History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E22Valiant

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: When Shepard and an unnamed fellow officer arrive outside the engine room to arrest Jake, both of them point their hand phasers right in his face. Not only is this dangerous in the event of a misfire, but ''[[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry The Undiscovered Country]]'', released a few years prior, also established that even when set on stun, a point-blank phaser hit to the head is fatal. Possibly justified, as Red Squad are shown to be gung-ho to the point of foolishness throughout the episode.

* AbandonShip: At the climax. Only Jake, Nog, and Collins survive the attempt.

* TheNeidermeyer: "Captain" Watters and [[NumberTwo executive officer]] "Commander" Farris. Farris is a [[HateSink bully]] barking orders like a bad parody of a Starfleet officer. Watters lets his ego blind him to the fact that he's ''way'' out of his depth in a fashion not unlike Nick Locarno. The crew was the best: [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous special missions, training, even their own ship]]. But they were still cadets.

* TheNeidermeyer: "Captain" Watters and [[NumberTwo executive officer]] "Commander" Farris. Farris is a [[HateSink bully]] barking orders like a bad parody of a Starfleet officer. Watters lets his ego blind him to the fact that he's ''way'' out of his depth. The crew was the best: [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous special missions, training, even their own ship]]. But they were still cadets.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: A charismatic cadet in command of an elite squad of cadets, who through his overconfidence gets people killed. Didn't we see this kind of guy expelled from Starfleet in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' Season 5 episode "The First Duty"? Or for that matter, wasn't a similar guy on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''? (Played by the same actor, Creator/RobertDuncanMcNeill, no less.)[[note]]The latter two were intentional; Tom Paris was indeed [[WhatCouldHaveBeen supposed to be]] Nick Locarno, but the ''Voyager'' writers didn't want to have to pay royalties to the writer of "The First Duty" every time ''Voyager'' aired, so they concocted Tom Paris as a more sympathetic {{Expy}} and cast [=McNeill=] in the role anyways. This fact aside, [=McNeill=] has always been vocal about the two NOT being the same.[[/note]]

* AllForNothing: Red Squad spent almost a year behind enemy lines, holding off the Dominion and gathering intel. They finally get a mission that would provide crucial information for the war effort. But Captain Watters arrogance and misplaced confidence convinces the crew to take on a battle they can't win, and gets practically all of them killed.

* EverybodyDiesEnding: Of everyone on the Valiant in the episode, only Jake and Nog- two series regulars- manage to survive, along with the sole survivor Collins.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: A charismatic cadet in command of an elite squad of cadets, who through his overconfidence gets people killed. Didn't we see this kind of guy expelled from Starfleet in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' Season 5 episode "The First Duty"? Or for that matter, wasn't a similar guy on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''? (Played by the same actor, Creator/RobertDuncanMcNeill, no less.)[[note]]The latter two were intentional; Tom Paris was indeed [[WhatCouldHaveBeen supposed to be]] Nick Locarno, but the ''Voyager'' writers didn't want to have to pay royalties to the writer of "The First Duty" every time ''Voyager'' aired, so they concocted Tom Paris as a more sympathetic {{Expy}} and cast [=McNeill=] in the role anyways.[[/note]]

* IRejectYourReality: Jake makes an appeal to Watters and the ''Valiant'' crew's reason, pointing out that no matter how good Red Squad may be, they're still just cadets, and the ''Valiant'', despite its extra firepower, was originally designed as an escort vessel. Jake argues that even the most experienced officer (like his father) with a full crew complement wouldn't try taking on a battleship five times larger than the ''Defiant''. Watters dismisses him out of hand.

* {{Expy}}: Tim Watters is basically [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E19TheFirstDuty Nick Locarno]] 2.0 -- he's the charismatic leader of an elite group of Starfleet cadets, and he talks them into pulling a super risky stunt under the belief that they can do anything. It [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]], with fatal results.

* {{Expy}}: Tim Watters is basically [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E19TheFirstDuty Nick Locarno]] 2.0 He's the charismatic leader of an elite group of Starfleet cadets, and he talks them into pulling a super risky stunt under the belief that they can do anything. It [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]], with fatal results.

* TeensAreShort: To convey the youth of the cadets, they're all average to below average in height, which is especially noticeable when Jake towers over everyone in the room.

* EmergencyTraineeBattleDeployment: Subverted, while the crew of the Valiant are cadets in a combat situation, they are mostly there because Acting Captain Watters won't admit he is out of his depth.

* CurbstompCushion: Jake and Nog's runabout gets hammered by a Jem'Hadar fighter, but they manage to score a few hits before the ''Valiant'' arrives in the nick of time to finish off the Jem'Hadar.

** Red Squad on the whole. A combination of [[EnsignNewbie inexperience]], [[TraumaCongaLine stress]] and [[SuicidalOverconfidence misplaced bravado]] leads to a stupid plan that fails miserably.