Recap / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S07E06 "Treachery, Faith and the Great River"

One Cultural Rebel meets another

Odo goes behind enemy lines to meet with his informant Gul Rossol, whom he presumed dead. At the meeting point, he instead finds Weyoun, who announces that he wants to defect to the Federation. Odo tests him by having him name the location of a ketracel white factory, then takes him prisoner.

As they fly back to the station in Odo's runabout, they receive a transmission from Damar and another Weyoun. It turns out that Odo's Vorta is Weyoun-6, the next replacement for the Weyoun they've all known, who died in a mysterious transporter accident. Weyoun-6's own replacement, Weyoun-7, castigates him for his treachery and orders him to use his internal suicide device, but Weyoun-6 refuses, saying that he's still serving a Founder. After ending the transmission, Damar argues that Odo has renounced being a Founder, so it's OK for the Dominion to destroy his runabout and prevent Weyoun-6 from helping the Federation win the whole war. Weyoun-7 reluctantly agrees.

Aboard the runabout, Weyoun-6 relates how, soon after his clone was activated, he realized that the Founders' war against solids is pointless. After having a nightmare about his betrayal, the Vorta awakens as a Jem'Hadar ship attacks the runabout. It's scrambling communications, so it doesn't know that a Founder is aboard. Weyoun-6 helps Odo destroy the ship by pointing out a weakness in its defenses. In response, Damar and Weyoun-7 simply send more ships and avoid mentioning to the Female Changeling that Odo is aboard. Damar comments that her face looks desiccated, prompting her to correct it and blame it on the heat.

Back on the runabout, Weyoun-6 proudly relates how his people were once primitive creatures who were transformed by the Founders. He also shares their darkest secret: the Founders are dying from some disease that was spread through the Great Link. Only Odo is spared, giving him an opportunity to seize control of the Dominion and stop the war. But any grand plans are cut short by an attack of more Jem'Hadar. Odo flies into a field of comet chunks and hides in a ball of ice, but the Jem'Hadar start blasting the ice, so they make a run for it. Realizing that the situation is hopeless, Weyoun-6 contacts Weyoun-7 and activates his suicide switch, prompting Weyoun-7 to call off the attack. As he lays dying, Weyoun-6 begs for Odo's blessing. Though Odo does not consider himself as a god, he yields to the man's dying wish.

While all of this has been going on, O'Brien is under orders to get a graviton stabilizer upon Sisko's return to the station in three days, even though one won't be available for three weeks. Nog volunteers to acquire one and receives O'Brien's authorization code to speed things up. Nog starts up a Chain of Deals that leaves all sorts of items missing on the station, including Sisko's own desk. If Nog can't come up with the stabilizer and return all of these pilfered items, it will be on O'Brien's head. When the time limit expires and Sisko returns, O'Brien is shocked to discover that Nog has pulled it off, replacing all of the items and acquiring the graviton stabilizer just in time. Sisko thanks O'Brien by giving him two hours to install the thing after O'Brien says it will take eight.

Odo returns to the station, conflicted. Kira assures Odo that he did Weyoun-6 a kindness by allowing him to die with his god smiling down on him, even if Odo doesn't share the Vorta's faith. She also notes that the Founders will become more dangerous if they're dying. Odo states that, whichever side wins the war, he will lose.

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This episode contains examples of:

