The pace is really starting to pick up and we are finally getting some pay off to all the rapid setup they have been going through in the last few episodes. Also, I gotta say destroying the Defiant was a bold move, I had forgotten that it got destroyed this far from the end, but it did really give the battle some extra oomph. Damar's rise as the leader of the Cardassian resistance is as awesome as the Kai's discovery that her lover is actually Dukat is horrifying. Also her aide did the one thing she can never stand for, he threatened her position of power and for that he got a knife in the back. Also the hidden words of the Kosst Amojan, were they revealed by Bajoran blood, or specifically the blood of a murdered priest, either way it is some seriously bad stuff.
I am going to start with the bits on Cardassia and go to the DS9 crew afterwards so my discussion of the main battle in the episode will be in the second half. We start with the Breen having attacked Earth and on Cardassia Weyoun is ecstatic. He is celebrating with his new Breen friends, but Damar doesn't see it as a good thing. After Weyoun leaves Damar warns the Breen that he used to get praised like that, but when the war didn't end quickly Weyoun turned on him just like he will with the Breen if they don't win fast. The next day Weyoun is surprised to find Damar at work before he is normally out of bed, and even more surprised to find him sober. As soon as Weyoun leaves we see why, Damar is plotting with generals in the Cardassian military to start an overthrow of the Dominion forces inside Cardassia. Weyoun and his Breen allies engage in a massive battle with the Federation that they see as going great. But when they return Damar has started his rebellion by destroying the cloning facility where Weyoun's are made and is giving a speech about it.
On the station before the battle Worf and Ezri are watching Miles and Julian plan their defense of the Alamo and despite Worf making fun of their toys he is clearly interested in the tactics of the situation. It is almost like there will be an Alamo style showdown at the station or something. They all react badly to the news of the attack on Earth and rapidly prepare to join the response attack. The battle goes poorly though and the Defiant is lost, but most of her crew survive to fight on. They return to the station to find Damar giving his speech about the Cardassian uprising and it is the first good news they have had all episode (other than Worf and Ezri's return of course).
In the still seemingly unconnected story of the Kai she is making her aide nervous by requesting copies of the Kosst Amojan, the ancient book of Bajoran evil they allegedly has the secrets to releasing the pah-wraiths. Unfortunately for them it seems the pages of the book are blank, but Winn correctly reasons that they information is there, just carefully hidden. She and Dukat eventually push too far and her aide investigates who Dukat really is. He confronts Winn with the information by she is horrified. Dukat explains it is all for the pah-wraiths which horrifies her aide to the point that he flees to tell someone about what he has learned at which point Kai Winn stabs him fatally in the back and accidentally drips his blood onto the Kosst Amojan revealing its hidden text.
Review: Lots of action and some intrigue on the Cardassian and Bajoran fronts this episode. The main crew get a little less going on other than the destruction of the Defiant, but I suspect the action will return to the station soon enough.
7 out of 10
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