Give YOUR Alternative Ending for Sacrifice of Angels
- Thread starter Photon
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I didn't actually write this part of it, but I have an AU where instead of Ziyal being shot, it's an infuriated, betrayed Kira who, in a fit of rage, kills Odo for his treason.
One possible outcome of this is in this fanfic story, "The Nature of the Beast."
(By NO means the only possible outcome of making that change...but it's one.)
One possible outcome of this is in this fanfic story, "The Nature of the Beast."
(By NO means the only possible outcome of making that change...but it's one.)
It's harsh--but what I see is Kira just snapping. Not thinking rationally, but just defaulting to her old Resistance fighter ways. Especially after how she almost got sucked in by Gul Dukat, it would not have been surprising for her to decide to be judge, jury, and executioner against Odo. (Kira was never one for confronting hypocrisy or shades of grey in herself.)
But the cost of killing Odo would mean that even if the Dominion somehow captured the cure for the morphogenic plague, Odo could not use himself as a bargaining chip. He would be just one more dead Changeling to convince the Dominion that there can be no negotiation with solids.
But in the canon universe--Odo should've been tried and convicted for what he did, or at the very least, kept at arm's length and certainly not loved by Kira again. Kira has demonstrated an ability to cut people off completely, emotionally speaking (though she hides how much it costs her to do it), and I felt like she would've done that.
But the cost of killing Odo would mean that even if the Dominion somehow captured the cure for the morphogenic plague, Odo could not use himself as a bargaining chip. He would be just one more dead Changeling to convince the Dominion that there can be no negotiation with solids.
But in the canon universe--Odo should've been tried and convicted for what he did, or at the very least, kept at arm's length and certainly not loved by Kira again. Kira has demonstrated an ability to cut people off completely, emotionally speaking (though she hides how much it costs her to do it), and I felt like she would've done that.
Works for me! That lack was definitely the only thing wrong with an otherwise-masterful conclusion.
The wormhole aliens tell Sisko that if he wants the Dominion to be stopped by their intervention, he has to pay a penance, and that penance is the immediate death of Jake, and he can take it or leave it. Sisko decides to take it for the greater good of the AQ. Right after Sisko makes the deal, it cuts back to the Station. Jake panics at the fighting, acts rashly, and tries to kill Dukat, but Dukat kills Jake first.
Another alternative:
The Sisko is sent to the exact same place where the Jemmy ships went. And they get there not because the wormhole aliens sent them there, but because they fired at each other in the wormhole, and all that firepower releasing into the wormhole caused another anomaly to occur. Then they would have to battle it out the hard way in some weird alternate dimension. The Sisko would have to fight tooth and nail to win that battle, and end up permanently scathed because of it (lose an arm, leg, eye, etc. - and no on-screen cop-outs for it in later episodes, like they did with Nog).
Another alternative:
The Sisko is sent to the exact same place where the Jemmy ships went. And they get there not because the wormhole aliens sent them there, but because they fired at each other in the wormhole, and all that firepower releasing into the wormhole caused another anomaly to occur. Then they would have to battle it out the hard way in some weird alternate dimension. The Sisko would have to fight tooth and nail to win that battle, and end up permanently scathed because of it (lose an arm, leg, eye, etc. - and no on-screen cop-outs for it in later episodes, like they did with Nog).
I'd keep SoA the same, but with different ramifications:
Dukat's breakdown is temporary. Soon he's back to his old scheming self, this time arrogant enough to think he can manipulate the paghwraiths to his own ends. He pretends to be a true believer, but that's just a sham. Maybe he's still a little cracked, considering that his hubris is even more out of control than ever, but it's not full-fledged nutjobbery.
The Prophets really do exact a true penance from Sisko for their massive ass-save in the wormhole: they kill Jake. Or maybe we don't need to be so harsh, and Jake's fate is different - he has to stay with the Prophets for a time, and afterwards, is utterly changed and unrecognizable. The upshot is, for all intents, Sisko loses his little boy forever.
I know that sounds mean, but if the repercussions aren't severe, it's too easy an out for the Prophets to just save the Federation's ass like that.
And I agree with other posts above, there needed to be repercussions for Odo as well. Maybe the DS9 staff might have backed him up, presuming it wasn't his fault, being a "young" changeling or whatever, but Starfleet should have gone on the warpath.
