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

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

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

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.

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 Vedek Bareil Antos [in the hands of the prophets, s1ep20]

Rene Auberjonois as Odo 1993 in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ”In the Hands of the Prophets“

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/In_the_Hands_of_the_Prophets

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

Oh, me? I’m actually fine, I’m just sobbing hysterically because I’m thinking about Dylan saving Kaitlyn from the walk-in freezer again. Don’t worry about it.

what if max verstappen wanted to be a librarian when he grew up

I wasn't wearing my glasses the first time I watched the new CG and I thought they were holding hands

hc that cardassians do have tails but that they're docked or removed at birth (like circumcision tbh) and the practice sort of fell by the wayside post-Dominion. garashir adoptees with the eldest sans tail and the baby sporting a long luxurious 5th appendage

@scribz-ag24 YOU HAVE SLAIN ME WITH THESE

INSTANTANEOUS ADDITION TO THE WALL OF INSPIRATION

r e m e m b e r i n g

Louise Fletcher

22 July 1934 – 23 September 2022

⚘️

[pic: fletcher as vedek winn, ds9]

Avery Brooks as Commander Benjamin Sisko 1993 in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ”In the Hands of the Prophets“

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/In_the_Hands_of_the_Prophets

how it feels like whenever I have to draw sydney and monay together

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extra:

Mammon with the biggest body type in his save will forever be the bane of my existence trying to fit them together

cw// blood and implied suicide (Zending)

"It's a long way down...

but he can't stop you"

(better, bloodier version under the cut +artist notes)

artist notes:

In my bigger compositions I always add small details for the curious viewer. So if you'd like to seek them out on your own you can ignore this. But I wanted to talk about this piece, because I love love love it.

The main thing is that, obviously, the yellow/golden hands are supposed to represent the narrator. However, I made it so that each set of hands represent each fall that Stanley takes. The most faded ones on the shoulders are for the first and second fall. The second slightly faded ones on his chest are for the third fall. And the last ones holding Stanley's hand are for the final fall. (At least if I'm remembering correctly there's four).

You can see the hands getting progressively bloodier and weaker. There's not enough strength to try and hold Stanley back. The last and most gentle set, are just asking him not to do it. If you look close at the "please..." you can see a question mark after it. Because it's technically a question, but one the Narrator already knows the answer to.

Also the Narrator can't stop him, because he's not actually there. If you look at the small Stanley, you don't see any of the hands on him. Stanley reaching out to the side is him holding the rail, not holding the Narrator's hands. Big Stanley is to show what's happening metaphorically.

There's more, but I've talked enough. I hope you enjoy! I spent a loot of time on this one.