I think it is not an accident that the writers of DS9 decided to make the prophets both spiritual beings and also extra-temporal aliens. It makes an argument about faith have a little more interesting to someone like me who isn't spiritual, but would who has no problem with genuine prophesy from beings literally living outside time. At the same time it is hard to accept the Bajoran position in this episode that Sisko should let himself die rather than risk giving up his visions from the prophets. He can't do a very good job communicating the visions if he is dead.
The episode opens with Dax, Kira and Sisko staring at an ancient painting of the lost Bajoran city of B'Hala. Dax isn't impressed but Kira thinks Sisko may be able to find the lost city since there is a prophesy that one touched by the prophets will eventually find it. Sisko remains obsessed after they leave and notices one side of an obelisk in the painting is reflected in a fountain which is critical since the obelisk is supposed to show the coordinates of the city. He moves to the holosuite where he manages to remake three of the four sides of the obelisk and then spends a few hours staring at them until Quark interrupts him. He goes to save the image but a plasma discharge from the panel knocks him unconscious. When he wakes up Sisko notices that everything is a little extra bright and clear which Julian tells him is a side effect of the shock. Bashir orders Sisko to take a few days of light duty until he recovers. That night at dinner Jake keeps trying to talk to his father about Kasidy returning to the station after serving her prison sentence but Sisko is cutting fruit into the shape of the figures on the missing side of the obelisk.
The next day Sisko is in the holosuite working on his obelisk when he gets a call from Admiral Whatley who tells him that Bajor has finally been approved to join the Federation and that the signing ceremony will take place on the station. Everyone starts celebrating but Sisko who is busy staring at the obelisk. Kira goes to check on him and finds him unresponsive, but after she touches him he jumps and wakes up. He explains to her he was having a vision of the past and future of Bajor and she is kinda bummed to have interrupted him. Sisko gets a call the Kai Winn has arrived on the station but he sends Kira to deal with her while he gets his stare on. Kasidy interrupts him next and he is more excited to see her, but mostly he is excited to take her to the lost city of B'Hala. The two of them fly to Bajor and after some wandering in a cave Sisko vaporizes a rock wall with his phaser revealing the lost city!
Back on the station Kira is super distracted while trying to help Odo and Worf work out accommodations for the visiting admirals and such and for once seems ok with being interrupted by Kai Winn. Winn explains she can accept that she was wrong about Sisko being the emissary and now doesn't oppose joining the Federation. On Bajor Admiral Whatley stops by B'Hala to check on Sisko who is in full emissary mode talking about visions and such to the point that the admiral openly worries about him. Whatley orders Sisko to report to the station the next day and to get a check up with Bashir. The next day Sisko is late but when he gets to the infirmary it is clear why, he is walking around having visions about various people on the station and is advising them based on what he sees. He even sees the problems Whatley is having with his son which impresses him, but he is more worried when Bashir discovers that there is something seriously wrong with Sisko's brain.
It seems the part of his brain that is giving him visions is also going to kill him unless Ben gets surgery on it and soon. The visions are so important to him though that Sisko refuses the surgery. That night in his quarters Kasidy and Jake beg him to accept the surgery, but Ben refuses. He leaves with Kai Winn which doesn't exactly calm them down. She takes him to the orb of prophesy and seeing his condition actually genuinely tries to talk him out of it, but he opens the orb box. The next day at the signing ceremony Sisko is nowhere to be seen. Whatley and Winn agree to go forward with the ceremony when Ben barges in, tells them it isn't time yet for Bajor to join and then collapses. It is hard, but Jake tells Bashir to go ahead and operate and when he wakes up Ben is distraught to have lost his visions. Winn announces Bajor will put off joining the Federation and Sisko makes up with Jake and Kasidy.
Review: Lots going on in this episode despite the lack of a real B story. You won't hear (read) me say this very often, but this probably should have been a two part episode. The part about discovering the lost city seemed like it could have been an episode on its own and the second half about the visions clearly had enough material to be its own episode. Still despite being a bit overstuffed this manages to be a rather good episode.
7 out of 10
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