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Context Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E04HippocraticOath

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1Worf is sitting in Quark's eyeing a Malkalian crook and stewing that the known criminal is allowed free access to the station. Quark states that he doesn't discriminate and goes off to consult with the Malkalian. Worf gripes to Kira that the shady pair are probably up to something, and Kira agrees but assures him that Odo will keep the Ferengi in check.
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3Meanwhile, Bashir and O'Brien are returning from a bio-survey when their runabout is struck by an energy surge and forced to crash land on an unknown planet. As they exit, they're taken captive by a squad of Jem'Hadar. Both men are ready to die rather than help the Dominion, but the leader of the Jem'Hadar, Goran'Agar, forces Bashir to come to a science lab and gives him an assignment. While marooned on the planet four years ago, Goran'Agar lost his addiction to ketracel-white, the chemical compound that all Jem'Hadar must take to stay alive. He has recruited a group of deserters to return to the planet in hopes of repeating the process, but he needs Bashir to figure out what they need to do. He has five days.
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5On the station, Worf takes his concerns over crime on the station to Sisko. The captain reminds Worf that he is no longer head of security and must allow Odo to do his job. As Chief Tactical Officer, Worf is now responsible for organizing Starfleet's forces in the sector. Worf promises to focus on his duty, but he's still not happy.
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7Bashir recruits O'Brien, who is strongly against helping the Jem'Hadar. The chief concocts a plan to escape by jerry-rigging a plasma weapon, but a suspicious Jem'Hadar accidentally shoots one of their guards with it, exposing the plot. Goran'Agar breaks the Jem'Hadar custom of killing the wounded guard, which appalls his fellows. Bashir starts to realize that Goran'Agar's freedom from the Founders' influence is allowing him to make moral decisions of his own. He decides to earnestly try to help the Jem'Hadar break their addiction.
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9Back on the station, Worf just can't let it lie and confronts Odo on the obvious crime in progress. The constable bristles at Worf questioning his competence and interfering in his business. He gruffly tells Worf that he's got it under control and refuses to elaborate. Worf is quite unsatisfied by this response and begins making investigations on his own.
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11Bashir is unable to find any clues as to how Goran'Agar lost his addiction, much to his frustration. The supply of white is running out, causing extreme pain and desperation in the other men. They start to question their leader's "soft" commands and the legitimacy of his claims. Goran'Agar knows that he has only a few days before they give up and kill him. Bashir hopes to succeed and unshackle the Jem'Hadar from their addiction, thereby robbing the Dominion of their military, but O'Brien warns that unfettered Jem'Hadar could very well ravage the galaxy. Bashir overrules O'Brien.
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13The disgruntled chief decides to take matters into his own hands and engineers an escape. He transports himself away and leads the Jem'Hadar on a chase, then doubles back to scoop up Bashir. The doctor refuses to leave, believing that his work could free a whole species from bondage and transform the politics of the galaxy for the better. O'Brien phasers his research to force his hand. Now he has no reason to stay. But as they prepare to leave, a Jem'Hadar soldier arrives and takes them prisoner.
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15On the station, Worf stakes out Quark's and observes the Ferengi meet with the Malkalian smuggler. They negotiate the sale of some contraband. Worf steps in to arrest the pair, but when he confiscates Quark's bag of latinum, it transforms into Odo. The angry changeling reveals that the whole sale was a sting operation, and Quark was working for him. He had hoped to infiltrate the whole smuggling operation, but he'll now settle for just the Malkalian. Worf asks why he wasn't simply informed of the sting, and Odo tells him that he doesn't broadcast his secret investigations.
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17Goran'Agar leads Bashir and O'Brien to their runabout. Another Jem'Hadar confronts them, but Goran'Agar kills him and announces that he's setting the pair free. Bashir urges the man to come with them, but Goran'Agar asks O'Brien, a fellow soldier, to explain why he cannot before leaving. O'Brien explains that, as the commander, Goran'Agar cannot abandon his men even if they're doomed.
