Poll Time: Should they have made Sisko ____ (Season 7 spoilers)

[You_Will_Fail]

Half prophet?

I personally found it a big mistake. I just found myself rolling my eyes so much through the early episodes of season 7 and wondering when we were going to get back to normal DS9. It definitely derailed a bit in season 7 I don't care what anyone says.

Well what's your opinion?

 

[RoJoHen]

Honestly, this didn't bother me at all. And he's not really half-Prophet. Sarah Sisko was still a human being. A Prophet merely shared her body for a while to ensure that Ben would be born. At least it provides an explanation for why a human, and not a Bajoran, was chosen to be the Emissary.

No, I wasn't bothered by that. I was bothered by the Pah Wraiths and the Kostamojen. Okay, so they were evil Prophets that got kicked out of the Celestial Temple; that's fine. But why were they trapped in random Bajoran artifacts? And why was it so frickin' easy to free them?

 

[Jetboogieman]

No, I wasn't bothered by that. I was bothered by the Pah Wraiths and the Kostamojen. Okay, so they were evil Prophets that got kicked out of the Celestial Temple; that's fine. But why were they trapped in random Bajoran artifacts? And why was it so frickin' easy to free them?

I'm in agreeance for different reasons, I just felt the whole storyline with Adami, Dukat and the Pah Wraiths to be entirely unnessecary.

We'd spend the last 2 seasons finally reaching the climactic battle for Cardassia and the final defeat of the dominion, only to watch the Episode that was so good (minus recycled battle scenes) end with Sisko falling into fire in a random mountain.

I know it's always tough to end shows that have been years in the running, very few have pulled off a satisfactory ending, and admittedly DS9 faired better then most but honestly at the end of the day I really wish that crap hadn't been there.

 

[ALF]

The only thing I really liked about it is that Kira ended up in command of DS9 and I find that ending suitable. She really deserved to be the station's commander.

 

[tafkats]

I wasn't crazy about the revelation, or the idea that Sisko somehow had no choice but to end up where he did. His connection to Bajor was more poignant when he came, unwillingly at first, and gradually fell in love with the planet and people, than when it was a matter of predestination.

 

[RoJoHen]

I wasn't crazy about the revelation, or the idea that Sisko somehow had no choice but to end up where he did. His connection to Bajor was more poignant when he came, unwillingly at first, and gradually fell in love with the planet and people, than when it was a matter of predestination.

Well, he still had to do those things. At any point, he could have decided not to play the role of Emissary. So yes, perhaps it was pre-destination in that nobody else could fulfill that role, but at no point did he have to comply with it.

 

[DevilEyes]

I wasn't crazy about the revelation, or the idea that Sisko somehow had no choice but to end up where he did. His connection to Bajor was more poignant when he came, unwillingly at first, and gradually fell in love with the planet and people, than when it was a matter of predestination.

Not only do I despise predestination stories, but they made the Prophets arseholes who use human beings for their own ends - violating a practically raping a woman, making her have sex and marry and give birth with a man regardless of her own will, manipulating a man to fall in love with someone who never existed, and then just leaving when they were done with them. And I'm supposed to root for the Prophets, why? Oh yes, they had to make Pah-wraiths mu ha ha eeevol so the Prophets could still be good guys in comparison. Meh.

The story would've been a lot more poignant if Sisko was never destined for anything and wasn't "chosen" but just came to be close to the Prophets and Bajor.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

He wasn't half Prophet though.

A Prophet inhabited the body of Sarah Sisko because they knew that he was needed (since time has no meaning to them). They then forced her to marry his father and become pregnant. After that was done and he was born the Prophet left again and Sarah did so as well shortly after.

If anything it makes the Prophets highly manipulative, but then needed him for their own ends.

It kinda made sense to me and didn't bother me at all. Had they gone the route of making him half-Prophet and giving him special powers that would have been annoying as hell.

But that's just my thoughts.

 

[Anika Hanson]

I didn't like it, and I didn't like the idea of him being the emissary either.

 

[Kira Nerys]

I liked it a good story line for the character of Sisko.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

It did provide an explanation for why he, rather than a Bajoran, was the Emissary. But that doesn't mean I liked it. I didn't. I didn't like the Kai Winn / Dukat storyline either.

 

[BennyRussel]

First a partial quote:

"I just felt that all the Starfleet captains are treated like gods by viewers. Clearly, the next step was to actually make one of those captains a god, or godlike. I had a chance to do that with Sisko, and the thought appealed to me on many levels."
---Ira Steven Behr from the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion"

I understand his thinking. I like the possibilities his being with the prophets as a prophet (half) could bring including what it might mean for Jake and his half-sibling. I wonder if they would become religious figures in the Bajoran faith in the future.

