Was Eddington wasted?

[RuleofAcuisition17]

I think we got about the right balance.

Out of sheer convenience the Maquis would've folded into the federation fairly quickly as a result of the Dominion War with survivors becoming part of StarFleet with a burning hatred of the Dominion.

Mostly because its very difficult to see where they could've fit in the grand scheme of things considering how dense and rich the plots are in seasons 6 and 7.

 

[at Quark's]

It can be argued that it was the Maquis threat that, at least partly, drove Cardassia to join the Dominion in the first place.

It's a likely factor yes, but it cannot be proved. For all we know, had the Maquis never existed, Gul Dukat, leader of a 2nd rate power and seeing an opportunity here to get more power in the quadrant (even if it meant becoming a servant to the Dominion temporarily - he seems to have planned on getting rid on them when the time was right), might still have chosen to opportunistically join the Dominion.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I've always found it odd by how the Maquis was portrayed in the Trek franchise - revolutionary, but always wrong. For me, it was a very conservative stance for the Trek showrunners to make. As if the message for this arc was simply about maintaining the status quo of the Federation, regardless of whether they were right or wrong.

Maintaining the status quo is so on point. Agreed.

 

[kkt]

Gotta love that 20/20 hindsight, huh?

It can be argued that it was the Maquis threat that, at least partly, drove Cardassia to join the Dominion in the first place.

That argument would be a big stretch. The Maquis was never an existential threat to Cardassia. When Cardassia joined the Dominion it was because they had just been clobbered by the Klingons, not the Maquis.

 

[at Quark's]

That's the dream of Star Trek. The Federation is never wrong. Someone asked Roddenberry during season 3 "How do people leave the Federation?" His reply was "Nobody WANTS to leave the Federation. So there doesn't have to be a way." (Paraphrasing from a 30 year old memory.) I THINK it was Melinda Snodgrass and The High Ground.

A benevolent Federation, yes. That it learned from mistakes in earlier centuries, yes. That the overwhelming majority is content there, yes, I'll take all that.

But nobody ever wanting to leave (whether I would agree with their reasons or not) sounds chilling to me.

 

[somebuddyX]

Nah I think they used him the right amount. I don't think there should have been an episode with him between "For the Cause/Uniform" but perhaps another reference to him or those industrial replicators, but even then with "Uniform" you get enough that the Sisko has been hot on his tail for a while now. He should absolutely still have died in "Blaze of Glory" but should that have been the end of the Maquis? Well in my ideal world no and you'd have Ro and Tom Riker working with Kira, but in reality, without interesting established viewpoint characters like Cal Hudson or Eddington to bounce off the show characters the Maquis as a continuing storyline was over anyway.

 

[Farscape One]

The Cardassians were beaten hard by the Klingons, and the Maquis were taking advantage of that situation. Dukat said he joined the Dominion because the Klingons left them a 'third rate power', and while there is truth in that, he ultimately used this as a way to get back into power himself. He went from low rate freighter Gul (after his indiscretion was made public) to leader of the Cardassian government. It was all about him.

Eddington was like Dukat in that he had a massive ego and he was playing out his fantasy of being a hero by being a Maquis. I will say Eddington was more willing to put himself in danger for his people than Dukat ever would.


Speaking of the Maquis, I actually think they did show them to be at least sympathetic toward the beginning. I certainly was more on their side at first. But when they started attacking outside their colonies, they became full on terrorists and they lost my sympathy.

 

[at Quark's]

Eddington's only strict principle was himself. His ego. It's all about HIM. He cares little for others. And if a few civilians have to die for his "glorious revolution", then he'd be like, the hell with them.

I think Eddington's end proves that he at least cared for some others - asking Sisko to rescue his wife and other members of that group, while he stayed behind fighting the invaders. Unless of course you deny to attribute even that to him , and you think his sole motive was ensure himself a hero's death.

But I don't think so. I think he truly believed in the Maquis cause and that he was willing to die for it, and that at least to that extent, there was more in it for him than just his ego and 'himself'. Even if I agree that his ego played a huge role in it and he may have been far too casual about civilian deaths (in the abstract, i.e. of people he didn't know).

Interestingly, the end of that episode has two regulars more or less voice those two opinions, as if they deliberately wanted to leave this point ambiguous:

DAX: I'll say this for him, he was a complicated man. If you ask me, Eddington couldn't have picked a better way to go, at least from his point of view. He was a romantic, and what is more romantic than a glorious death in defence of a lost cause.
SISKO: He died fighting for what he believed in. I called him a traitor once, but in a way he was the most loyal man I ever met. He was a Maquis, right up to the bitter end.

 

[fireproof78]

Interestingly, the end of that episode has two regulars more or less voice those two opinions, as if they deliberately wanted to leave this point ambiguous:

Which is pretty on point for most humans.

 

[Tallguy]

I got the impression that the only place Ed's ego was a factor was where Sisko was concerned. OTOH, I also got in his last episode that he used that to selfless ends.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Maquis was never an existential threat to Cardassia.

Only because they lacked the ability to do so.

Eddington did threaten a strike against Cardassia itself, which we know was a ruse - but if he actually could have carried out such an attack, he would have. Eddington and his group would not have shed a single tear if they could have wiped out the entire Cardassian species.

 

[Tallguy]

Eddington and his group would not have shed a single tear if they could have wiped out the entire Cardassian species.

Nor would they have shed a tear if they were able to just be threatening enough to get the Cardassians to leave them alone.

 

[Orphalesion]

Well him being wasted on something would be the only excuse for all the blabbering BS he spouted whenever he was on screen.

 

[ED-209]

Frequently, on a Friday night at Quarks.

 

[Dodd]

I thought Eddington had just the right amount of focus. He served his purpose in the story well.

 

[Jellico]

I would like to have seen a redeemed and live Eddington in What We Leave Behind.

 

[kkt]

We saw him die on the screen. Every time they resurrect a dead character it weakens the storyline of the whole series.

I would have liked to have seen a redeemed and live Tom Riker, perhaps in a prison camp left behind by the retreating Dominion as they pulled back to Cardassia Prime.

 

[Jellico]

We saw him die on the screen. Every time they resurrect a dead character it weakens the storyline of the whole series.

I would have liked to have seen a redeemed and live Tom Riker, perhaps in a prison camp left behind by the retreating Dominion as they pulled back to Cardassia Prime.

I didn’t mean I wanted Eddington resurrected. He did die. I wish he hadn’t died. Now, seeing Tom Riker leave a Cardassion prison after the Dominion War; that would have been be cool. It’s still possible in Picard, but I don’t think the’ll pick up that thread in Picard season 3.