"When you cease to fear death, the rules of war change" (DS9-13 "Battle Lines")

A legacy of pain

April 25, 1993

(Synopsis on Memory Alpha)

"Battle Lines" is a surprisingly gutsy episode.  For one thing they re-introduce then eliminate Kai Opaka, the Bajoran spiritual leader from "The Emissary".  That's an action that has consequences throughout the rest of the season as the question of who will be the new Kai comes to the fore in later episodes this season.  The episode is also willing to let the heroes fail.  Kai Opaka is not rescued.  The conflict between the Ennis and Nol-Ennis is left unresolved.  About the only thing the main characters manage to do is escape with their lives, which isn't winning, just surviving.

We should also consider the courage in the scene depicted above where Kira, taking what turns out to be her last chance to speak with Opaka alone, unburdens herself about the violence she's seen and the violence she's committed during her time in the Bajoran Resistance.  Its a powerful and uncomfortable scene, since we're already used to seeing Kira in control and yelling at people, the sudden change to racked with guilt and weeping is startling.  Indeed, it's a bit too uncomfortable for my tastes, but reasonably well done regardless.

You can't cross those lines, Ben.  They won't let you.

Kira strongly resembles G'kar from Babylon 5, in fact.  Both fought for their world's independence from a conquering power, both were scarred by the experience, and both ended up in positions of power on a human run space station with a chip on their shoulders.

Likewise the fact that even when offered a chance to escape from their hell neither faction is willing to set aside their hatred is telling.  Unlike a lot of other Trek episodes, old and new, in this case it turns out that Starfleet can't just swoop in and deliver a solution on a silver platter.  Hatred this deep requires years of work and sacrifice to resolve, and it may well take the eternity that Opaka gained from her resurrection to bring it into being.  There's another parallel to B5 here, with the hatred between the Narn and Centauri mirroring that of the Ennis and Nol-Ennis.

Of course one could also equate the Narn to the Bajorans and the Cardassians to the Centauri, but that analogy can only take you so far, because while the Cardassians to Centauri comparison works in many ways, the Narn and Bajoran situation is pretty different.  In particular, the Bajorans are never a major power in the galaxy, even with the wormhole in their system, while the Narns are.  The difference in power between them ends up working out for the Bajorans who are able to shelter behind the Federation and Starfleet in a way that the Narn are not.

Runabout down.  The first of many.

As far as the rest of the episode goes, it was pretty decent.  There's a bit too much technobabble in the rescue for my tastes, with O'Brien literally inventing a new type of sensor on the spot to track the lost runabout.  Speaking of which, this is the first runabout destroyed in the series.  It would not be the last.  DS9 would go through runabouts like they were kids eating candy, to the point that it gets downright silly after a while.  That's not really the fault of this episode, of course, but the trend toward disposable warp-capable ships starts here.

All told, "Battle Lines" is the second episode in a row for Deep Space Nine that would have significant impact towards the rest of the series.  That's a trend I can applaud, and even if it wasn't significant in that way, the episode is well enough done as to keep the interest up.  Well done.

Can DS9 keep up the quality and significance when we see "The Storyteller" next?  Come on back to find out.