"The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease?

[Jared]

Just re watched it on dvd and thought perhaps this was the first instance where we saw the disease. I know it dates back to Odo linking with the other Founders but what date was it that he was infected by Section 31?

 

[DonIago]

He was presumably infected during Homefront/Paradise Lost.

Not sure what The Ship has to do with it...the changeling in that episode died because of the crash.

 

[cylkoth]

Re: "The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease

Yeah, the Founder died due to the ship crashing, not from the Section 31 disease. It's been awhile since I've seen it, but weren't they chasing some renegade Jem Hadar, who fired on the ship and there was an accident onboard where the Founder got zapped? Given what we've seen, a changeling could've morhed into something capable of surviving a mere ship crash.

 

[DonIago]

Re: "The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease

I think you're thinking of the ship that crashed in "Rocks and Shoals". I believe in "The Ship" the ship crashed due to inertial damper failure. Messy way to go, really...

 

[nx1701g]

Re: "The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease

^ That's what happened. The episode will be on SpikeTV in about 27 minutes where I live.

 

[Timo]

Re: "The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease

In "The Adversary" already, we learned that Changelings can be killed by things as mundane as a naked warp core... So I doubt we would need to think that the Changeling in "The Ship" had to be ill in order to fail to survive a starship crash.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[anti-matter]

Re: "The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease

Well in "Rocks and Shoals" it was my recollection that the founder died from holding his shape too long. Remember how near the end of the show it dripped from the ceiling like powdered ash?

 

[Photon]

Perhaps the Changeling was serously hurt by the ship crash. After Sisko and his party got the ship
the Founder was in the shape of a bulkhead ceiling and couldn't hold that shape anymore and began to die. I think he was afraid to go back to liquid form b/c of all those trigger-happy Feds on board

 

[MrPointy]

Re: "The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease

anti-matter said:
Well in "Rocks and Shoals" it was my recollection that the founder died from holding his shape too long. Remember how near the end of the show it dripped from the ceiling like powdered ash?

That's what I thought. It couldn't get into its bucket in time.

 

[MyCylon]

It's an interesting thought. I would say the writers were thinking that the Changeling had been hurt by the crash and/or had to hold its form too long. Then again, there's nothing to disprove the theory that this is a first sighting of the changeling disease.

The only thing I'd point out is that this is quite some time before we actually see it breaking out in other Changelings. I don't quite remember where we first see it as the disease for a fact, though.

 

[DonIago]

Re: "The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease

anti-matter said:
Well in "Rocks and Shoals" it was my recollection that the founder died from holding his shape too long. Remember how near the end of the show it dripped from the ceiling like powdered ash?

This is what happened in "The Ship", not in "Rocks and Shoals". If I said the crash killed the Changeling, I misspoke and I apologize for any confusion, though I would say that the crash certainly injured the Changeling. Maintaining its shape afterward was too much for it.
Consider that a Changeling in perfect health would have been more than capable of dealing with Sisko's band of heroes.

 

[DonIago]

Justtoyourleft said:
It's an interesting thought. I would say the writers were thinking that the Changeling had been hurt by the crash and/or had to hold its form too long. Then again, there's nothing to disprove the theory that this is a first sighting of the changeling disease.

The only thing I'd point out is that this is quite some time before we actually see it breaking out in other Changelings. I don't quite remember where we first see it as the disease for a fact, though.

The first appearance of the disease is, I think, also the first time it's mentioned- "Treachery, Faith and the Great River".

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Re: "The Ship" -- first appearance of the Changeling disease

At the time they (writers) likely had no idea about the Changeling virus, so no. OTOH it fits nicely, so I'm going to go ahead and say... YES. The Ship is the first onscreen appearance of the Changeling disease.