#ds9 armageddon game

[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 [armageddon game, s2ep13]

'The way I see it, we have only one chance to survive this thing that's to stay alive long enough for Commander Sisko to find us.' - o'brien

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 2x13 Armageddon Game thoughts (rewatching, so possible future spoilers)

Julian does seem to like monologuing XD

Miles giving Julian all the credit and Julian being so reluctant to accept it - my heart, I cannot!

"I suppose another day won't kill me" ...but it almost will! Foreshadowing!

Miles saving Julian when he had been well-hidden and Julian very much wasn't!

These officials are very good at lying, I'll give them that

Callback to Miles' defence of rations earlier in the season XD

Oh, he's ever the doctor and I love how consistently that shows

And I love it how Miles' experience is coming out with him knowing that the best thing is not to move

Aw, Julian biting his lip after offering to help: knowing he's an augment, this can definitely be seen as him deciding to put a more unusual skill he shouldn't have out there, possibly rising exposure, for it be dismissed

I'm glad we're shown how upset and shaken the crew are at the news of death. Their faces in Sisko's office are just... <3

This whole conversation Julian and Miles are having about women isn't quite banter, but it would be if they were friends. I really don't know if Julian is winding Miles up on purpose to get his mind off the situation, knowing what he's doing, or if he is just an idiot.

( Though ngl, my Julian/Miles addled mind is reading this as Julian totally overcompensating to cover up his massive crush on Miles by going on about women.)

Doctor Julian is best Julian

KEIKO MY BELOVED I wish you didn't have to feel this way

I am SO curious what is in Julian's diary. I suppose even in a diary - especially presumably one on a PADD - he wouldn't even hint at his augmentations, given the risk of discovery.

"I suppose I should send them to his parents..." - No, you reallly shouldn't.

I love how proud Jadzia is whenever Quark is thoughtful. That expression definitely feels like she's showing off to Kira: "See, Ferengi are actually good too!"

Also I'm noticing far more snippets of Jadzia and Kira just hanging out and supporting each other and being friends <3 Not sure why I didn't see this ship before but it has my entire heart now.

Keiko persuading them the footage is suspicious is all so much funnier knowing she's wrong about the coffee. Although WHAT a good job she was!

Huh, initially Miles was describing the components to Julian (dark blue coil beside the green cylinder), but now he's moved fto calling them by name (subprocessor, RFoscillators). Either Julian has faked learning quickly otr let on how much he knows about electronics.

Julian really doesn't want to listen to Miles' thinking he'll die - but even less to Miles talking about Keiko...

Oh, I've just remembered why they tried to kill them!

"The T'Lani and Kellerun have finally made peace" - and boy, what a way to ensuring it survives, iirc....

Julian's complete bafflement at the lengths they were willing to go. He cannot understand killing innocent people at all!

"I'm sorry I didn't get us home, Chief." And he probably feels responsible, too, seeing that he ended up being the one to make the radio and contact the T'Lani.

"You did your best. It's been an honour serving with you." MY HEART.

Oooh, not home and dry yet, a space race!

I can't believe they'd risk a BIGGER war against the Federation to protect their peace?! They're not thinking this through very thoroughly, are they.

Idk why, but this fight scene has very TOS energy to me

Clever clever clever! Took me a second to figure out after the runabout exploded, but I got there before the T'Lani did so I'm pleased with that :P

Oh, Julian's so genuine and sweet, he just wants to be friends and have Miles like him

I can understand your time alone with him being hell seeing as you were dying, but you're definitely overexaggerating how bad Julian was, Miles

That reveal is still a favourite. What a twist XD

O'BRIEN: You know, I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee right now. KEIKO: Miles, you never drink coffee in the afternoon. O'BRIEN: Sure I do. KEIKO: You do?

I really love this episode. What a banger.

[skybson]

2x13 - Armageddon Game

[agent-troi]

keiko figuring out o’brien isn’t dead based solely on his coffee drinking habits is honestly my favorite thing ever

[rabid-catboy]

O'Brien voice. Bashir stop talking about our unbreakable bond in front of my wife

[vaguely-concerned]

sisko is of course always stunning but he especially looks so fucking good in all of visionary somehow. they'll be chatting away about romulans and klingons and meanwhile sisko is sitting there like a wholeass renaissance painting

[stopthatbluecat]

Remember when Julian was obsessed with Jadzia so he gave her his diaries and Jadzia was like, "I'm not reading all that" because I do and I love it lmao it's just so them

[sutekinaoneesan]

Just something that recently crossed my mind when thinking about Julian and his relationship with his parents.