• A God Am I: Inverted by Weyoun. When Odo points out that the only reason the Vorta believe the Founders are gods is because they were genetically programmed to believe it, Weyoun says that of course that's true; after all, creating people to worship them is what gods do.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Jeffrey Combs turns in a genuinely moving performance as Weyoun 6, who shifts from what seems a very real determination to end the war and save the Dominion from itself to an honest and heartfelt, if childlike, faith in Odo as one of his gods, lending the character (and his race) a depth and inspiring sympathy it never had before. By the end, when he sacrifices himself to save Odo, it's hard not to wish he had lived, and seeing him die in Odo's arms with a heartbreaking smile is a highly memorable moment.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's implied but never confirmed that Damar assassinated Weyoun-5.
• A Simple Plan: The B-plot of the episode.
• Asteroid Thicket: Odo tries to lose the Jem'Hadar in an icy Kuiper Belt.
• Attack Its Weak Point: Weyoun 6 helps Odo find the weak point of a Jem'Hadar ship (specifically the "dorsal field junction").
• Bittersweet Ending: O'Brien and Nog's plot ends rather happily, but Odo's is an outright downer.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: Nog says Ferengi go through multiple sets of ears as they grow up.
• Blatant Lies: The Female Changeling tries to pass off her deteriorating condition as merely dry skin from the heat on Cardassia.
• Borrowed Without Permission: Nog and Chief Lorenzo didn't get Captain Sisko's permission to borrow his desk.
• Bus Crash: A variation. Weyoun 5, who'd been the incarnation of the Vorta we've seen since Season 5's "Ties of Blood and Water" has died off-screen since his last appearance in the Season 7 premiere.
• Call-Back:
  • Odo tells Kira that Gul Russol is one of his most reliable informants. Have we, perchance, met him already?
  • In "The Magnificent Ferengi," it's mentioned that Vorta are expected to kill themselves when captured. Here, we learn that they have a termination implant with which to accomplish this.
• Central Theme: Faith; Weyoun's faith in Odo and Nog's faith in the Great Material Continuum are vital to both plotlines in the episode, and in the end, Kira explains to Odo the value of faith, likening Weyoun's faith in Odo to her own faith in the Prophets.
• Chain of Deals: Nog lets someone borrow Sisko's desk for an induction modulator, trades that for a phaser emitter, and trades that for a graviton stabilizer for the Defiant. Ferengi reportedly describe this concept in mythical terms as the Great Material Continuum.
• Character Development:
  • Nog's come a long way from "Progress" where he lacked the patience for this type of trading. Of course, he did get at least two and a half bars of latinum in that episode...
  • Odo gives his blessing to Weyoun 6 as he dies, showing him beginning to accept himself as a Founder.
• Chekhov's Gun: The Vorta implant for voluntary suicides.
• Clone Degeneration: Weyoun 7 believes that Weyoun 6's defection is the result of an error in the "delicate" Vorta cloning process. Weyoun 6 himself isn't sure if this is true or not.
• Continuity Nod: Chief Lorenzo already took holophotos of himself behind the desks of Captain DeSoto and Captain Picard.
• Cyanide Pill: All Vorta have a suicide implant in their brains. As he dies, Weyoun-6 notes that they were told the death would be swift and painless, but realizes firsthand that it was a lie.
• David vs. Goliath: Thanks to Weyoun 6's knowledge of Dominion ships, one little runabout delivers a One-Hit Kill to a Jem'Hadar fighter.
• Deadpan Snarker: Bashir's reaction to O'Brien's attempt to replace Captain Sisko's missing desk with a generic one.
  Bashir: It's the wrong shape, the wrong height, the wrong width. Other than that, it's perfect. The Captain will never suspect you switched desks on him.
• Defector from Decadence: Weyoun 6, since it's the only way to save Odo.
• Definitely Just a Cold: Damar realizes that something is wrong with the Female Changeling when he notices that her skin is very parched and wrinkled, despite her insistence that she's fine.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Odo catches Weyoun 6 as he collapses under the termination implant's effects and cradles him as he dies.
• Double-Meaning Title: The title refers to both Weyoun 6 (his betrayal of the Dominion, faith in the Founders, and spending most of the episode on the USS Rio Grande—literally "great river") and Nog (stealing things around the station and faith in the Great Material Continuum that he likens to a river).
• Driven to Suicide: Weyoun 6 activates his termination implant in order to remove Weyoun 7's motivation to kill Odo.
• Enemy Mine: Kinda with Weyoun 6 and 7s. The only thing both clones are united upon is the issue of their predecessor's tragic death. Weyoun 7 doesn't believe for a moment that it was an accident and thinks it was Damar (as he was supposed to be on that Transporter Pad, only to be conveniently called away by urgent business at Central Command at the last minute). Judging from his tone when remarking the investigation's still ongoing, it's implied Weyoun 6 likewise thinks Damar's guilty as hell.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Despite all the atrocities the Founders have committed, Odo still cares about his people, and he's devastated to learn that they're dying.