Dukat's breakdown is temporary. Soon he's back to his old scheming self, this time arrogant enough to think he can manipulate the paghwraiths to his own ends. He pretends to be a true believer, but that's just a sham. Maybe he's still a little cracked, considering that his hubris is even more out of control than ever, but it's not full-fledged nutjobbery.
The Prophets really do exact a true penance from Sisko for their massive ass-save in the wormhole: they kill Jake. Or maybe we don't need to be so harsh, and Jake's fate is different - he has to stay with the Prophets for a time, and afterwards, is utterly changed and unrecognizable. The upshot is, for all intents, Sisko loses his little boy forever.
I know that sounds mean, but if the repercussions aren't severe, it's too easy an out for the Prophets to just save the Federation's ass like that.
And I agree with other posts above, there needed to be repercussions for Odo as well. Maybe the DS9 staff might have backed him up, presuming it wasn't his fault, being a "young" changeling or whatever, but Starfleet should have gone on the warpath.
Yeah, I mentioned the possibility of the price for the prophets actions in SOA being Jake's death in the original thread on disappointing endings.
I get that it'd be pretty dark for a Star Trek show to actually have Captain Sisko agree to that price but they could've made the price be a more vague "someone close" to Captain Sisko, then have Jake die, then have Ben realize just what the prophets had meant.
Still very dark stuff, I mean they'd had David Marcus' death, but he wasn't a long-time regular character on a show. But this would have been storywriting gold, and would've opened the possibility that Sisko would be VERY resentful toward the prophets and question his role as Emissary.
Instead, Sisko never really did pay a price for his request in SOA. (I don't interpret his fate in WYLB to be "penance," it's certainly not a particularly harsh fate.)
lots of potential, not much done with it.
And I like the idea of Dukat trying to manipulate the pah-wraiths rather than having him become a true believer. More accurate with his character I think.
I get that it'd be pretty dark for a Star Trek show to actually have Captain Sisko agree to that price but they could've made the price be a more vague "someone close" to Captain Sisko, then have Jake die, then have Ben realize just what the prophets had meant.
Still very dark stuff, I mean they'd had David Marcus' death, but he wasn't a long-time regular character on a show. But this would have been storywriting gold, and would've opened the possibility that Sisko would be VERY resentful toward the prophets and question his role as Emissary.
Instead, Sisko never really did pay a price for his request in SOA. (I don't interpret his fate in WYLB to be "penance," it's certainly not a particularly harsh fate.)
lots of potential, not much done with it.
And I like the idea of Dukat trying to manipulate the pah-wraiths rather than having him become a true believer. More accurate with his character I think.
So glad DS9 was a Trek show, about people striving to do good, to share what they know of life, to live the journey, to explore to grow to learn, (in spite of often overwhelming opposition, and in life that wasn't paradise) and NOT some projection of "let's see how dark and unrelenting we can be." In fact, this one of the few times when I'm almost thankful for Rick Berman. Probably helped to balance out and put some necessary controls on the otherwise brilliant Ira Steven Behr, Ronald D. Moore & co.
Sorry, I would have stopped watching the show if Jake was killed, or if Kira killed Odo. Almost wanted to when Jadzia was killed.
Sorry, I would have stopped watching the show if Jake was killed, or if Kira killed Odo. Almost wanted to when Jadzia was killed.
I think that's what he initially tried to do...I think he did partially recover from his breakdown at first (despite hearing voices), and thought he could hold the tiger by the tail. He thought he could control the Pah-Wraiths, but like the traitors in Dante's Inferno, ended up sending his soul straight to hell while he was still alive. He lost his free will after that--but it was because of the decisions that he himself made.
I would've liked to have seen Odo banished from the station. Would be interesting to see the choices he made afterwards: where would he live, what would he do, etc. That may be a little too BSG, but it would set up a great story arc for the last season as he tries to redeem himself with the Feds and Bajorans, working from within the Founders to try and change their attitudes.
RE: Jake dies penance.
I think that's what they were trying to allude to with The Reckoning, but it got bungled with that anti-climatic ending. Or rather, Jake was going to die in that confrontation, but was saved due to Winn's interference, so Sisko's penance never came about as the Prophets originally hinted at.
Maybe.
I think that's what they were trying to allude to with The Reckoning, but it got bungled with that anti-climatic ending. Or rather, Jake was going to die in that confrontation, but was saved due to Winn's interference, so Sisko's penance never came about as the Prophets originally hinted at.
Maybe.