Do you remember season 1 all-eager-to-please-puppy-Julian? Just imagine what an argument between Richard and season 1 Julian would have looked like. They did have a lot of differences in the past ever since Julian found out about his enhancements at the age of 15. But somehow I cant‘t really picture season 1 Julian opposing his father in more than a teenager kind of way. He might argue with his father over something but in the end he complies with whatever his parents tell him because he‘s so desperate to measure up to everyone’s expectations because he thinks that it’s the only way to earn their love.

Then take season 5 all-mature-and-grown-up Julian who knows exactly how to step up for himself and defend himself. He’s no longer willing to do as his father tells him. You can see in Sisko‘s office how much he‘s uncomfortable with his parents showing their affection for him. While season 1 Julian would have quietly endured the whole thing, probably feeling even guilty for not being the perfect son, season 5 Julian is ready to defend his newly made home against his parent’s intrusion.

And I just wonder when exactly that change in Julian’s attitude toward his parents might have happened. I mean, of course he grows up a lot during his time on DS9 but I can‘t help but wonder if there was something, a particular event that caused it.

If we take Julian’s statement in Dr. Bashir, I presume? where he says that he hasn‘t been home for three years that would mean that the last time he visited home must have been somewhere around season 2. It’s only my guess but Armageddon Game is set in season 2 where Julian is believed dead and Sisko passes on the news of Julian’s death to his parents. Most likely Julian visited his parents after the events. My guess is that that was the turning point in their relationship.

Like

Richard: We thought you were dead. I’m so glad you’re here. Just imagine, all that talent gone for good. All that knowledge and all those skills.

Julian: We’re talking about my life! I nearly DIED. And all you’re concerned about is that my talent could have been wasted?

Again, it’s only my guess but it would make sense…

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 S2E13 - Armageddon Game

This episode made me cry. Overall it was another mixed bag episode for me but it was pretty good all the same.

I know we have to get through the rougher patches of two people getting to know each other before we can get to true friendship so some of this is just quibbles rather than full issues with it, but the awkwardness between Miles and Bashir did lend to the hot/coldness of this episode. I will say I enjoy tend to enjoy it when the show puts these two together.

I wasn't a fan of how the only thing Miles and Bashir seemed to talk about was women but I was happy when Miles pointed out just how much Bashir obsesses over them. (Also side note, I *really* appreciate the "I'm married not blind" part of the conversation. Just because someone is married doesn't mean people can't still be attractive, it just matters what happens with that person)

Watching how each person reacted to the news of their "deaths was touching" but it was Keiko and Quark that pushed me to tears. Quark's was clearly not necessarily the best but it was clearly an attempt on his part. Keiko's reaction, though, how she could just

tell by Sisko's body language and expression and then how she was clearly shattered but didn't shed a tear? She knew this day was possible, she had worried and stressed about it, enough that when it finally happened she had gone through it enough times to hold herself together. Even for a few minutes.

And Sisko just believing the grieving wife that a late hour cup of coffee was too out of character that there had to be something wrong? I love his trust in his crew or at the very least, her.

Another side note, I actually laughed out loud at the end when Miles asks for coffee and she's baffled that he drinks coffee that late.

I was surprised by the twist that they were all in on the terrorism rather than just one said. They hid it well and made one side super suspicious and the other seem like they were in the dark. I'm not one to be generally thrown for a loop like this (I over analyze, think, and break things down from a writers POV and it can ruin things sometimes for me lol) but this one did take me by surprise.

Also the "when two people nearly die together" convo made me see why some folks are in on the polyam fam bus for Bashir/Miles. lol

7/10 - this one was hard to score cause I legit couldn't care less about Bashir's love life cause he's really gross about woman and I wanted to score it less for that reason but tbh the rest of the episode is pretty solid.

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

"I suppose another day won't kill me." That's what YOU think!

