Soon after, Winn herself arrives on the station with a mission that Kira can't refuse. It seems that Kira's resistance cell leader, Shakaar, has not returned some soil reclamators that are now desperately needed to make Bajor's breadbasket fertile again so they can start growing foodstuffs for export. Kira is the only person who can help prevent the issue from turning into a fiasco, and she's forced to agree.
Meanwhile, O'Brien is running on a hot streak in darts. After besting Sisko, he declares himself "in the zone." Quark starts to catch on and begins arranging bets on when the chief's streak will end. Dax tries her hand, but O'Brien defeats her as well.
Kira goes to meet Shakaar, who now lives on a humble farm surrounded by infertile, rocky soil. He invites his old comrade to stay and have dinner with other nearby members of their cell, who are now farmers as well. After catching up and turning to business, he tells his side of the story: He and the other farmers waited for three years to receive the reclamators and were told they'd have them for at least a year, but after only a few months, the machines have suddenly become "desperately" needed elsewhere. Kira presses him to negotiate some sort of compromise with Winn, and he agrees to meet with her personally to hammer out a deal.
When Kira returns to Winn to deliver his answer, Winn is coldly outraged that he hasn't already capitulated. She's got big plans to put Bajor on the map with food exports and pad her own resume along the way. She anticipates that it will be futile to negotiate with such a stubborn man as Shakaar, but she agrees to do it and dismisses Kira from any further involvement. When Kira returns to Shakaar to deliver the news, however, she's interrupted by two Bajoran civic police who arrive to arrest Shakaar. It seems Winn lied and never had any intention of compromising. Shakaar and Kira join forces to punch out the guards and head out on the lamb. Shakaar warns Kira against throwing her lot in with him, but Kira proclaims that Winn has lied to her for the last time.
On the station, O'Brien is getting bored of darts and wants to go kayaking instead. Knowing that the chief is prone to throwing out his shoulder on such adventures, Quark persuades O'Brien to avoid any risks and see how long he can keep his streak going.
Kai Winn asks Sisko to help locate Kira and Shakaar. Sisko, however, is in no rush to send Starfleet officers to hunt down his own second-in-command on behalf of Winn. He refuses on the grounds of the Prime Directive. Winn hotly threatens to withdraw Bajor's application into the Federation, but Sisko is unmoved. So it's up to Winn's local civic police to do Winn's dirty work. Shakaar rounds up all the local farmers in the area, many of them former resistance fighters, and they head to the hills, planning to evade capture as long as possible.
On the station, O'Brien is up to 46 straight wins, and Quark is offering 15-to-1 odds against him. While O'Brien is playing a Vulcan officer, Quark hands O'Brien a beverage, and the chief suddenly screams in pain, his shoulder having suddenly dislocated. Bashir is right on the case and announces that O'Brien's shoulder requires immediate surgery, which forces him to forfeit the game. O'Brien's streak is over, and Quark is stuck paying out 15-to-1 to everyone who bet against him.
In the Bajoran hills, things start to get hairy for the farmers. The civil police are hot on their heels no matter how many tricks they pull. The leaders get sick of running and decide to stage an ambush. When it comes time to start shooting, however, neither Shakaar nor Kira has the stomach to fire on fellow Bajorans. They arrange a parley with the police leader, Colonel Lenaris, another former resistance fighter, hoping to find a way around blasting it out with each other.
Post-surgery, O'Brien tests out his new shoulder but discovers that he can't hit the broad side of a barn. He's no longer "in the zone." Shrugging it off, he decides to go back to kayaking, and Quark sees no reason to stop him. Bashir tosses one of the chief's unused darts and hits a bullseye, so Quark giddily ushers him away and welcomes him to "the zone."
Colonel Lenaris arrives at Kai Winn's office with Kira and Shakaar in tow, but before Winn can celebrate, he tells her that the pair are not his prisoners. Shakaar intends to run for the position of First Minister with the support of the Bajoran security forces. Winn is free to run against him, but if she does, Kira will reveal that the Kai risked a civil war over a few farming machines, destroying her reputation. Winn will retain her position as Kai but no longer enjoy political power. Finally having bested Winn, Kira contentedly returns to her quarters and blows out the flame in her shrine to Bareil.
