History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E17Accession

* OlderIsBetter: Turns out an acclaimed figure from 200 years ago is ''quite'' the regressive by modern standards. Quite a few Bajorans who are used to the modern egalitarian system aren't too keen on returning to the old ways.

-->'''Kira:''' [[LampshadeHanging "If the timeline's been changed, then why do I remember things the way they used to be?"]]
-->'''Sisko:''' [[HandWave "The Prophets work in mysterious ways."]]

* VillainyFreeVillain: Akoram is not motivated by any desire for personal gain or aggrandizement. When he's convinced that he's in the wrong, he gives up without any ill will.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Siski wants to shed his status as Emissary more than anything. Once it's gone, however, he realizes that that leaves Bajor vulnerable to whatever crazy shit the new Emissary thinks up.

Sisko is doing Emissary things by granting his blessing on Bajoran newlyweds. He seems to be getting better at his duties, but he still finds them a burden. Suddenly a Bajoran light ship comes careening out of the wormhole. Sisko has the passenger beamed to sick bay. It turns out to be the famous Bajoran poet Akoram Laan, who died 200 years ago. Unaware what year it is, Akoram claims that he has spoken to the Prophets in the wormhole and has returned as their Emissary.

Sisko is only too happy to relinquish his title to this newcomer. Akoram receives the blessing of the local Vedek, Porta, and soon ascends to the position. In a speech to a gathered assembly of Bajorans, Akoram announces that he was disturbed to discover that the Bajorans stopped following their ''D'jarras'' during the Cardassian occupation. He states that Bajoran society will return to following this strict caste system, which determines what roles each Bajoran plays in society. The crowd gives a mixed reception to this proclamation. Although initially optimistic about Akoram, Kira not happy about the prospect of following her ''D'jarra'' and becoming an artist.

While this is going on, O'Brien has welcomed Keiko back to the station and soon discovers that he'll be welcoming a new child as well. The chief is conflicted. Although he wants a new child, he was looking forward to some time with Keiko. Now with Keiko still busy with work and Molly able to entertain herself, O'Brien is stuck doing nothing and misses the time he once had to himself goofing around with Bashir.

Sisko doesn't like the sound of this ''D'jarra'' business and is starting to regret giving up his Emissaryship so easily. He warns Akoram that such sweeping reforms will surely cause strife in Bajoran society. Akoram admits that he doesn't plan on change happening overnight, but Bajorans will soon acclimate, and then all will be as it should. Sisko then warns Akoram that Bajor's application for Federation membership will probably be rejected over the caste system issue, but Akoram has already talked it over with Kai Winn, and they're not interested in Federation membership.

With the ''D'jarra'' issue seemingly decided, Kira puts in her resignation and tries her hand at sculpture and fails spectacularly. Sisko is unhappy to see her go. He dreams about Kai Opaka, who tells him that he does not know himself. In Sick Bay, Sisko learns that the dreams might be an "Orb Shadow," a leftover hallucination caused by his visions from the Orb.

Keiko takes pity on her bored husband and tells him that she thinks Bashir has grown depressed since the two friends stopped hanging out. She suggests he spend more time with him. After the grateful chief leaves, Keiko quickly rings up Bashir to say the exact same thing about O'Brien.

Things come to a head when Vedek Porta murders a fellow vedek for being from an "unclean" ''D'jarra'' and refusing to resign. Sisko orders Porta hauled away and confronts Akoram, telling him that he ''does'' want to dispute his status as Emissary after all. The only way to do so without tearing Bajor apart in a sectarian war is to enter the wormhole and ask the Prophets themselves. In the wormhole, the Prophets are confused by the linear questions that Sisko and Akoram pose to them, but they state that, if what Sisko says about linear time is true, then the ''D'jarras'' are in the past and can never be again. Akoram takes this as judgment that he was wrong and is not the Emissary. He has the Prophets send him back to his own time to be with his family again, though he will have no memory of his adventure in the future.

Sisko returns to the station, lets everyone know what happened, and officially puts everything back to normal. Now the Emissary once again, he's called upon to bless another marriage, and this time he agrees with a lot more gusto.

* AmbitionIsEvil: When Akorem wakes up, he is delighted to believe he's the Emissary, and wants to do great things. He then abuses his power to make the world [[FishOutOfTemporalWater more like the one he left]] instead of adapting to it. By contrast, Sisko never asked anything of the Bajorans, because he never wanted the power in the first place.

* CallBack:
** When Quark tells Worf that Keiko's going to have a baby, Worf exclaims "Now?!?". In the Next Gen episode [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E5Disaster "Disaster"]], Worf delivered the O'Briens' first child Molly during an emergency.
** The four-shift rotation first proposed in [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E07StarshipDown "Starship Down"]] is made permanent.

* CharacterOutlivesActor: Georgia Brown, who played Worf's adoptive human mother Helena Rozhenko on TNG, died suddenly in 1992, only months after her last appearance in the season 5 episode "New Ground". In this episode, 4 years afterward, Worf says he'll visit his parent'''s''' on Earth, suggesting that Helena is still alive in-universe.

