Was sisko well briefed before He arrived?

[WesleysDisciple]

One would think he'd have known in advance who Opaka was, and what the office of the kai implied.

Or the name of the former prefect for that matter.


Any thoughts?

 

[bbjeg]

It's not like Starfleet knows everything. Sisko's mission could include figuring what's going on out there in deep space.

 

[dub]

There are instances throughout each Star Trek series when a little more research about the laws or customs of a planet prior to beaming down (in those situations where contact was made before beaming down) could have prevented a lot of conflict. But...without the conflict or the unknown, those episodes would have been bloody boring.

 

[WesleysDisciple]

Yes... but things like "Bajoran naming conventions"

Or the basics of their religion.

should have been common knowledge with so many refugees living in federation space.

or is this just a random headscratcher?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

TV storytelling conventions, nothing more.

 

[Ro_Laren]

TV storytelling conventions, nothing more.

Exactly. Or perhaps Sisko wasn't the first choice as Commander of DS9 and was a last minute fill-in. Perhaps there was no time for an extensive briefing (and TPTB decided that things like Bajoran naming customs and the Bajoran religion weren't important enough to be mentioned in the short time they had). Does anyone remember why Sisko was posted to DS9? That is, did anyone ever say something like, "Starfleet wanted to give you specifically command of DS9 because of X, Y, and Z"??

 

[USS Triumphant]

I kinda thought they wanted to put him at the ass-end of space because he had attitude issues.

 

[AverageWriter]

From watching "Emissary" and the other very early DS9 episodes, it came to mind that, pre-pilot contunity, Bajor was just another world recovering from an occupation. The war itself was going on during the entire TNG run,yet you notice it wasn't important enough to warrant significant attention from the Federation. The occupation and resistance lasted over half a century- that meant that while Data was leaping amongst rocks in Encounter At Farpoint, Shakar was busy struggling to liberate his people. While Picard was exploring his afterlife regrets with Q, Kira's Dad was watching his garden burn.
We got hints and whispers of Bajor's struggles with Ensign Ro and a few limited encounters centered around Dukat's cousin, but not much more than that.

So now we get to Terok Nor- basically a dumped out way station with no real potential. In this crumpled wreck Starfleet saw a possibility- if the Federation played their cards right Bajor might eventually get its problems sorted out and join them. So they agreed to administer the station's operations- but even then it wasn't an important enough place to assign a permanent starship to, just a few runabouts.

If you notice that in the earliest episode Sisko admits he doesn't want to be there, and Kira doesn't believe the Federation itself will stick around either. Quark doesn't even have his real nose yet!

Of course then the Wormhole was found and within a few years DS9 became a crossroads for the most important events in the later ST years...

But back in the day it was just a backwards, run down, lonely place, constantly breaking down, little more than a place for a certain Sisko to cool his heels after the tragic death of his wife.

 

[od0_ital]

I figure since Sisko was considerin' retirement before he even got to DS9 (as he told Picard), and was still dealin' with his depression over his wife's death, its possible he got a full briefin' from his superiors, but he just didn't give enough of a shit to listen and retain the knowledge.

 

[Melakon]

Yeah, I figure he did get an overall briefing. But with his current state of mind and mental/emotional baggage, he didn't give it his full attention. His relationship with Picard was a good indication of his mental state.

 

[Nebusj]

Yes... but things like "Bajoran naming conventions"

Or the basics of their religion.

should have been common knowledge with so many refugees living in federation space.

or is this just a random headscratcher?

In 1857, United States President James Buchanan sent a trade expedition to Japan. The letter he gave the head negotiator, Townsend Harris, was addressed to a man known as``His Majesty The Emperor of Japan'', known by the title of Shogun.

I grant this is from the era when governments were more casually organized than the baseball clubs were, and Japan hadn't been opened nearly as long as Bajor was presumably known to the Federation, but, I wouldn't underestimate the factors of the universe being big, and Bajor not being very important (at the time), and there just being so many other things to keep track of, and trusting that any local bits of ignorance will be filled in by the people on the scene.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I've already weighed in on this: it's nothing more than a vehicle to convey background to the audience. But to get back to the OP ...

Why would Starfleet have accurate information about Bajor, a planet that had been under a rigid foreign occupation for decades? I would think that information would be tightly controlled by the Cardassians and, more than likely, colored by their viewpoint. From the first Ro episode, it seems that the Federation had little direct contact with Bajor, only with some Bajoran refugees. It's not clear that they all shared the same level of spirituality (certainly Ro didn't). Perhaps the position of the Kai was noted, but maybe reports underestimated the position's importance. In Emissary, Kira says, "Our religion is the only thing that holds my people together. If she would call for unity, they'd listen. Leaders of all the factions have tried to get to her, but she lives in seclusion, rarely sees anyone." That's not likely the kind of detail that could have come to light until the Cardassians left. Would Starfleet have known that the Kai was a major political player? If they got their information from Gul Jackboot, probably not.