Tropes
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: Sisko refuses to send Starfleet Security officers to help as this is a purely internal matter on Bajor. He also refuses to endorse Kai Winn as a candidate for First Minister on the same grounds, though quite frankly he wouldn't have done so even without the Prime Directive. (He just has the good sense not to say it to Winn's face though).
- Ambiguous Situation: It's implied but never confirmed that O'Brien's freak injury is faked as a pretext to get everyone off his back about his hot streak.
- An Arm and a Leg: Kira's old comrade Furel. Before going on a mission to rescue Kira and Shakaar, he prayed to the Prophets and offered his life. Fortunately, the mission only cost him an arm, and feeling that the Prophets were being generous that day, he hasn't gotten a replacement.
- Artistic License – Economics: The writers didn't seem to understand how bookies work. The show treats it as a disaster for Quark to be stuck paying out 15-to-1 odds due to O'Brien's loss, but bookies determine the odds to ensure that they make money no matter which side wins. Such high odds would merely indicate that far less money was bet against O'Brien than was bet on him, and Quark gets to keep all that money bet on O'Brien.
- As You Know: It's not clear in-universe why Kira, a Bajoran, feels the need to inform the Kai of Bajor that the Kai is "the spiritual leader of Bajor." Imagine telling the Pope "You'll still be Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church..." While she was most likely emphasizing this in contrast to no longer being Bajor's political leader, it's still a bit odd.
- Badass Boast:
- Upon being told that Quark has 10-to-1 odds on his next game of darts, O'Brien smiles and tells him that he should make it 15-to-1.
- Kira makes it clear that she's had it with Kai Winn after she tries to have Shakaar and Kira arrested.Kira: I have been lied to by Kai Winn for the last time. She wants a fight; I'll give her one.
- While talking with Shakaar and Kira about how he's just walked into an ambush and is surrounded, Colonel Lenaris tells them that he's been up against worse odds before and still come out.
- Blackmail: Kira prevents Winn from even entering the upcoming election by threatening to expose her recent strong-arm tactics, which would destroy her reputation and probably cause her to lose the election anyway.
- Call-Back: This episode follows Bareil's death and Winn's success in negotiating the peace treaty with Cardassia, which happened in "Life Support."
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Shakaar and Lenaris have a very calm discussion during a very tense standoff.Lenaris: Well. I take it from your calm demeanor that I've walked into an ambush. I should have stayed up on the ridge line, never come down into the valley.
Shakaar: It's an easy mistake to make. You thought we were another two kilometers ahead so you tried to make up time. I might have done the same thing. - Continuity Nod: Lenaris thanks Kira for liberating the Gallitep labor camp, as he had a brother there.
- Colonel Badass: Lenaris Holem. Cool and level-headed, even when realizing he's walked into an ambush.
- Control Freak: Winn's drastic overreaction over the soil reclamators comes off as less of a concern about Bajor's future and more her throwing a tantrum because Shakaar and his fellow farmers refused to bow to her will. Her threat to withdraw Bajor's application for Federation membership (which would invalidate half the reason she wanted the reclamators in the first place) supports this, as she does so in response to Sisko declining her request to send in Starfleet Security to track down Kira and Shakaar.
- Determined Homesteader: Shakaar and all the farmers, who take to the hills rather than submit to Kai Winn.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- It cannot be understated that Kai Winn was willing to start a civil war on Bajor over farming equipment. Even Sisko thinks so.Sisko: If I may say so, your entire response to this crisis has been an overreaction! By using the militia against your own people, you're risking civil war over a couple of....soil reclamators!
- Winn threatens to withdraw Bajor's application for membership in the Federation because Sisko refuses to— and legally, can't— use Starfleet resources to help clean up Winn's mess.
- It cannot be understated that Kai Winn was willing to start a civil war on Bajor over farming equipment. Even Sisko thinks so.
- The Evils of Free Will: When it seems likely that Kai Winn will win the upcoming elections, Odo notes that one of the problems of giving people freedom of choice is that sometimes they make the wrong choice.
- Fancy Camping: Averted when Shakaar, Kira, and their old resistance friends are on the run from the Bajoran military, having to make do with the supplies on hand and sleeping on the ground - which Kira later remarks she used to enjoy doing back in her resistance days.
- Holding Your Shoulder Means Injury: O'Brien messes up his shoulder. Again. Surprisingly, though, he wasn't kayaking this time. (Quark made sure of that.)
