How does the Dominion rule the GQ?

[JirinPanthosa]

In the later seasons we get an impression of the Dominion as somewhat Nazi-like in that they control every aspect of your life. But when we actually see cultures in the GQ we get two basic types of worlds: Worlds that the Dominion ignores but know that if they anger the Dominion they'll get destroyed, and worlds that have been driven into the ground by the Dominion.

Also it's been noted that Ferengi ships are never attacked by the Dominion.

This leaves me to believe that so long as a planet does what it's told, the Dominion are very 'hands-off' dictators. They pretty much see whatever the planet chooses to do as being of no consequence, unless they get too powerful or become a threat.

[Dream]

"The Dominion does not own the entire Gamma Quadrant. We had explored the GQ for two years before encountering the Dominion, so it's not as though the wormhole opens up in their living room. There are other races in the GQ that are not part of the Dominion and the Ferengi at least have established trade with some of them. When the Dominion told us to stay out of the GQ, it was as if China told the US to stay out of the Yellow Sea. China is the big boy in this neck of the woods, and you better take their warning seriously, but at the same time we have trading partners and allies there and hey, freedom of the seas and all that."

That's straight from Moore's mouth.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Gamma_Quadrant

My guess is that the Dominion pretty much ignores anyone that isn't important to them. They rule the GQ as much as the Federation rules the AQ, that is not at all.

[JirinPanthosa]

The Dominion does not directly rule every planet in their domain. But even before we met the Dominion we met a lot of races who were obviously terrified of the Dominion.

"You do not do business in the Gamma Quadrant without doing business with the Dominion." The Dominion does not have troops stationed on that planet, but they'll clearly blow it up if they piss them off.

[Nightdiamond]

I think that inhabitants of the Gamma Quadrant may a different psychological structure than Alpha Quadrant.

The Dominion got fooled time and time again by Sisko and his crew.

It's like they easily overestimate themselves, or underestimate whoever they deal with from the Alpha Quadrant.

[Dream]

Nightdiamond wrote:

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The Dominion got fooled time and time again by Sisko and his crew.

That's normal villain decay after using them so much.

Remember how it seemed impossible to destroy even one Dominion ship in their first space battle? By the series finale, the Defiant was destroying multiple Dominion ships with ease.

[Nightdiamond]

Dream wrote:

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That's normal villain decay after using them so much.

Remember how it seemed impossible to destroy even one Dominion ship in their first space battle? By the series finale, the Defiant was destroying multiple Dominion ships with ease.

True but it seems like the Dominion's dealings was based on dealing with scared or easily coerced cultures.

Weyoun had a Cardassian city destroyed and killed millions of Cardassians, and then later expected them to forget about it and go back to working with the Dominion as if nothing happened.

It was almost as if they were used to getting a certain response like that after all those years of dealing with GQ cultures.

Maybe that's how some GQ cultures evolved, or developed after the Dominion took over most of it.


I remember when the Founders decided to start breeding a new strand of Jem Hadar especially for the Alpha Quadrant.

It was said that their 'psychological profiles" were designed for combat in the Alpha Quadrant.

[Infern0]

it'd be interesting to know the range of the Dominions rule in the Galaxy Quadrant.

There must be other powerhouse races in that section of space, I think I remember The Borg operated there too, as well as even races like the Hirogen spilling over the border.

It'd be interesting if they ever crossed paths.

[Anwar]

According to the Star Trek Star Charts book, the Dominion's territory in the Gamma Quadrant is about 14,000 LY in diameter. Nearly twice as large as the Federation.

We saw in episodes like "The Quickening" what happened to world's that defied the Dominion. Rest of the time it just seems like a "Your world is a Province of the Dominion now. We'll come by every once in a while for tribute or if we need something your world can offer us. Just don't rebel and it's okay."

[R. Star]

Yeah the Karemma seemed to be able to do their own thing and even had their own ships for example. They were even allowed to indirectly trade with the Alpha Quadrant through the Ferengi, though were punished accordingly when it was found out they had dealings with the Federation.

So really the Dominion just seems to be a giant collection scheme almost. Bases, raw materials and other forms of tribute in exchange for their "protection."

[Dream]

R. Star wrote:

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Yeah the Karemma seemed to be able to do their own thing and even had their own ships for example. They were even allowed to indirectly trade with the Alpha Quadrant through the Ferengi, though were punished accordingly when it was found out they had dealings with the Federation.

So really the Dominion just seems to be a giant collection scheme almost. Bases, raw materials and other forms of tribute in exchange for their "protection."

The Dominion are a bunch of gangsters. It's going to really suck when the Federation is forced to meet the Dominon's full military might in the next few decades when their ships finally reach the Gamma Quadrant.

[JirinPanthosa]

It's true that Gamma Quadrant races have a sort of learned helplessness when it comes to the Dominion. Perhaps the Dominion eliminated the rebellious elements of GQ races gradually over time, and they evolved to be more docile.

It's clear planets aren't allowed to trade with anyone without permission from the Dominion or go to war with each other, and they've probably got a bunch of other laws like that to 'keep order' and keep everybody comfortable in their roles.

You wonder if 'Tosk' might have been set up by the Dominion in order to pacify and distract the population, and desensitize them to bloodlust.

[Hando]

The Founders are masters of genetic engineering, so perhaps in the early days they made the races more peaceful. And as that is not enough they send the Jem'Hadar.

The Dominion is quite similar to the other sci-fi empires as the Galactic Empire, Humankind Empire of Abh, Centauri Empire - or theocracies...

The founders are the absentee emperors/gods, the Vorta the bureaucracy and Jem'Hadar the military...

Founders set the policy and what they say is a rule and others just follow.

When a planet joins the Dominion they probably receive a package of dos and don'ts. So there are grey areas that one can exploit - as seen of the Karemma.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

JirinPanthosa wrote:

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You wonder if 'Tosk' might have been set up by the Dominion in order to pacify and distract the population, and desensitize them to bloodlust.

IIRC, the Hunters are indeed members of the Dominion (a Hunter was supposed to take the helm of the Defiant in "Broken Link" and guide it to the Founder homeworld, but this got changed to a Jem'Hadar at the last minute). The Tosk were bred by the Founders as gifts to the Hunters. You'll notice that not only do the Tosk sort of look like Jem'Hadar, but their shrouding ability is identical...

[R. Star]

Yeah I always figured the Tosk were either a Beta version of the Jem'Hadar or the race they were based upon.

[C.E. Evans]

Dream wrote:

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That's straight from Moore's mouth.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Gamma_Quadrant

My guess is that the Dominion pretty much ignores anyone that isn't important to them. They rule the GQ as much as the Federation rules the AQ, that is not at all.

That's my take on it too. A quadrant is still a really big chunk of real estate when you take into account all three dimensions, and even an empire that encompasses an area of thousands of light-years only occupies a percentage of it. If you encounter the Dominion, yeah, you're going to have to deal with them but there are likely many races within the Gamma Quadrant that may not even have heard of the Dominion just like how there are races in the Alpha Quadrant that haven't heard of the Federation, IMO.