Deus Ex Machina

[MacLeod]

It was certainly supernatural.

In Star Trek (I assume you are broadly familiar with this franchise), manipulating spacetime is common, some species doing it better than other. Within the context of the franchise, it is not supernatural, but mundane.

True, but these beings live outside of space-time, they don't just manipulate it. I mean, to me, even in the Ster Trek universe that is beyond natural.

We've seen plenty of races that appear to exist outside of normal space time i.e. the Q.

According to merriam-webster dictionary the definition of deus ex machina ... just kidding. the def states: a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty . So "that appears OR is introduced suddenly" the wormhole aliens appear suddenly to Sisko without his asking and change the hopeless situation for the crew, DS9 and the Alpha Quadrant.

As has been pointed out, the Wormhole liens have been in from the very first episode of the series which also demonstrated their ability to manipulate the wormhole. As for the wormhole aliens appearing without asking haven't we seen that before as well? So nothing really new that we hadn't seen before just reuse of things that had already been established.

 

[Timo]

Having the Prophets sort it out was a nice and welcome thing. What was lacking was character reaction to this, though. Essentially, Sisko had single-handedly defeated the Dominion offensive, through religious mumbo-jumbo no less. One would have expected Starfleet to put him in a cage and poke him full of electrodes, either to torture him to death for the impudence, or to turn him into a superweapon with which to win the entire war.

Yet in the next episode, he's back to commanding this backwater space station that has less strategic importance than ever now that the wormhole is a non-factor...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[T'Girl]

We've seen plenty of races that appear to exist outside of normal space time i.e. the Q.

These races would be (therefor) super natural.

 

[Timo]

...But the existence of such phenomena would long since have rendered the concept devoid of meaning. For our heroes, everything would only be supernatural until it was properly documented and became a duly registered part of the natural. It had always been part of that, of course, even when our heroes didn't yet realize it, and the heroes would realize this much!

Really, the concept of "supernatural" today means something that cannot be verified and probably doesn't exist. Q can be verified to exist. For all we know, Yahweh has been verified to exist by the time of TOS, too, which hasn't decreased the faith and devotion of our main heroes one iota, as they still "find the one sufficient".

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Terok Nor]

I have to admit I hated the Prophets. The only thing they were good for was spawning the Pah-Wraiths and the Trials And Tribble-ations episode. I thought it was a mistake to make Sisko not only a religious figure but also part Prophet. It was just too much. Sisko is essentially a god by the end of the series. I prefer the idea of him being a regular guy who accomplished a lot through hard work and dedication. I'm not spiritual or religious in any way so that's likely why I never connected to the Emissary/Prophets storyline or any of the Bajoran religious stuff. When I look back on DS9 the Prophets are the last thing I feel nostalgic about.

 

[Timo]

I quite liked the path taken. Kirk was a regular space worker whose only claim to status was that he had through hard work gained command of a starship that eventually brought him fame; his crew were the bluecollars of space. Picard was a trusted veteran who was handed the most prestigious ship in the fleet, and allowed/forced to embark a crew of celebrities; he was also an idealist. Janeway was the victim of circumstances, a no-nonsense "I'll get you home" Master Sergeant type who gathered quite a few bees in her bonnet during an odyssey. Archer was a fish out of water, bringing a sense of wonder to space travel. In that diverse lot, there was plenty of room for a demigod, and it's nice that they explored this angle as well...

...After all, a Starfleet commanding officer is playing god for a living often enough, so why not take that to the logical conclusion?

It's a wonderful contrast, too. Sisko starts out as a lowly Commander in a dead-end job, and then proceeds to become a lowly gatekeeper for a heavenly pathway through which others travel to untold adventures; a local pawn in several dirty games of politics; and finally a sidelined military commander at the strategically least important corner of the biggest war in history. And at the same time, he's the most crucial figure in recent history, unraveling the mysteries of Gamma and dictating the course of the war, because he happens to be divine. Even if he hates every damn second of it.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Richard Baker]

I quite liked the path taken. Kirk was a regular space worker whose only claim to status was that he had through hard work gained command of a starship that eventually brought him fame; his crew were the bluecollars of space. Picard was a trusted veteran who was handed the most prestigious ship in the fleet, and allowed/forced to embark a crew of celebrities; he was also an idealist. Janeway was the victim of circumstances, a no-nonsense "I'll get you home" Master Sergeant type who gathered quite a few bees in her bonnet during an odyssey. Archer was a fish out of water, bringing a sense of wonder to space travel. In that diverse lot, there was plenty of room for a demigod, and it's nice that they explored this angle as well...

...After all, a Starfleet commanding officer is playing god for a living often enough, so why not take that to the logical conclusion?

It's a wonderful contrast, too. Sisko starts out as a lowly Commander in a dead-end job, and then proceeds to become a lowly gatekeeper for a heavenly pathway through which others travel to untold adventures; a local pawn in several dirty games of politics; and finally a sidelined military commander at the strategically least important corner of the biggest war in history. And at the same time, he's the most crucial figure in recent history, unraveling the mysteries of Gamma and dictating the course of the war, because he happens to be divine. Even if he hates every damn second of it.

Timo Saloniemi

^^^ !

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I'm not bothered by the Prophets as story elements, but writing the main characters into a corner so severely that the only way they can avoid disaster is to have the magic wormhole aliens wave their hands was a poor choice. The characters didn't earn their victory--they didn't really even pay a price for it. And it was a victory they got to keep enjoying, as the wormhole aliens kept the Jem'Hadar from passing through the wormhole afterward.