[waterme-stories]

Whyyyyyy did they put three Miles whump episodes in a row. I actually really like "Paradise" (it's stuck with me since childhood), but I cannot watch that rectangle man go through it for one more minute

[hawkp]

Miles making fun of Julian’s accent was so cute help

[walkingstackofbooks]

Once again, an imagined 3-paragraph-whatsit has grown into a little longer ficlet 😅😅...

Occasionally, Julian asks Palis what's going to happen to them when he graduates and leaves with Starfleet for the stars. Usually, she just laughs, asking "Why worry about the future, when what we have now is so good?", or jokes about how she'll have to make sure she ties him up securely enough to stop that happening.

So he tries not to think about it too much, and accepts that their relationship is one of those that's not going to last forever - which is fine, what they have is good, and he was lucky that Palis had ever chosen him in the first place. Their futures being different from each other doesn't lessen the love that they have for each other now.

And then, six months away from graduating, Paris proposes. And Julian accepts, because what else do you do when your beautiful, amazing girlfriend proposes, even if it is completely unexpected?

He does wonder what made her change her mind though - she's never shown any interest in leaving France before, or in a long-distance relationship - but he's learnt not to ask her these things directly over the years, and so for a few days he tiptoes round the subject, dropping hints and subtle questions which she dances around as gracefully as ever.

The following Friday, she invites their parents round for a celebratory meal. She doesn't like it when he's critical of his parents - it's disrespectful - so he grins and bears it and doesn't tell her he'd much rather just cuddle up with her and a film and a takeaway for the evening.

"Have you told him the news?" her father asks as they sit down for the meal. Her face lights up, and she turns to beam at Julian, reaching out for to grasp his hand.

"No, I left it for you," she replies.

And suddenly, Julian's being offered a job here in Paris. He could be Chief of Surgery in five years, apparently. Or, as Monsieur Delon -Henri - assures him, if he wanted to get deeper into research, then Saint-Antoine has very close links with univerisities all across Europe.

"I-I thought... You're not coming with me?" he asks Palis in a daze. She smiles at him brightly.

"Of course not! What would I do in space?" she laughs. "Jules, this is perfect - I know you'll be an incredible doctor, and now you don't have to leave me. I've been hoping it would work out, but I didn't want to tell you until dad had got it all sorted - isn't he the best?"

"What a wonderful opportunity!" Amsha gushes. "And here in Paris! You'll be grateful to have stayed so close to London, when you need us to help with our grandchildren."

It is a very good opportunity, and Julian should want it, shouldn't he - to have this life with Palis, to have family looking out for him, for Palis not to give up the job she loves...

His heart is racing. He feels sick.

"I'm sorry," he says faintly, standing up and bringing a hand to his stomach. "I, uh - cramps, you know? Excuse me."

He leaves the room quickly, hearing the scraping of a chair behind him - presumably Palis coming to find out what's really wrong.

She follows him through to their bedroom, glaring at him from the door as he sits down on the edge of their bed.

"That was rude," she snaps, "and don't tell me it was cramps. You had your period last week."

"I was trying not to be rude!" Julian tries to explain. "I know your father must have put in a lot of work to make this happen, I don't want to sound ungrateful or say the wrong thing—"

"Then just say yes!" Palis interrupts. "What is wrong with you? It's perfect, and here you are having a fucking panic attack about it!"

"I'm not— I..." There's a buzzing in his ears, and he trails off, reaching for something neutral. "I don't— I don't like surpises," he reminds her quietly.

To his relief, she softens, despite how pathetic he's being. Settling beside him, she starts rubbing firm circles into his back, grounding him, letting him bask in her touch.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry," she says. "Is that what all this is about? It being a surprise? Oh, Julian, if I'd known you didn't like them, I wouldn't have done it like this at all. You should have told me."

He leans into her, taking deep breaths and comfort in her familiar smell.

"I've just been so excited about this," Palis explains. "I hoped you would be too. And I know you don't want kids right now, but your mum's right, neither of us have had surgery yet, so one day..."

"'Course I'm excited," he tells her, not quite sure if he's lying. "It's just, it's all—"

"A lot, I know," she finishes for him. "I'm nervous too. It's a big decision."

He nods slowly. "Can I have some—"

"Water?" she asks. "I'll go get some for you."

