When Sisko comes to, he has the tablet taken back to Deep Space Nine for analysis. Kai Winn finds out and confronts him at the station, likening the removal of the tablet with the way the Cardassians looted Bajor. Sisko refuses on his authority as the Emissary, but Winn complains to Admiral Ross, who tells Sisko to stop meddling in Bajoran affairs. Meanwhile, Dax runs some translation algorithms on the tablet. One inscription either says that the Bajorans will "eat fruit" of "suffer horribly." Another inscription says that the Prophets will weep as the gateway to the Celestial Temple (aka Deep Space Nine) will burn.
The wormhole starts to behave erratically, causing geological instability on Bajor itself. Winn says that it's a message from the Prophets that they are unsatisfied with Sisko keeping the tablet. Even First Minister Shakaar is in agreement with Winn. This prompts Sisko to agree to return the tablet tomorrow morning. But during that night, Sisko feels uneasy and goes to the Science Lab where the tablet is being kept. Out of frustration for the Prophets' continuously cryptic messages, Sisko picks up the tablet and smashes it against the wall. Two energy discharges, one blue and one orange, appear from the tablet remnants and disappear into the bulkhead.
Winn is furious over the tablet's destruction, but Sisko believes that the Prophets wanted him to smash it. Before they argue any further, they are summoned to the Promenade. There, Kira stands in the doorway of the Bajoran temple with blue electricity arcing from her hands. She has been possessed by the blue energy discharge, which is actually a Prophet. The Prophet informs Sisko that the Emissary has completed his task, and now it is time to await the Reckoning. Winn explains further: the Reckoning is a battle between the Prophets and Pah-wraiths. Should the Prophet win, it will usher in the Golden Age of Bajor, in which the Bajorans will be prosperous for a thousand years. Winn tries to talk to the Prophet for guidance but the Prophet ignores Winn.
Sisko orders the evacuation of Deep Space Nine. However, Winn and several Bajorans insist on staying on the station to pray for the Prophet's victory. As Sisko and Winn bicker, the Prophet announces that the Pah-wraith has chosen its host: Jake Sisko. Sisko pleads for it to leave his son alone and take him as a host. The Pah-wraith is merely amused and throws Sisko across the Promenade before facing off with the Prophet. Energy beams appear from their host bodies, blue for the Prophet and orange for the Pah-wraith. They converge on each other and cause massive energy outbursts. Dax detects that the outbursts are reaching critical levels and that it could result in the destruction of the station. Sisko insists on staying behind and orders Winn and Dax away from the confrontation. In the ensuing chaos, Winn slips away unnoticed.
The Prophet starts to overwhelm the Pah-wraith, but just before it can win, the station is bathed in a blue light. Someone is interfering with the Reckoning, and it's Winn. Standing in Ops, she says, "May the Prophets forgive me." The beams stop, and the Prophet and Pah-wraith leave their host bodies.
Bashir later evaluates both Kira and Jake. Kira appears to be fine, but Jake is in rough shape and will need to stay in the infirmary for some time. After feeling the evil presence of the Pah-wraith, Jake now understands his father's role as Emissary. Kira spends some time with Odo, being thankful that Odo respected her beliefs and allowed her to be the Prophet's host. While escorting Winn to a Bajoran transport, the Kai states her actions likely saved the station and that the geological instabilities on Bajor have stopped. Kira is having none of this and chews into Winn for her lack of faith, in which Sisko, a non-Bajoran, was willing to sacrifice his son to help the prophets win the Reckoning, whereas Winn is solely driven by ambition and jealousy. With this battle now unresolved, there is no way of telling what the future holds for the Bajoran people.
Tropes
- Abandon Ship: Sisko orders the station evacuated so the fight can occur without endangering innocent lives.
- A God Am I: This episode really plays up Sisko's importance as part of Bajoran mythology. Prophets speak directly to him, both in a vision and while possessing Kira. His faith is shown to be stronger than that of Kai Winn. Kira even mentions at the end that Sisko was willing to risk his only son to save the world (although he expressed faith that the Prophets wouldn't let Jake actually die).
- Ambition Is Evil: Kira hits Winn hard over her interference with the Reckoning by pointing out her ambitious tendencies and how they affected her judgement, in sharp comparison to Sisko's willingness to allow the Reckoning to continue at the cost of his son's life.
- Beam-O-War: The Prophet and Pah-wraith do battle with energy beams. And the Prophet's beam almost wins before Kai Winn screws everything up.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Jake previously spoke of his desire to see a Pah-wraith. He gets his wish and then some.
