I didn't remember how Vedek Winn got herself promoted to Kai, but I figured I wouldn't have long to wait for her to start grabbing power. I really liked the vision Bareil kept getting when he looked into the orb, they were informative enough to make you suspect what he was doing, but didn't reveal exactly what his involvement was until close to the end. Of course who could Bareil possibly care enough about to keep their dirty past a secret other than Kai Opaka.
The episode opens with Vedek Bareil getting a vision from the profits of a man hanging on the promenade and then running into Kira playing springball. He rushes to the corpse and finds it is a man he knew, but Kira tells Bareil it is him. Back in the real world Bareil is standing by a window on the station shirtless when he is caressed by Kira. She tells him she knows he will be Kai, but he is clearly having doubts. Later that day Bareil heads to the temple on the station but is surprised to find Vedek Kai talking to some children. They argue about their interpretation of the profits and Kira says she will tells station security to be on extra alert. Then we see an old Bajoran man trying to walk quietly across the promenade. He is confronted by another Bajoran who recognizes him as a collaborator from the days of the occupation. Odo shows up and recognizes him to, and then arrests the man.
The man, secretary Kubus, is sitting in his holding cell when Odo comes in followed by Kira. She informs him that he has already been convicted and sentenced to exile so he won't be able to continue to Bajor as planned. It turns out Kubus is famous for having given the Cardassians the location of a Bajoran rebel camp which was wiped out soon after. Winn meets with Sisko to find out what he intends to do about the election for Kai and he assures her he will stay out of it as it is an internal affair of Bajor. Kira gets a call from Odo that Kubus is leaving the station, it turns out Winn gave him sanctuary and the government has already approved it. Kira tells Winn that she won't let the ship leave since it is so likely that it has been sabotaged by a Bajoran to try and kill Kubus and she will hold it until the ship has been thoroughly checked. Winn then drops the bomb that Kubus has revealed the man who gave him the information, none other than Vedek Bareil. Kira refuses to believe it but agrees to investigate.
Bareil of course denies having anything to do with it but Kira needs proof. She goes to the Vedek communication records from the period and finds they have been sealed. Quark gets talked into hacking in but reveals that the file is empty. O'Brien has a plan though and reconstructs the iris scan of the person who erased the records, Vedek Bareil. Kira confronts him and he admits he did it to save a much larger group of Bajorans from being killed, but he tells the Vedek assembly he is stepping down from his run for Kai. Kira refuses to believe it and keeps looking. When it is finally too late Kira confronts Bareil, she found proof he was at a monastery and couldn't have shared the information and he admits this. He did it to protect the reputation of Kai Opaka who actually turned over the information. Kira is horrified that he has let Winn become the new Kai just to protect an old friend.
Review: A nicely twisted story that moves the main plot forward substantially. I am super tired but this episode really kept me awake. Not one that stands out a lot, but it also lacks any serious flaws.
6 out of 10
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