History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E09Covenant

In private with Dukat, Mika admits that she's having trouble sticking to Dukat's lie about the baby. Though he acts pious and regretful over his "mistake", he is quick to stick her in the airlock to cover up the truth. Unfortunately for him, Kira and Fala arrive moments later and rescue her before she suffocates. She'll awaken and spill the beans any hour now, so a desperate Dukat plays his final gambit: It's mass suicide time! He announces that the congregation will shed their corporeal forms to join the Pah-wraiths by means of [[CyanidePill promazine pills]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Dukat tries a new evil plan: evangelism.]]

In private with Dukat, Mika admits that she's having trouble sticking to Dukat's lie about the baby. Though he acts pious and regretful over his "mistake", he is quick to stick her in the airlock to cover up the truth. Unfortunately for him, Kira and Fala arrive moments later and rescue her before she suffocates. She'll awaken and spill the beans any hour now, so a desperate Dukat plays his final gambit: It's mass suicide time! He announces that the congregation will shed their corporeal forms to join the pah-wraiths by means of [[CyanidePill promazine pills]].

** Just before Dukat comes up with his mass suicide scheme, he prays for guidance from the Pah-Wraiths. So is the mass suicide scheme something he came up with on his own to cover his ass, or did the Pah-Wraiths, for reasons of their own, actually tell him to carry it out? Knowing both Dukat and the Pah-Wraiths, either is possible.

* BlatantLies: After looking aghast at his own half-Cardassian baby, Dukat smoothly announces that it's a miracle from the pah-wraiths, something even his own congregation has some trouble buying.

** Kira mentions [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E01ImageInTheSand the Pah-Wraith cultist that tried to kill Sisko]].

* ChocolateBaby: Dukat tells his followers that Mika's half-Cardassian baby is a sign from the Pah-Wraiths.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Dukat's Pah-Wraith cult preaches that the Pah-Wraiths are loving beings wrongly cast as villains in a story written by the Prophets. The audience and Kira are well aware that it's a load of bunk.
* DarkMessiah: Dukat has cast himself as an EvilCounterpart to Sisko, calling himself the Emissary of the Pah-Wraiths, serving them as Sisko serves the Prophets. Although the cultists are disillusioned with Dukat in the end, Dukat's own faith is unbroken.

* HistoryRepeats: Dukat's Pah-Wraith CultColony is his idealized version of the Bajoran Occupation, with him serving as the kindly "master" on a new Terok [=Nor/Deep=] Space Nine with a flock of loyal Bajorans who worship him as their [[DarkMessiah Emissary]]. But, just like the original Occupation, his affair with a married Bajoran woman produces a secret half-Cardassian [[ChocolateBaby love child]] that he attempts to cover up with [[MurderIsTheBestSolution a murder]], which ends up dragging him down, exposing him as a self-obsessed tyrant, and ends with him running away in disgrace.

* NeverMyFault: Dukat continues to trot out his position that he was a good prefect of Bajor and that he protected Bajorans from the worst of the Occupation and that he is actually a good man. Also, when Kira points out a Pah-Wraith cultist attempted to kill Sisko, he claims to have had nothing to do with it.

* NobleBigot: Played With. Fala says to Kira "You believe the Prophets are the true gods of Bajor. I believe the Pah-wraiths are. Let's just leave it at that." to which Kira responds "I'd be happy to. There's just one problem: we can't both be right." Without context, this line could easily have made Kira look like an intolerant zealot. However, since the Prophets and Pah-Wraiths are SufficientlyAdvancedAliens and the Pah-Wraiths being evil is a demonstrable fact, Kira comes across as the OnlySaneMan among a group of {{Flat Earth Atheist}}s.

* SinisterMinister: "Master" Dukat, leader of his own band of Pah-Wraith cultists.
* {{Symbolism}}: The DutchAngle at which Empok Nor is always shot, first established in its namesake episode to show how "off" it is from Deep Space Nine (as well as its derelict nature), is even more symbolic here. Not only does it underscore the [[EvilCounterpart parallels]] between Dukat and Sisko (two Emissaries with their own Prophets and space stations) as well as [[HistoryRepeats recreating]] his past leadership of Terok Nor, it reflects how off-kilter Kira feels throughout the episode--finding out her old religion teacher from the camps has converted to the Pah-Wraiths, fighting to show her fellow Bajorans they should stay true to the Prophets, all while they're being misled by Dukat in a DarkMessiah role, claiming he's changed and only wants the good of Bajor. Even at the end, when she isn't sure why Fala killed himself, or whether Dukat is a true believer or even an actual vessel of the Pah-Wraiths, it's safe to say Kira's world was turned upside-down.

