The Orb in "Emissary"

[Bry_Sinclair]

Started a rewatch of DS9 (just finished Season 1 as it happens), it suddenly occurred to me that the Orb seen in "Emissary" was never named.

Going by both Sisko and Dax's encounters to me it would appear to be one of 'memory', though that particular one was never seen of again. It's definitely not Prophecy and Change as there is nothing prophetic about what the two characters see, but rather reliving highlights from their own lives.

In the Relaunch an Orb of Memory is discovered by Elias Vaughn which ultimately leads him to the station. But if that is the case, what was the first Orb all about?

 

[T'Girl]

Kai Opaka said that the orb would let Sisko look for solutions from within.

Are we sure that Sisko and Dax were "using" the same orb?

 

[Tosk]

Are we sure that Sisko and Dax were "using" the same orb?

Yes. It's the only one the Bajorans have in their possession at this point.

 

[Hando]

If we go by Prophecy and Change then perhaps the focus in the pilot episode is on the Change part.
My take is that this particular Orb is useful in answering "What if?" questions.

If you look into the past you can find out the point in your life where a decision brought you to the current present. I may be simplifying, but you are perhaps presented with the available PODs.
For Sisko it was meeting his wife, for Dax it was becoming Dax.

If you are interested in the future you are shown where the current decision is going to bring you.

Also keep in mind that the reason why the Orb name and its use are not in accord is because the various people lack the affinity for Orb use, or do not yet know how to use the whole potential of an Orb.

Perhaps in contrast to the Orb of Time, when used correctly the Orb of Prophecy and Change may allow a person to transport him/herself to a specific moment and live the life from that point.

 

[Iamnotspock]

Perhaps in contrast to the Orb of Time, when used correctly the Orb of Prophecy and Change may allow a person to transport him/herself to a specific moment and live the life from that point.

I've never understood how there can be an Orb of Time, given that the Prophets don't have an understanding of linear time until they meet Sisko, whom they don't know, but then go on to create in the first place? Or am I not thinking fourth-dimensionally?

 

[Tosk]

I've never understood how there can be an Orb of Time, given that the Prophets don't have an understanding of linear time until they meet Sisko, whom they don't know, but then go on to create in the first place? Or am I not thinking fourth-dimensionally?

The Prophets didn't name it that, the Bajorans did. An orb that allows you to visit another time makes perfect sense considering the Prophets exist at all points in time. And as you say, for all we know they didn't even create that orb until after their encounter with Sisko.

 

[Timo]

...Which may still mean they created it long before Ben Sisko was born, from our mortal viewpoint. Heck, for all we know, there's but one Orb, existing in overlapping timelines or something.

Are the names the invention of Bajorans? Or are they divinely revealed to the users through the Orbs themselves?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tosk]

...Which may still mean they created it long before Ben Sisko was born, from our mortal viewpoint.

That's what I was getting at, that the when of things doesn't have any real meaning when it comes to the Prophets. Just as Ben's mother was possessed by a Prophet because he met the Prophets later in his life, anything that happened in the past could still be as a result of future events.