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Context Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E21TheDieIsCast

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/koranak.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:The two biggest alien {{State Sec}}s of the Alpha Quadrant get their collective asses kicked]]
3In the second half of the two-parter, the Obsidian Order/Tal Shiar joint fleet of twenty cloaked ships enters the Gamma Quadrant with the intention of destroying the Founders' home world. The crew of Deep Space Nine can't fail to notice and alert Starfleet. Onboard the lead Warbird, Garak is champing at the bit to reclaim his old life as a ruthless spy and interrogator. As a test of his loyalty, Tain assigns Garak the job of extracting whatever Odo knows about the Dominion and the Founders, but suddenly Garak doesn't seem so enthusiastic. The captain of the ship, the Romulan Commander Lovok, announces that they are traveling to the Founders' homeworld at Warp 6 under cloak to avoid detection.
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5On the station, Sisko consults with Vice Admiral Toddman, who shows them an intercepted communication recorded by Tain announcing his intentions. Toddman doesn't hide the fact that he's rooting for Tain's success. Sisko asks for permission to rescue Odo, but the vice admiral tells him to stay on the station and protect Bajor from any potential counterattack. But of course, Sisko announces a "volunteer mission" into the Gamma Quadrant, taking his senior staff including Security Chief Eddington. Remember him?
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7Garak has been unable to get anything useful from the uncooperative Odo. Tain gives Garak a device that will prevent Odo from returning to liquid state as a means to torture the changeling. Lovok is upset that he was not informed of this device, but the Cardassians don't seem to care about the feelings of their Romulan allies. Garak presents the device to Odo, whose bravado is finally shaken at the thought of being unable to regenerate.
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9The ''Defiant'' is hot in pursuit, but suddenly their cloaking device fails. Eddington admits that he sabotaged the device on direct orders from Toddman. Rather than turn back, Sisko simply assigns O'Brien to fix it on ScottyTime. Sisko is about to confine Eddington to quarters, but the security chief insists that the ship will need him if it's attacked, so Sisko trusts his word to follow orders from now on.
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11On the Warbird, Odo is literally falling apart from his inability to regenerate. Garak is an emotional wreck as well, begging Odo to give him ''anything'', even a lie, to end the affair. The delirious Odo says that he wants to return home to rejoin the Great Link, something he'd never mentioned in any of his reports. Garak deactivates the device, allowing Odo to return to liquid state. When he reports back to Tain, however, he says that Odo never broke under torture. Tain doesn't even seem to care, as they've arrived at the Founder's homeworld, and it's time to attack.
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13The fleet uncloak and open up with everything they've got on the planet, destroying 30% of the surface in the first salvo. Lifesigns on the planet, however, remain unchanged. Garak realizes that the lifesign readings are fake, and this whole thing has been a trap. On cue, 150 Jem'Hadar warships appear. A massive battle breaks out, and the Romulan-Cardassian fleet is doomed.
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15Lovok runs off to Engineering and leaves Tain in charge. Meanwhile, Garak realizes that the ship is doomed and runs off to rescue Odo. He convinces the shapeshifter to come with him. As they make their escape, Lovok steps into their way with a disruptor. But rather than stop them, he tells them what they need to to do get a runabout and escape with their lives. It turns out he's a changeling and served as a Dominion mole during the entire plot's planning. He tells Odo that he's still welcome back in the Great Link, but Odo again refuses.
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17Garak won't leave Tain behind, so he rushes back to the bridge to fetch him. Tain's mind is broken, however, and he simply rambles about what they'll do "next time." Odo has to knock Garak out to get him to leave Tain. The Cardassian wakes up on a runabout as they head back home, but they get attacked by Jem'Hadar ships. Things seem grim, and Garak takes the opportunity to give Odo his sincere apology. Odo accepts, saying he understands the urge to return home. But just before they can be blasted out of space, the ''Defiant'' arrives and covers their retreat.
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19Back on the station, Sisko gets chewed out by Toddman, who threatens to court martial or promote him. Meanwhile, Garak surveys his blown-out tailor shop and decides to rebuild. He and Odo agree to forget about all the unpleasantness between them, and Odo suggests they have breakfast sometime. Garak notes that Odo doesn't eat, and the changeling admits he doesn't, but the invitation stands.
