#In the Hands of the Prophets

[skybson]

1x19 - In the Hands of the Prophets

[geekysteven]

In the Hands of the Prophets is a perfect DS9 episode. You got a clash between alien cultures, Keiko makes a dick joke, terrorism, Keiko makes a dick joke, the introduction of the religious antagonist, Keiko makes a dick joke

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k d e e p s p a c e n i n e created by rick berman, michael piller [in the hands of the prophets, s1ep20] 'Bajor'

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Kai Winn Adami

By Ames

So far, all of the subjects of our spotlight series have been people for whom we’ve had both good and bad character moments to discuss. But what do you do when you’re highlighting an antagonist character? For a villain, being bad is actually very good and that’s so perfectly the case for Kai Winn Adami. So this time A Star to Steer Her By will simply feature a bunch of our favorite moments overall.

Boy, do we love to hate this bitch. Somehow she’s only in 14 episodes even though it feels like she’s always looming somewhere with a passive-aggressive gaze and a “my child” on her lips. Louise Fletcher plays this power-hungry religious icon with such depth and nuance that it was easy for us to come up with a ton of favorite moments. So flip open the Book of the Pah-wraiths below to check them out, listen to our Bajoran chanting over on this week’s podcast (jump to 1:12:58), and walk with the prophets, my child.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Favorite moments

The Bajoran Scopes Monkey Trial Winn makes a big impression in her very first appearance in “In the Hands of the Prophets” when she’s displaying big Karen energy while challenging why Keiko isn’t teaching Bajoran religious ideology in a public school. And she does it with a smile. And also with a can of gasoline since she surely got that school blown up in one smokin’ power move.

The sacrifices the Prophets call on us to make are great sometimes Somehow there are even more layers to “In the Hands of the Prophets” than teaching religion in classrooms and committing arson. Winn also puts Neela up to assassinate Bareil so that she can work on amassing power. And when Neela fails to secure a getaway plan, Winn straight up declares that’s fine with her. What does she care as long as her hands stay clean?

We’re a match made by the Prophets Winn continues to keep her hands clean in “The Circle.” Even while covertly supporting the Bajoran extremist faction, the Alliance for Global Unity, and bedding down with Minister Jarro Essa, Winn manages to direct blame away from herself when their plans have been exposed and gone thoroughly sideways. Jarro can only watch his downfall from under the bus.

You will never speak to me with such disrespect again!! Kai Winn’s “my child” may sound like a catchphrase, but it’s always delivered with such emotion which Fletcher was so good at. When Kira’s been sniffing around how Winn extracted information from Kubus Oak in an attempt to get Bareil out of the kai election in “The Collaborator,” the soon-to-be kai sends chills down your spine with her cold threats.

He’s more machine now than man When Bareil’s health keeps failing in “Life Support,” Winn pushes to keep him cognizant as long as is convenient for her. All she wants is the credit for his negotiations with the Cardassian Central Command while also keeping open the option to use him as a scapegoat should things fail. This woman plays her cards so strategically that she always comes out on top.

See ya later, reclamator To make a good political statement by getting some soil reclamators to Rakantha Province, Winn ends up sending in the Bajoran Militia after Shakaar’s resistance cell in “Shakaar.” And what’s more, she’s presumptuous enough to ask Sisko to send in Starfleet security or else she’ll pull out of Federation membership talks! All for farming equipment. Well that escalated quickly.

You think you’re the only ones who fought the Cardassians We learn just what Kai Winn was up to during the occupation, and it’s surprisingly humanizing. Winn throws in Kira’s face during “Rapture” how she was put in a Cardassian prison camp for five years, and never stopped preaching about the prophets despite the beatings. And per “‘Til Death Do Us Part,” she also sold gemstones from the tabernacle to bolster the resistance.

No. We are nothing alike. Nothing at all. What could be better than a Louise Fletcher–Jeffrey Combs scene? We get just that in “In the Cards” when Winn is trying to delay the decision between allying with the Federation or the Dominion because in either scenario her backwards little planet will get stomped on. But it’s her short scene with Weyoun that takes the cake when she reads his pagh and judges him hard!

Please leave your message for the Prophets at the beep There’s plenty for Winn to be judgmental about in “The Reckoning” when Sisko borrows an ancient tablet without asking and then destroys it utterly. But at the core of Winn’s motivation is desperation for the Prophets to communicate with her, which they’ve never done, so she puts an end to the Prophet–Pah-wraith battle because she isn’t the center of attention for once.

