Which episodes start the Dominion War?

[Masao]

Netflix in Japan has started showing all of DS9. When DS9 first appeared back in 1993, I (a rabid paleo-TOS fan) thought it wasn't worth watching (due to some story about being forced to go through an apparently dangerous puzzle by friendly aliens?) and stopped. I heard it got better, but I never got a chance to watch it regularly. But now, because it's become available on Netflix, I want to start watching episodes about the Dominion War. So, tell me, where should I start?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

The first major encounter with the Dominion is the season 2 episode "Jem'hadar."
I think the first episode that committed the series to the Dominion War was season 3's "The Adversary."

 

[Bagofmostlywatr]

Even then, it was a few individual episodes until season 5 and 6. DS9 isn't about fighting a war as such, but about the people and events leading to it and surrounding it.

 

[Mage]

The actual war itself starts in the last episode of season 5.

 

[MacLeod]

As others have mentioned the war kicks off in the S5 finalé "Call to Arms" but you could say a state of cold war existed before then so other episodes to look at


Season 4

"Homefront"
"Paradise Lost"
"Broken Link"

Season 5

"Apocalypse Rising"
"The Ship"
"The Begotten"
"In Purgatory's Shadow"
"By Inferno's Light"
"Soldiers of the Empire"

 

[Seven of Five]

It depends how in depth you want to go. Do you want the whole buildup of the Dominion, events that led to the outbreak, or just get to the heart of the matter in season six?

Here's a big list of their appearances (or the ones I mostly remember):

Season Two
The Jem'Hadar
There are small references to the Dominion that build their ominous presence in Rules of Acquisition, Sanctuary and Shadowplay.

Season Three
The Search Parts One and Two
The Abandoned
Heart of Stone
Improbable Cause
The Die Is Cast
The Adversary

Season Four
The Way of the Warrior
Hippocratic Oath
Homefront
Paradise Lost
To The Death
Broken Link

Season Five
Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
In The Cards
Call to Arms - war is declared

Season Six
A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Sons and Daughters
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Statistical Probabilities
Waltz
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
Tears of the Prophets

Season Seven
Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Teachery, Faith and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into The Wind
Extreme Measures
The Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Bad Thoughts]

As others have mentioned the war kicks off in the S5 finalé "Call to Arms" but you could say a state of cold war existed before then so other episodes to look at


Season 4

"Homefront"
"Paradise Lost"
"Broken Link"

While I agree that the storyline starts well before CtA, The Adversary was literally conceived as the lead-in to Homefront, and should be viewed first from this perspective.

 

[elamigodemiamiga]

From jem'hadar to season 5, it was largely a Cold War. but war became inevitable imho when Dukat got Cardassia to join the Dominion in In Inferno's Light.

 

[Timo]

In "Jem'Hadar" we already get the Dominion attitude of "if you don't get off Gamma, we kill you all", and in "The Search" we learn they won't be satisfied even with that because they hate the idea of the Alphans blowing up the wormhole. The inevitability of war would seem to be established there and then already...

The timetable would ultimately be fixed in "Call to Arms" where Starfleet decides to mine shut the wormhole, knowing the Dominion will immediately react. But the timetable had probably been fixed some time before that in-universe, as the Alphans did not launch a war in "By Inferno's Light" but let the Dominion shipments proceed to Cardassia. The only reason not to attack the Dominion right there would be if Alpha strategists had calculated a date at which their fleets would be ready, and this was not it yet.

Drama-wise, I guess you can hop in at any arbitrary moment. It doesn't necessarily matter how and why and when the war got started, as each episode deals with "the situation at hand" and many could even be watched as standalone adventures.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Masao]

I've watched "The Jem'Hadar" and "The Search," parts 1 and 2. Pretty good so far...

 

[Paradise City]

Sisko starts mining the wormhole to prevent any more Dominion fleets from coming through. Weyoun ain't too pleased about that obviously but when angry words gives way to a slick exchange of pleasantries - they both know it's war. That's a Call to Arms

 

[Bad Thoughts]

That's a Call to Arms

I always love when histories of WWII mention nothing before September 1, 1939.

 

[TonyLeung82]

I've watched "The Jem'Hadar" and "The Search," parts 1 and 2. Pretty good so far...

man, I wished i could be you and enjoy watching the complete series without aleady knowing how it develops or ends.

 

[USS Firefly]

Sisko starts mining the wormhole to prevent any more Dominion fleets from coming through. Weyoun ain't too pleased about that obviously but when angry words gives way to a slick exchange of pleasantries - they both know it's war. That's a Call to Arms

That was a wonderfull scene from a great episode

 

[arch101]

One could reason that it starts with The Emissary. Where Odo, the shapeshifter/founder with an unknown past, is introduced. His story arc is concurrent with The Dominion's.

 

[Masao]

man, I wished i could be you and enjoy watching the complete series without aleady knowing how it develops or ends.

Seeing something new is certainly fun, but you might have wasted > 20 years of your life by not being a fan! I certainly don't wish I could watch TOS or Star Wars for the first time. Of course, if (or when: it runs in my family) I get Alzheimer's, I might feel like I'm watching them for the first time...

 

[Fennius]

Hey guys, maybe one someone says they're watching a series for the first time, don't tell them everything that happens?

 

[Jetboogieman]

As others have mentioned the war kicks off in the S5 finalé "Call to Arms"

Call to Arms is absolutely the "September 1st, 1939" moment.

But in actuality from a non-Federation perspective like a non western perspective for world war II, I think the war really began in "The Die is Cast", I think that's what really began the full spiral towards the war.

In the WWII comparison I'm making, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

 

[Tomalak]

Call to Arms is absolutely the "September 1st, 1939" moment.

But in actuality from a non-Federation perspective like a non western perspective for world war II, I think the war really began in "The Die is Cast", I think that's what really began the full spiral towards the war.

In the WWII comparison I'm making, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

Yeah, and By Inferno's Light is the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

 

[Navaros]

DS9 does not neatly divide it's episodes into categories of "Dominion War Episode" or "Not Dominion War Episode." Whether any given episode can be said to be a "Dominion War Episode" or not is a very gray area for the most part. If you try to watch "The Dominion War Episodes" based on a list of episodes that someone recommends, that list may be missing many Dominion War Episodes based on the personal judgement calls made by its creator to exclude them.

But to answer your question anyway as best as can be done, the Dominion War starts in the Season 2 finale which is called "The Jem'Hadar" (although other people may debate that point by calling that episode's event a hostile encounter rather than 'war' per say...like I said, it's a huge gray area).