Suppose the Dominion became benevolent, what would happen to the Jem'Hadar and Vorta?

[at Quark's]

So, for the purposes of this thread, suppose Odo manages to convince the other Changelings that Solids aren't necessarily a threat, and that it's quite possible to live together with them in harmony, perhaps just with the Federation at first but ultimately with all solid races that aren't hostile themselves. That it isn't necessary to keep strict control over a large part of the GQ.

In that case, what would happen to the Jem'Hadar and the Vorta? Would they simply be no longer bred? (which would mean the Jem 'Hadar would be gone in 20 years, but how long do Vorta live?). Or would there still be a purpose to them, and if so, would their genetic make-up be altered and if so, to what extent? What would they do with those alive, and how would they react upon learning that they possibly no longer had a task in the new Dominion?

 

[kkt]

The Vorta and Jem Hadar are the Founder' servants. If the Founders say "be friendly to all", they will. New jobs doing disaster relief, greeted eagerly throughout the galaxy where there are famines or plagues?

 

[Ragitsu]

I imagine there would be protests over The Founders keeping slave races, even if those races are directed towards "humanitarian" concerns.

 

[kkt]

Are they really slaves? They were bred to feel intense loyalty to the Founders. The Founders don't even need the White to control them, really. Freeing the Jem Hadar and Vorta would be like freeing a domesticated dog. They would live somehow but feel hurt and abandoned.

 

[Ragitsu]

GUINAN: Well, consider that in the history of many worlds there have always been disposable creatures. They do the dirty work. They do the work that no one else wants to do because it's too difficult, or too hazardous.

...

all disposable, you don't have to think about their welfare, you don't think about how they feel. Whole generations of disposable people.

 

[at Quark's]

For example, I could imagine there would still be Jem'Hadar, but tweaked, so they would no longer be ketracel-dependent, and less aggressive, and free to choose to do what they want, and also given free control over their own genetics, and breeding program. Similarly for Vorta, perhaps making them less duplicitous and power hungry would still make for very skilled diplomats, in a good way.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

They would have to learn the facts of life ( see Up the Long Ladder ).

 

[Oddish]

The Vorta wouldn't need to change that much. They are intended to be the voice of the Dominion, and the Founders would still need their services, just to say different things. Or possibly, the same things, but just mean it.

The Jem'Hadar would probably be re-engineered to be less violent, more suited for peacekeeping rather than terror tactics. Eliminating them overall or making them less of a slave race would be a longer term solution, and the Founders would have to work out how to deal with the resulting power vacuum. Often, when an evil regime collapses, the regime that follows is little better... I offer the Soviet Union and modern Russia as an example.

 

[Finn]

The Vorta and Jem Hadar are the Founder' servants. If the Founders say "be friendly to all", they will. New jobs doing disaster relief, greeted eagerly throughout the galaxy where there are famines or plagues?

The Jem'Hadar would be replaced by a different type of servants. And I wouldn't trust the Vorta to play along.

 

[Oddish]

The Jem'Hadar would be replaced by a different type of servants. And I wouldn't trust the Vorta to play along.

If the Founders told the Vorta to do the Macarena nude in a snowstorm, they wouldn't hesitate. They'd just call up more clones to replace the ones who died of hypothermia.

 

[Finn]

Have you watched Deep Space Nine? They would do things the Founders wouldn't approve behind their backs.

 

[Timofnine]

So, for the purposes of this thread, suppose Odo manages to convince the other Changelings that Solids aren't necessarily a threat, and that it's quite possible to live together with them in harmony, perhaps just with the Federation at first but ultimately with all solid races that aren't hostile themselves. That it isn't necessary to keep strict control over a large part of the GQ.

In that case, what would happen to the Jem'Hadar and the Vorta? Would they simply be no longer bred? (which would mean the Jem 'Hadar would be gone in 20 years, but how long do Vorta live?). Or would there still be a purpose to them, and if so, would their genetic make-up be altered and if so, to what extent? What would they do with those alive, and how would they react upon learning that they possibly no longer had a task in the new Dominion?