He had been going to say 'time to think', but Palis is already off, and now he thinks about it, she was right - his throat is rather dry.

She returns, and he sips the water gratefully, tapping his fingers against the glass until Palis tells him to stop.

"Are you ready to go back in?" she asks. "Our parents will be getting hungry."

Julian thinks about telling her he isn't, but quickly dismisses it. That would be rude.

"Okay. Yeah. Let's go, fiancée." That word, at least, is still exciting in its newness, and his mouth stumbles upon a smile before its even out of his mouth.

"I like that," she says, pulling him up form the bed and then into her. "You're mine now," she whispers in his ear, in a way that makes him really wish that their parents were not still waiting for them in the kitchen.

But they are, and although they seem to have already started on the food (Julian would bet anything that was Richard's idea), Julian and Palis can't hide in their bedroom forever. And there's still the small matter of accepting Henri's offer.

"Um, sorry about that," he says, sliding back into his seat. His mother's eyes are on him, and he looks away, knowing she's going to want to 'talk' to him later - she didn't buy his cramps excuse, either.

He turns to Palis' father, fixing his eyes on him for an excruciating few seconds. "I really appreciate what you're doing for me and Palis," he says. "It means a lot. I'd love to work with you, thank you."

His mouth has gone dry again, but Henri is standing up and holding out his hand, which means he wants Julian to shake it. In an effort he's quite proud of, Julian manages not to break eye contact until they've both sat down again. The chatter resumes, and as he reaches for his glass, he frowns at his hand, wondering why it's shaking.

Headcanon that Julian had a bunch of “relationships” as a teen with older people just to piss his parents off/to get away from them (because his gfs and bfs in their 20s would have their own place he could stay at...) and that he never really had a chance to learn what a healthy partnership looked like.

And then that Palis was emotionally abusive towards Julian, in a way that he never quite put his finger on...

And that his attraction towards Garak was in part due to the way that Garak felt dangerous to be around. Not because that was new or exciting or thrilling, but because it was familiar.

[lostyesterday]

I made the following graph because I was interested in which words show up most often in the titles of Star Trek episodes and movies:

I included episode titles from all twelve canon TV shows and all thirteen movies. I only counted nouns for the graph to avoid including boring words like “the” or “and”. I also counted plurals of a word as the same word (“stars” counts as “star”) and compound words where the singular word still carried the same meaning (“starship” counts as “star”). A complete list of episode/movie titles for each word listed in the graph is below the cut.

Time:

Amok Time (TOS)

The Time Trap (TAS)

The Naked Time (TNG)

Time Squared (TNG)

A Matter of Time (TNG)

Time’s Arrow (TNG)

Timescape (TNG)

Hard Time (DS9)

Children of Time (DS9)

A Time to Stand (DS9)

Time’s Orphan (DS9)

Time and Again (VOY)

Once Upon a Time (VOY)

Timeless (VOY)

Time Amok (PRO)

The Time Devouring Scavengers (PRO)

Star

Beyond the Furthest Star (TAS)

Starship Mine (TNG)

Starship Down (DS9)

Far Beyond the Stars (DS9)

North Star (ENT)

Battle at the Binary Stars (DIS)

The Brightest Star (Short Treks)

The Girl Who Made the Stars (Short Treks)

The Star Gazer (PIC)

The Stars at Night (Lower Decks)

Starstruck (PRO)

A Moral Star (PRO)

Man

The Man Trap (TOS)

Where No Man Has Gone Before (TOS)

The Schizoid Man (TNG)

The Measure of a Man (TNG)

Manhunt (TNG)

Tin Man (TNG)

Man of the People (TNG)

A Man Alone (DS9)

Our Man Bashir (DS9)

Inside Man (VOY)

Renaissance Man (VOY)

Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad (DIS)

Home

The Voyage Home (movie)

Home Soil (TNG)

Homeward (TNG)

Move Along Home (DS9)

The Homecoming (DS9)

Homefront (DS9)

Homestead (VOY)

Home (ENT)

Far From Home (DIS)

Coming Home (DIS)

Child

Friday’s Child (TOS)

And the Children Shall Lead (TOS)

Plato’s Stepchildren (TOS)

The Child (TNG)

Galaxy’s Child (TNG)

Children of Time (DS9)