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19Worf visits Sisko and admits to his role in spoiling Odo's investigation, even though the constable left it off of his official report. Sisko says that he's heard all about it. Word has a way of slipping out on the station, which is precisely why Odo tried to keep the sting under wraps. He explains that the station is different from a starship, where everyone is a Starfleet officer and the lines between ally and enemy are clear. The station deals with shades of gray, and Quark is as gray as they come. But Sisko is confident that Worf will adapt to the unwritten rules of Deep Space Nine.
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21Bashir and O'Brien are making their awkward flight back to the station. O'Brien was only trying to save Bashir's life but notes that Bashir can have him brought up on charges. Bashir says that it's not his style, he's still furious that the chief betrayed him, questioned his judgment, and condemned a squad of men to death. They decide to forgo their dart game this week, but Bashir suggests that maybe in a couple days they can resume.
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23!!Tropes
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25* AntiVillain: Goran’agar, the leader of the Jem'Hadar group. He kidnaps Bashir and O'Brien for an understandable reason, and in general is more noble and less bloodthirsty than the other Jem'Hadar we've seen so far. It's suggested that being free of ketracel-white changed his personality like this.
26* AndThenWhat: If you free the Jem'Hadar from their addiction, what happens then? They might become a rogue army rampaging across the Alpha Quadrant.
27* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Bashir and O'Brien' have an episode-long debate over whether or not the Jem'Hadar ''should'' be cured of their dependence on ketracel-white. Bashir believes that they could have and deserve a chance to be free from the life of slavery they endure under the yoke of the Founders, while O'Brien fears the possible backfire that could come from ridding the Jem'Hadar of their one exploitable weakness. Bashir thinks O'Brien is being cynical and close-minded, while O'Brien thinks Bashir's idealism is dangerously naive. The episode never firmly sides with one point or the other.
28* BurningTheShips: Having discovered he had lost his genetic addiction to Ketracel White, the Jem'Hadar commander takes his platoon to an empty planet because he thinks the plants there have cured him, and then destroys both his ship and most of their supply of Ketracel White to get them off the stuff too. But it turns out he is the only one who is affected, and the rest of the crew develops withdrawal symptoms.
29* CallBack: Bashir recounts the [=DS9=] crew's [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E06TheAbandoned failed attempt]] to control a Jem'Hadar youth, an image that fills Goran'agar with no small amusement.
30* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: The Jem'Hadar suggest executing Bashir on the spot, and using O'Brien (as an experienced Starfleet non-com) in a [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame tactical exercise]]. Fortunately their commander has urgent need of a medical specialist who can find out why they haven't shaken off their addiction yet.
31* TheChainsOfCommanding: Goran’agar remains on the planet rather than leave with Bashir and O'Brien, as he is responsible for getting his men into this situation in the first place.
32* ChronicHeroSyndrome: O'Brien feels Bashir is suffering from this, while Bashir says he's merely fulfilling his duty as a doctor.
33* ContinuityNod: Sisko is shown tinkering with the clock he built in "Dramatis Personae".
34* DefiantCaptive: When O'Brien and Bashir are first captured, Bashir tells Goran’agar that if whatever he wants from him will endanger the Federation or the Alpha quadrant, he may as well just kill him. While Bashir cooperates after finding out what Goran’agar wants, O'Brien remains defiant.
35* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Goran’agar assumed there was some unique element of the planet that prevented him dying when his White ran out. He didn't realise there was something unique about ''him'' -- an accidental mutation that meant his body could produce its own supply of White.
36* ExactWords
37** When Sisko tells Worf to stick to his own job and let Odo handle the investigation, Worf promises not to let this matter interfere with his own duties. Then he investigates on his own time.
38** Goran'agar's second asks if they should kill the prisoners themselves, or let the others do so. His commander replies, "I will do the killing," then kills him.
39* AFatherToHisMen: Goran'agar, who inexplicably becomes immune to Ketracel White withdrawl and, realizing how horrible the Dominion really is for enslaving the Jem'hadar (and countless others), decides to save his men from their own addiction. When this ends up failing, he stays behind with them to give them honorable combat in their last hours.
40* HomoeroticSubtext: The episode opens with O'Brien venting about Keiko to Bashir and nearly saying he wished she could be more like Bashir, stopping himself just shy of actually saying it and quickly saying he wished she was more like "a man" instead.
