History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E03PastPrologue

* HollywoodDensity: Tahna pays the Duras sisters 13 kilograms of latinum, which is 28.6 lbs of the stuff. But you wouldn't know it weighted that much from the way Tahna and B'Etor handle the satchel it is in.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Kira goes over Sisko's head to protest his actions to Admiral Rollman. Rollman calls Sisko to tell him how pissed she is that Kira interrupted a staff meeting to complain about him, and tells Sisko about Kira's protests to warn him she's acting suspicious. Sisko in turn isn't happy that Kira went over his head.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: As per [[RippedFromTheHeadlines contemporary events in Palestine and Northern Ireland]] in TheNineties, we have former terrorists who have committed nation-building being challenged by more radical factions who refuse the peace process.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Everyone accepts that the Kohn Ma are terrorists but even Sisko uses the term "freedom fighter" when talking of the political difficulties of denying asylum. In fact the question is at what point does Bajor--having won its freedom thanks to terrorist actions--deny the accolade of "freedom fighter" to others now the Bajorans have a legitimate government?

* RedHerring: The audience is led to believe that Tahna wants to construct a powerful bomb to blow up [=DS9=], ending the Federation's presence in the Bajoran system. Turns out his ''actual'' plan is to construct a powerful bomb to collapse the wormhole, which is the only reason outsiders have any interest in Bajor in the first place. Kira still doesn't approve.

* SpotOfTea: Bashir is introduced drinking Tarkalean tea which will become [[YourFavorite his favourite]].

* AbsenteeActor: Quark and Jake do not appear. For the latter, it's the first of many episodes to not feature Sisko's son -- albeit it also makes this one of the few Season 1 episodes where the B-story doesn't revolve around Jake and Nog (the latter of whom also doesn't appear).

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Bashir's excitement over meeting a real life spy makes sense when [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E10OurManBashir we later find]] he's a fan of SpyFiction.

* KarmaHoudini: The Duras Sisters slip away scot-free for assisting Tahna. [[spoiler:They'll get what's coming to them in ''Film/StarTrekGenerations''.]]

* ManipulativeBastard: Tahna plays on their past relationship to get Kira to arrange asylum for himself and two other members of his terrorist cell, who are smuggling latinum and the anti-matter convertor. When Kira calls him on it, [[NotSoDifferentRemark he implies she was not so different in the past]] (we later see Kira working as a HoneyTrap with Cardassian soldiers, so he's probably right).

* TemptingFate:
** Garak apologizes for annoying the Duras sisters, saying he has few Klingon patrons. A whole bunch of them turn up [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E01E02TheWayOfTheWarrior in Season 4 that he won't like much either.]]
** Odo says he knows more about Kira than she realises. Turns out there are still [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E08NecessaryEvil things about her he doesn't know]].

* RealityEnsues: Kira goes over Sisko's head to protest his actions to Admiral Rollman. Rollman calls Sisko to tell him how pissed she is that Kira interrupted a staff meeting to complain about him, and tells Sisko about Kira's protests to warn him she's acting suspicious. Sisko in turn isn't happy that Kira went over his head.

* ManipulativeBastard: Tahna plays on their past relationship to get Kira to arrange asylum for himself and two other members of his terrorist cell, who are smuggling latinum and the anti-matter convertor. When Kira calls him on it, he implies she was NotSoDifferent in the past (we later see Kira working as a HoneyTrap with Cardassian soldiers, so he's probably right).

** The Kohn-Ma are still fighting Cardassians after the withdrawal, and resent the Federation presence as no different than the Cardassians who just left. Their assassination of a First Minister of the Provisional Government shows they're willing to kill Bajorans who don't share their extreme views.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Everyone accepts that the Kohn Ma are terrorists but even Sisko uses the term "freedom fighter" when talking of the political difficulties of denying asylum. In fact the question is at what point does Bajor--having won its freedom thanks to terrorist actions--deny the accolade of "freedom fighter" to others now they have a legitimate government?

* ManipulativeBastard: Tahna plays on their past relationship to get Kira to arrange asylum for himself and two other members of his terrorist cell, who are smuggling latinum and the anti-matter convertor. When Kira calls him on it, he implies she was NotSoDifferent in the past (we later see Kira working as HoneyTrap with Cardassian soldiers, so he's probably right).

* OvertOperative: Played straight. Seeing as no Cardassian in his right mind would willingly stay behind after the Occupation with 3.8 billion pissed-off Bajorans out for blood, it's taken for granted that Garak is an unofficial agent of Cardassian interests, and so Lursa and Bator know to seek him out.

** The Duras sisters are renegades after their [[StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E26S5E1Redemption failed attempt to take over the Klingon Empire]].

** The Kohn-Ma are still fighting Cardassians after the withdrawal, and resent the Federation presence as no different than the Cardassians who just left.

* ContinuityNod: O'Brien tells Sisko that the Cardassians aren't the kind of people you want to hand someone over to. Not only would that be a reference to his service in the Cardassian border conflicts, but also to Captain Picard's torture in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E10ChainOfCommand Chain of Command]]".