- Big "NO!": The Prophet when it realizes Winn has interfered in the fight.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Winn once again throws her weight around using Passive-Aggressive Kombat. When Sisko tries explaining he felt he had to take the tablet, she just calmly states she's not going to argue with the Emissary. The next scene is Sisko exclaiming that she filed a formal protest with Starfleet.
- Black-and-White Morality: A Prophet vs a Pah-wraith right on the Promenade... and it's awesome.
- Bring It: "Let it begin."
- Call-Back:
- Dax's idea of using Chroniton Particles to force the Prophet and Pah-wraith to leave echoes O'Brien's actions when a possessed Keiko tried to force O'Brien to convert the station to a giant Chroniton emitter.
- Sisko mentions what the Prophets did to stop the Dominion from going through the Wormhole and says he must repay the favour by allowing the Reckoning to happen on the station.
- The Seventh Fleet is mentioned again, having suffered another defeat and being at half-strength as a result.
- This episode itself receives a Call-Back in the second season trailer for Star Trek: Picard, where the Reckoning Tablet is seen being reassembled and restored on a table in Picard's study at his family's vineyard (either the real location, or probably the holographic recreation aboard La Sirena).
- Circling Monologue: The Prophets in their conversation with Sisko.
- Continuity Nod:
- Crisis of Faith:
- The Pah-wraith accuses Sisko of this in response to Take Me Instead."Your Emissary offers himself to us? His faith wavers."
- Underscored by Kai Winn. She may not admit it, but her interference in the Reckoning is essentially this.
- The Pah-wraith accuses Sisko of this in response to Take Me Instead.
- Deadpan Snarker: Jadzia, in the science lab, with the tablet.
- Demonic Possession: Jake controlled by the Pah-wraith, complete with Red Eyes, Take Warning.
- Either "World Domination", or Something About Bananas: The computer's translation of the tablet says that the Bajorans will either suffer horribly... or eat fruit. Sisko and Dax figure on the former, though Kira is later seen eating fruit salad.
- Enemy Mine: Winn and Shakaar rarely see eye to eye, so their agreement on their demand for Sisko to return the tablet means something for once.
- Exact Words: Winn says, "Who am I to argue with the Emissary?" Then she goes behind his back to lodge an official complaint with Starfleet so that they will argue for her.
- Facepalm: Sisko's reaction to hearing that Kai Winn is on her way to the station. Since he's standing right next to some Bajoran clergy, he tries to hide it.
- Foreshadowing: The two characters who join Sisko in his visit to B'Hala are Kira and Jake. Especially after Dax's Either "World Domination", or Something About Bananas translation, Kira is seen eating fruit salad.
- Good Colors, Evil Colors: Blue Is Calm for the Prophet versus Red Eyes, Take Warning for the Pah-wraith.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Winn is in full jealousy mode. Kira can see right through it. The script for this episode
makes it explicit: "Kai Winn sees a martyr in the making — the last thing she wants is to spend the rest of her life standing in the shadow of a statue of Sisko." It's also evidenced when she says there will be no need for titles like Emissary when the Prophet wins the battle. There would also be no need for titles like Kai, which is quite obviously Kai Winn's real concern. - Heroic Sacrifice: Not that he has a choice in the matter, but Jake is willing to let himself be killed if it means the Pah-wraith is also destroyed.
- Honor Before Reason: Odo knows Kira would willingly give herself to the Prophets, which is why he doesn't object to what happens. Also, when Take Me Instead fails, Sisko doesn't try to stop the confrontation. Jake later says that Sisko was right—noting that the Pah-wraith was truly evil and had to be stopped no matter the cost.
- I Choose to Stay: Sisko intends to see the confrontation play out and to not abandon Jake.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Kai Winn claims this at the end regarding her interrupting the Reckoning, insisting that she did it to save Bajor and the station. Kira calls bullshit on this, telling her that she only did it because she couldn't stand knowing that Sisko's faith was stronger than hers, and pointing out that she defied the Prophets' will, which is likely to have serious consequences.
- Innocuously Important Episode: This is the first episode that demonstrates the relationship — or rather, the lack thereof — between Kai Winn and the Prophets. Winn mentions that she never had a vision from the Prophets, and when one of the Prophets takes Major Kira as a vessel, they completely ignore Winn. She then deliberately denies them their victory over the Pah-wraiths because, as Kira deduces, she can't stand that Sisko's faith in them is stronger than hers. The Prophets' indifference towards Winn would have dire consequences come the climax of the final season.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- When Sisko takes the tablet without consulting Bajoran religious leaders or the government Kai Winn goes to DS9 in order to remind Sisko that many Bajoran cultural and religious artifacts were taken by the Cardassians without Bajoran consent and ask for the tablet's return. Sisko has to concede that she has a point but tells Winn that he'll return the tablet in due course. True to form, Winn immediately complains to Starfleet Admirals over Sisko's refusal to immediately return the tablet. What is surprising though is that First Minister Shakaar backs her up in her complaint to Starfleet, marking the first actual cooperation between the two.