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21----
22!!Tropes
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24* AlphaStrike: The fleet attacks the Founders' homeworld with everything they have.
25* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Played straight as always for the Founders. Lovok cannot help Odo escape the torture without blowing his cover, but he does back Garak to ensure Odo is not executed afterwards, then provides Odo the assistance to escape the ship before it is destroyed. Too bad he [[PoorCommunicationKills kinda forgot to pass on to the Jem'Hadar that one of their Gods was on said Runabout and NOT to shoot it!]]
26* BadassDecay: InUniverse, Tain himself notes that at his prime he would've seen the Dominion's bait-and-switch ambush coming a mile away.
27* BatmanGambit: Though Tain originated the plan, the Founders found out and made sure it would move ahead. The fact that they had replaced the Chairman of the Tal Shiar with a Founder helped a great deal.
28-->'''Odo:''' You wanted the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order to combine forces, and come in to the Gamma Quadrant, so you could wipe them out!
29* BigBadassBattleSequence: 20 Cardassian and Romulan warships (and the ''Defiant'') versus 150 Jem'Hadar fighters.
30* BodyHorror: Odo falling apart thanks to the device keeping him from shape-shifting.
31* BookEnds: When the Changeling asks Odo to come with him near the end of the episode, they stand facing each other while Garak watches, waiting for Odo to decide. This is the exact same positioning used when Tain asks Garak to join him in the previous episode. But Odo refuses.
32* CallBack: The Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar are tricked into attacking the Founders' homeworld by a probe delivering false sensor readings. The Cardassians had used the same ploy to capture Captain Picard in TNG's "Chain of Command: Part I", also making it an example of LaserGuidedKarma.
33* ColdBloodedTorture: The device that keeps Odo from shape-shifting. Even Garak is disturbed by its effects.
34* ContinuityNod: Admiral Toddman compares the Romulan/Cardassian defeat to Starfleet's defeat at Wolf 359.
35* CurbStompBattle: 150 Dominion ships crush Tain's fleet easily. For perspective, just three Jem'Hadar fighters were able to completely annihilate the USS ''Odyssey'' in the previous season finale, so you can imagine how one-sided this battle was given that the Dominion have a roughly seven-to-one numerical advantage over ships that for the most part are even weaker than ''Galaxy''-class ships.
36* DamageControl: Several Romulan damage control teams can be seen on Tain's flagship. Too bad their efforts are in vain.
37* DarkSecret: Odo's DesperatePleaForHome. Garak is forced to torture him and get it out of him.
38-->'''Odo:''' They're still my people. I tried to deny it, I tried to forget. But I can't! They're my people, and I want to be with them in the Great Link!
39* DesperatePleaForHome: Garak resorts to torturing Odo with an anti-Changeling PowerNullifier to learn the truth behind his last secret - resulting in the unfortunate victim deteriorating to the brink of a DeathByDepower. The interrogation ends with Odo screaming that he wants to go home. Garak assures him that he'll let him go home as soon as the interrogation is over... but it turns out he's not talking about Deep Space 9, though: Odo wants to return to the Great Link and be among his fellow Changelings; even though he turned his back on the Founders, he still wants to go home... and this is his final secret. Garak ashamedly switches off the machine and ends the interrogation.
40* DissonantSerenity: Tain's mind breaks when the Jem'Hadar attack. He sits in the captain's chair muttering to himself as the bridge explodes and Garak pleads with him to flee for his life. Odo realizes that Tain will never come with them, prompting him to knock Garak out and carry him to the runabout.
41* EarthShatteringKaboom: In the attack on the Founder Homeworld, the opening volley alone is stated to have destroyed 30% of the planet's crust. If uninterrupted, the projections on the attack would have left it a glowing molten core in space in about six hours.
42* EnemyMine: The Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar launch a joint attack against the Founders.
43* EveryoneHasStandards: Garak objects to Tain planning to kill Mila.