The Password Is: Restoration Winn’s whole arc in the final ten-parter of the series is a work of art, and so perfectly portrayed. Let’s break it down here, because it all starts with getting fully taken in with Anjohl Tennan in “‘Til Death Do Us Part.” All Dukat-in-disguise has to do is drop some buzzwords and the Kai is immediately enamored with the guy, and bedding down with him by the next episode, “Strange Bedfellows.”

Everything will change once you step down as Kai. You’ll see. When Winn is having a crisis of faith in “Strange Bedfellows” after receiving a vision from the Pah-wraiths, she wisely seeks out Kira. And the Corporal gives Winn the perfect advice to step down as kai so as not to be tempted by power anymore. And for a split second you think Winn will listen to reason. But she’s still Winn, after all, entirely blind to what she doesn’t want to see.

Catfished by the Prophets Stepping down as kai is not an option for Winn, who doesn’t believe she has too much power. In fact, she believes she doesn't have enough power! So by the end of “Strange Bedfellows,” she fully denounces the Prophets because they’ve never done anything for her. She admits to Anjohl that she’s never felt their presence and has been faking it for years, but blind faith will serve her no longer. Now she wants results!

Don’t you recognize the face of your enemy? May the Prophets bless Solbor for giving us such a great reveal scene in “The Changing Face of Evil.” He’s found out that Anjohl is actually Dukat, and Adami’s reaction to this news is so layered and cathartic that we love it. But that tippy top layer is a sense of self preservation that can only be maintained by murdering the hell out of Solbor, that gossip hound!

Hit it and quit it But that isn’t as cold as Winn can get, as is proven in the next episode in “When It Rains…” after Dukat has gone blind from reading the Book of the Pah-wraiths. Winn cruelly kicks the blind Cardassian out on his ass to beg on the streets of Bajor. “You may return when you’ve proven yourself worthy and your sight has been restored,” she mocks, and it’s stone cold!

The Pah-wraiths demand a sacrifice The whole series culminates in “What You Leave Behind” in the fire caves with Winn casting aside her devotion to the Prophets and summoning the Pah-wraiths. What she hadn’t told Dukat (with his sight returned for reasons) was that she lured him there to use him as the ceremonial sacrifice, and she righteously poisons his ass with absolutely no hesitation.

Too little, too late Finally, Winn comes this close to redemption in “What You Leave Behind” when she comes to see the error of her ways (or maybe she’s just bitter that the Kosst Amojen picked Dukat’s husk over her). For the hottest of seconds (cause it’s the fire caves, get it?), she tries to get the book to Sisko when at last she has an epiphany moment, but her fate is ultimately sealed when Pah-wraiths toast her in flames.

—

What a journey for a character that only appears a handful of times, and we were here for every second. Next week, we’re continuing to give in the Pah-wraiths as we recount our favorite Dukat moments, which will surely be a trip. So keep your eyes here for that, keep following us through the Delphic Expanse as we watch through Enterprise over on SoundCloud or your favorite podcast place, praise the Prophets with us on Facebook and Twitter, and practice your “my child”s in the mirror.

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 S1 E20 - In The Hands Of The Prophets

Soooooooooooo.... I finished S1. And I officially hate Space Karen.

I want to get this out of the way so I hopefully never have to say it again because praising this character hurts me deep in my religiously traumatized soul (lol), but she is *really* good. I mean, of course she was going to be well played given the actress who plays her (RIP Louise Fletcher), but she's so fucking good at how evil she actually is. We're meant to hate her, I get that. But the writing and acting is phenomenal when it comes to this level of religious bigotry and scheming.

I have seen actual people IRL that were just a couple steps down the ladder from being pure fanatics to this dangerous level and the shit they've said in some cases were almost word for word how she spun in.

We started out the episode though with a fun note on Keiko joking with Miles and clearly hinting at something that is probably just supposed to be her playing at being jealous but definitely reads as swinger language to me. Which, from what I've gathered DS9 is one big polyam fam so I may be picking up on those vibes.

Which, I'm kinda sad Neela was the traitor here. I called it when the tool was discovered missing though "it" hadn't been revealed to be secret traitor levels yet and I just assumed she used the tool for some reason. I still knew it was her and when the episode went on and murder turned into potential terrorism I was just... bummed. She seemed to truly be getting alone with Miles and the scene in the shuttle def added to my polyam/swinger thoughts, but she really seemed to actually care for him. This didn't take away from my... enjoyment, can one really call it that when one is also seething? Anyway, it didn't take anything away from the episode from me, if fact it kinda made it feel a bit more realistic cause I have absolutely lost people I cared about because of religion. It just sucked.

