The fourth season starts with a bang, albeit a meandering one, as the Klingons invade Cardassia under the assumption the Dominion has overthrown the government and wind up withdrawing from the Khitomer Accord signed in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. I call it meandering because it is not made clear what, if any, Dominion involvement there is. All we have to go by is the Changeling’s word to Odo and Garak in “The Die is Cast” the Dominion has plans to get rid of both of them. If it was in the works to destroy the Khitomer Accord at that point, one has to wonder why the Dominion tried to spark of another unrelated war in the third season finale.
It is a good idea not to dwell on that. The emphasis of the episode is not so much to further the Dominion Cold War, but to ingratiate Worf into the DS9 cast. I have log since thought Ds9 did a much better job dealing with Klingons than TNG. It brought them back to the Klingons of TOS and the TOS movies series where they were more like shoguns of Japan rather than the Viking marauders of TNG. But that is not quite going to happen yet. Here, they are still wild animals and Worf is still a sullen, lost soul.
Worf does have an unusual demeanor here. The story takes place a short time after the Enterprise was lost in Star Trek: Generations. He is conflicted between his longing for the days of being part of the crew and feeling that being around humans for so long has softened him. Spending time in a Klingon monastery has awakened his warrior sense, but his plan to resign Starfleet and join a merchant marine is not exactly the most logical step to indulge in war. That was always the problem, though. No one could ever decide what to do with Worf.
Sisko requests he be temporarily assigned to DS9 when a fleet of Klingon ships appears around the station. Martok, the head of the fleet, says they are here to join with the Federation against a Dominion attack. They suspect the Dominion have taken over Cardassia and will attack any minute. Things get out of hand with their presence: Garak is attacked, ships are beig stopped and searched, and tensions are riding high everywhere.
Worf comes along to act as an intermediary. Through aan investigation, he discovers the klingons true purpose--they are going to invade Cardassia. He refuses to join the invasion, so he is stripped of all family honor. His brother loses his seat on the High Council, but that will be dealt with later. Worf becomes a man without a country.
His new status complements various relationships with the DS9 crew. His connection with Odo is obvious. They have both made moral choices forcing them to abandon their people. O’Brien offers a connection to the Enterprise. There is even a hint of the future romance between Dax and him. Well, they cannot all be for the best.
The Federation not only chooses to condemn the invasion of Cardassia, but Sisko leads a mission to rescue Dukhat and the new civilian leadership with whom he has thrown in his lot. Dukhat is more of an opportunist than previously thought. His ambitions will come more into play later as the Dominion Cold War becomes a hot one. The act of rescuing the Cardassian government prompts the Klingon withdrawal from the Khitomer accord.
It also sparks off what I am confident is the most extended, violent action sequence in trek up until that point when the Klingons invade DS9. I am impressed with the choreographed hand-to-had combat even though stuntmen standing in for the main cast is painfully obvious in several scenes, most notably for Odo and a bit in which kira getsa bat-leth to her right kidney area, but keeps on going. She is quite a trooper.
Federation reinforcements, which were too far away shortly before the battle to be of any use, suddenly show up like the cavalry of old. The Klingons are convinced taking over Cardassia is not worth riskig full scale war with the Federation and withdraw, although they refuse to give up the colonies they conquered in the invasion.
Sisko convinces Worf he needs to stop running from the pain of his dishonor the same way he stopped running from his wife’s death. Worf takes his advice and joins the crew.
I understand “The Way of the Warrior” is very popular among fans. It is an excitig episode, no doubt, but I do not put it in the higher tier of DS9 episodes. The whle Federation/Klingon conflict is short but pointless. It served only to delay the Dominion story as far as I am concerned. It effectively shakes things up, but I am not certain it goes in the right direction. But I am one of a few fans who liked the Bajoran/Cardassian political dynamic that ran through the series up until now and will largely fade into the background. It will be a while before I appreciate Worf‘s new role, too.
The episode is not bad, in and of itself, but I cannot help being miffed at many of the changes it brought about.
Rating: *** (out of 5).
