{"id":5471,"date":"2018-12-27T07:01:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T07:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/426-Broken-Link"},"modified":"2018-12-27T07:01:41","modified_gmt":"2018-12-27T07:01:41","slug":"426-broken-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/27\/426-broken-link\/","title":{"rendered":"4.26 — \u201cBroken Link\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

4.26 — \u201cBroken Link\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Odo starts melting on the concourse, afflicted by a Changeling disease that is beyond the ken of Doctor Bashir. He soon reaches the conclusion that the only cure for him is on the other side of the Wormhole at the new Homeworld of the Founders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> This is a big episode and may convince me to stop reading about the backgrounds of the episodes before blogging, because I swear there are spoilers for ten different upcoming episodes that connect to this one. Fortunately I forget things very easily now that I\u2019m over 40. Well, closer to 50 than 40….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like, I didn\u2019t remember the alien smuggler chick who looks like a supervillain, at all. The one with purple hair and the jumpsuit that looks like she\u2019s in the X-Men? What what? It turns out she appeared in two previous episodes, DS9 2.1, \u201cHomecoming,\u201d and 3.6, \u201cThe Abandoned.\u201d She gets a name here, Rionoj, but don\u2019t worry about remembering it, we won\u2019t see her again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That was only a minor spoiler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Broken Link” hearkens back to episode 3.26, \u201cThe Adversary,\u201d in which Odo killed a Changeling infiltrator on the Defiant<\/em> to protect the others on board, and also the pivotal episode 3.21, \u201cThe Die is Cast,\u201d in which retired Obsidian Order leader Enabran Tain attacks the Founders\u2019 original homeworld with a Cardassian-Romulan fleet, only to discover that the Founders have abandoned the planet and set a deadly trap for Tain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was quite chilled by the Founder representative\u2019s response to Garak’s query:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FOUNDER: There were no Cardassian survivors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GARAK: You mean, they’re all dead? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOUNDER: They’re dead. You’re dead, Cardassia is dead. Your people were doomed the moment they attacked us. I believe that answers your question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This points out something of a contradiction. Much hay is made of Odo\u2019s guilt in being the first member of his race to harm another Changeling, but apart from this scene no mention at all is made of the untold destruction that the Founders have visited upon other civilizations through the Dominion. I think Odo could have, even through his contrition, raised this protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Dominion’s response to these events from Third Season seems a bit delayed, doesn\u2019t it? I understood that the Fourth Season is supposed to be the point at which the Dominion War begins in earnest, but these long-arc episodes have been few and far between. The Dominion bides its time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A lot of drama is wrung from Odo\u2019s travails, and his humiliating walk across the concourse to the Defiant, which left me confused. Doesn\u2019t he have to spend half the day in liquid form anyway, even when healthy, and isn\u2019t that his most comfortable shape? Why wouldn\u2019t they just be carrying him around in a bucket? I\u2019m no fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Would the Dominion really have left the Defiant\u2019s<\/em> weapons systems active, giving such an opportunity to Garak? Maybe they find Odo distracting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Odo–now as a human. He can\u2019t be pleased. When did he start getting tongue-tied around attractive females? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DS9 isn\u2019t resting on its laurels. I\u2019m looking forward to next season already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4 out of 5 Great Links.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Broken_Link_(episode)<\/a>