** When speaking about Bajorans abandoning their proper roles, Akorem mentions farmers becoming politicians, referring indirectly to Shakaar being First Minister.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The d'jarra system is a direct reference to the Indian caste system, down to the lowest class having the least honorable jobs such as preparing the dead.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Porta feels perfectly justified in killing a fellow vedek whose d'jarra is unclean. Sisko doesn't buy it at all.
* INeedToGoIronMyDog: Pre-emptive variation. Worf makes it known to Bashir that he plans to be far away from the station (on Earth, visiting his parents) when Keiko's second child is due.

* ValuesDissonance: InUniverse with Akorem trying to reinstate the d'jarra system, only to find that Bajor has moved on from this.

A 200 year old Bajoran flies through the wormhole, claiming to be the chosen Emissary. Meanwhile, O'Brien finds out Keiko's pregnant again.

* TimeyWimeyBall: Kira has no idea how [[RippleEffectProofMemory she can remember Akorem's poem as being unfinished when it's actually completed]]. Sisko's response: [[HandWave "The Prophets work in mysterious ways."]]

* SocietyMarchesOn: In-universe; the Bajorans abandoned the d'jarras because of the Cardassian Occupation, and never returned to them because of the length of said occupation. The Prophets even say that the caste system is "of the past".

* RealityEnsues:
** Turns out an acclaimed figure from 200 years ago is ''quite'' the regressive by modern standards. Quite a few Bajorans who are used to the modern egalitarian system aren't too keen on returning to the old ways.
** Additionally, despite earlier being depicted as idyllic, Bajor was far from a great society even prior to the Occupation, with a strict caste system enforced by jailtime or deportation.

** Sisko warns that reintroducing a caste system would make Bajor ineligible to join the Federation, Akorem says he's spoken to Kai Winn and she's willing to make this "necessary sacrifice". Sisko of course knows that's exactly what Kai Winn has wanted all along.

* {{Irony}}: Sisko sums it up to Kira--Starfleet doesn't like the idea of one of its officers being the Emissary, but when Sisko steps down from the role, Starfleet doesn't like the results.

* TimeyWimeyBall: Kira has no idea how [[RippleEffectProofMemory she can remember Akorem's poem as being unfinished when it's actually completed]]. Sisko's response: [[HandWave "The Prophets work in mysterious ways."]

* TimeyWimeyBall: Kira has no idea how [[RippleEffectProofMemory she can remember Akorem's poem as being unfinished when it's actually completed]]. Sisko's response: [[HandWave "The Prophets work in mysterious ways."]]
* TypeCaste: This episode reveals that Bajor had one of these before the Cardassian Occupation. Akorem tries to bring it back, but the results are less than pleasant until Sisko puts a stop to it. You can see the schism it would cause to Bajoran society immediately: Some Bajorans are enraptured by their new Emissary's mission, while others are disconcerted (like Kira). It's also revealed that having caste-based discrimination disqualifies a planet for Federation membership.

* HeelRealization: The Prophets make Akorem realize that he was wrong in calling himself the Emissary.
** It would be more accurate to say they make Sisko realise he's been dodging his responsibilities as Emissary.

* RealityEnsues: Turns out an acclaimed figure from 200 years ago is ''quite'' the regressive by modern standards. Additionally, despite earlier being depicted as idyllic, Bajor was far from a great society even prior to the Occupation, with a strict caste system enforced by jailtime or deportation.

* AGodAmI: When Akorem wakes up in the infirmary, he introduces himself as the Emissary.
* BlatantLies: When Sisko warns that a caste-based system would make Bajor ineligible to join the Federation, Akorem says he has the support of Kai Winn, who has said that this is a price they must be willing to pay. Sisko knows full well that Kai Winn doesn't want Bajor in the Federation at all.

** When Quark tells Worf that Keiko's going to have a baby, Worf exclaims "Now?!?". In the Next Gen episode [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E5Disaster "Disaster"]], Worf delivered the O'Briens first child Molly during an emergency.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Worf makes some preemptive plans to be ''far'' away from [=DS9=] when the O'Brien's baby #2 is due, remembering how he got [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E5Disaster entangled in the birth of their first child.]]

* ShoutOut: The book Quark used to read to Nog: [[Literature/DickandJane "See Brak acquire. Acquire, Brak, acquire."]]

* FantasticCasteSystem: This episode reveals that Bajor had one of these before the Cardassian Occupation. Akorem tries to bring it back, but the results are less than pleasant until Sisko puts a stop to it. You can see the schism it would cause to Bajoran society immediately: Some Bajorans are enraptured by their new Emissary's mission, while others are disconcerted (like Kira). It's also revealed that having caste-based discrimination disqualifies a planet for Federation membership.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Akorem isn't evil, but trying to bring castes back to Bajor is rather like having a man from the 1800's show up in a modern society and insist women's rights be rescinded, or slavery reinstituted.

* ContinuityNod: Kira wasn't kidding about [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E02TheCircle her lack of artistic talents]], as demonstrated when she tries her hand at sculpting.
--> '''Kira:''' I have a ''flock'' of flightless birds in my quarters.

* CharacterDevelopment: This is when Sisko starts to accept his role as Emissary.