Then Winn shows up at the school to talk religious nonsense and the "real" trouble starts. Oh I hate that woman.

And then Kira backing Winn? I know she's also got her own spiritual beliefs and journey but that felt... a bit much? Not aligned with who she had been up to this point? Not the teaching the kids part but the "lets separate everyone" idea. It definitely threw me out of the scene for a bit. I accept it, though, based on the very end of the episode where she explained that she hoped her beliefs were as strong as Winn's, but this was the one bit of writing that I disagreed with. If something has to wait to the end to be explained like this, it could use some fixing.

Quark and Odo meeting in secret to talk about a case seems to me like the writers were trying make up an excuse to get them alone together....

Watching Winn turn all the parents and kids against Keiko was frustrating. The Bajorian food seller not selling to them because of this wasn't so much upsetting as it just made me roll my eyes, but I adore Miles for wanting to jump the counter for his wifes honor lol

When the school blew and Miles ran towards it? And then Odo had to hold him back so he didn't jump into the fire? My heart. It was such a good scene.

I think my favorite part of this episode was Siskos speech. The "You've just made your first mistake" speech. I'm being a bit egotistical for this bit, though. I love it cause these are the same exact speeches I like to make in my ttrpgs. The "You think you've won but really you've severally underestimated us and we're going to ruin you now" speeches are my fucking favorite and I live for them. Sisko wins the gold star for this one.

8.75/10 cause I couldn't decide if I wanted to rate this one a 9 or an 8.5 so split the difference lmao

[per1w1nkl3]

last two episode of s1 of ds9 are just banger after banger. what the fuck.

[stopthatbluecat]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kira Nerys & Keiko O'Brien Additional Tags: Bajoran Culture (Star Trek), Episode: s01e20 In the Hands of the Prophets Summary:

Following the events of In the Hands of the Prophets, Keiko comes across Kira on the promenade late one night.

[trip-is-bad-at-go]

Mango and I watched "In the Hands of the Prophets." About halfway through they asked, “When was this made?” “1993.” “Cos they’re doing religious extremism, religious motivated violence, and religious leaders telling people to commit acts of violence with the promise of eternal rewards.” “Yeah,” and then I pointed out Vedek Bareil, in his speech, said Bajor “used to be a center of science and learning.”

They went on to say that seeing another Asian science teacher get confronted by a religious fundamentalist was real impactful. It was something they’ve seen at work, from a student.  “We stan Kira grappling with the new reality of post conflict life.” 

Then they squealed when they saw the splash page for the next episode and Kira’s cool red knit vest. I think I see a new project in the future.

[horsechestnut]

“In the Hands of the Prophets” sure is an interesting episode to watch in the year of our lord 2023...

[quailfence]

[Image description: Four images. The first three are from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. They show Julian Bashir, Jadzia Dax, Odo, Kira Nerys, and Miles O'Brien standing and talking to each other in the commander’s office. Miles asks, “A runabout? What was he doing at a runabout at four in the morning?” Odo replies, “Apparently, he was getting murdered.” The last image is the title card of Law & Order edited so that it reads “Law & Odo”. End description.]

[Plain text: dun dun. End plain text.]

@startrekdescribed

dun dun

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

...Turns out gay sex actually was the solution.

(This is basically a redraw, come read the real deal over at Tiger Tiger)

[saayatsumu]

everyone say: thank you, lilia!

[nullifi-blr]

Here's the art I did for the C3 finale collab posters (full post here!)!!

I got to draw Eloise the Dream Druid, and old man Hardwon!

This was so much fun, thank you to Dani Sharkey for putting this project together!

[filmjunky-99]

h a p p y b i r t h d a y

Philip Anglim

11 February 1952

🎈🎈🎈

[pic. anglim as vedek bareil, in the hands of the prophets, ds9]

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Keiko O’Brien

By Ames

Ring ring ring. Take your seats. The first period school bell just rang, and that means we’ve got to talk about Star Trek’s botanist-turned-school-marm: Keiko Ishikawa O’Brien. She’s another character that bridges both TNG and DS9, the former cementing her mostly in the role of Miles’s wife and the latter taking every opportunity to give her the week off. Keiko never really gets a fair shake on either show, which is a shame because she has so much potential. So A Star to Steer Her By is going to give her some time in the sun this week to see how she grows! Like a plant… because she’s a botanist… Moving on.

