Sacrifice of Angels

"Sacrifice of Angels" is the sixth episode from the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 130th episode overall. The episode's plot details the efforts of the United Federation of Planets to retake space station Deep Space Nine from the forces of the Dominion.

"Sacrifice of Angels"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 6
Directed byAllan Kroeker
Written byIra Steven Behr
Hans Beimler
Featured musicDavid Bell
Production code530
Original air dateNovember 3, 1997 (1997-11-03)
Guest appearance(s)

This is the second part of a two-part episode, the previous being "Favor the Bold".[1] This episode is also a part of the renowned Dominion war saga of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.[1]

Plot

Captain Sisko, aboard the starship Defiant, commands a fleet ordered to retake Deep Space Nine before the Dominion dismantles the minefield blocking the Bajoran wormhole, which links the Alpha Quadrant to Dominion territory in the Gamma Quadrant.

As part of his strategy, Sisko orders Federation fighters to engage the Cardassian warships making up a portion of the Dominion fleet, hoping the more aggressive Cardassians will break formation and pursue the fighters, creating a hole in the Dominion lines.

Aboard Deep Space Nine, Gul Dukat is aware of Sisko's ruse. Dukat plans to follow along Sisko’s strategy, luring the Federation fleet into the Dominion lines and diminishing their forces with superior numbers. While the destruction of the Federation minefield is several weeks behind schedule, it will be ready to be destroyed in only eight hours.

Once the Dominion leaders leave, Damar asks Dukat's permission to detain Major Kira, Jake Sisko and Leeta. Damar believes they are behind a sabotage attempt by Rom, who now works as a Ferengi technician. Dukat grants Damar's request. Damar also advises Dukat to keep his daughter, Tora Ziyal, confined to quarters "for her own safety." Damar does not trust Ziyal because she is a close friend of Major Kira, but Dukat refuses to listen to Damar's advice.

As the battle in space draws out lengthily, Dukat allows some of his ships to leave the lines and chase the fighters, opening a hole in the formation. Aware that Dukat is setting a trap, Sisko nonetheless orders his ships forward, desperate to reach Deep Space Nine. As Sisko's efforts devolve into chaos, Odo is confronted by the female shapeshifter, who informs him that Kira has been arrested and will be executed.

As the Federation fleet within the bulk of the Dominion lines quickly become overwhelmed, a Klingon fleet, led by Worf and Martok, arrives and flanks the Dominion. They clear a path for the Defiant, though the rest of the allied ships are unable to follow.

Quark enlists Ziyal, asking her to help him free Jake, Kira, Rom and Leeta. The two free the group. Kira organizes the sabotage of the station's weapons, and she and Rom set off for the station's core, pursued by Jem'Hadar forces. They are cornered in a cargo bay, but are rescued by Odo and Bajoran security. Odo's men cover them as they enter a maintenance shaft to sabotage the weapons.

Rom fails to sabotage the weapons at the last second. Dukat wipes out the minefield, which is witnessed by Sisko seconds after his arrival. Sisko orders the Defiant into the wormhole, where the crew encounters a massive number of Dominion reinforcements. As Sisko orders weapons locked on the enemy ships for a seemingly desperate suicide mission, he receives a vision from the Bajoran Prophets, who are upset that he intends to sacrifice himself before fulfilling their purposes. Sisko pleads with the aliens to help the Bajoran people, who created a religion around them. The Prophets cause the Dominion ships to vanish, saving Bajor, but warn Sisko that a penance will be exacted.

The Dominion leadership is shocked when the Defiant exits the wormhole alone and fires on the station, which cannot respond due to Rom's sabotage. Meanwhile, the Klingons and the Federation have outflanked the Dominion fleet, with 200 ships heading for Deep Space Nine. As the Dominion evacuates, Dukat searches for Ziyal, who refuses to evacuate with him, admitting that she helped Kira and her friends escape, which leaves Dukat stunned. As Ziyal leaves she is shot by Damar, who heard her confession and executed her as an enemy of the state. Dukat sinks to the floor in grief, and forgives her, as Damar leaves the station.

As the Federation fleet arrives, Sisko and company step out on the Promenade, where Sisko is reunited with Jake. Garak learns of Ziyal's death; the two had grown close before the war. Dukat is in a holding cell, sobbing over the loss of his daughter. As he is escorted to the infirmary, he returns Captain Sisko's baseball.

Reception

This had Nielsen ratings of 6.4 points, which was about 6.3 million viewers when it was broadcast on television in November 1997.[2]

A 2015 binge-watching guide for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by W.I.R.E.D. recommended not skipping this essential episode.[3]

In 2015, Geek.com recommended this episode as "essential watching" for their abbreviated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine binge-watching guide.[4]

In 2016, IGN ranked "Sacrifice of Angels" the 23rd best episode of all Star Trek up to that time.[5]

In 2018, Vulture rated "Sacrifice of Angels" the 9th best episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.[6] They also recommended the entire sixth season, remarking "It's that good" and praising the war saga's evolution.[6] They note how "Sacrifice of Angels" is the culmination of a story arc that spans the six previous episodes.[6]

io9 ranked "Favor the Bold " when paired with "Sacrifice of Angels", as the 88th best episodic presentation of all Star Trek in a 2014 listing.[7] They note this as featuring a special effect sequence depicting a large space battle for Star Trek.[8]

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter rated "Sacrifice of Angels" along with its 5 preceding episodes as among the 20 greatest episodes (or sequences of episodes) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.[9] This six-episode arc is noted for its serialized format compared to shorter two-episode stories that had been more common to the Star Trek franchise up to that time.[10]

As a six-episode arc:[11][3]

The last two in the sequence have also been reviewed as a two-part saga.[12][13] Sometimes the episode prior to "A Time to Stand", "Call to Arms" is also included in this story arc, for a full seven-episode saga.[3]

In 2018, CBR ranked "Favor the Bold" and "Sacrifice of Angels" as the 3rd best episodic saga of Star Trek overall, behind "The Best of Both Worlds" (Parts I & II) from Star Trek: The Next Generation.[14]

In 2016, Empire ranked this the 45th best out of the top 50 episodes of the 700 plus Star Trek television episodes.[15]

In 2016, The Washington Post called the Dominion war story arc possibly the "richest narrative" of the Star Trek universe.[16][1]

gollark: no.
gollark: Unrelatedly, listen to osmarks internet radio™ today!
gollark: Yes, I agree.
gollark: I think you *legally should be able to* donate your body to cannibalism or something.
gollark: As I said, what you "should" do is different to what you legally can do.

References
  1. Handlen, Zack. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Favor the Bold"/"Sacrifice Of Angels"". TV Club. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  2. "Nielsen Syndicated Ratings: Season 6". WebTrek. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  3. McMillan, Graeme (2015-05-13). "WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  4. Whitwam, Ryan (2015-01-19). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine condensed: How to watch the most story-driven Trek". Geek.com. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  5. Collura, Scott; Schedeen, Jesse (2016-05-22). "Star Trek: The Top 25 Episodes". IGN. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  6. Bastién, Angelica Jade (2018-01-04). "The Best Episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ranked". New York. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-02-22. Retrieved 2016-02-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-02-22. Retrieved 2016-02-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-02-22. Retrieved 2016-02-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. Star Trek's Greatest Episodic Sagas, Ranked by Michael Weyer – on Nov 23, 2018
  15. "The 50 best Star Trek episodes ever". Empire. 2016-07-27. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  16. Drezner, Daniel (September 13, 2016). "The top 10 'Star Trek' episodes ever". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
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