- Kira chews Winn out for interrupting the battle between the Prophet and the Pah-wraith, and says that her faith is not as strong as Sisko's. However, Winn just met a Prophet in person, offered herself for its service, and led other Bajorans in a prayer ceremony for their victory, and the Prophet didn't even acknowledge their existence. Plus, it had no qualms trying to kill the Pah-wraith when it had possessed the Emissary's son. Winn not only has good reason for her faith to be shaken, but by association, there's no guarantee that the Prophet would have defeated the Pah-wraith or that its victory would have meant anything for Bajor.
- Language Drift: The station computers have trouble translating the inscriptions on the tablet due to the changes in the Bajoran language over the 30,000 years since the tablet's creation.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Sisko briefly has this moment when he smashes the tablet. Subverted when he sees the energy discharges and realizes the Prophets wanted him to smash the tablet.
- Winn states "May the Prophets forgive me" when she interferes with the Reckoning.
- Never Give the Captain a Straight Answer: Odo calls Sisko to the promenade and says he'll "let [Sisko] be the judge" of whether or not what's going on is a problem. Somewhat Justified in that only The Sisko knows whether or not a Prophet possessing Kira is a problem.
- Oh, Crap!: Sisko's reaction to the Pah-wraith possessing Jake.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Winn is back to her old tricks. When Sisko relates his experience with the Prophets, Winn interrogates him using mild and apologetic phrasing before going behind his back to lodge an official complaint.
- Poor Communication Kills: Just out of curiosity, why didn't Sisko mention the Reckoning to Winn earlier in the episode? Things might've gone more smoothly between them.
- Psychic Nosebleed: Kira's nose starts bleeding during the fight. Jake is considerably worse off — all the veins in his face look like they're about to explode.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Kira chews out Kai Winn over her interference in the Reckoning by directly stating that her ambition clouded her judgement. Winn tries to sidestep this by saying that she stopped the floods and the quakes, but Kira retorts that those events are small comfort and that the evil still exists.
- Sealed Evil in a Duel: The Prophet and the Pah-wraith are both trapped in the tablet; releasing them allows them to finish their fight. Or at least, that was the plan.
- Skeptic No Longer:
- Downplayed when Bashir refuses to believe the prophecy, figuring that they'll look back on this and laugh...and then the wormhole spontaneously opens and the station starts shaking.
Bashir: How did that prophecy go again?- Played straight with Jake as he understands why the Prophets have chosen his father to do their bidding, as well as understanding how evil the Pah-wraiths can be.
- Spanner in the Works: The Prophet is within a few moments of defeating the Pah-wraith... then Winn stops the fighting due to her jealousy of Sisko.
- Take Me Instead: Sisko offers himself to the Pah-wraith to save his son. Doesn't go over well.
- Tantrum Throwing: Sisko destroys the tablet in a fit of rage. This releases the Prophet and Pah-wraith inside, leading to the Reckoning. This is essentially played with when Sisko realizes that the Prophets wanted him to smash the tablet.
- That's an Order!: Sisko says this to get Dax and Kai Winn to leave the station.
- Thread of Prophecy, Severed: The eponymous Reckoning is an apocalypse prophesied on a stone tablet, which is started when Ben smashes the tablet from frustration and frees the Prophet and Pah-wraith locked within. The apocalypse is interrupted when Kai Winn activates the chroniton emitter to drive the Prophet and Pah-wraith away.
- Voice of the Legion: Both Kira and Jake get this during their possession. Though Jake's is more demonic sounding.
- Wham Shot:
- The Prophet in Kira announces the Pah-wraith has finally chosen a host. Enter Jake.
- And again when Winn interferes in the Reckoning.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Kira chews Winn out for (once again) letting her ambition and jealousy override her service to the Prophets.
- Before that, Winn gives Sisko one for shattering the tablet, even though it was necessary to release the Prophet and Pah-wraith.
- And before that, Sisko gets one from Admiral Ross (off-screen) for taking the tablet in the first place.
- Willing Channeler: Kira for the Prophet, complete with Occult Blue Eyes. The Prophet even says (while in Kira's body) that "This vessel is willing" and afterwards, Kira is awestruck over being chosen.
- You Did the Right Thing: Stated verbatim by Jake at the end to his father, when the latter expresses regret over allowing him to be put in danger. Jake could see for himself just how evil the Pah-wraith was, and he knew it had to be defeated even if the price was his own life.
