One of the most compelling parts of "What We Left Behind" is watching the premiere of the hypothetical "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" season 8 mapped out. One of the documentary's most enjoyable repeat segments features former Deep Space Nine writers René Echeverria, Ron Moore, Hans Beimler and Robert Hewitt Wolfe forming a one-day writers' room in which they break an imagined season 8 premiere. By the sound of it, it would have been incredible unless you're a Nog fan. Nog is the focal point of the teaser that kicks off the writers' vision of season 8, which is set 20 years after the DS9 series finale: the Ferengi is now Captain Nog and he's in command of the U.S.S. Defiant attempting to outrun a cloaked ship that's attacking him. He just barely makes it through the wormhole and catches sight of Deep Space Nine before we cut to the station to see his ship burst into smithereens. Roll credits. His death sets off a mystery that promises to propel the entire season forward, especially when we find out who was attacking him, Section 31.
As "What We Left Behind" trumpeted, 'Deep Space Nine' was renowned for its eclectic cast of well-developed ancillary characters and Nog, played by Aron Eisenberg, was one of the most beloved. Nog enjoyed one of Ds9's most incredible character arcs: he began the series as Jake Sisko's friend on the Promenade but as they grew up together, Nog decided he wanted to become the first Ferengi in Starfleet. Nog earned the support of Jake's dad Captain Sisko, who was initially reluctant, but the young Ferengi continually proved himself in Starfleet while still providing comic relief along with the rest of his Ferengi family.
In the hypothetical Deep Space Nine season 8 premiere, two decades have passed since the events of "What You Leave Behind, and the landscape of the station and the lives of her former inhabitants are much changed. Kira's a Vedek, the station is a shrine, Miles is back on Earth teaching at Starfleet Academy, and Ezri and Julian are happily married and serving on a starship together. But what we find out in Act V of the finale, is that Section 31 is actively working to destabilize a Bajor that's growing as a military power. Who's in charge of that operation? Dr. Julian Bashir.
"Star Trek: Discovery" has made Section 31 the worst-kept secret in "Star Trek". The Federation's clandestine black-ops agency was teased in "Star Trek: Discovery" season 1, episode 3 "Context is King", but in season 2, the curtain has fallen on the supposedly mysterious agency all of the main characters now know about it.
Section 31 was introduced in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and has become that series' most enduring concept. Given how tumultuous the Alpha Quadrant is, it makes sense the United Federation of Planets would have its own intelligence agency similar to the Romulans' Tal Shiar and the Cardassians' Obsidian Order. The key difference is that when Section 31 first appeared on DS9, their existence was unknown even to high-ranking Starfleet officers like Captain Sisko. Section 31 operated autonomously and very few people in the Federation had even heard of it. This was also the case in the prequel series "Star Trek: Enterprise" set roughly 200 years before DS9 and a century before "Star Trek: Discovery"