Episode 7.22: Tacking into the Wind

This is possibly the best episode of the Final Chapter (excluding the finale). As the title implies, the crew is making small advances against strong headwinds. None of the storylines directly hinders the Dominion or other threats to the Federation. But they all shape the coming surrender and downfall of the Dominion. Gowron would have destroyed the Alpha Quadrant. Without the Klingons holding the line, nothing would have held the Dominion back. Equally, without the Breen energy weapon, “fabled” Starfleet engineers would never have figured out how to defeat it before the Klingons broke. And had Julian and Miles not decided to lure Section 31 to the station, the Federation would be responsible for genocide and likely the Female Changeling would not have surrendered. The crew faces challenging odds, but they are slowly overcoming them. The dominant theme in this episode though is the Klingon storyline, and Gowron’s corrupt actions as a leader. I think DS9 truly did the Klingons fantastic justice by ending in such a way. This end centers firmly on honor and integrity as the beating, 8-chambered heart of Klingon culture. The beautiful irony is that Gowron creates the enemy he fears. Martok had no desire for power and no intention of usurping Gowron. Gowron tries to humiliate and embarrass Martok. He wants to remove a political rival. But Martok had no desires for such power and is no rival! It is only by trying to humiliate and embarrass Martok that Gowron creates his rival! Gowron then is his own worst enemy. He is deeply corrupt, and it is his thinking that Martok is equally corrupt that causes Gowron’s downfall.

All of the societal constructs we have are simply the combination of a group of people. We make the order we live in.  Martok does not wish to upset the societal order of the Empire. He sees the societal constructs they have, like the leadership structure, and wishes to honor it. I think this is generally a good thing. We have to live communally, honoring the society we’ve built, else we’ll fall into chaos. But at the end of the day, our society is really just a collection of ourselves. We form our governments, our churches, or businesses. And we are the ultimate authority on whether our society is working for the ideals we hold dear. The exchange between Ezri and Worf is one of the best of the series, in my opinion. If someone like Worf is willing to accept corruption at the highest level of the Empire, then what hope is there? He is a paragon of honor and integrity, ideals the Empire seeks to embody. But the Empire is nothing without people like Worf willing to stand up for those principles. This is a critically important lesson for us. As with many themes from these episodes, it’s as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. If our society is to embody the ideals we desire (justice, honesty, dialogue), then we must embody those ideals. And be willing to reject societal rules to uphold those ideals. Look at the civil rights actions in the 50s and 60s. They regularly broke unjust laws to bring about more just laws. The society must follow from the ideals. If it doesn’t, then those societal structures become tools for corrupt individuals to use against us. This is exactly what Gowron did to Martok. He used the honor code of the Klingons dishonorably. Gowron dared called Martok a coward! Gowron tries to use a badge of “True Klingon” to force loyalty rather than earn loyalty. And Martok would have let him get away with it, if not for Worf’s willingness to act honorably outside the strict honor code. It is paradoxical, but it’s critically important to understand. For example, the black lives matter movement and associated police brutality are as important as it gets. Society’s rules have created a situation where Americans die and no one is held accountable. The tools of society have become tools opposed to justice and freedom, pillars the nation was built on. We can hide behind our rules and allow injustice to grow.  This is just one of many issues today that have similar overtones.

Damar’s transformation has similar qualities. Cardassia must change. It is painful to hear as his family is killed by a totalitarian government, but that is what makes him receptive to Kira’s plea. There’s something about pain that gives us impetus to change. Our hearts are opened to reality in unique ways. Kira can easily and emotionally connect her past pain directly to Damar’s present pain. That creates a connection between them and fosters Damar’s openness. His old Cardassia was a totalitarian government. If he is to truly free his own people, he must free them from being oppressors. They cannot return to being oppressors after a time as the oppressed. The society that Cardassia is to become has to flow from just ideals, and therefore they cannot achieve a just society from within the system they once had. The Cardassian system itself is inherently opposed to justice. So something new must be built that flows out of justice. Damar killing Rusot is Damar’s turning point. Damar will inspire that change, even if he has to die for it.

Random Thoughts: 1) I think Odo is able to confide in Garak about the disease because they are both outcasts. Odo knows that Garak would understand the loneliness on a deep level. 2) I love the balance of Bashir and O’Brien here. Bashir is aggressively idealistic: “Every disease has a cure!” O’Brien grounds him, and helps find the most efficient way to that cure. 3) The Female Changeling has no more pretenses. She is openly subjugating the Cardassian people now. 4) I thought the facility where Kira steals the energy weapon looked fantastic. Very futuristic and alien. 5) Bashir and O’Brien have the best bromance. When Julian tries to apologize, Miles just brushes it off. Miles needed to hear Julian was willing to apologize…he didn’t actually need to hear the apology. 6) Worf gets some very succinct and powerful lines: “You rule without wisdom and without honor.” Cuts right to the point. Another: “Great men do not seek power. They have power thrust upon them.” 7) Worf killing Gowron in honorable combat is also an excellent culmination of the Worf character. A culmination that spanned two Star Trek series. 8) For all his corruption, Gowron was a Klingon, one deserving of a death knell.

~ by Joshua Black on July 22, 2020.