The Bashir Changeling

[The_Baroness]

So I got to thinking. Julian was replaced by a changeling, who caused chaos, and nearly destroyed the Bajoran system.

All that while posing as a (relatively) low ranked officer and doctor.

So..why Julian? ...what could the changeling had achieved had it been others it replaced??

For me, odo would be an obvious choice - full access to station security. And - a bona fide reason to avoid blood screenings but - itd mean potentially harming another changeling...

But what could it have done had it replaced Worf? Or Sisko for example....

 

[Guy Gardener]

So I got to thinking. Julian was replaced by a changeling, who caused chaos, and nearly destroyed the Bajoran system.

All that while posing as a (relatively) low ranked officer and doctor.

So..why Julian? ...what could the changeling had achieved had it been others it replaced??

For me, odo would be an obvious choice - full access to station security. And - a bona fide reason to avoid blood screenings but - itd mean potentially harming another changeling...

But what could it have done had it replaced Worf? Or Sisko for example....

Sleeper Agents assume a "legend" and then do nothing uncharacteristic until the moment to strike is decided upon by their superiors.

The only thing Changeling Julian did that was barely human before he was activated is dump Leeta. Granted she was too much woman for him, but that's his thing, to swim into the deep end of the dating pool with floaties on his arms, and wonder why no one respects him.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

If the Changeling wished to kill anyone, access to medical records, equipment, and restricted substances means they could do so and make it look natural. They also have opportunity when their would-be victim is most vulnerable.

 

[Guy Gardener]

If the Changeling wished to kill anyone, access to medical records, equipment, and restricted substances means they could do so and make it look natural. They also have opportunity when their would-be victim is most vulnerable.

The Changelings are not inherently evil, seeking to inflict random chaos, destruction and pain.

They are damaged victims overcompensating for a holocaust that happened thousands of years ago, by assuming that everyone "that looks the same" is the enemy. (Not talking about current affairs, but wow.)

They want victory and security, not genocide.

Megadeath sure but not genocide, unless someone is really asking for it.

 

[The_Baroness]

The Changelings are not inherently evil, seeking to inflict random chaos, destruction and pain.

They are damaged victims overcompensating for a holocaust that happened thousands of years ago, by assuming that everyone "that looks the same" is the enemy. (Not talking about current affairs, but wow.)

They want victory and security, not genocide.

Megadeath sure but not genocide, unless someone is really asking for it.

They're clearly not above genocide though. After all they were willing to cook Bajor and everyone on it with their own sun.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

One might commit an assassination, though.

 

[Guy Gardener]

They're clearly not above genocide though. After all they were willing to cook Bajor and everyone on it with their own sun.

Bajor has colonies.

Genocide is taking out the home world, the colonies, then rounding up the stragglers and survivors for a mass grave.

They respond disproportionately to moderate threats.

I suggest therapy.

 

[kkt]

Sleeper Agents assume a "legend" and then do nothing uncharacteristic until the moment to strike is decided upon by their superiors.

The only thing Changeling Julian did that was barely human before he was activated is dump Leeta. Granted she was too much woman for him, but that's his thing, to swim into the deep end of the dating pool with floaties on his arms, and wonder why no one respects him.

Dumping Leeta made sense for Changeling-Bashir. Leeta was closer to him than anyone else and therefore most likely to catch on that something was odd about him when he was replaced by a changeling.

 

[Tosk]

It was real Bashir who (mutually) stopped dating Leeta.

 

[Ragitsu]

Spoiler

 

[AntonyF]

We have to take some stuff as just a given - that the changelings would prefer to kidnap the real Bashir for questioning and potential bargaining power later rather than just vaporise him.

With that in mind, they needed a situation to not only be able to replace him but also whisk the real Bashir away. That was attending a burn treatment conference on Meezan IV. Sisko probably wasn't attending many conferences, and if he went back to Earth there'd be security galore.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Dumping Leeta made sense for Changeling-Bashir. Leeta was closer to him than anyone else and therefore most likely to catch on that something was odd about him when he was replaced by a changeling.

Or the Changeling was afraid that he would betray his people to make her smile, if he spent one more minute doing the Sunday Morning Federation News Service Crossword Puzzle with her in bed.

 

[ParaTulip]

Genocide is taking out the home world, the colonies, then rounding up the stragglers and survivors for a mass grave.