- Hypocrite: Winn decries Shakaar as prideful and arrogant. Putting aside all the harm caused by her own pride and arrogance in her other appearances, in this episode alone, Winn's self-righteous pride and stubborn refusal to even consider a compromise (unlike Shakaar, who, although prideful, is willing to at least entertain the idea) nearly provokes a civil war.
- It's All About Me:
- Winn is claiming all credit for the treaty that Bareil helped her negotiate. Kira, naturally, is pissed about this. Winn claims that Bareil would never have wanted credit, but as he can't contradict her, it comes off as weak justification at best.
- Winn also claims that the situation with Shakaar is a test for her.Winn: (to Sisko) I'm afraid you can't see what's really going on here. This isn't about soil reclamators. This is about the future of our society. When someone like Shakaar can defy the law and escape punishment, we risk descending into anarchy and chaos. This is a test, a test by the Prophets. They want to see if I'm worthy of the role they've given me as First Minister and Kai. I will not fail them. I will stop Shakaar by any means necessary.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Kai Winn's insanity is beautifully showcased here, as she turns a matter of simple mediation and compromise into a preamble for civil war and a severance of relations between Bajor and the Federation. And all of this is over farming equipment.
- Keeping the Handicap: As is Star Trek tradition, Furel has decided not to use the latest technology to overcome his handicap, doing so in this case out of respect for a vow he made to the prophets.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Winn backs down when faced with Kira's ultimatum, knowing she could never beat Shakaar in an election with the information Kira would spill on her if she chose to.
- Landslide Election: Kira predicts such a victory for Shakaar.
- Laser-Guided Karma: For the first time in a long time, Winn's manipulative and zealous nature catches up with her.
- Living Legend: Both Shakaar and Lenaris Holem are famous resistance fighters. They never met each other before, but they are familiar with each other's more famous attacks against the Cardassians during the occupation. Shakaar's status as one along with the fact that Shakaar liberated a notorious concentration camp where Lanaris' brother was being held prisoner helps him gain the support of Lenaris and the rest of the military. This military support propels him to leadership by the end.
- Moving Beyond Bereavement: Kira learns to let go of Bareil months after his death.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Though they don't actually say this, Kira and Shakaar both have this general feeling when they realize that they're about to shoot fellow Bajorans.Kira: I can't. I'm sorry.
Shakaar: Don't be. I can't either. - Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Winn's heavy-handed attempts to force Shakaar's compliance end up bringing an end to her political career and giving Shakaar the opportunity to rise from humble farmer to First Minister of Bajor.
- Nostalgia Filter: Lampshaded In-Universe when Lupaza notes that tramping around the mountains, hunted by security forces, really wasn't more fun than farming.Lupaza: Next time I get nostalgic for the old days, just shoot me.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: At first, even Kira can't help but agree with Winn's idea to restore the Rekantha province in order to open up the possibility of Bajor exporting again and strengthening their bid for Federation membership. However, it's not long before Winn shows herself to be a completely unreasonable Control Freak, ordering Shakaar's arrest when he agrees to discuss a compromise instead of bending down and obeying her. Her self-important speech to Sisko and threat of withdrawing Bajor's application to join the Federation when he refuses to help her make it clear that the whole thing is more about Winn's ego than anything else.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Winn is up to her old tricks. When Kira accuses her of stealing credit for Bareil's accomplishments, Winn asserts that Bareil never sought fame and innocently comments, "I'm surprised you didn't know that!"
- Platonic Life-Partners: In spite of being two guys and two girls, Kira and her three fellow resistance cell members seem to share a bond that goes beyond romantic interest. This becomes a plot point when Shakaar and Kira next meet.
- Reality Has No Subtitles: Kira recites a prayer in the Bajoran language, and there are no subtitles.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: While the Provisional Government was never particularly helpful to begin with, Kai Winn taking over as First Minister quickly puts Bajor under threat of civil war when she drastically overreacts to a minor dispute over farming equipment.
- Unexpected Successor: Shakaar goes from farmer to fugitive to leader of Bajor in about a month.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Winn is still riding high on her good publicity from negotiating the peace treaty with Cardassia, which has landed her the gig as provisional First Minister. Kira calls her out on failing to give any credit to Bareil.
- Worthy Opponent: Shakaar and Lenaris clearly have a great deal of respect for each other. It helps that neither of them really wants the situation to escalate.
