For the Cause/For the Uniform/Blaze of Glory arc

[indolover]

There is one thing I never understood about this arc, even if it was well written - why the hell did Sisko care if Eddington duped him?

Sisko was bold and no nonsense, but I think this shows him up since it makes him look if it's all about his ego. Sisko was a not a military police officer (or whatever Starfleet's equivalent is) or a JAG so it's not even in his purview to apprehend Eddington lol.

 

[ares93]

because as he says in "for the uniform" i think. "My job is to be a good judge of character. and not only i didnt see it but i also put him up for a promotion!" or something like that. hey, if someone i knew fooled me that bad. i would have taken it personally as well.

 

[Navaros]

They trumped up Sisko's hate for Eddington for dramatic effect. It is true that it doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense given that it wasn't even the Sisko's problem.

It's especially incongruent since the Sisko didn't care one iota that Kasidy is also a Maquis traitor.

 

[DevilEyes]

They trumped up Sisko's hate for Eddington for dramatic effect. It is true that it doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense given that it wasn't even the Sisko's problem.

It's especially incongruent since the Sisko didn't care one iota that Kasidy is also a Maquis traitor.

Kasidy was not a "traitor", and couldn't have been, since she was never Starfleet.

She also turned herself in and did time.

 

[indolover]

They trumped up Sisko's hate for Eddington for dramatic effect. It is true that it doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense given that it wasn't even the Sisko's problem.

It's especially incongruent since the Sisko didn't care one iota that Kasidy is also a Maquis traitor.

It was his girlfriend, so he was closer to her than Eddington ever was to him. Who would turn in their significant other like that?

 

[G2309]

It was his one failure which considering his sucesses against the klingons, dominion etc was hard to take.

It's especially incongruent since the Sisko didn't care one iota that Kasidy is also a Maquis traitor.

Kasidy was not a "traitor", and couldn't have been, since she was never Starfleet.

She also turned herself in and did time.

Speaking of Kasidy I wonder how she got her own ship again. I know things must have been desperate during the war but you'd think they'd choose someone more reliable.

 

[sonak]

Yeah, a dumb character arc overall. Didn't make sense for Sisko to flip out about Eddington.

 

[flemm]

There is one thing I never understood about this arc, even if it was well written - why the hell did Sisko care if Eddington duped him?

I see it as the darker side of Sisko's committment to his command, his crew and his mission: he takes betrayal very seriously, and he considers Eddington to be his responsability.

It's not especially admirable, but that is intentional: DS9 does not always portray its characters in an heroic light. I suppose it would be better if Sisko could approach the situation in a completely objective manner, but the fact is that he can't, and that is perfectly plausible: he was Eddington's commanding officier, he trusted him and was completely duped by him, which allowed Eddington to make off with some industrial replicators that he will put to good use presumably (also, in the end, Sisko's responsability).

Sisko's obsession with Eddington is certainly a flaw, but a believable one, given what else we know about Sisko's personality.

EDIT: I will say that one criticism I would make of how Eddington's betrayal is handled is that it comes too long after the character was introduced, to the point where he doesn't seem to be much more than a glorified extra, rather than an important member of the station's crew. RHW confirmed at some point in online chatter that Eddington was intended to eventually become an antagonist when he was originally brought on board in The Search at the beginning of season 3. His next important moment comes later that season in The Die is Cast, when he sabotages the Defiant's cloaking device (a hint of things to come). It's at this point that Sisko tells Eddington that he has never doubted the word of anyone wearing that uniform, and decides to go on trusting him despite what just occurred. It's partly these events that spur Sisko's anger at Eddington's eventual betrayal, but the writers don't get back around to having the betrayal actually occur until late season 4, at which point Eddington has faded into the background for almost a full season. The setup for this arc could have been handled better. Basically, there is too big a gap between the events of The Die is Cast and For the Cause.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

It's especially incongruent since the Sisko didn't care one iota that Kasidy is also a Maquis traitor.

Major differences between Kasidy and Eddington.

1- Eddington was a military leader for the Maquis. He stole Starfleet secrets, and eventually took an active role in their rebellion. Kasidy was not a Maquis, but a sympathizer to the plight of the colonists. She smuggled medical supplies, not classified information or weaponry.

2- Kasidy surrendered when she was discovered, took full blame to protect her crew, and served her time in prison. Eddington sabotaged the station and the Defiant to make his escape, and took up arms against the Federation.