Amusingly, even though last week we joked that all of Garak’s moments should go on BOTH his Best and Worst Moments lists, it’s actually Keiko for whom we’re seeing the most simultaneously good and bad arguments! So grab your pruning shears and ring your school bell with us as you read on below and listen to us argue with Miles on the promenade on this week’s podcast episode (jump to 59:28), or else you’ll have to stay late for detention!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Try to touch the cup Introduced halfway through The Next Generation, Keiko mostly seems to be around to support other characters. So in “Violations,” she’s there to help with the investigation into the mind-probing Ullians. She doesn’t do much, but she’s there. And we’ve got to admit that her scene remembering her childhood with her grandmother is rather sweet.

I would die to save the life of my child Keiko shows some badassery in “Power Play” when Miles is possessed by a being who seems to relish the idea of tormenting its host’s significant other, really twisting the knife and making things personal. Keiko bravely demands that the being let baby Molly go and even expresses she would rather die than let this thing survive. This all to the face of the man she loves!

So easy a child could do it I shit on “Rascals” a lot (and rightly so), but one thing it actually succeeds in is giving Keiko something to do. Even if it is the child form of Keiko, and not that great a child actor to boot. But she does get to help foil the Ferengi takeover of the ship, which somehow the adults on the ship are unable to do. So, uh, low bar but she and the other kid-crew leap over that sucker.

Children are the future By the time Miles and Keiko have moved over to Deep Space Nine, the little missus is looking for some way to contribute now that her botanying is basically on pause, and she leaps feet first into taking on the education of all the children on the station in “A Man Alone.” It’s a commendable endeavor since, even in the future, teaching is drastically underappreciated.

Separation of religion and station We also have to stand up and applaud Keiko for standing up to Vedek Winn in “In the Hands of the Prophets” when the Bajoran leader wants her to stop teaching the science of the wormhole and instead enforce their backwards religion. Keiko’s spot-on response “I don't teach Bajoran spiritual beliefs; that's your job” is the secular philosophy Star Trek is all about.

You know, that was a very ugly thing you just said We give Miles shit for his anti-Cardassian racism, so it’s refreshing to see Keiko do the same and call him in on his dog whistling in “Cardassians.” Miles tries to insinuate that Cardassians had gentleness bred out of them, and Keiko won’t hear it. She lets Rugal stay with them, she encourages him to play with Molly, and she even tries (and fails) to feed him like she would any kid.

It keeps him up all night! Keiko later foils the Kelleruns’ plan in “Armageddon Game” when she sees through their doctored recording of the harvester-deactivation team getting wiped out by some failsafe or other. The whole thing, of course, is a lie. Without Keiko insisting that the thing is a forgery because Miles wouldn’t be drinking coffee ends up saving the lives of Bashir and O’Brien.

We call it Voight-Kampff for short Viewers at home don’t even realize it until the end, but Keiko does a great job not rumbling the game for Miles’s replicant in “Whispers.” The twist at the end reveals that she’s been hiding from him that everyone on the station knows he’s not the real Miles, but she manages to keep him from fulfilling whatever his directive and treats him like the actual deal as much as she can.

I have no intention of testifying against my husband Even while cemented into the limiting role of “Miles’s wife,” Keiko gets some moments to shine. Ostensibly, she attends Miles’s trial in “Tribunal” just to be the face of the defendant’s family (and to give Miles the chance to blame domestic abuse if he wants), but Keiko never gives the corrupt judiciaries what they want, pushing back against their legal system the whole time.

Be the best damned botanist in the galaxy When Keiko is forced to close down the school when the Bajoran kiddos leave the station in “The House of Quark,” she’s back to where she started in the premiere. So it’s great to have her go back to her roots and agree to join the agrobiology expedition on Bajor rather than wallow in despair. Was it just to write her out of episodes? A little, but at least it’s in character.

Cheer him up a little This one probably belongs on Miles’s Worst Moments list, so let’s cover it now. Miles spends “Accession” moping that he can’t hang out with Bashir anymore now that Keiko’s back from her botany assignment, even though she never once gives him any indication he can’t still have fun. So she tricks him into going to play with his friend like setting up a toddler playdate.

You’re family now More on this in the Worst Moments section, but first let’s praise Keiko for how she treats Kira, who is surrogating Yoshi after the events of “Body Parts.” The O’Briens have Kira move in with them during the pregnancy, and Keiko is super progressive during “Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places” about how Miles takes care of the Major. It’s sweet, right? Right…?

—

Worst moments

Runabout Bride I griped about this in both Data’s and Miles’s spotlight posts as well, but really Keiko is the one who started it! In her series debut “Data’s Day,” she continuously tries to call off her own wedding on the day. And even worse than that: she makes poor Data (of all people!) do it for her! The franchise really starts off this character as demonstrably unlikeable. But don’t worry, there’s more!