* WhamShot: TheReveal that Gul Dukat is the Master of the Pah-Wraith cult.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Before the climax, we get a scene of Dukat kneeling alone in prayer, begging the Pah-Wraiths for a sign and for them to forgive his failings, letting the audience know that what Kira realises is true: Dukat, whatever else he might be, is a genuine believer in the Pah-Wraiths.
* WrittenByTheWinners: Dukat says this of the Bajoran texts that favor the Prophets over the Pah-Wraiths.

Kira joins Odo, Ezri and Bashir after a visit to the Bajoran shrine. They talk about the subject of the sermon, forgiveness, Odo expresses regret that he is unable to share the sense of faith that is obviously so important to her. Later, Kira is pleasantly surprised by a visit from an old friend, Vedek Fala. He's brought her a gift: a tiny gemstone. When Kira holds it in her hands, it transports her to ''Empok Nor'', the abandoned sister station to [=DS9=]. Only it isn't abandoned anymore. She is greeted by several Bajorans, whom Kira recognizes as Pah-wraith cultists, and their leader... [[WhamShot Dukat]].

* AmbiguousSituation: Did Vedek Fala take his own life because Dukat's lies broke his faith, or did he do it because he hadn't lost faith and wanted to follow Dukat's command? Kira is still mulling over the question when all is said and done.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Dukat is up to his usual tricks, preaching abstinence despite giving in to his own lust.

Out of explanations, and with his congregation turning on him, Dukat flees in a rage by activating a transporter. Kira notices too late that Fala has swallowed his own pill. As he collapses into his arms, all he can say before dying is "Faith..." What he meant by that, Kira will never know for certain. The ''Defiant'' arrives to rescue Kira and repatriate the cultists, but even seeing Odo again is small relief. Dukat, she knows, is still out there, twisted by his new faith and more dangerous than ever.

Dukat apologizes for kidnapping her and gives her the Pah-wraith sales pitch, claiming that they are the true, benevolent gods of Bajor, and that he is a changed man who only wants to carry out their plan. Kira is not at all receptive to these claims, least of all coming from him. [[BrokenPedestal She is especially angry at Fala]], who admits that he has been a part of the cult since long before Dukat arrived. He believes fully in their new leader's sincerity, whatever his past crimes, and insists that they do not deserve their reputation for violence and hate. He encourages Kira learn more during her compulsory stay.

Out of explanations, and with his congregation turning on him, Dukat flees in a rage by activating a transporter. Kira notices too late that Fala has swallowed his own pull. As he collapses into his arms, all he can say before dying is "Faith..." What he meant by that, Kira will never know for certain. The ''Defiant'' arrives to rescue Kira and repatriate the cultists, but even seeing Odo again is small relief. Dukat, she knows, is still out there, twisted by his new faith and more dangerous than ever.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: A charismatic cult leader with hundreds under his thrall who attempts to talk his followers into committing mass suicide once he's backed into a corner? Sounds a lot like UsefulNotes/JimJones.

* AmbiguousSituation: Did Vedek Fala take his own life because Dukat's lies broke his faith, or did he do it because he hadn't lost faith, and wanted to follow Dukat's command? Kira is still mulling over the question when all is said and done.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Dukat is so warped, that he ''really'' believes his own message.

* ChocolateBaby: [[BlatantLies Dukat tells his followers that Mika's half-Cardassian baby is a sign from the Pah-Wraiths]].

* DrivenToSuicide: Vedek Fala willingly swallows his promazine pill, even though it's been revealed that Dukat is a fraud.

* RiddleForTheAges: An InUniverse one. Kira wonders what Fala meant when he said that faith was the reason he killed himself--did he have faith that he was doing what he was supposed to, or was it that his faith betrayed him?