History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E25E26WhatYouLeaveBehind

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Sisko and Ross both balk at drinking a toast while surrounded by Cardassian corpses. Martok doesn't understand their objections and drinks heartily while smiling at the carnage.

* YourNormalIsOurTaboo: The humans can't go through with their promise to drink blood wine in victory with the Klingon, basically because they're doing it essentially on a mountain of corpses. The Klingon doesn't mind, as Klingon culture actually considers wine and song an honorable sendoff to a worthy foe, but human society finds that sort of callousness to be sociopathic among humans.

* ForegoneConclusion: From a Meta perspective, obviously, the Federation will win the Dominion War (as the franchise needed to keep it and Starfleet intact for future ''Trek'' projects). Likewise, Worf will also survive the finale as they needed to keep the character alive and available for any future ''Next Generation'' films. The tension instead lies in ''how'' the War will and who will live and die before that victory becomes reality.

* DeconReconSwitch: The end of the Dominion War is the conclusion of the series' deconstruction of the Federation and its ideals. The idea of a sustained war with moral decline and compromises is anthethical to classic ''Trek''. But for all that, the War ultimately ends not with more firefights and bloodsheed, but with a very classical ''Trek'' resolution: Our heroes (in the form of Odo) reaching out a hand and showing compassion to an enemy.

*** Similarly, Garak grimly concluded and accepted [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E03Afterimage earlier in the Season]] that price paid for defeating the Dominion would be the destruction of Cardassia. That premonition finally comes to pass with the Dominion's final, vindictive pogrom.

*** Similarly, Garak feared (and acceptance) [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E03Afterimage earlier in the Season]] that price paid for defeating the Dominion would be the destruction Cardassia. That preomotion finally comes to pass with the Dominion's final, vindictive pogrom.

*** Similarly, Garak feared (and acceptance) [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E03Afterimage earlier in the Season]] that price paid for defeating the Dominion would be the destruction Cardassia. That preomotion finally comes to pass with the Dominion's final, vindictive pogrom.

** Weyoun gets another one when Kira and Garka storm Dominion HQ. He realizes that by dispatching most of HQ's compliment of Jem'Hadar to assist the Cardassian extermination, the building's practically defenselss and he's put the Founder at risk.

** A particularly dark one for the Cardassians. They exit the series in the same position they left Bajor in back in the Pilot: As a devastated world recovering from a brutal occupation and dependent upon the charity and mercy of the Federation and its allies.

* HistoryRepeatsItself: As noted under Bookened, ''Deep Space Nine'' opens with a devestated alien world emerging from a brutal forgein occupation and depdendent upon the mercy and charity of the Federation and it allies. Last time it was the Bajorans emerging from the Cardassian withdrawl...and the series ends with the Cardassians, thanks to the Dominion, now in the exact same position they left the Bajorans in all those years ago.

* DeathEqualsRedemption:
** After a whole series of selfish machinations, Winn turns against the Pah-Wraiths at the last moment and is killed trying to help Sisko take down Dukat.
** After serving as Dukat's right-hand-man, gunning down Ziyal and serving as the Dominion's puppet king, Damar completes his heroic redemption by dying in the fight for a free Cardassia.

* GallowsHumor: In-universe example. Garak realizes the explosives they brought along aren't strong enough to blast open the door to the Dominion Headquarters, and the gravity of the situation catches up to him; He starts laughing at the insanity of it all, and pretty soon the rest of the Resistance is caught up in the hilarity as well.

* NoPaperFuture: Averted, the treaty to end the Dominion War is on an actual piece of paper, signed with a real pen. Through this, we also learn the Female Changeling is a southpaw.

* PetTheDog: The Female Changeling calls Weyoun "The only solid I have ever trusted." The look on his face...

* {{Retirony}}: Sisko didn't get to build his house. He didn't even finish the model.

*** NiceJobFixingItVillain: The Dominion deciding to take him outside to kill him allows the Resistance access inside.

* SaltTheEarth: The Dominion's initial alternative to defeat is to wipe out as much as Cardassia as they can before they are subdued -- see Pyrrhic Victory above.

* ShoutOut: Kira disguising herself as a Breen to save the menfolk's asses is [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi awfully familiar...]]
* SmallNameBigEgo: Winn from the Pah-Wraiths' perspective. As Dukat gloats, did she ''really'' think the Pah-Wraiths would choose her over someone like Dukat?

* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot:
** The Dukat/Winn subplot moves concurrently with the main action, even though the travel to Cardassia and the final battle against the Dominion take place over the span of a few days.
*** Sisko's compulsion to go to the Fire Caves is presented as if it occurs in real time with the events of Dukat and Winn, but earlier episodes established that it is roughly a 3 hour trip from [=DS9=] to Bajor, not counting the time he would have needed to navigate the caves.
** Averted at the end when Quark is placing bets on who will be the next Kai, as several days must have passed between Kira taking Odo back to the Founders' homeworld, allowing the Bajoran people to realize that Kai Winn was missing, had deserted her office, or was likely dead.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Damar's resistance group, when Garak points out they're ready to storm the headquarters of the Dominion but can't because their breach chargers aren't powerful enough to break through the door.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: After re-sealing the Pah Wraiths (and Dukat with them), Sisko is taken into the Celestial Temple to live with the Prophets and learn from them. However, in a vision he tells Kasidy that he ''will'' return to her one day.[[note]]Originally, the writers intended for Sisko to remain with the Prophets forever, but Avery Brooks pointed out the UnfortunateImplications of a black man abandoning his family and insisted that it be changed.[[/note]]

** No-one's sorry to see Broca go.

* BigBadassBattleSequence: But of course.