41-->'''Bashir''': ...so, you wish Keiko was more like a man?\
42'''O'Brien''': I wish I was on this trip with someone else, that's what I wish!
43* HonorBeforeReason:
44** Goran'agar's insistence on sparing the life of an injured Jem'Hadar, when even the injured man himself thinks they should just kill him so the ketracel-white they have will last a bit longer. It's certainly a compassionate act, but he's definitely putting his dream of freedom ahead of pragmatism.
45** Worf comes to Sisko and admits that he screwed up Odo's investigation, which wasn't mentioned in the report. Of course, Sisko already knows.
46** Even though Bashir offers him the chance to leave with them, Goran’agar chooses to [[AFatherToHisMen stay on the planet with his men]] to [[MercyKill give them a quick death in battle]].
47* IDidWhatIHadToDo: O'Brien sabotages Bashir's work and kills several Jem'Hadar to save Bashir's life, and offers this as justification.
48* JerkassGods: The Founders, to the Jem'Hadar; Goran'agar draws an explicit comparison between the Founders and the gods of other races, then admits that the Founders don't care about the Jem'Hadar beyond having them fight and die on their behalf.
49* JurisdictionFriction: Worf's investigative instincts (serving for many years as Chief of Security of the Enterprise), cause him to step on the toes (repeatedly) with the station's current Chief of Security, Odo. While reprimanded by Sisko and being ordered to leave Odo alone, he persists and the two maintain an adversarial relationship for the rest of the show.
50* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Sisko's line to Worf about how his new posting will be very different from the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Enterprise]]'':
51-->Let's just say that [=DS9=] has... more shades of gray.
52* MercyKill: Goran’agar stays behind, intending to kill his men in battle, rather than have them die a slow and agonising death from ketracel-white withdrawal.
53* {{Mutant}}: Goran'agar's freedom from addiction to ketracel-white is because of a mutation that causes his body to manufacture the drug by itself.
54* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Goran'agar, who re-evaluates most of his beliefs over the course of the episode, and who wants his men freed from their ketracel-white addiction so that they can be the same as him. O'Brien brings up the possibility that he's lying, but Bashir believes that he's genuine, and he certainly expresses enough un-Jem'Hadar-like behaviours to turn his men against him.
55* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Worf. He notices a known felon coming aboard the station and having dealings with Quark. He reports this to Odo, who seems indifferent. So, Worf takes it upon himself to catch the convict in the middle of a transaction... only for Odo to reveal that he was carefully following him to try to infiltrate the larger criminal organization. Also an example of PoorCommunicationKills.
56* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: Bashir and O'Brien come into heavy conflict - Bashir wants to help the Jem'Hadar because of his InconvenientHippocraticOath, O'Brien just wants to abandon them because he sees them as an enemy. Eventually, Bashir has to [[ThatsAnOrder pull rank]] on O'Brien to force him to help. By episode's end, their friendship is still clearly strained, but Bashir's decision to simply hold off on their regular dart game shows that in the long run, they will recover.
57* PoorCommunicationKills: If Odo had simply told Worf what he was planning, Worf would never have screwed it up. This later gets explained that word has a way of leaking on the station, which is how Sisko found out about Worf's actions even though they were left out of the official report.
58* ReactionShot: Goran'agar, when Bashir reveals that he's a doctor.
59* TheReveal: It turns out it's the Vorta, not the Founders, who are responsible for the Jem'Hadar's addiction. The Founders have no need for such measures, as the Jem'Hadar revere them as gods.
60* RiddleForTheAges: While Goran'agar is living proof that it's possible, however unlikely, for a Jem'Hadar to be born without dependence on ketracel-white, Bashir never manages to get far enough in his research to find out whether or not the inherent addiction to the drug in their DNA can be cured.
61* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Goran'agar openly questions how the Founders use the Jem'Hadar.
62-->"To us, they are almost a myth. But everyone in the Dominion, even the Vorta, serve the Founders. I have fought against races that believe in mythical beings who guide their destinies and await them after death. They call them gods. The Founders are like gods to the Jem'Hadar, but our gods never talk to us and they don't wait for us after death. They only want us to fight for them and to die for them."

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