History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E01E02TheWayOfTheWarrior

* RiddleForTheAges: Retroactive one for the Detapa Council following the events/revelations of "Apocalypse Rising" and "In Purgatory's Shadow" (that Martok was a Changeling during this episode and that the blood tests are useless). ''Were'' any of the Councilors actually Founders after all? [[NotMeThisTime Or did the Founders have no involvement in Cardassia's recent political upheaval (with their focus instead on the Klingons)? The show never provides a definitive answer and it's up to the viewer to decide.

** Garak is also cleverly used to establish the state of the affairs inside Cardassia in the wake of Season Three. Garak has always been the AlmightyJanitor priding himself on his connections and cleverness. That Garak now can't even get through to ''anyone'' inside the Cardassian Union (and he's openly worried about it) underscores the turmoil his homeland's in the middle of behind its sealed borders.

* RecycledSoundtrack: The Klingon attack on the Station in the climax reuses (or at least borrows the basic medley) from composr Dennis [=McCarthy=]'s "Outgunned" cue from ''Star Trek Generations'' the year before.
* RewatchBonus:
** [[spoiler:All of Martok's scenes after Season Five's "Apocalypse Rising" and "In Purgatory's Shadow" reveal that the General has been replaced by a Founder at this point in the series timeline.]]
** [[spoiler: Subverted with the Detapa Council's cameos and blood tests. Even after the aforementioned Season Five revelations, it's never revealed whether any of the Councilors ''had'' been replaced with Founders or not.]]

'''Sisko:''' I can assure you, this "old cat" may not be as "toothless" as you think. Right now, I've got five ''thousand'' torpedoes armed and ready to launch. If you don't believe me, feel free to scan the station.

Sisko contacts Dukat (now military advisor to the new civilian government of Cardassia) and offers to help him get the Cardassian council members to safety. After a large battle, they get the council on board the Defiant and head for home, pursued by a large Klingon fleet. This brings us to an [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome impressive battle sequence]] as the station (armed with 5,000 photon torpedoes and multiple phaser banks) holds off the Klingons until reinforcements arrive.

* TheWorfEffect: Averted. The ''Galaxy''-class USS ''Venture'' arrives at the station at the conclusion of the episode and manages to survive until the end of the episode, unlike previous ''Galaxy'' class ships like ''Yamato'' or ''Odyssey'', which were both destroyed to empathize how much of a threat Iconian computer programs or the Dominion were.

* ArcWelding: With Worf's arrival and Gorwron cemented as a recurring character on the spinoff (following his crossover apperance [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E03TheHouseOfQuark the year before]]), TNG's Klingon Politics Arc gets picked up by [=DS9=] and merged with the ongoing Dominion narrative.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Invoked by Worf when he backhands Drex -- ordinarily a DuelToTheDeath challenge -- then simply knocks him out and takes his ''d'k tahg'', symbolically taking his honor from him. Either one is an insult in its own right, but doing both makes sure Martok will come to him to address the insult to his house.
-->'''Martok:''' You robbed my son of his honor just to get my attention?\\
'''Worf:''' You cannot take away what one does not have.

* TookALevelInBadass: The station itself. O'Brien has spent the last three years turning it into a floating torpedo turret--[[BecomingTheBoast turning what was an illusion in the pilot into a reality here]].

* PutOnABus: Alexander is put on a bus before even appearing on the show. Work says that he's living with his grandparents on Earth again, even though "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E10NewGround New Ground]]" established that they are too old to raise another Klingon child.

* DramaticIrony: A cross-series one going back to Gowron's [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E7Reunion very first apprance]]. As Chancellor K'mpec was dying, he urged Picard to discover if either Gowron or Duras was behind his poisoning. He feared that a Klingon who killed without showing his face had no honor and that such a unworthy leader would be capable of anything -- even plunging the Empire into war with the Federation. While Gowron wasn't the assassin, he ironically has now fullfilled K'mpec's premonition by abbrogating the Khitomer Accords and openly attacking a Federation outpost.

* SeductionProofMarriage: Parodied. In Jadzia's Myth/KingArthur holodeck program, Kira plays Guinevere. Sir Lancelot steals a kiss from her and she ''punches him out''.