The Dominion actually makes it through the wormhole by the time the Defiant arrives.
He sees 2,800 ships massed around the station.
And then the episode closes in another cliff hanger.
The same thing that happened in the original happens later, and the Prophets eliminates the fleet, except this time outside the wormhole.
I agree with Nery's idea- spend a portion of the remaining episode dealing with the idea of whether Odo should face trial for collaboration or have his uniform taken away..
He sees 2,800 ships massed around the station.
And then the episode closes in another cliff hanger.
The same thing that happened in the original happens later, and the Prophets eliminates the fleet, except this time outside the wormhole.
I agree with Nery's idea- spend a portion of the remaining episode dealing with the idea of whether Odo should face trial for collaboration or have his uniform taken away..
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Why in the world would the Prophets care about Jake? Or exact a penance? Would they prefer a nice Apis bull?
I mean, if the chain of events Sisko sets off there includes Jake's death, I can see the Prophets warning him of that, but there's no causal link there.
Answering my own question
*The Dominion storms thru the WH
*The Prophets contact him and tell him to flee and he will receive power from on high to be the uber-diplomat
*Sisko, Ross, Nucheyev and Martok, et al...hold an emergency conference on planet x (prime of course) of all the neutral, medium powers
*Sisko uses his new powers of persuasion to persuade the:
Tzenkathi, Gorn, Tholians, Tamarians (w/some help from Picard) Breen, and Romulans to join or the AQ is lost
*After some initial bickering and posturing the new alliance regroups at ___________ (near Earth of course) for the battle of all battles
*At this time, the Feds have used a *new* transphasic cloak, and sent a multitude of unmanned drones to surround the new FHP.
*Unbeknown everyone except Sisko, Odo has been screwing the Founder and given the coordinates for the FHP to Sisko for the drone attack.
*When it looks unusually bleak for the New Alliance, Sisko gets word the drones are in place and ready to fly directly into the Link and exploding, making the Chang lings extinct
*Odo flees Ds9
*Dominion goes back into Cardassian and barracades themselves in
The drones are commanded to comeback
The war continues but at a much more cautious pace b/c of the heavy losses.
^ You'd really rather see the Federation openly commit genocide than the ending we got? 
Personally, I actually don't mind the ending for SoA. Yeah, in the context of the episode itself, the ending is a deus ex machina, but in the context of the show as a whole, I don't think the term applies quite so easily. It's a bit anticlimatic, sure, but other than that it's fine.
Personally, I actually don't mind the ending for SoA. Yeah, in the context of the episode itself, the ending is a deus ex machina, but in the context of the show as a whole, I don't think the term applies quite so easily. It's a bit anticlimatic, sure, but other than that it's fine.
^ You'd really rather see the Federation openly commit genocide than the ending we got?
Personally, I actually don't mind the ending for SoA. Yeah, in the context of the episode itself, the ending is a deus ex machina, but in the context of the show as a whole, I don't think the term applies quite so easily. It's a bit anticlimatic, sure, but other than that it's fine.
I think the Founders would buckle if they knew there was the threat of planet-wide annihilation.
You can't be nice in war esp w/ppl who don't want to be nice
Exactly. The Prophets are not gods, vengeful or otherwise (despite what the Bajorans believe), but the writers made them out to be in this instance. The only way it would really make sense is if the wormhole aliens were just using the word "penance" without really meaning penance (i.e. since they can see into the future, they already know that something bad will happen if they do what Sisko asks, and they're actually warning him rather than putting some nutty curse on him).
Re: Torah Ziyal's death: I remember seeing the spoilers for SOA and the narrator saying something to the effect of, "and once this is all over, someone will DIE!!!!" I remember thinking at the time that whoever was going to "DIE!!!!," it was certainly not going to be a main character, so it was probably going to be Ziyal. And I remember thinking how pointless and stupid that was, as if TPTB were really fooling us into thinking that someone like Kira or O'Brien was going to kick the bucket. Ziyal was simply used as a plot device, and dispatched of in literally the last few seconds of the episode, with no real repercussions later. What a complete waste of an interesting minor character in order to deliver on some stupid spoiler.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, have the Jemmie fleet not be irrevocably destroyed, and tie their fate in with the Pah Wraiths' struggle to claim the wormhole. Thus, when Dukat starts shit, it has repercussions outside of an actress who had to be written out somehow, a Gigolo Joe routine, and a cave set.
