Setlik III Question

[Nerys Ghemor]

I know we got some very vivid descriptions, both in TNG and DS9 of O'Brien's experiences in the Setlik III massacre.

But I have a question about it--I'm not sure if my imagination is playing tricks on me or not here! Did we ever see a flashback to Setlik III, and if so, in what episode?

I keep thinking I can picture it, but I'm not sure if it was ever actually seen, or if my imagination just paints such a bold picture of the incident that I just THINK I can remember seeing it. Any help here?

 

[od0_ital]

Nope, no flashbacks, but TNG 'The Wounded' provided such a great description of it, I don't think a flashback was necessary.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

That description was VERY powerful indeed. Yet I still have this nagging feeling that I actually saw it onscreen.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Sadly, we never saw any flashbacks. Perhaps you're thinking of "Empok Nor", where Garak and O'Brien bring it up in conversation a few times as Garak stalks the Starfleet people. O'Brien as soldier against Cardassian on screen...

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I don't know...I was never thinking it was "Empok Nor." Could it have been on TNG? Or have I just got a REALLY good imagination?

 

[DS9forever]

The novelization of Emissary also featured the Rutledge crew arriving at the colony.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

....Or have I just got a REALLY good imagination?

Well, I don't know if this is the answer to your query, but you do have a really good imagination .

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

The novelization of Emissary also featured the Rutledge crew arriving at the colony.

I definitely read that--several times when I was little, and recently as an adult. Maybe that's what did it!

 

[Tiberius]

You aren't thinking of "Homecoming" where we see O'Brien fighting Cardassians on that labour camp, are you? I imagine Setlik would have been very similar to that.

But I have a vision of what Setlik would have been like... The descriptions provided do provide a vivid idea of what happened.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Nope, I'm picturing it inside the confines of a room, the way Setlik III was described. But maybe it was Peter David's writing of it (this was back when his books didn't suck) that stuck in my head.

 

[FredH]

No, there has never been any onscreen flashback to Setlik III, at all, ever.

 

[DevilEyes]

The novelization of Emissary also featured the Rutledge crew arriving at the colony.

I definitely read that--several times when I was little, and recently as an adult. Maybe that's what did it!

I have a picture in my head of it since I read Emissary, too.

 

[Anwar]

I don't think we really need a flashback to the Setlik massacre, the descriptions given and the emotions shown by the characters involved are all we need.

 

[Timo]

One thing worth pointing out here is that "The Wounded" and "Empok Nor" clearly describe separate events, even if both took place on Setlik III.

In "The Wounded", a bunch of Cardassian militia raided a settlement around 2347, killed some people, and humiliatingly drove away the landing party from the Rutledge as later described in "Armageddon Game"; O'Brien first dabbled in transporters there while helping the landing party evacuate. The incident never led to a war, and the Cardassian government actually apologized, or at least made excuses.

In "Empok Nor", entire regiments of regular Cardassian forces were deployed on Setlik III, and O'Brien was among triumphant Starfleet forces that drove the bloodied Cardassians away. This was clearly during open war, and probably also was the incident in which Boone got captured, as described in "Tribunal" - an event from 2362 or thereabouts, as per the "Tribunal" timeline.

None of the four episodes mentioned above featured visuals of either of the two Setlik III events. And yet...

...I, too, have a faint "memory" of a room where O'Brien fires to kill while thinking his phaser is set on stun. But I'm positive it's not from these four episodes, and no other episode would have an excuse for showing it. So it's probably Peter David's voice speaking in my head in a particularly visual way.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I kind of think that was one of those continuity screwups, myself...I actually saw some articles where someone tried to figure out what happened at Setlik III. I could post said article if you were interested, once I get off work.

 

[Timo]

I don't think there's any need to dismiss any piece of evidence as a "screwup". If Cardassians thought that Setlik III was a plausible location for a Starfleet gathering of forces in 2347, and sent some militia to do their dirty work for them, then naturally they'd continue to consider Setlik III a militarily important place and would fight there a second time during the war that ensued. And perhaps a third time, and a fourth.

"The Wounded" gives no indication on when the "incident" took place, but O'Brien in "Paradise" (not "Armageddon Game", sorry!) says it was before he got to know transporters, and in "Realm of Fear" he says that he got into transporters in 2346/47 (that is, 22 years before the episode, which takes place in 2368/69). So it's ancient history for O'Brien, not recent history. That backstory holds together pretty well.

In turn, "Tribunal" makes it clear that Boone was released just eight years before the episode, and heavily suggests that his captivity lasted only for a short time since the release was said to be "shortly after Setlik III". There's no contradiction there if there were two separate events, and indeed we get two very different descriptions.

The novels give us a third battle at Setlik III: a space battle in the Dominion War, with Elizabeth Lense of later USS da Vinci fame taking part. The place does seem worth fighting for, more than once...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tallis Rhul]

Could be interesting, there's certainly enough mentioned to paint a pretty accurate picture of events.

You didn't by any chance dream this Setlik III thing did you? That would have made it seem real and probably would have stuck in your mind?

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Nope, no Setlik III dream. Had other Trek dreams, but not that one.

 

[nx1701g]

I remember that the description of it in Emissary was so detailed that it was very easy to formulate a picture of it in your mind. It was so well described that I was shocked (I read the novelization before I saw the actual episode because I started DS9 in the 3rd Season) it wasn't in the actual episode. Maybe that's it?