Child’s Play (VOY)

Children of the Comet (SNW)

Children of Mars (Short Treks)

Life

Half a Life (TNG)

The Quality of Life (TNG)

Life Support (DS9)

Lifesigns (VOY)

Real Life (VOY)

Life Line (VOY)

Life, Itself (DIS)

Eye

Wink of an Eye (TOS)

The Eye of the Beholder (TAS)

The Mind’s Eye (TNG)

Eye of the Beholder (TNG)

Eye of the Needle (VOY)

Blink of an Eye (VOY)

Kayshon, His Eyes Open (Lower Decks)

Light

The Lights of Zetar (TOS)

The Inner Light (TNG)

The Darkness and the Light (DS9)

By Inferno’s Light (DS9)

In the Pale Moonlight (DS9)

Point of Light (DIS)

Light and Shadows (DIS)

War

A Private Little War (TOS)

The Dogs of War (DS9)

Warlord (VOY)

Warhead (VOY)

The War Within, the War Without (DIS)

Under the Cloak of War (SNW)

Night

Night Terrors (TNG)

Wrongs Darker than Death or Night (DS9)

Night (VOY)

Two Days and Two Nights (ENT)

A Night in Sickbay (ENT)

The Stars at Night (Lower Decks)

Game

The Gamesters of Triskelion (TOS)

The Game (TNG)

Armageddon Game (DS9)

The Killing Game (VOY)

Endgame (VOY)

The Least Dangerous Game (Lower Decks)

Shadow

Shadowplay (DS9)

In Purgatory’s Shadow (DS9)

Shadows and Symbols (DS9)

Shadows of P’Jem (ENT)

Light and Shadows (DIS)

Through the Valley of Shadows (DIS)

Mirror

Mirror Mirror (TOS)

Shattered Mirror (DS9)

In the Mirror, Darkly (ENT)

Mirrors (DIS)

The Mirror Universe (PRO)

Enemy

The Enemy Within (TOS)

The Enemy (TNG)

Face of the Enemy (TNG)

Silent Enemy (ENT)

Behind Enemy Lines (PRO)

Battle

Let that Be Your Last Battlefield (TOS)

The Battle (TNG)

Battle Lines (DS9)

Nor the Battle to the Strong (DS9)

Battle at the Binary Stars (DIS)

Mind

Dagger of the Mind (TOS)

The Mind’s Eye (TNG)

Frame of Mind (TNG)

Mining the Mind’s Mines (Lower Decks)

Mindwalk (PRO)

Blood

Bloodlines (TNG)

Blood Oath (DS9)

Ties of Blood and Water (DS9)

Blood Fever (VOY)

Flesh and Blood (VOY)

World

For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky (TOS)

The Best of Both Worlds (TNG)

Strange New World (ENT)

All the World’s a Stage (PRO)

Strange New Worlds (SNW)

Ship

Ship in a Bottle (TNG)

Starship Mine (TNG)

Starship Down (DS9)

The Ship (DS9)

One Little Ship (DS9)

Day

Day of the Dove (TOS)

Data’s Day (TNG)

Day of Honor (VOY)

Thirty Days (VOY)

Two Days and Two Nights (ENT)

[writergeekrhw]

Is there anyone you would say is responsible for all the occasional foot fetish bits on ds9

I'll take responsibility for the bit in "Armageddon Game." I've told this story before, but the freelancer who wrote the first draft wrote a line where Bashir says he dated a ballerina and she had beautiful feet and Ira and I thought that was hilarious because both our wives were dancers (his was a professional ballerina, mine was semi-professional) and real ballerinas have messed up feet, so we found it kinda ridiculous.

Which is why we left it in.

I can't comment on any other specific instances or point fingers because honestly, that's the only moment I can think of.

But if I've learned one thing from the internet, it's that some people really like Star Trek, and some people really like feet, and there's definitely some overlap in that Venn diagram.

Whatever makes you happy, so long as it harms none.

[cosmicretreat]

Today in 1989: "Unnatural Selection" (TNG)

Today in 1994: "Armageddon Game" (DS9)

Today in 1995: "Time and Again" (VOY)

Today in 2002: "Sleeping Dogs" (ENT)

Today in 2020: "Maps and Legends" (PIC)