Sisko & Odo at the end, overly dramatized?

[GotNoRice]

At the end of Season 7, Sisko goes into the wormhole to become a prophet, and Odo goes back to the great-link to re-join his people. What I don't understand is why both of these events were mostly portrayed as events where they weren't going to be seeing their respective loved ones again for a very long time.

With Benjamin Sisko, they did have that line of dialog that suggests he would come back at some point, but from what I understand that line was a last-minute addition at Avery Brooks request because he did not want his character to be portrayed as an African-American male abandoning a wife with a newborn baby. It was indeed the writers intent for him to pretty much not ever come back. Yet we have a LOT of precedent that suggests prophets can leave the wormhole, or simply communicate with those outside the wormhole, pretty much any time they want to. In addition, for those who want to communicate with a prophet, it seems like it's just a matter of either finding an orb, or at worst, simply taking a ship and flying it into the wormhole. I don't recall it ever being established that there was a limit to how often this could be done. In the case of Kasidy Yates or Jake, I never understood why they couldn't simply use one of these avenues to communicate with Benjamin Sisko basically every time they wanted to; perhaps even every single day. This realization of course would have made his departure much less dramatic.

With Odo we are in a similar situation. He rejoined the great link, but we have established on many occasions that changelings can join and leave the link basically whenever they want to. DS9 seems to be fairly close to the great link as it never takes them long to get there in a ship in any episode, including the last episode. There doesn't seem to be any road block that would have prevented Kira from visiting the great link whenever she wanted to. Granted, a "long-distance relationship" probably would not have worked with him living in the great link and Kira simply visiting (or vise-versa), but the way it was portrayed was that they would not even be seeing each other again at all, not even as friends, for a very long time if ever. Why?

This all just kind of comes off like parents who give their kid a tearful sendoff to college - even though the college is still in the same city that the parents live in.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

This seems a bit like James Cameron's Jack and Rose problem: if he knew they could both float on the door, he would have made the door smaller.

I think if the writers assiduously documented why Sisko and Odo would not return, we would be bored. Actually, the overwhelming desire to be part of the Great Link was part of many stories, and I did not find it confusing to think that Odo would find it nearly impossible to relate to the outside world once he went inside. On the other hand, it would seem that the original dialogue established that Sisko had indeed experienced physical death and was not in the wormhole, unlike Akorem.

 

[Nakita Akita]

At the end of Season 7, Sisko goes into the wormhole to become a prophet, and Odo goes back to the great-link to re-join his people. What I don't understand is why both of these events were mostly portrayed as events where they weren't going to be seeing their respective loved ones again for a very long time.

With Benjamin Sisko, they did have that line of dialog that suggests he would come back at some point, but from what I understand that line was a last-minute addition at Avery Brooks request because he did not want his character to be portrayed as an African-American male abandoning a wife with a newborn baby. It was indeed the writers intent for him to pretty much not ever come back. Yet we have a LOT of precedent that suggests prophets can leave the wormhole, or simply communicate with those outside the wormhole, pretty much any time they want to. In addition, for those who want to communicate with a prophet, it seems like it's just a matter of either finding an orb, or at worst, simply taking a ship and flying it into the wormhole. I don't recall it ever being established that there was a limit to how often this could be done. In the case of Kasidy Yates or Jake, I never understood why they couldn't simply use one of these avenues to communicate with Benjamin Sisko basically every time they wanted to; perhaps even every single day. This realization of course would have made his departure much less dramatic.

With Odo we are in a similar situation. He rejoined the great link, but we have established on many occasions that changelings can join and leave the link basically whenever they want to. DS9 seems to be fairly close to the great link as it never takes them long to get there in a ship in any episode, including the last episode. There doesn't seem to be any road block that would have prevented Kira from visiting the great link whenever she wanted to. Granted, a "long-distance relationship" probably would not have worked with him living in the great link and Kira simply visiting (or vise-versa), but the way it was portrayed was that they would not even be seeing each other again at all, not even as friends, for a very long time if ever. Why?

This all just kind of comes off like parents who give their kid a tearful sendoff to college - even though the college is still in the same city that the parents live in.

To me it's because both were going to places or realms without time.

Odo spent 3 days "attached" to the "female" Changling in his quarters when Rom was caught and locked up. Odo thought it had only been a few hours.
The man from Bajor's history, the poet, thought he had been inside the wormhole with the prophets for only a few days and it was hundreds of years.
Odo on his planet could be inside the link for 15 years and think it was a day or a week.
Same for Sisko.

Kassidy and Jake would show up and Sisko would be like," jeez, you two were here like about 5 minutes ago."
Same for Odo.

Show up 15 years later and Sisko would be like," jeez you both look terrible, what's wrong? It looks like neither of you have slept in a while." But to him only a day or two would have passed.

Likewise you couldn't depend on either one of them to come and visit, because it might be 20-30 years before they'd show up.
Anyway, that's how I felt about it.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

What I don't understand is why both of these events were mostly portrayed as events where they weren't going to be seeing their respective loved ones again for a very long time.

Simply put, they might not return for years, if ever, to the people that they've left behind.

Yet we have a LOT of precedent that suggests prophets can leave the wormhole, or simply communicate with those outside the wormhole, pretty much any time they want to.

He's not a Prophet, he's the Emissary, whose ultimate destiny was never made clear, as well as what role he might play in Bajor's future.

In addition, for those who want to communicate with a prophet, it seems like it's just a matter of either finding an orb, or at worst, simply taking a ship and flying it into the wormhole. I don't recall it ever being established that there was a limit to how often this could be done. In the case of Kasidy Yates or Jake, I never understood why they couldn't simply use one of these avenues to communicate with Benjamin Sisko basically every time they wanted to; perhaps even every single day. This realization of course would have made his departure much less dramatic.

They could try. We did see with Winn that not everyone is lucky to speak to the inhabitants of the Celestial Temple.

DS9 seems to be fairly close to the great link as it never takes them long to get there in a ship in any episode, including the last episode.

We have no way of knowing how much time passes, it may have been a few hours or weeks for all we know.

There doesn't seem to be any road block that would have prevented Kira from visiting the great link whenever she wanted to.

The fact its the Founders new homeworld, in Dominion space, might make that a very difficult trip for her. They lost the war in the Alpha Quadrant and withdraw back to their space, but the Dominion is still going strong and going to hold a grudge.

Granted, a "long-distance relationship" probably would not have worked with him living in the great link and Kira simply visiting (or vise-versa), but the way it was portrayed was that they would not even be seeing each other again at all, not even as friends, for a very long time if ever.

Odo was going to be involved in changing his people's entire core belief about solids, moving them away from fear and distrust, not to mention a lot of anger from the fact they were almost wiped out by the S31 virus. He has a lot of work to do in order to bring about better understanding and potentially peace.

Why?

The short answer: for the feels and drama!

 

[at Quark's]

I always assumed not because it would be impossible for them to return, they simply don't have the time to do so. Why? Because both have huge tasks ahead of them that will require their absolutely undiluted attention for a long time. Sisko because he "has to learn many things from the Prophets", Odo because he needs to teach the Changelings about solids and turn their attitude around, as the poster above me indicates. It will require so much of their focus they simply cannot maintain individual attachments to the "outside world" for the time being. They have to emotionally disconnect with the people they love to achieve their goals - in that sense it's a sacrifice.

Look at Sisko when he speaks with Kasidy for the last time. He wants to take away her sorrow and grief, but at the same time, he seems strangely disconnected and distant, as if he made the decision to let her go, already.