The Jem’Hadar became a race in their own right, a three dimensional one at that as shown in particular in ‘The Abandoned’ and with their interactions with Worf in ‘In Purgatory’s Shadow’, with Bashir in ‘Hippocratic Oath’ and when Sisko crashed the Jem’Hadar ship he hijacked in ‘The Ship’. I would like to add that for some reason ‘The Ship’ has always been a favourite episode of mine, there is nothing that stands out about it in particular, I just think that it was a really good episode.

First of all, the Jem’Hadar are addicted to Ketrecel White, so they would need to be weaned off that substance. They are unable to reproduce with each other with them being an all male species, but this does not mean that they can not become a unisexual male species which reproduce with each other in non standard ways if augmented as such. Was it ever stated if Jem’Hadar could breed with other species, or are they engineered to be sterile? If the Dominion became benevolent then they hold the key to engineering the Jem’Hadar in the same way as they also hold they key to engineering the Vorta.

As for a purpose, the Dominion could repurpose the Jem’Hadar as standard working citizens rather than soldiers, though their population levels would need to be controlled incase they ever rebelled once free from their addiction. Jem’Hadar would probably be particularly good at manual labour and sports due to their enhanced physiologies, though as a result of being augments I do not think that they would ever be allowed to join Starfleet should they wish to apply for a place at the academy.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Vorta and Jem Hadar are the Founder' servants. If the Founders say "be friendly to all", they will. New jobs doing disaster relief, greeted eagerly throughout the galaxy where there are famines or plagues?

And even a benevolent Dominion would still need a military to fight for it if attacked.

 

[Oddish]

True, but "The Abandoned" establishes that the Jem'Hadar's attitudes are genetically engineered into them: most notably, contempt for any species except for the Founders and possibly the Vorta. This makes them useful for the Founders' heavy handed tactics, such as massacring colonies and genocide on whole races. If the Founders' purpose becomes more benevolent, they will undoubtedly engineer the Jem'Hadar differently.

 

[Jayson1]

One big change with the Jem Haddar is most of them would start living longer lives. I wonder what the natural lifespan would even be for a Jem Haddar since most of them die young. Even the elders who live like 12 likely also die in combat eventually.

 

[Oddish]

It's probably a casualty of their rapid maturity. Given that they become large enough to be lethal in combat at 3 days of age, it's amazing that they last as long as they do.

 

[at Quark's]

There seems to be significant variation among the Vorta characters we meet.

Weyoun seems unquestionably loyal to the founders, but also looks what's in it for himself (he is disappointed when the female founder promises Earth to the Breen). Even the 'defective' Weyoun 6 says he still worships them even if he thinks the war is misguided.
Ome'tiklan says that the Jem'Hadar are more loyal to the Founders than the Vorta will ever be- even without the White. That might be true or it might not be. Keevan seemed to pursue his own agenda a bit more (just trying to get out alive by sacrificing his Jem' Hadar, accepting becoming a Federation prisoner of war, despite the standing instructions to kill himself in such a case, etc.)

Perhaps the difference is that the Vorta are a genetically modified species, whereas the Jem' Hadar might be entirely designed bottum up to fill the role they do?

 

[Jayson1]

But are the Vorta still modified? The way their species was I assume is completely gone. Dead and forgotten ages ago. All that is left is the new clone versions. A copy of a copy of a copy.

 

[somebuddyX]

I don't know what would actually happen but I like the element of Star Trek Online that apparently said the Jem Hadar all got a planet to live on in the Alpha Quadrant and Starfleet checked on them and saw they weren't a threat and so they were left alone.
https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Devos_II

 

[ED-209]

Interesting topic....

We see in the Abandoned that the Jem Hadar won't blindly follow the founders when they aren't what the expect them to be.

As for the Vorta who knows? But a couple of other posters have made good examples of where their loyalty was questionable too.