Plankton loaf du jour Chris put this on our Miles list as well, but it bears repeating. In “The Wounded,” immediately after their marriage, Keiko makes them breakfast of kelp buds, plankton loaf, and sea berries, which to my Western palette sounds awful. And then turns up her nose at Miles’s food culture. Did you two never eat together before this or did you go straight to the “I do”s with a stranger?

Is our marriage over? So Keiko and the kids outsmarting the Ferengi in “Rascals” made the good list, but the rest of her behavior while a child is just WEIRD. As a twelve-year-old, she tries to act like her relationship with Miles should remain the same. Excuse me? It’s one thing for him to be supportive of you in a crisis, but your life is entirely upended. Do not put this man in this position.

This garden transplant didn’t take Another element of the Keiko character that we brought up before in the Miles post comes when they transfer together to DS9 and Keiko effectively loses her job as botanist. How this wasn’t a conversation between the two of them is beyond me, as they spend all of “A Man Alone” publicly fighting at Quark’s and on the promenade about their terrible life choices.

School is now in session The writers strangely decide to make Keiko a school teacher in “A Man Alone” just to keep her character relevant to the new show. It’s a good thing for someone to do, as we mentioned in our Best Moments list, but frankly it feels like a disservice to her character, who already had a life before this. It just didn’t fit the Frontier Station™ setting, so Keiko gets a personality overwrite.

No more pencils, no more books Standing up to Vedek Winn in “In the Hands of the Prophets,” it turns out, is a terrible idea, as Keiko essentially stirs up racial tensions all across the station, resulting in most of the students pulling out of school, which ends up getting blown up. Coincidence? Oh definitely not. And shame on the writers for not giving Keiko another line after the destruction. Boo.

The best part of waking up… We’re still not sure what we think of the reveal that Miles does indeed drink coffee whenever the hell he pleases in “Armageddon Game,” as it negates the insight that Keiko had earlier brought to the episode (and to this blogpost!) when she saves the day. It feels like the writers are saying “nyah nyah!” because it turns out Keiko doesn’t know her husband as well as she thinks.

I don’t even want to sit at the same table with you More fighting in public with Miles. We loved Keiko getting back to her botany roots, but springing on her husband in “Fascination” that her survey expedition was going to take seven months longer than planned is an argument that should not have been happening at Quark’s in the Gratitude Festival. The writers made any excuse they could to not have her on the show!

So you wish Keiko was a man? Keiko is upset at Miles at the top of “Hippocratic Oath” for putting a workshop in the bedroom during one of the myriad times she’s away, and clearly there was another argument about it in which Keiko accuses him of living like a bachelor again. Bitch, you’re not even there 90% of the time. No wonder Miles admits to Julian he wishes she were more like a man.

I think she’s actually enjoying it, Miles We talked in both Kira’s and Miles’s posts about how ridiculous their B-plot was in “Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places,” but Keiko is so naive that she keeps forcing them together by accident. What’s even worse: this whole surrogacy plot was a fabulous opportunity to have Keiko and Kira bond instead, as two women who rarely have scenes together. What a ripoff.

Where’re Baloo and Bagheera when you need them? I will never stop giving Miles and Keiko (and to some extent Odo!) grief about how they send feral Molly back into her cave in “Time’s Orphan.” How anyone can neglect their child this blatantly and then be rewarded for it by the episode’s intent is just terrible. Keiko doesn’t even resist the idea when Miles shares it, but is onboard immediately to give up on their child rather than get her actual help.

But the cat came back the very next day A smaller detail in “Time’s Orphan” hints at how Keiko doesn’t like Chester, the cat that O’Brien takes in after he absolutely gets Bilby killed in “Honor Among Thieves.” Keiko strongly insinuates that she’d be happy if Chester ran away, never to return, if they brought him on their picnic. How this woman cannot love this poor orphaned cat is beyond me and deserves some hate.

—

Aaaaand we’re all suspended for setting off stink bombs on the promenade. We’ll be back next week though to highlight Keiko’s arch nemesis. No, not Miles. Kai Winn Adami! Look forward to that, keep up with our trip through the Delphic Expance with us on our Enterprise watchalong on SoundCloud (and the other podcast places), pass notes in class to us on Facebook and Twitter, and no fighting on the promenade!

[thehungarythrophy]

if i was a real poet i would talk about landoscar leading mclaren back to glory being written in the stars, and destiny and the prophecy of their racing numbers, but i am tired so i can only offer this :