Kai Opoka

[Terok Nor]

Killed off after only 2 episodes and forgotten about for pretty much the rest of the series. What I don't think was ever answered is what were the Bajoran people told about her absence?

Were they told the truth that the Emissary got her killed? Did they know she was resurrected and opted to remain in the Gamma Quadrant? There was no fallout from any of this. Her status was never mentioned again and it was treated as if she'd simply died and wasn't still out there.

It seems to me the Bajoran people would be pretty pissed off that Starfleet got its Kai killed only a few months after arriving on DS9 but even Vedek Winn doesn't bring it up.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Kai Opoka knew that it was her destiny to remain on that planet. Kira understood that and Sisko was already a religious figure.

 

[tomalak301]

Kai Opaka left on her own volition though. Starfleet can't be blamed on an accident, even though at the time I'm not sure the Bajoran people really saw Sisko as a religious figure. Of course Bajor had it's own issues with the provisional government to iron out.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Bajorans would probably not even think to question the Emissary's judgment. If he says Opaka died in the crash, then they would accept it.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Opaka actually ask to go along on the original trip? So it's not like Sisko got her killed, she was a willing passenger.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

When they got the signal, Sisko tried to go take her back first. Opoka insisted to come along.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ And I'm sure the runabout's flight recorder would have a record of Opaka doing exactly that, so there'd be proof that Sisko isn't responsible...

 

[urbandefault]

"Kai Opoka" ... I thought this was gonna be one of those porn parody things.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I loved Opaka. Such a shame they didn't do more with her, though Winn brought more tension to the show, Opaka would've been a great mentor to The Sisko.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Maybe there should have been more fallout from Opoka not coming back from being in Starfleet custody. But I wouldn't be surprised if Winn sermonized that this was Opoka's destiny handed down from the prophets because she didn't want to risk Bajoran scientists setting up camp on that planet and coming up with a way to bring her home. The last thing Winn wanted was Opoka coming back.

 

[publiusr]

That and the last Kai told awful jokes in Sean Schemmel's voice.

 

[Lance]

The interesting thing is that the Berman/Pillar series bible talks extensively about Opaka as if she's going to be a semi-regular character who Sisko will consult with regularly. Seemingly nobody anticipated writing her out of the show so soon.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

"Kai Opoka" ... I thought this was gonna be one of those porn parody things.

or a new series about collecting small creatures which look like Bajoran religious figurines. It would be called Opokémon.

 

[Lance]

The Bajoran Orbs... gotta catch 'em all!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I choose you, Kira-chu!

 

[Paradise City]

Kai Opaka is still alive isn't she? Can't she just be Kai via Skype?

 

[Timo]

there'd be proof that Sisko isn't responsible...

Even if Opaka sent a video showing how she pulls out a phaser, ties up and gags the entire runabout crew and then stabs herself fifteen times before setting herself on fire, Sisko would still get the blame. "Responsibility" is not a technicality.

Heck, not even Starfleet would be inclined to let Sisko off the hook merely because he happened to be not guilty. Not if Opaka's death had an adverse effect on the relations with Bajor, and the wormhole was lost as the result.

Can't she just be Kai via Skype?

Supposedly, messages didn't travel until they jammed open the wormhole in "Destiny". But after that, yeah, probably. Although would people believe or follow her better for that, if they did/didn't already? Messages could always be forged.

What I really wonder is, if people learned that Opaka now was immortal, would there be a problem with overeager followers queuing up for like treatment...?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[admiral_reliant]

she was a collaborator and a terrorist, she showed the Cardies where a rebel Bajoran camp containing hundreds of people was so they could destroy it, rather than thousands elsewhere. She lost her son in this attack and the cover up lost Bareil his position of Kai which went to Winn

 

[Peach Wookiee]

That's not so simple. She followed the Vulcan axiom that the needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few. She sacrificed her child and others so that thousands more might live. I think the Bajoran people would have more than understood.

 

[Timo]

Well, Okapa being "terrorist" can be ruled out - she never did anything that would have terrorized anybody. OTOH, the people the Cardassians eliminated were most probably terrorists all - it's not as if they could have been anything else, as at that point of the occupation, terror would have been the only tactic available to them. Really, did we ever hear of the Resistance achieving anything but the terrorizing of collaborators, or walking into places recently abandoned by the Cardassians?

Whether Okapa felt bad about what she did, and the guilt was a factor in her choosing to go to Gamma to die (she might have foreseen that in an Orb or whatever), we don't really know. Bajorans have their own weird ideas about right and wrong, and Kais sound like supreme rulers who have little reason to bow to the opinion let alone judgement of others...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[publiusr]

Really, it would have been nice to see her at the end of the series take on the role of Emissary--and Sisko come back.

I think the actress died however.