S5:E22 "Children of Time" -- one of the most...

[Paul Weaver]

You're right as it turned out, but there was a war. There was no telling which if either or both of them would die young.

Wasn't a war in "The Visotor" timeline. Even the Klingon war seemed to have been less impactful.

You can believe that the Old Man Jake timeline continued, you could believe the same with the Timeless or Endgame timelines, or the Past Tense or City on the Edge of Forever ones, but the way time travel is depicted in Trek tends to imply the opposite.

 

[Captain Jerk]

I treat each episode based on the story presented in the particular episode. Old Jake and Sisko never contemplated any other consequences, thus there were no other consequences, in that particular time travel story. As I mentioned, shortly before cutting the cord, Old Jake gave Melanie advice about how to live the rest of her life, implying she would indeed have a "rest of her life" after he killed himself. The only person who would cease to exist is apparently himself, which is not logically impossible if the timeline branched instead of being replaced. That said, I agree Star Trek is not always consistent with itself for sure.

 

[Captain Jerk]

Original events of The Visitor:

MELANIE: Your father's coming here, isn't he? Soon.
JAKE SR: Yes.
MELANIE: You're going to cut the cord, aren't you?
JAKE SR: I want you to promise me something.
MELANIE: Anything.
JAKE SR: While you're studying my stories, poke your head up every once in a while. Take a look around. See what's going on. It's life, Melanie.
MELANIE: And you can miss it if you don't open your eyes. Thank you. For everything.
JAKE SR: It was a pleasure meeting you, young lady.
(Melanie gathers up her things and leaves.)

Alternate ending, where Jake's actions erase and replace the existing timeline instead of splitting into a second (i.e. the Paul Weaver director's cut. lol j/k):

JAKE SR: While you're studying my stories, poke your head up every once in a while. Take a look around. See what's going on. It's life, Melanie.
MELANIE: And you can miss it if you don't open your eyes. Thank you. For everything.
JAKE SR: It was a pleasure meeting you, young lady. And I sincerely hope you enjoy poking your head and looking around...for the last hour or so you have left.
MELANIE: Thank you... Wait, WHAT?!
JAKE SR: Oh sorry, it must have slipped my mind. After I sever the cord with my father, this timeline will cease to exist. I always forget that part, silly me!
MELANIE: But... I'll be okay right? I'll just live a slightly different life....or something??
JAKE SR: Actually, chances are you'll never be born. Oh well, have yourself a lovely evening, young lady. What's left of it.
MELANIE: But...but I'll still go to Heaven, right???
JAKE SR: Nah.
MELANIE: Jesus Christ...at least I won't feel anything....I will just be here one second, then gone the next....
JAKE SR: Actually, no. I'm afraid that according to my calculations, due to the nature of the cord linking my father and myself, it won't be an "instant" process. This timeline, or universe, will "struggle" to survive, fight against its own deletion against all odds. During this time, everyone in the universe will phase in and out of existence -- it will be extremely painful. Excruciatingly so. Oh my. But don't worry, it will be over in a few hours -- days, at most.
MELANIE: OH MY GOD, I HAVE TO WARN EVERYONE ABOUT THIS!!! STARFLEET!!! THE DEPARTMENT OF TEMPORAL INVESTIGATIONS!!! SOMEONE!!! ANYONE!!!!!!!
JAKE SR: I'm so sorry young lady, but now that you know this, I can't let you leave.
*Jake pulls out a phaser, set to kill.*
MELANIE: But....I'm your biggest fan!!!
*Jake immediately fires and watches as Melanie slowly vaporizes before his eyes.*
JAKE SR (to himself): My goodness, all this murdering has got me tuckered out. I think I'll take a nap before Dad arrives!

 

[at Quark's]

^ clever girl. By 'panicking' and threatening to tell everyone about it she still secured a quick and painless ending for herself. She's much more dangerous than she looks.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Alternate ending, where Jake's actions erase and replace the existing timeline instead of splitting into a second

You're assuming Jake isn't just lying to Melanie to stop her from trying to do anything.

Either way his actions were responsible for creating a timeline which had a massive intersteller war, all that suffering is on him.

 

[kkt]

I hate time travel stories.

Some of them are good anyway, but they have two strikes against them at the beginning just for being time travel stories.

 

[Captain Jerk]

^ clever girl. By 'panicking' and threatening to tell everyone about it she still secured a quick and painless ending for herself. She's much more dangerous than she looks.

Lol. If you noticed though she "slowly" vaporized. I didn't mention it but Jake used a weapon similar to the one in that TNG Data episode "The Most Toys". Haha but either way you're right she still got a much quicker death than everyone else.

You're assuming Jake isn't just lying to Melanie to stop her from trying to do anything.

That's definitely a possibility, especially given the way he killed Melanie in the alternate ending. It was sadistic. Jake is capable of anything. Lol but more seriously, if we more closely analyze the "advice" Jake gave her, he might have been giving her a twisted warning the whole time: "Poke your head up every once in a while. Take a look around. See what's going on. It's life. And you can miss it if you don't open your eyes."

^^ in other words, wake up and smell the coffee, clearly his plan is going to wipe out their timeline and her along with it. OPEN YOUR EYES, Melanie. You are about to MISS YOUR ENTIRE LIFE (by never being born). Diabolical...

Either way his actions were responsible for creating a timeline which had a massive intersteller war, all that suffering is on him.

Yes, he essentially "fathered" the timeline we watched until the end of the series. I guess it's in his DNA to "play God", given his father Benjamin is apparently part god/Prophet. Speaking of Ben, I wonder if his "special nature" is the true reason he survived that energy discharge instead of simply being killed, seeing as the Prophets are masters of time and such. Sisko and his son being tethered to each other across time is kind of Prophet-like. Ben was also strangely at peace in subspace and not really too bothered by it, perhaps an early "hint" on the show's part that there was more than meets the eye to Benjamin Sisko.