* BlatantLies: The Female Changeling tells Weyoun that she would promise the Breen the entire Alpha Quadrant if she thought it would help win the war.

* ButNowIMustGo: Odo returns to the Great Link, Sisko joins the Prophets.

** Garak's ''"we're guilty as charged"'' speech about the Cardassians bears many similarities to Aamin Marritza's ''"we're guilty, all of us"'' speech near the end of [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E19Duet "Duet"]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The scene in which the Female Changeling signs the peace treaty ending the war draws explicit parallels to that of the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Japanese surrender ceremony]]. Admiral Ross even directly quotes Douglas [=MacArthur=]'s speech from said ceremony.

** Doubles as a [[ShoutOut Shout-Out]] and a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Does This Remind You Of Anything]] to a [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi certain other sci-fi female lead dressing as an alien with a strikingly similar helmet...]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: Drinking blood wine after the genocide of Cardassians is too much for the Federation officers. Martok remarks in Klingon, "Human creatures. Who would understand them?" before taking a gulp.
** Note that Martok is embodying ''Klingon'' standards in this scene, where the death of a worthy opponent is to be praised with song and drink.

* ForegoneConclusion: From a Meta perspective, obviously, the Federation will win the Dominion War (as the franchise needed to keep it and Starfleet intact for future ''Trek'' projects). Likewise, Worf will also survive the finale as they needed to keep the character alive and available for any future ''Next Generation'' films.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Drinking blood wine after the genocide of Cardassians is too much for the Federation officers. Martok snorts, "''Humans''..." before taking a gulp.

* PowerOfTrust: Garak is adamant over Odo melding with the Female Changeling; Odo asks Kira to trust him, and she settles Garak down and lets Odo meld.

** The Female Founder's furious reaction upon learning from Broca that Damar's saboteurs weren't Cardassian soldiers, but Cardassian ''civillians''. She realizes that what began as a military revolt (and one she thought crushed after the events of the previous episode) has now escalated into a popular uprising (and at the ''worst'' possible moment for the Dominion with the Federation Alliance armada inbound.)

** Before that, there's rhe Female Changeling's orders to have the captured Damar, Kira, and Garak executed at Enabran Train's home rather than bringing them directly to Dominion HQ. This allows the unit's Cardassian guards to turn on the Jem'Hadar, save our heroes, and resume their attack on HQ.

* NeverMyFault: The Female Founder when the Cardassian forces turn on the Dominion and switch sides in retaliation for the destruction of Lakarian City. She rages that the Founders should've eliminated the Cardassians at the first sign of rebellion and refuses to acknowledge, or take responsibility, for her role in turning their Cardassian allies against the Dominion.

** The female changeling ordering the destruction of Cardassian cities costs the Dominion the war, as it incites the Cardassian resistance to grow from a handful of insurgents to a total revolt.

** The female changeling dying as a solid. Equally ironic, she's spared that fate by Odo, whom the Great Link once turned into a solid as a punishment.

* FinalSolution: After the Cardassian fleet turns against the Dominion, the female changeling decides the Cardassians are no longer worth the trouble and orders their genocide.

* EurekaMoment: A villainous example after Damar's agents sabotage Cardassia's planetary power grid. Upon learning that the saboteurs are civillians rather than military personnel, this gives Weyoun an idea: If Damar has turned the Cardassian people against the Dominion, then it's the ''people'' who should be punished. The Female Founder agrees...and it backfires, kicking off a chain of events that ultimately costs the Dominion the War.

* EvilIsPetty: The Female Founder's orders to exterminate the entire population of Cardassia Prime after the military defects to the Federation Alliance. The Dominion's Alpha Quadrant capitol is about to be invaded and she's more focused on making the Cardassians pay for daring to defy their betters.

* DefiantToTheEnd: While dying from the morphogenic virus, the female changeling is perfectly happy to spoil the heroes' victory however she can, seeing no point in surrendering if she and her people will all die anyway. Odo curing her convinces her to surrender, and she becomes a GracefulLoser instead.

* DoNotGoGentle: The female Founder plans to do this when Kira and Garak storm the Dominion command room, stating that even if she had lost the war, she will have had the Jem'Hadar and Breen kill so many of her enemies that it would ultimately a worthless victory for the Federation. It is only thanks to Odo that she changes her mind.

Life on the station returns to normal, with Kira, now the commander of the station, keeping Quark on a tight leash. As Quark muses that "The more things change, the more they stay the same", Kira walks onto the Promenade and sees Jake looking out at the wormhole. She joins him and gazes out to the wormhole, the two of them comfortable in the knowledge that within the Celestial Temple is Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko: father, husband, friend, emissary, and hero to the Federation and the people of Bajor...