• Expendable Clone: When one Weyoun dies another clone is activated.
  Damar: [scoffs] Clones. Keeping track of them is a full-time job.
• Fate Worse than Death: Weyoun and Damar both know this is their shared fate if they successfully kill Odo, but still get caught by the Female Founder. By the time she's done with both of them, death will come as a relief.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Damar expresses his misgivings regarding the Dominion war effort and how Cardassia is bearing too much of the cost.
  • Odo finally beginning to accept himself as a Founder. This will come to fruition in the finale.
  • While it's not explicitly pointed out, it's certainly a stroke of good fortune for the Federation Alliance that the Dominion leaders are suffering from a plague right now, isn't it? Surely this is just a coincidence that this sickness has come on the scene right now from out of nowhere as they're in the middle of trying to conquer the Alpha Quadrant?
• Go Out with a Smile: Weyoun 6 because Odo gave him his blessing.
• He Knows Too Much: Damar wants Odo dead, even after Weyoun 6 kills himself, arguing the clone may have shared vital intel with him before dying, but Weyoun 7 overrules him.
• Heel–Face Turn: Weyoun 6 no longer considers himself a part of the Dominion and pledges his loyalty to Odo.
• Here We Go Again!: After all the deals are resolved, Nog mentions his cousin has a shipment of Sisko's favorite brandy. An interested O'Brien asks, "What does he want for them?"
• Heroic Sacrifice: Weyoun 6 commits suicide so the pursuing Jem'Hadar will spare Odo.
• Hidden Depths: Nog joined Starfleet because he believed he didn't have the lobes to succeed in business, just like Rom. But even if he might not have had the instincts to compete against other Ferengi, he shows off what kind of things he can contribute to Starfleet with his cultural talents here through his Chain of Deals.
• Idiot Ball: It's kind of baffling that O'Brien, a senior NCO in a quasi-Navy organization, isn't familiar with the concept of wheeling and dealing with other ships or stations to get what he needs.
• I Owe You My Life: According to Weyoun 6, this is part of the backstory between the Founders and the Vorta— a family of Vorta saved a changeling's life, and the changeling promised to reward the Vorta.
• Kill the God: Attempted. (From the Weyouns' point of view, anyway. Neither Odo nor Damar buys into the Vorta's religion.)
• Last Request: Weyoun 6's last request is to be blessed by Odo before he dies, which Odo reluctantly grants.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Early in the episode, Weyoun refers to Odo as a god, to which Odo replies, "I'm just a security officer". Later on, Odo grumbles about Weyoun staring at him, to which Weyoun replies, "I'm sorry. It's just such an honor to be sitting here with a g- security officer."
• Let Them Die Happy: As much as Odo hates the Vortas' worship of the Founders as gods, he nevertheless fulfills Weyoun 6's Dying Wish and gives him his blessing, letting him die with a smile on his face.
• Lighter and Softer: Nog and O'Brien's subplot, in which a human teams up with an alien and is at times uncomfortable with the lengths the latter is willing to go to plays out like a much more light-hearted "In The Pale Moonlight".
• Loophole Abuse:
  • Weyoun 6 can't bring himself to keep serving the Dominion, but he still reveres the Founders. He manages to get around that contradiction by pledging loyalty to the one Founder who's unaffiliated with the Dominion: Odo.
  • Weyoun 7 goes along with Damar's insistence that Odo's Runabout be destroyed by rationalizing that Odo doesn't consider himself a Founder. He still lies to the Female Changeling (or more accurately, he lets Damar lie), realizing she wouldn't agree to this loophole.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: Implied with Weyoun 5, who was tragically killed in such a transporter "accident". Damar was supposed to be there, but got called away at the last minute. Funny, that.
• Modesty Bedsheet: Kira hugs a sheet around her chest when she sits up in the opener.
• Mundane Utility: Odo uses his liquid form to massage Kira's back and mentions that he can play springball without getting tired or sore.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Weyoun 6's reaction when his advice lets Odo blow up the Jem'Hadar ship chasing them.
  Odo: Congratulations. You just saved our lives.
  Weyoun 6: And murdered loyal servants of the Dominion. May the Founders forgive me!
• Mysterious Informant: Gul Russol, apparently, until his execution.
• No Time to Explain: Weyoun 6 telling Odo to perform a maneuver against a Jem'Hadar warship, which sets them up to Attack Its Weak Point.
• Oh, Crap!: Weyoun 7 when the Female Changeling asks whom he and Damar are trying to destroy. He even mentions earlier that if she found out they were trying to kill Odo, they would both be subject to a Fate Worse than Death. Weyoun is especially in a bind because he's most likely physically incapable of lying to a Founder; fortunately, Damar is there to do so while Weyoun just keeps his mouth shut.
  • Also, Chief O'Brien's reaction when an angry Martok storms into Sisko's office looking for him.
