It's been three months since Captain Sisko left DS9. The recently-promoted Colonel Kira is in charge of the station, but since the wormhole closed, all is not well. The crew is concerned that the captain may not come back, and Worf is frustrated with convoy duty. The Romulans set up a post on the station, which seems to work out at first, but things get tense when they establish a hospital facility in the Bajoran system only to fortify it with heavy weapons.
In New Orleans, Ben has hardly left his father's restaurant since they got there. Joseph and Jake are increasingly concerned, but when Ben's baseball rolls off the piano he's playing, Ben has a vision - on the desert planet Tyree, he uncovers the face of a woman.
Ben is stunned to find out that his father has a picture of that woman, a picture Jake happened to find while cleaning one day. Joseph is reluctant to discuss it at first, but finally reveals that the woman, Sarah, is Ben's real mother, that she had left around the time Ben had his first birthday, and that she died before Joseph could find her again. Things become weirder when Joseph gives Ben a necklace that belonged to Sarah, on which ancient Bajoran text is inscribed. The text refers to "the Orb of the Emissary", which had never been referenced before in Bajoran history. While contemplating what this means, Ben is attacked by a member of the Cult of the Pah-Wraiths. This doesn't dissuade him, however, as he has concluded that the Orb must be on Tyree, and he is determined to search for it.
Chief O'Brien learns that Worf's frustrations are due to his belief that Jadzia has not entered Sto'Vo'Kor, the Klingon equivalent of heaven. Winning a great battle in her honor would earn her admission, but convoy duty has not presented him any opportunities to do so. O'Brien and Bashir get Martok to enlist Worf's aid on a daring plan to destroy a Cardassian shipyard, and the two Starfleet officers also agree to come along, Bashir because he wants to honor Jadzia as well and O'Brien to watch out for Bashir. Quark decides that they're all crazy.
As Sisko prepares to leave, with Joseph and Jake insisting on going with him, they get a surprise visitor... a young, short Starfleet ensign, a Trill female... who introduces herself as Dax.
Tropes:
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Previous season openers on DS9 had been as exciting as possible to get the ball rolling on the action. This one was a deliberate inversion of that, with a quiet examination of the effects of the war and Jadzia's death on the main characters.
- Almighty Janitor: The Emissary of the Prophets (who is later revealed to be a borderline demigod) spends a fair amount of time scrubbing clams and playing the piano at his father's restaurant.
- Attack Hello: Martok greets Worf by shouting "DEFEND YOURSELF, WORF!" before charging at him with a bat'leth. Worf was practicing with a bat'leth in the holosuite at the time, and this is a pretty standard introduction between Klingons, so Worf isn't even upset.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Senator Cretak initially comes off like the nicest Romulan ever, but eventually reveals herself to be duplicitous.
- Call-Back:
- When O'Brien shares a drink with Worf, he brings up the old days on the Enterprise-D, and Reginald Barclay in particular. This is also notable as being the only time in either series that O'Brien calls Geordi LaForge by his first name.
- The idea of the crew seeking a mission to ensure Jadzia's entrance to Sto-vo-kor evokes memories of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, where the Enterprise crew were willing to retrieve Spock's body to ensure that his soul passed on accordingly despite not believing in that tradition themselves.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Sisko chews his father out for not telling him about Sarah.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Lampshaded by Weyoun regarding the Romulans.Weyoun: Have you heard? The Romulans have taken over a Bajoran moon and heavily fortified it.
Damar: My guess is that the Bajorans aren't happy about that.
Weyoun: Would you be? This is the sort of unfortunate situation that could destroy an alliance.
Damar: That would be a pity.
Weyoun: Romulans. They're so predictably treacherous. - Colonel Badass: Kira's been promoted between seasons.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": Kira discourages Odo from calling her by her new rank.
- Due to the Dead: Worf's bad mood turns out to be because Jadzia, having been murdered rather than dying in battle, won't have reached Sto'Vo'Kor. Worf needs to win a great victory in her name to rectify this, but has been stuck on convoy duty. Bashir and O'Brien reach out to Martok to get Worf a dangerous mission, and end up joining him along with Quark.
- Hangover Sensitivity: O'Brien learns that trying to keep up with a drinking Klingon results in a bad hangover.
- In Vino Veritas: O'Brien invokes this on Worf to find out why he's been in a bad mood lately.
- Just Between You and Me: After stabbing Sisko, the Bajoran says "You'll never find the Orb of the Emissary!" He is immediately knocked out by Jake, who then calls for help.
- Left the Background Music On: A variant. Sisko just happens to be solemnly playing on the piano when Dax comes back to him.
- The Nth Doctor: The episode introduces Ezri Dax.
- One-Liner, Name... One-Liner:Nog: I only wish Captain Sisko were here.
O'Brien: So do I, Ensign. So do I. - Religion of Evil: While the Pah-Wraiths have been known to the show for some time, we finally meet their worshippers: the Cult of the Pah-Wraiths.
- Saying Too Much: Quark declares Worf's mission with Martok a Suicide Mission, then wonders why that makes Bashir depressed, because it's not like Bashir's going... oh.
- Series Continuity Error: Worf and O'Brien both remember Barclay's Three Musketeers holoprogram, even though neither of them actually witnessed it in the episode.
- Smug Snake: Weyoun and Damar definitely enjoy hearing news about the rising tensions between the Romulans and the Bajorans.
- Weird World, Weird Food: Sweets, specifically. Cretak and Kira compare the Bajoran jumja stick with the Romulan osol twist.
- Wham Line: The very last lines of the episode, as Sisko is introduced to Ezri Dax.Ezri: Hello, Benjamin.Sisko: Do I know you?Ezri: It's me. Dax.
