Why didn't a Founder ever impersonate Odo?

[Elias Vaughn]

A few times during DS9, the crew got all paranoid because a FOunder could be anyone at any time.

Martok. Bashir twice. O'Brien when he wasn't even supposed to be on Earth. Probably many more I'm forgetting.

But with DS9 being this hugely important location during the hostilities, wouldn't it have made sense to replace the one person on the station who couldn't be verified through blood tests or phasers?

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

"No Founder has ever impersonated another, it's just rude!"

Actually, the real Odo never came back from "The Search", it was an imposter who fell in love with Kira, etc. (Holes abound in that theory!)

No, the real Odo never came back from "Broken Link".

 

[Anticitizen]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if there was some stigma in changeling culture that prevented them from imitating one another. In a society where anyone can imitate anyone else, it would have to be something that would be heavily frowned upon.

You have the whole 'no changeling has ever killed another' precedent, this might be akin to that.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

To impersonate Odo, the Founders would have to do something with the real one. And since their overriding concern was getting him back to the Link, if they ever did have him in their custody they would have ended the war right there. The Founder Leader maintained that Odo was more important to them than the entire Alpha Quadrant.

 

[nx1701g]

Um a Founder HAS impersonated Odo briefly to meet its needs. In The Adversary the Changeling takes on Odo's appearance in the Engine Room to try to stop O'Brien.

 

[Eyes]

Not to mention Odo himself has impersonated the female founder before, in Tacking into the Wind.

What's more likely is that in order to impersonate Odo, they would have to get him out of the way, a lot harder than just getting Bashir or Martok off to a prison camp, as Odo could beat any Jemmys in straight combat/hiding as a bulkhead, and sending up Founders against him wouldn't be advised after the disaster in The Adversary, I guess the Founders don't want to risk Odo breaking the sacred law again.

 

[Finn]

I agree, but that wouldn't mean the Starfleet and Bajoran Militia wouldn't worry about Odo being an impostor. they can't be certain that it might be considered a stigma or a security/safety risk for other founders.

 

[Marie1]

Um a Founder HAS impersonated Odo briefly to meet its needs. In The Adversary the Changeling takes on Odo's appearance in the Engine Room to try to stop O'Brien.

Exactly! I loved the way O'Brien was just "I don't have time for this!"

 

[Anwar]

I agree, but that wouldn't mean the Starfleet and Bajoran Militia wouldn't worry about Odo being an impostor. they can't be certain that it might be considered a stigma or a security/safety risk for other founders.

Which is partially why they sent Eddington, I'm assuming.

 

[mattyhugh]

I agree, but that wouldn't mean the Starfleet and Bajoran Militia wouldn't worry about Odo being an impostor. they can't be certain that it might be considered a stigma or a security/safety risk for other founders.

Which is partially why they sent Eddington, I'm assuming.

Eddington was assigned before the Founders were revealed to be Odo's people.

 

[Anwar]

Wasn't there some talk later on about how Eddington was there also because of the Founder thing. Maybe they just updated his mission.

 

[mattyhugh]

Wasn't there some talk later on about how Eddington was there also because of the Founder thing. Maybe they just updated his mission.

Oh probably, and in some ways we're splitting hairs as Eddington was introduced like 45 minutes before we meet the Changelings.

 

[Anwar]

What WAS the initial reasoning for him being there? I mean, it makes more sense for him to show up immediately after the Search.

 

[Elias Vaughn]

I thought Eddington was only there because Starfleet didn't trust Odo.

 

[mattyhugh]

I thought Eddington was only there because Starfleet didn't trust Odo.

Exactly, I'm sure Starfleet security was patting themselves on the back for thier foresight when the Founders were discovered.

 

[od0_ital]

I thought Eddington was only there because Starfleet didn't trust Odo.

Eddington was there because of the Defiant. That simple.

 

[SilentP]

I thought that Eddington was a replacement for that other guy that appeared for a few episodes, can't remember his name, but he was in 'Move Along Home' and one other episodes.

 

[Timo]

The Defiant wasn't considered much of an asset in "The Search" yet. Sisko got her because he needed some sort of a ship for a suicide mission, and could pull one out of his own back pocket so Starfleet needn't bother with expending one of their own.

Starfleet had previously had a yellowshirt Security boss on DS9, mind you. This Primmin guy appeared in two episodes, one of which showed him as a buffoon of sorts, and our heroes seemed to prefer the Bajoran boss and his organization to the Starfleet one for most of their Station Security needs.

We have no evidence that Primmin's position was discontinued just because we never saw Primmin again - probably there was a constant chain of yellowshirt lieutenants there, but Sisko kept them on a short leash and favored Odo. Apparently, this changed when the Chief of Starfleet Security fell upon Sisko like a ton of bricks and told him that the next guy she was sending would have to be given some real power again.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Anwar]

...And then the guy they sent betrayed them all to the Maquis.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Actually Eddington was there becuase of Odo's disregard for Starfleet Security procedures.