Eddington: Opinions?

[Anduinel]

I don't remember being annoyed by Eddington when DS9 first aired; in fact, I seem to recall finding him a refreshing counterpoint to the typical Federation POV at the time. But goodness, that has not held up with time. I've done a couple of complete rewatches of the series with friends over the last year or so, and every time we get to Eddington in full-on Marquis mode, it's like scraping a fork over my fillings. The Marquis I still like, but this dude... yech. I kind of feel like he's a character the writers liked a lot more than the audience. It's not that he has no valid points, it's just that he comes across as such a smug, hypocritical, neener-neener weasel that it's kind of a relief when he buys it just because he stops talking.

Me (to self): I can't believe you liked this guy.
Me (also to self): In my defense, I was very young, he was new and exciting, and he was running with Ro's gang of cool rebel kids.

Anyway, curious as to what other people think of the character. Any particular feelings on him one way or another?

 

[kkt]

The kind of guy who gives freedom fighters a bad name.

 

[no2catsuitKira]

Or, the kind of person who has to guts to point out some unpleasant truths.

 

[kkt]

Or, the kind of person who has to guts to point out some unpleasant truths.

In an unpleasant way that persuades pretty much no one to endorse his cause.

 

[no2catsuitKira]

If no one endorsed his cause, there would not have been any Maquis. O'Brien sympathised with the Maquis if I recall correctly.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

i really liked Eddington.
To me, a great characer that added a counterpoint to Sisko wthout being a villain,
i was rooting for Eddington... i wanted him to live and continue his fight.
Deep down somewhere, i think Sisko liked him too.

 

[Sidewinder]

If no one endorsed his cause, there would not have been any Maquis. O'Brien sympathised with the Maquis if I recall correctly.

Much of that has to be that O'Brien hated Cardassians for years. He fought in a war against them, killed some of them and they killed friends of his.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

I never really bought into him as a Maquis he just doesn't seem the type

 

[kkt]

I never really bought into him as a Maquis he just doesn't seem the type

The real Maquis were fighting for their own homes and land. Eddington didn't have any home or land outside of Starfleet that we know of; certainly not in the DMZ.

 

[no2catsuitKira]

Uh, he was married; his spouse was in the DMZ. He talked to Sisko about how much better food that you have grown yourself tastes from having worked the land (implication, as I recall).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Eddington was a narcissistic jackass with delusions of grandeur.

He only joined the Maquis to further his own ego. It was all about him. He fancied himself a larger-than-life revolutionary hero, and everything he did in the Maquis was to serve that end.

I admit, I'm biased, because I never sympathized with the Maquis for a second, but at least Chakotay and his ilk seemed genuinely aligned with the cause they were fighting for. Eddington fought for HIMSELF, nothing more.

And don't even get me started on Eddington daring to compare the Federation to the Borg. "No one leaves the Federation". The hell? I'm sure worlds HAVE left the Federation, legally and without any fuss. And whereas the Borg assimilate other cultures by force, the Federation does no such thing. True, the Federation does point out the benefits that a world will enjoy if they do join, but it has the right to do so. The Federation is entitled to make its case. But ultimately the decision to join, or not, is left to the individual world. The Borg don't give that luxury. So by that reason alone, Eddington is full of shit.

 

[kkt]

Uh, he was married; his spouse was in the DMZ. He talked to Sisko about how much better food that you have grown yourself tastes from having worked the land (implication, as I recall).

You're right. But they were a recent thing in his life, apparently after he betrayed Starfleet.

And there is no reason they couldn't have accepted resettlement. The galaxy is apparently full of habitable worlds with lots of empty land. Sometimes the government takes your land for a new freeway or power station, sometimes it's because of a settlement of a war. If you don't take it, you have only yourself to blame for what happens after that.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

Eddington was a narcissistic jackass with delusions of grandeur

He only joined the Maquis to further his own ego.

He fancied himself a larger-than-life revolutionary hero, and everything he did in the Maquis was to serve that end.

Eddington fought for HIMSELF, nothing more.

Eddington is full of shit.

this is a wild guess but.... you dont like Eddington?

