew's favorite member as she and The Doctor team up to save the ship.


1116. In The Pale Moonlight (DS9)
(Sisko, Garak, Bashir, Quark, Weyoun, Odo, Kira, Dax, Worf, O'Brien)

War is a constant shifting of allegiances and ethical dillemas, so nobody should be surprised at how wrong everything goes when Sisko tries to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War.
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1117. The Sound Of Her Voice (DS9)
(Sisko, Bashir, O'Brien, Kira, Odo, Quark, Dax, Worf, Yates, Jake, Morn)

In the midst of The Dominion War, The Defiant hears a distress call and sets out to rescue a woman stranded on an alien planet. During the trip she gives advice to several members of the crew about their personal lives. Quark also dispenses love advice to one of DS9's newest couples.


1118. ​Message In A Bottle (VOY)
(Janeway, 7of9, Doctor)

It's finally time, the crew of Voyager sends a message back to the Alpha Quadrant, hoping that The Federation will acknowledge that they're still alive.


1119. Tears Of The Prophets (DS9)
(Sisko, Dax, Dukat, Worf, Kira, Bashir, O'Brien, Quark, Odo, Garak, Nog, Weyoun, Martok, Ross, Jake)

Every war has to have its great casualty. When Dukat returns to the picture to help the Cardassian/Dominion alliance win the war, he sets events in motion that change the whole feel of the show. 


1120. Latent Image (VOY)
(Doctor, Janeway, Kim, 7of9, Chakotay, Torres, Neelix, Tuvok, Naomi)

Can a hologram have a psychotic break? Is it morally ethical to erase the memories of someone who isn't precisely sentient in order to help them do their job when it is imperative that they can always do their job to the best of their ability?