44* EvenEvilHasStandards: We learn that despite being the ruthless head of the Obsidian Order, even Tain was taken aback by Garak's pre-exile vicious streak. In the specific example Tain cites, he once had to personally step in and stop Garak from manufacturing treason charges against a Legate...all because Garak simply couldn't stand the man's voice.
45* EvilerThanThou: The Dominion proves this to the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar.
46* FakeStatic: Actually, there's not even any static, but Sisko and Kira act like there is.
47* FireForgedFriends: OK, so actual ''friends'' is pushing it a bit -- particularly after, y'know, the whole torture thing -- but Odo and Garak develop a new respect for each other following the events of this episode. At the end, Odo even invites Garak to join him for breakfast, despite the fact that he himself doesn't actually eat.
48* FlauntingYourFleets: Tain's fleet decloaks as they fly past Deep Space Nine and into the wormhole.
49* {{Foreshadowing}}:
50** The Romulan commander, Lovok, being a changeling is foreshadowed at least four times:
51*** First, he's visibly shocked and protests when Tain reveals that he has a device that can prevent changelings from transforming. No wonder he's worried, he's a changeling himself.
52*** Secondly, he agrees with Garak when advising Tain that Odo not be harmed. It seems that "no changeling has ever killed another" also extends to not allowing other changelings to be killed by outside parties.
53*** Third, when they reach the Founders' homeworld, he loudly announces that the lack of bases means that even if the Founders sent out a distress signal, it would take hours for any reinforcements to arrive, only for Jem'Hadar ships to jump in [[InstantlyProvenWrong almost immediately.]] Makes more sense when you realize he's been feeding Tain bullshit intel on purpose.
54*** Finally, even after the Founders' deception is revealed, he refuses to retreat even when it's clear the battle is lost: he doesn't ''want'' any of the people under his command to escape.
55** A piece of {{Foreshadowing}} from the previous episode: the discussion between Garak and Bashir about ''Julius Caesar'', how the title character didn't see his assassination coming, is mirrored by Tain's inability to see through the Founders' BaitAndSwitch trap. As noted under ShoutOutToShakespeare, as he is trying desperately to save Tain's life, Garak finally understands.
56** During TheReveal, the Lovok Changelings mentions that after today, the last threats to the Dominion from the Alpha Quadrant are the Federation and the Klingons -- [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E01E02TheWayOfTheWarrior and he doubts either of them will remain so for much longer]]. This one's actually a case of accidental foreshadowing, as the Klingon Invasion of Cardassia hadn't been planned at this point. Ira Behr and Ronald D. Moore only realized they'd unwittingly given themselves that potential built-in narrative catalyst when they were brainstorming how to execute the Studio-mandated overhaul of the show for Season Four.
57* GameChanger: If there was any doubt left after the previous season finale and two-part season opener, this episode makes it clear that the Dominion are well and truly the new BigBad of the series, with the Obsidian Order, the nearest thing to a main recurring villain that we'd had until this point (aside from [[Characters/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineGulDukat Dukat]], and to some extent the Maquis), being completely and utterly wiped out. Additionally, the Order's destruction will have major knock-on effects throughout the remainder of the show's run.
58* GunshipRescue: The ''Defiant'' rescuing Garak and Odo.
59* HeKnowsTooMuch: Why Tain is planning to eliminate Mila. Garak would rather he didn't.
60* HomeworldEvacuation: The Founders already did this.
61* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: Garak lampshades that Tain won't fully trust him unless he [[ColdBloodedTorture interrogates]] Odo himself.
62* IGaveMyWord: Eddington gives his word that he won't interfere with the ''Defiant'''s unauthorized mission any further despite sabotaging the cloaking device. Sisko notes that he has a policy of always trusting the word of a Starfleet member--before pointedly telling Eddington not to make him regret that policy.
63* {{Irony}}: '''Garak''': Do you know what the sad part is, Odo? I'm a very ''good'' tailor.
64* JustFollowingOrders:
65** Why Eddington sabotages the ''Defiant'''s InvisibilityCloak--he had orders from Admiral Toddman. Sisko is surprisingly accepting of this.