 

[Farscape One]

I liked Eddington, but he did come off as smug. Even as a Starfleet officer. I likened that to a security officer/policeman trait... certain personality traits are typical of professions like that.

And I liked the Maquis... until they became terrorists. My problem with the Maquis is basically this... they grew cocky and bold.

It's one thing to fight for your home or world, but as soon as you target worlds and systems that are not in your territory, you become a terrorist. Precisely why I can never sympathize with them after they started poisoning Cardassian planets and why I agree with what Sisko did in "FOR THE UNIFORM". And frankly, Eddington DID start to make it all about him and his ego... he wanted to be the hero of the story. He went about it the wrong way.

He disabled the Defiant. He planted the same kind of devices on DS9, which not only threaten Starfleet AND Bajoran officers, but thousands of CIVILIANS. He attacked the Defiant and the Malinche. He poisoned a Cardassian world and was about to do the same to ALL Cardassian worlds in the DMZ.

He painted a bullseye right onto the entire Maquis organization. They never should have let him be their leader. It led to their doom.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

Eddington might be a peculiar mushroom or maybe some crushed seeds,
if you look at DS9 as a complex stew. He added some depth of flavour.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

One thing that really stood out on rewatch recently and especially in the Eddington episodes is how massivly insecure Odo is

 

[Qonundrum]

Uh, he was married; his spouse was in the DMZ. He talked to Sisko about how much better food that you have grown yourself tastes from having worked the land (implication, as I recall).

Eddington never used her as a punching bag, I hope?

 

[Lynx]

I like Eddington!

I've always had a soft spot for the Maquis and Eddington followed his heart and fought for what he thought was right.

Really sad that he was killed off. I would have liked to see him survive the war and show up in some DS9 book.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I don't remember being annoyed by Eddington when DS9 first aired; in fact, I seem to recall finding him a refreshing counterpoint to the typical Federation POV at the time. But goodness, that has not held up with time. I've done a couple of complete rewatches of the series with friends over the last year or so, and every time we get to Eddington in full-on Marquis mode, it's like scraping a fork over my fillings. The Marquis I still like, but this dude... yech. I kind of feel like he's a character the writers liked a lot more than the audience. It's not that he has no valid points, it's just that he comes across as such a smug, hypocritical, neener-neener weasel that it's kind of a relief when he buys it just because he stops talking.

Me (to self): I can't believe you liked this guy.
Me (also to self): In my defense, I was very young, he was new and exciting, and he was running with Ro's gang of cool rebel kids.

Anyway, curious as to what other people think of the character. Any particular feelings on him one way or another?

It was difficult to buy he was the head honcho of the Maquis, especially seeing a figure like Cal Hudson "The Maquis, pt1 & 2" who was a strong, intellectual officer; a person I found to be a strategic foe to Sisko. As an officer, Eddington never gave the impression he could be trusted, episode by episode I was saying to myself "What is he doing here?" or "Why is he around?"; even when the lame reveal of him being a Maquis I thought he'd be best fitted to be one of the grunts of the group but not the leader. The Architect of the whole thing??? I can't imagine Ro, or Thomas Riker, or Chakotay and B'Elanna or any of the Maquis characters I'd seen would ever be inspired by that weirdo Eddington. As mentioned he was more of an annoyance than a probable threat and when the writing attempted to make that character shine, they were just smudges for me; the Commander Sisko I knew would've clean that weirdo's clock slowly and permanently, but Capt. Sisko has to simulate boxing routines to resolve stress from a little league foe. Eddington, as the leader, was scaling the threat down, castrating the group like what was done to the Cardassians because the major baddies were the Dominion and they had to be the end all universal threat to the galaxy. Yawn.

 

[Kilana2]

I like Eddington!

I've always had a soft spot for the Maquis and Eddington followed his heart and fought for what he thought was right.

Really sad that he was killed off. I would have liked to see him survive the war and show up in some DS9 book.

Eddington is a character who shows up in the Mirror Universe novels. Mirror Eddington is quite interesting and we have a 'What if Eddington survived...' scenario.