It's a lot better than thinking of Kirk's demise (getting crushed on a planet we never heard of fighting a one-off villain) or Picard growing old and senile.

 

[Disruptor]

I didn't like but...

The way I see it. Sisko arrived at DS9, he was not conceived by the Prophets. His encounter with them is what caused his origin. The Prophets exist out of time. They went back and "made" Sisko after meeting the adult Sisko, who explained what linear time was to them.

It's a paradox of sorts.

 

[Worf'sParmach]

I wasn't crazy about the revelation, or the idea that Sisko somehow had no choice but to end up where he did. His connection to Bajor was more poignant when he came, unwillingly at first, and gradually fell in love with the planet and people, than when it was a matter of predestination.

This.

 

[Bisz]

Honestly, this didn't bother me at all. And he's not really half-Prophet. Sarah Sisko was still a human being. A Prophet merely shared her body for a while to ensure that Ben would be born. At least it provides an explanation for why a human, and not a Bajoran, was chosen to be the Emissary.

No, I wasn't bothered by that. I was bothered by the Pah Wraiths and the Kostamojen. Okay, so they were evil Prophets that got kicked out of the Celestial Temple; that's fine. But why were they trapped in random Bajoran artifacts? And why was it so frickin' easy to free them?

+1

I was going to do the usual complaining about there not being a 3rd option in between the two since I couldn't decide one way or there other till I realized that since I like the episodes at the start of S7 then I really should go with "I like it".

And like RoJoHen I dislike the Pah Wraith stuff, especially at the end of the season where I always skip the Winn/Dukat stuff because it really doesn't interest me.

 

[RoJoHen]

I was going to do the usual complaining about there not being a 3rd option in between the two since I couldn't decide one way or there other till I realized that since I like the episodes at the start of S7 then I really should go with "I like it".

Yeah, that's really how I feel about it. I thoroughly enjoy those episodes. I love Sisko and Ezri's little quest to find the Orb of the Emissary. I like Kira's little story with the Romulan blockade. I like Worf's mission to get Jadzia into Sto'Vo'Kor. Everybody has something to do, and none of them really feel like tacked-on B-plots.

 

[AdmiralScreed]

I didn't think making Sisko's mother a prophet was a terrific idea because it just raises more questions than it can actually answer. On the other hand, there was so much else going on at the time of this revelation that I didn't find really find myself thinking about it and questioning it. I just sort of rolled with the story and allowed it to take me where it was going to take me. In the end it really didn't bother me.

In the end I voted "Yes" to the poll because making Sisko's mother a prophet didn't hinder my enjoyment of the show at all.

 

[apostle83]

I wasn't crazy about the revelation, or the idea that Sisko somehow had no choice but to end up where he did. His connection to Bajor was more poignant when he came, unwillingly at first, and gradually fell in love with the planet and people, than when it was a matter of predestination.

Indeed. It also doesn't make sense either - the prophets weren't the only ones who existed out of time. Why did their plan work, but the Pah'Wraiths fail?

It did provide an explanation for why he, rather than a Bajoran, was the Emissary. But that doesn't mean I liked it. I didn't. I didn't like the Kai Winn / Dukat storyline either.

Well, I just flat out didn't like Kai Winn, period. Her personality is the kind I have loathed since I was old enough to loathe.

I didn't like but...

The way I see it. Sisko arrived at DS9, he was not conceived by the Prophets. His encounter with them is what caused his origin. The Prophets exist out of time. They went back and "made" Sisko after meeting the adult Sisko, who explained what linear time was to them.

It's a paradox of sorts.

And DS9 is full of time travel Paradoxes. Time's Orphan is a big one, one which I just watched last night.

I heard someone mention rape, and I didn't quote it because I don't feel it was a legitimate comment. I feel it would have been much better if the Prophet had communicated with Benjamin's mother and persuaded her to participate.

 

[Navaros]

I always hate ad hoc retconning that creates irreconcilable plotholes, as Sisko's mother being a prophet does.

DS9 has many other such examples too (Bashir changeling, Martok changeling, etc.)

IMO if they can't make something square plausibly with the plots that have already come before, they should just not do it.

 

[SpocksOddSocks]

I decided to see if a post like this existed after seeing comments in the general Trek sub forum about hating the.the idea of Sisko are part prophet and wondered what the consensus was. I personally liked that part of it. I also feel if makes it more poignant rather than less. I'm not entirely certain how muck of it is retcon either. Whilst I'm certain it wouldn't have been planned from the start, I suspect it could have been in the cards for a while before series 7.

Also felt the thread could so with bumping as more votes might come in now.