Sisko thought he was going into the wormhole on a suicide mission. He wasn't even thinking about asking the Prophets for help, they just happened to intervene and then he demanded they act. But, again, nothing was demanded of him or anyone else.

There were also Odo's frankly heinous actions which got swept under the rug the very next episode. That's not the fault of SoA, but as part of the conclusion and aftermath of the occupation arc, it left a bad taste in my mouth. The need for a reset to zero really undermined all the story progression that happened in the arc itself.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I just want to know where exactly the hell all those Jem'Hadar ships went...

 

[RogueVasad]

Well in the Star Trek online timeline they got warped 35 years into the future.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Interesting. How did their JH crews react to that?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Sisko thought he was going into the wormhole on a suicide mission. He wasn't even thinking about asking the Prophets for help, they just happened to intervene and then he demanded they act. But, again, nothing was demanded of him or anyone else.

ROSS: What's this?
SISKO: Ancient Bajoran texts.
ROSS: The Emissary looks for guidance on the eve of battle.
SISKO: Guidance, insights, loopholes. I'll take anything I can get.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Sisko thought he was going into the wormhole on a suicide mission. He wasn't even thinking about asking the Prophets for help, they just happened to intervene and then he demanded they act. But, again, nothing was demanded of him or anyone else.

ROSS: What's this?
SISKO: Ancient Bajoran texts.
ROSS: The Emissary looks for guidance on the eve of battle.
SISKO: Guidance, insights, loopholes. I'll take anything I can get.

Didn't come up when they were actually heading into the wormhole, though. It hadn't even occurred to Sisko that the Prophets might do anything.

(Inside the wormhole.)
SISKO: Full stop. Chief, divert all power to forward shields and weapons.
DAX: Captain, I'm reading multiple warp signatures ahead.
SISKO: On screen. Maximum magnification.
(Here comes the enemy fleet, but no more than three abreast in the narrow tunnel.)
SISKO: Lock phasers. Prepare to launch quantum torpedoes.

[Prophets scene immediately follows]

Sisko was making his last stand there, not giving any indication he hoped for a miracle from the Prophets.

One could argue that the aforementioned scene was a clumsy bit of foreshadowing, but that's all.

Also, while speaking with the Prophets:

SISKO: I didn't ask to come here.

He didn't even want their help.

You can read the full transcript here, and it's perfectly clear that Sisko went in expecting nothing of the Prophets, and is downright hostile that they interrupted his suicide run--he wanted to go down with his ship, not be taken away by wormhole aliens he wasn't very patient with in the first place.

At least Picard had to humiliate himself and beg Q to save his ship from the Borg. Sisko got a victory he neither earned nor asked for, and I wouldn't call his elevation to Prophet status a couple years later much of a price, either.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Sisko thought he was going into the wormhole on a suicide mission. He wasn't even thinking about asking the Prophets for help, they just happened to intervene and then he demanded they act. But, again, nothing was demanded of him or anyone else.

ROSS: What's this?
SISKO: Ancient Bajoran texts.
ROSS: The Emissary looks for guidance on the eve of battle.
SISKO: Guidance, insights, loopholes. I'll take anything I can get.

Didn't come up when they were actually heading into the wormhole, though. It hadn't even occurred to Sisko that the Prophets might do anything.

(Inside the wormhole.)
SISKO: Full stop. Chief, divert all power to forward shields and weapons.
DAX: Captain, I'm reading multiple warp signatures ahead.
SISKO: On screen. Maximum magnification.
(Here comes the enemy fleet, but no more than three abreast in the narrow tunnel.)
SISKO: Lock phasers. Prepare to launch quantum torpedoes.

[Prophets scene immediately follows]

Sisko was making his last stand there, not giving any indication he hoped for a miracle from the Prophets.

One could argue that the aforementioned scene was a clumsy bit of foreshadowing, but that's all.

Also, while speaking with the Prophets:

SISKO: I didn't ask to come here.

He didn't even want their help.

You can read the full transcript here, and it's perfectly clear that Sisko went in expecting nothing of the Prophets, and is downright hostile that they interrupted his suicide run--he wanted to go down with his ship, not be taken away by wormhole aliens he wasn't very patient with in the first place.

At least Picard had to humiliate himself and beg Q to save his ship from the Borg. Sisko got a victory he neither earned nor asked for, and I wouldn't call his elevation to Prophet status a couple years later much of a price, either.

You are very literal.

 

[T'Girl]

Sisko got a victory he neither earned nor asked for, and I wouldn't call his elevation to Prophet status a couple years later much of a price, either.

Sisko very much did ask for the prophets help, and being taken from his wife, unborn baby and his son was a very high price.

 

[Timo]

"Rules of drama" apply to fairy tales and ancient ceremonial plays. Following them in supposedly adult-oriented (well, kids-who-want-to-be-considered-adult-while-sniggering-at-the-mention-of-adult-entertainment-oriented) drama is just taking the low route and doing the expected. Why should there be a price to pay?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Are you suggesting DS9 was so edgy and unconventional it didn't need to adhere to the well-established rules of storytelling?

 

[Timo]

It is rather telling that something so readily labeled as "lazy writing" is still so much superior to the usual results of those useless rules.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[RogueVasad]

^ Interesting. How did their JH crews react to that?

They promptly invaded DS9. The next several missions were the effort to retake the station, making a deal with the Dominion to release the female founder from prison in the process.