This is a poor understanding of the concept of genocide that I hear come up from time to time: The actual legal definitions of the term are about intent to eradicate a people from a region, not about killing them to the last of their kind across the whole of the world/universe. If you think of historic examples of genocides, they typically did not include going to diaspora far outside the control of the genocidaire's control.

On the thread topic: If you want a continuity reason to pick Bashir, he does control access to the Bio-mimetic gel on DS9. The episode "Distant Voices" had him getting nearly fatally assaulted because someone wanted that. That stuff is apparently able to do all kinds of nasty stuff, from being a bio-weapon to genetic enhancements. Seems useful for sabotage or possibly just as a helpful get for the various Dominion projects of creating engineered servant species.

 

[Jedman67]

The original script had Rom be the changeling

 

[Guy Gardener]

This is a poor understanding of the concept of genocide that I hear come up from time to time: The actual legal definitions of the term are about intent to eradicate a people from a region, not about killing them to the last of their kind across the whole of the world/universe. If you think of historic examples of genocides, they typically did not include going to diaspora far outside the control of the genocidaire's control.

On the thread topic: If you want a continuity reason to pick Bashir, he does control access to the Bio-mimetic gel on DS9. The episode "Distant Voices" had him getting nearly fatally assaulted because someone wanted that. That stuff is apparently able to do all kinds of nasty stuff, from being a bio-weapon to genetic enhancements. Seems useful for sabotage or possibly just as a helpful get for the various Dominion projects of creating engineered servant species.

I don't want to do my Mel Gibson Impersonation, and you can't make me.

 

[Uxi]

It's even simpler, that Founder had a specific mission and other Founders were going after Earth, etc.

 

[Oddish]

Maybe Bashir was just the human who was available.

Also, I think that it had a mission regarding Odo. By "The Begotten", it was in place. Do you think a changeling couldn't have saved one of its own kind? For whatever reason, the Founders wanted Odo to regain his shapeshifting power, so the infant changeling was the means they used. Bashir was the most convenient person to oversee that job.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Maybe Bashir was just the human who was available.

Also, I think that it had a mission regarding Odo. By "The Begotten", it was in place. Do you think a changeling couldn't have saved one of its own kind? For whatever reason, the Founders wanted Odo to regain his shapeshifting power, so the infant changeling was the means they used. Bashir was the most convenient person to oversee that job.

Every Changling is as important as any other Changeling.

Generals and janitors simultaneously.

So they said to a general with the collective histories of 12 thousand years in his head... Switch out with Bashir, wait 6 months, then blow up the station, in exactly the same way as if you had only been there for only 1 day.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Our understanding of genocide is often predicated on ideology against a race, eliminating those who do not belong to the community, coming first. The Founders use genocide as a tool, eliminating (reducing, etc.) whole races in pursuit of strategic goals and maintain firm control. It is control that comes first, then the genocide.

 

[Farscape One]

Sleeper Agents assume a "legend" and then do nothing uncharacteristic until the moment to strike is decided upon by their superiors.

The only thing Changeling Julian did that was barely human before he was activated is dump Leeta. Granted she was too much woman for him, but that's his thing, to swim into the deep end of the dating pool with floaties on his arms, and wonder why no one respects him.

Leeta broke up with Bashir... he said so in "DOCTOR BASHIR, I PRESUME?". The breakup ceremony they did was 3 episodes before the uniform changeover. Bashir was a prisoner for about 30 days. His older uniform obviously means it was Bashireling in "RAPTURE", "THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT", "THE BEGOTTEN", "FOR THE UNIFORM" (not appeared, though), "IN PURGATORY'S SHADOW", and "BY INFERNO'S LIGHT". 30 days is simply not enough time for Bashireling to also be in episodes even further back.

He was replaced offscreen sometime in between "THE ASCENT" and "RAPTURE".

Maybe Bashir was just the human who was available.

Also, I think that it had a mission regarding Odo. By "The Begotten", it was in place. Do you think a changeling couldn't have saved one of its own kind? For whatever reason, the Founders wanted Odo to regain his shapeshifting power, so the infant changeling was the means they used. Bashir was the most convenient person to oversee that job.

I always suspected Bashireling was responsible for the baby Changeling to get there to begin with. The Female Changeling's line next season in "BEHIND THE LINES" of 'we have forgiven you' made me think of this when it initially aired that night.

Pretty convenient that Quark was able to get his hands on the baby from that merchant and sell it to Odo.