• Ordered to Die: Weyoun 7 orders Weyoun 6 to "prove [his] loyalty to the Founders" by acknowledging his defective status and activating his termination implant. Weyoun 6 refuses, not in defense of his own right to live, but because Odo wants him alive.
• Other Me Annoys Me: Weyoun 7 really isn't happy about Weyoun 6's defection.
  "He's a disgrace to me and all Vorta."
• Out-of-Character Alert: Invoked by Damar, who states that he always knew something was wrong with Weyoun 6 due to the latter's "lack of appetite for cruelty."
• Pet the Dog: Odo comments that, if the story about the Founders uplifting the Vorta is true, then it means his people do have a capacity for kindness.
• Properly Paranoid:
  • Of course Weyoun 6 is paranoid; everyone's trying to kill him!
  • Weyoun 7 notes how "convenient" it was that Damar was called away just before the transporter "accident" that killed Weyoun 5. Damar's claims of just being lucky clearly don't sway him.
• Race Against the Clock: The Chief has 3 days to get a gravity stabilizer for the Defiant.
• Riddle for the Ages: Weyoun's story about how the ancient Vorta became a Dominion servant race after saving and protecting a Founder. Is this simply another instance of Dominion propaganda? Or is there some truth to the tale?
• Scotty Time:
  • O'Brien says fixing the artificial gravity on the Defiant would take three weeks. Sisko gives him three days.
  • After Nog obtains the needed part, O'Brien says installing it would take eight hours. Sisko gives him two.
• Sense Freak: Weyoun 6 samples everything on the runabout's menu, not because he's hungry, or because of the taste (Vorta have a very limited sense of taste), but because he's sampling the textures.
• Shoulders-Up Nudity: Kira in the opener.
• Shout-Out:
  • Two of them to Star Wars:
    • Nog describes the Great Material Continuum as "the Force that binds the universe together".
    • Odo's plan to ditch his pursuers by hiding inside an asteroid is straight out of Han Solo's playbook.
  • Nog and O'Brien's Chain of Deals recalls many a Zany Scheme seen on M*A*S*H, and includes the theft of the commander's desk as a Shout-Out to the most famous example on that show. Unlike Sisko, Henry Blake never got his prized oak desk back.
  • Perhaps it's no coincidence that Weyoun Number 6 rejects the Dominion's totalitarian mindset and seeks to escape with Odo.
• Stolen Good, Returned Better: All the items used in Nog's Chain of Deals get returned, or replaced with either equal or better versions. This is especially true for Martok's bloodwine, which is replaced with a premium 2309 vintage.
• Stop Worshipping Me: Odo really doesn't like it when Weyoun 6 venerates him as a Founder. Despite this, he still gives the dying Vorta his blessing.
• Straight Edge Evil: Weyoun reveals that the Vorta have been made unable to appreciate flavor. In a previous episode, Weyoun-5 revealed that they were also made unable to appreciate aesthetics. They apparently have been stripped of all sensual enjoyments so that they will focus on their service.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Damar and Weyoun-7. The latest incarnation of Weyoun dislikes Damar as much as his predecessor (and vice-versa), but they have to work together to stop Weyoun-6 from defecting.
• Teleporter Accident: How Weyoun 5 died. It's implied that Damar engineered it.
• Tempting Fate: When Nog leaves DS9 in a runabout, O'Brien comments that nothing else can go missing. Description Cut to...
  Martok: Where are my cases of bloodwine?!
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich: Weyoun nibbles a pepperoni slice, then sets the rest of his plate aside. This was apparently his last bite after sampling everything else in the replicator's menu.
• Three Laws-Compliant: Weyoun 6 cannot, through inaction, let Odo come to harm, even if he must defy Odo's orders and end his own existence.
• Toplessness from the Back: A shirtless Kira lies on her stomach to receive a back rub.
• Undying Loyalty: When Weyoun 6 pledges his loyalty to Odo, he means it, ultimately sacrificing his life so the Dominion will spare him.
• We Can Rule Together: With the Dominion in danger of collapse, Weyoun 6 offers Odo a chance to form a new, kinder Dominion.
  Weyoun: Think about it, Odo. You have an opportunity to rectify the mistakes your people have made. To build a new Dominion based on cooperation, not conquest. On peace, not war. A new order under your leadership.
  Odo: And what's your role going to be in this new order?
  Weyoun: Whatever you want it to be. I wish only to serve you.
• We Have Reserves: Damar and Weyoun 7's response when the runabout destroys a Jem'Hadar fighter? Simply send more ships from a nearby base.
• Wham Line: Weyoun delivers a big one:
  "A sickness has spread throughout the Great Link. The Founders are dying."
• Wham Shot: Odo and Weyoun receive a hail... from Weyoun.
• You Are Number 6: The Weyouns distinguish themselves in the order they were activated. The defector Weyoun is number 6, and the one on Cardassia Prime is Weyoun 7.
• You Have Failed Me: Implied. The Vorta had been told that their termination implants were immediate and painless. But when Weyoun 6 activated his, he is in pain for nearly a minute, suggesting that the Founders lied because a Vorta who needed to activate it had failed them.