The Prophets are the true villains

[STEPhon IT]

Only after Sisko pleaded with them that "Bajor needs a miracle. Stop those ships."
Otherwise the wormhole aliens wouldn't have done anything about those ships. And I may be misremembering, but I don't think there were any innocent "passengers" aboard those Dominion ships. They were repeatedly described as "reinforcements," clearly combatants with intent as aggressors.

Kor

The DS9 "Get out of Jail" Free Card; run the plot amok and when the story's a complete mess? Just wish the threat away. Feh!

 

[STEPhon IT]

Imagine if the creators of series knew Sisko could summon the Wormhole aliens to do his bidding; he could've taken care of his threats in every episode starting with "Emissary".

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Imagine if the creators of series knew Sisko could summon the Wormhole aliens to do his bidding; he could've taken care of his threats in every episode starting with "Emissary".

That would be TOO OP of a power.
Hopefully that was a "One Time Request" and the Wormhole Aliens granted it only that one time.

Oh yeah, welcome back to TrekBBS, you've been gone from TrekBBS for a while and decided to return =D.

 

[Kor]

It wasn't something Sisko could do all the time. The wormhole aliens told him that "A penance must be exacted" from him for this one-time favor.

Kor

 

[at Quark's]

We don't know what happened to those Jem' Hadar. They may have been killed, they also might have been whisked away to the far future or far past, or to a parallel universe where they could do no harm.

I agree that it was a bit too much of a deus ex machina solution (even though you can't really say those wormhole aliens interfering was unexpected).

 

[fireproof78]

It wasn't something Sisko could do all the time. The wormhole aliens told him that "A penance must be exacted" from him for this one-time favor.

Kor

Indeed. It came at great cost. Not exactly a magic lamp. Closer to a monkeys paw.

 

[at Quark's]

Well, only because the prophets chose it to come at great cost. As far as we can tell, they could as well have said: of course we'll help you! We don't want to see Bajor / the Alpha Quadrant ruined any more than you do! You try to control the game, and so do we, the difference being we have more overview, but we can't fault you for trying your best!

But they didn't.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Well, only because the prophets chose it to come at great cost. As far as we can tell, they could as well have said: of course we'll help you! We don't want to see Bajor / the Alpha Quadrant ruined any more than you do! You try to control the game, and so do we, the difference being we have more overview, but we can't fault you for trying your best!

But they didn't.

Not necessarily. The Prophets' actions may have changed whom the Pah Wraiths chose to be their envoy. It might have been that they would have simply gone with Winn, and the confrontation between them would have unfolded in different ways or at a different time. Perhaps they would have forced her to allow the challenge in The Reckoning to go forward.