Plot hole in "The Search"

[Romulan_spy]

In my ongoing DS9 rewatch, I got to the great season 3 two parter "The Search" where we are introduced to the Defiant for the first time, meet the enigmatic Founders of the Dominion for the first time and learn a lot about Odo's origins. Great episode.

DS9 does a great job setting up the Dominion as a very powerful threat to the Federation.

It is still shocking to see the Dominion ship kamikaze into the Odyssey and destroy it. A Galaxy class ship destroyed! And the fact that the Dominion did not need to do a kamikaze run but did it simply to show their commitment makes it that more meaningful. It tells us the Dominion means business.

And we see that 3 small Dominion ships can take out the new Defiant also shows their power. I will say that the Defiant is a tough little ship indeed in this episode. It is able to take a lot of punishment and take out a Dominion ship pretty easily with its full barrage of forward pulse cannons and torpedoes. And of course, the Jem 'Hadar are formidable soldiers in their own right.

Lastly, we see that the Founders hate "solids". The simulation that they put Sisko and the others in to test what they would do if the Dominion tried to establish a foot hold in the Alpha Quadrant shows that the Dominion are cunning and resourceful. It is a harbinger of things to come.

But I think I see a big plot hole. Why did the Founders let Sisko take the Defiant back? Why not destroy the Defiant or keep it for study? It seems weird that the Founders would let their enemy simply go home with a powerful ship like the Defiant.

I get why the writers did it. They actually painted themselves in a bit of a corner because they wanted the Defiant to lose badly and they needed Sisko and co. to get captured to show how powerful the Dominion is but they could not actually lose the Defiant in its first episode. But in universe, I am not sure it makes sense for the Dominion to just let Sisko take the Defiant home.

My best explanation is that the Dominion had already studied the Defiant while the crew was in the simulation and in their arrogance and superiority, felt like it was not a threat to let Sisko take it back. We do know that the Dominion already had a means of defeating the cloak. Basically, the Founders were saying "we will let you have your ship back because even with the Defiant, we can still defeat you." analogous to giving a weaker opponent a head start in a game or race because even with the advantage, you can still beat them.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Keeping the Defiant would definitely have been an act of war. Perhaps the Dominion was not prepared to fight the Federation at that point (needed to ramp up Jem'hadar production or something).

 

[Timo]

The very fact that they stooped to this testing suggests they weren't willing to do anything more proactive. "Not ready for war" is probably not a valid concern as such, as the Dominion would be perfectly capable of defending Gamma in all circumstances, given the bottleneck at the wormhole. Acts of war thus wouldn't be a concern: Sisko and the rest would no doubt have been terminated without further ado, had Odo not intervened. But "Not ready for triumphing in a war of conquest at Alpha" is a concern, and perhaps playing nice in "The Search" played some minor role in those war plans...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Romulan_spy]

Keeping the Defiant would definitely have been an act of war. Perhaps the Dominion was not prepared to fight the Federation at that point (needed to ramp up Jem'hadar production or something).

Yeah but the Dominion destroyed the Odyssey. Surely, that was an act of war too. The Dominion were obviously not afraid to actually destroy a Federation ship and possibly declare war.

I don't think the Dominion was unprepared to fight the Federation. I think it was more that the Dominion just wanted to start the war on their terms. The Founders seem very methodical in how they do things. They had a war plan for invading the Alpha Quadrant that they wanted to follow so that they could go into a war with as many advantages as possible and maximize their chances of winning. They wanted to start a war with the initiative rather than just reacting.

Both the destruction of the Odyssey and the capture of the Defiant happened in the Gamma Quadrant. So perhaps, the Dominion could argue that it was the Federation that engaged in acts of war first by sending armed ships into their territory and they were just acting in self-defense?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Yeah but the Dominion destroyed the Odyssey. Surely, that was an act of war too. The Dominion were obviously not afraid to actually destroy a Federation ship and possibly declare war.

The Odyssey was destroyed in battle when on a military mission (search and rescue). Keough even suggests that he expects combat. The Defiant captured on on an explicitly diplomatic mission with the intention of making contact with the Founders. The contexts of both missions make a difference.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Wasn't Odo aboard the Defiant? Can't deferring to his wishes, which are implicitly that he return with the solids to the Alpha Quadrant, and seeing to his safety allay any concerns about this?

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

At the time it was a single ship and not a huge threat to the full force of the Dominion.

Also Odo was going back with them and since no Changeling has killed another and the Vorta and Jem'Hadar revere them as gods and wouldn't do anything to hurt a Founder then of course they'd let them go--during their occupation of the station the Female Changeling said they were more interested in taking Odo back into the Great Link than in conquering the AQ.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

They let the Defiant go to respect Odo's wishes. They cared more about him than the war.

It's no different than how the female changeling would have let Weyoun 6 go even with all their secrets if the only alternative was killing Odo.

 

[Romulan_spy]

They let the Defiant go to respect Odo's wishes. They cared more about him than the war.

It's no different than how the female changeling would have let Weyoun 6 go even with all their secrets if the only alternative was killing Odo.

At the end of the episode yes. But when the Dominion first boards the Defiant, I don't think the Founders had met Odo yet. So it is lucky that the Dominion did not destroy the Defiant immediately before the Founders knew about Odo.

 

[at Quark's]

My best explanation is that the Dominion had already studied the Defiant while the crew was in the simulation and in their arrogance and superiority, felt like it was not a threat to let Sisko take it back. We do know that the Dominion already had a means of defeating the cloak. Basically, the Founders were saying "we will let you have your ship back because even with the Defiant, we can still defeat you." analogous to giving a weaker opponent a head start in a game or race because even with the advantage, you can still beat them.

Well, arrogant or not, let's face it, that assessment would have been absolutely correct in itself. The Federation and its allies still very nearly lost the war that followed, not against the full military might of the Dominion, but against what was essentially just an isolated, advanced Alpha Quadrant outpost of them.