66** Garak tries to use this to justify torturing Odo, saying he's just doing his job.
67* KickedUpstairs: What Toddman threatens Sisko with if he pulls another stunt like this one.
68* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Garak agrees to never talk about what Odo said while being tortured.
69* LineInTheSand: Played straight when Sisko asks for volunteers to go on a mission to rescue Odo against orders. Everyone is on the ship when it's time to go.
70** But subverted when one of the volunteers (Eddington) turns out to have gone along to sabotage the ship on the Admiral's orders.
71* LuredIntoATrap: The Tal Shiar/Obsidian Order fleet.
72* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: Granted, the Dominion was introduced months ago, but here they firmly establish how dangerous they are by trashing the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar.
73* MeaningfulEcho: When Tain invited Garak back to the Obsidian Order (with Odo in the background warning Garak it wasn't a good idea), Garak accepted without hesitation. When Changeling Lovok makes a similar offer to Odo to rejoin the Great Link (with Garak now standing in background where Odo did earlier), even though Odo confessed under torture that he desires to rejoin them he steadfastly refuses.
74* TheMole: The Romulan Lovok is a Changeling.
75* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Garak looks genuinely remorseful after torturing Odo, to the point where he lies to Tain and tells him that Odo never said anything useful.
76* NoOneLeftBehind: On the one hand, Sisko and crew succeed at risking everything to get back Odo and Garak. On the other hand, Garak fails to convince Tain to escape with him.
77* NoodleIncident: So what's this about Dukat and an arms merchant?
78* TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment: Implied by Toddman when he says that if Sisko defies orders again, Toddman will have to "either court-martial you or promote you." Sounds like a case of ArsonMurderAndLifesaving, but Toddman goes on to note that, with the political situation being what it is, either one would be a world of trouble for Sisko.
79* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: The destruction of the Obsidian Order will have major ramifications starting next season and influencing the entire rest of the show.
80* NothingPersonal: Garak assures Odo that the ColdBloodedTorture session is this.
81* OhCrap:
82** Odo realizing that his shape-shifting abilities have been nullified.
83** When everyone realizes that the Dominion set them up and that 150 Jem'Hadar ships are closing in.
84** In the script, when the Romulan tech is asked how many ships there are, her voice description is "knows she's dead."
85* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Not only does Garak remorsefully bury his face in his hands following Odo's torture (which he genuinely didn't want to go through with), he straight-up ''begs'' Tain to snap out of his VillainousBSOD and join him in abandoning ship.
86* OrbitalBombardment: How the Cardassians and Romulans try to destroy the Founder homeworld.
87* OutGambitted: The Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order are both completely outfoxed by the Dominion.
88-->'''Tain:''' These Founders, Elim, they're very good. Next time, we should be more careful...
89* PowerNullifier: The device used to keep Odo from shapeshifting.
90* PromotionNotPunishment: Admiral Toddman threatens Sisko with this.
91* RammingAlwaysWorks: Played straight in a way rarely seen in Star Trek when the Defiant finding two Jem'Hadar ships in her way blows one up with her phasers, then rams straight through the other one, shattering it without even slowing down, let alone taking damage.
92* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Admiral Toddman. He orders Sisko to not rescue Odo and Garak, instead wanting to keep the ''Defiant'' at [=DS9=] to counter any Jem'Hadar reprisals. When Sisko violates orders, Toddman lets him off the hook. He adds that next time, he'll either have to court martial Sisko or promote him.
93* TheReveal: Lovok was a Changeling all the time.
94* ARottenTimeToRevert: Having realized that Odo is holding back one final detail that might help the Cardassians in their pre-emptive strike against the Founders, Garak tortures Odo by waiting until the need to revert becomes uncomfortable and using a PowerNullifier so he ''can't'' revert to liquid. The results are nothing short of agonizing and bring Odo dangerously close to a DeathByDepower before he finally confesses to the awful truth.
95* ScottyTime: After they discover how the cloak was sabotaged:
96--> '''Sisko''': How long will it take you to fix it?\
97'''O'Brien''': About ten hours!\
98'''Sisko''': You've got two.
99** Played with; while it takes O'Brien less than ten hours to fix the cloak, it's also explicitly stated that it took him at least three hours, well over the two given to him by Sisko.
100* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: After Sisko is ordered by Admiral Toddman not to go after Odo, he declares that he's going anyway, and anyone who wishes to volunteer to join him is welcome -- although he does warn them that they'll probably be court-martialled over it. Everyone ends up volunteering (although Eddington turns out to have gone along to sabotage the mission).
101* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Upon seeing that the battle is lost, Garak leaves the bridge to escape with Odo.
102* SecretKeeper: Garak doesn't divulge Odo's secret.
103* ShockingDefeatLegacy: The Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar get their combined fleet annihilated, the former is practically destroyed (and never recovers) and the latter is temporarily devastated. As noted elsewhere on this page, the battle is compared to Wolf 359.
104* ShoutOutToShakespeare: Garak quotes him -- or Bashir quoting him -- when Tain asks how they failed.
105-->'''Garak:''' I'm afraid the fault, dear Tain, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.\
106'''Tain:''' What?\
107'''Garak:''' Something I learned from Doctor Bashir.
108** This is a CallBack to the previous episode, which began with Bashir and Garak discussing ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar''. Garak had found it absurd that a reputed genius such as Caesar would have failed to see the plot to betray him. Apparently, Tain had never seen the play. Garak on the other hand, finally understands it.
109** A [[ZigzaggedTrope zigzagged]] LiteraryAllusionTitle: "The die is cast" (''alea iacta est'') is a quote, not from ''Julius Caesar'' the play, but from Julius Caesar the historical figure.
110* SpannerInTheWorks: Tain's plan might very well have worked... had the Tal Shiar officer he reached out to not been a Changeling himself.
111* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Tain may be one of the greatest Directors in the history of the Obsidian Order. But he's also an old man who's just come out of retirement and his instincts have become dulled in that interim. Tain even grimly concedes to Garak in his final scene that he let his pride override his instincts and experience. He completely mishandled Lovok and misread signs he would've caught had he still been at the top of his game.
112* TemptingFate: You just ''had'' to say "So much for the Dominion," didn't you, Tain?
113* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverKill: The joint Romulan-Cardassian fleet's plan to bombard the Founders' homeworld ''down to its molten core''. Which seems more than a little excessive.
114* TortureAlwaysWorks: Garak tortures Odo until Odo reveals something he left out of his reports, that he joins with the Founders in "the Great Link." It's worth noting, however, that Garak breaks before Odo and would have accepted a lie just to spare Odo.
115* TortureChamberEpisode: For Odo. Not that Garak is at all happy about it.
116* UnderestimatingBadassery: Tain admits he did this with the Founders.
117-->'''Tain:''' It appears I have underestimated the Founders. I should have seen it coming. There was a time when nothing got past me. You remember, don't you, Elim?
118* VillainDecay: Lampshaded. Tain himself notes that in his prime, he would have seen the Dominion plot coming a mile away.
119* VillainousBSOD: As his plan comes apart and his fleet is being torn to ribbons by the Jem'Hadar, Tain can only sit on his ruined bridge in shock.
120* WhamEpisode: Both in and out of universe. Notably the CurbStompBattle is compared to Wolf 359.
121* WhamLine:
122** "Because no Changeling has ever harmed another." Prior to this, there was nothing at all to hint that Lovok was anything other than what he seemed to be, all the {{Foreshadowing}} noted above notwithstanding (since much of it could have other explanations and is only clear in hindsight).
123** When Garak figures out what's going on with the Founders' homeworld, he shouts, "The planet's deserted!"
124* TheWorfEffect: Both the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order have been shown in previous episodes to be deadly opponents. In this episode, both of them are OutGambitted by the Dominion.
125* WorthyOpponent: Even as the Jem'Hadar are decimating his fleet, Tain takes a moment to compliment the Founders on their well-crafted ambush.
126-->'''Tain:''' These Founders, Elim... they're ''very'' good...next time we'll have to be more careful...
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