The Maquis, Part II (episode)

Real World article
(written from a Production point of view)

Sisko tries to rescue Gul Dukat, stop the Maquis terrorists, and prevent a new war with the Cardassians.

Summary Edit

Teaser Edit

Calvin Hudson, now openly part of the Maquis, has Sisko, Kira, and Bashir at his mercy. Sisko demands to see Gul Dukat, whom the Maquis abducted, to which Hudson accuses Sisko of siding with the Cardassians over him. According to Hudson, the Maquis's top priority is peace but insists the Cardassians' crimes cannot go unpunished, and Sisko points out that it is revenge, not peace, they seek. "I prefer to call it retaliation," Hudson smirks. After Sisko declines his offer to join the Maquis, the Maquis stun him, Kira, and Bashir.

Act One Edit

Admiral Nechayev is waiting for Sisko in his office when he returns to Deep Space 9, and Dax informs him that Legate Parn of Cardassian Central Command will be arriving soon as well. As well as expressing concerns that Odo is not suitable for the position as head of station security, Nechayev refers to the Maquis as "a bunch of irresponsible hotheads" and tells Sisko to talk to them. Sisko is left fuming, feeling that Nechayev's views are out of touch with reality and sounds off to Kira about what he feels is the real problem... Earth. Kira is confused, as Sisko explains that on Earth there is no crime or poverty and it is easy to be a good person in a place where there are no problems. For the people in the demilitarized zone however there are still many problems and they are doing whatever they have to in order to survive, all while Starfleet Command still expects them to be 'saints'. Kira appreciates and supports Sisko's true understanding of the situation, and informs him that Legate Parn. He is on his way to greet the Cardassian leader when Odo reports that he has caught "one of the Vulcan's accomplices."

Sisko arrives in the security office to find Quark in a holding cell. Quark attempts to evade discussion of his business with Sakonna but eventually reveals that he arranged for the Maquis to acquire weapons from the Pygorians. While he had not heard of the Maquis at the time, he is sure Sakonna plans to execute her plans within the next few days. Legate Parn, upon meeting with Sisko, informs him and Kira that the Cardassian Central Command has discovered Dukat to be the leader of "a small group of misguided officers" who were smuggling weapons to the demilitarized zone. However, neither Sisko nor Kira believe him. Sisko concludes the Command is, in fact, arming their colonists. Hudson was right.

Afterward, Sisko hears of more violence, as Federation citizens are killed on Hakton VII in retaliation for the Bok'Nor. Focusing on Dukat, O'Brien discovers the subspace distortion of the Maquis ship's warp drive and reconstructs their probable course. Sisko immediately leaves on the USS Rio Grande to rescue Dukat, along with Bashir and Odo. Kira however believes Sisko should leave Dukat at the mercy of the Maquis with him "getting exactly what he deserves". Sisko tells her before he leaves that "the Central Command wants him dead. That's reason enough for us to want him alive".

Act Two Edit

On one of the Maquis worlds, Sakonna attempts to establish a Vulcan mind meld with Dukat, however, it is unsuccessful. Dukat is pleased and starts to openly mocks his captors, attributing it to his mental discipline and boasting about Cardassian methods of information extraction. Amaros, observing, is fed up with Dukat and comes down to interrogate him himself. Just then, Sisko, Bashir, and Odo interrupt the interrogation, wanting to talk and work together on revealing the Cardassian plot. There is a momentary standoff, during which Dukat grows impatient. "Shoot them!" he yells and knocks Sakonna over, triggering a firefight. The Maquis are arrested, but Sisko allows one of them named Amaros to go free with a message to Cal Hudson that it is not too late to settle things peacefully, as he has not informed Starfleet of Hudson's actions.

Act Three Edit

They bring Dukat back to Deep Space 9, where he enjoys a meal in quarters. Sisko arrives to talk to him. First, a brief exchange on the fate of the prisoners, where Dukat says that, in a Cardassian "trial," the verdict is known beforehand because "Cardassians don't make mistakes." Dukat then inquires about the fact that Federation, not Cardassian, forces rescued him. Sisko tells Dukat about Legate Parn turning him into a scapegoat to be executed "after a comforting trial." Dukat processes this briefly, and mentions he predicted this strained relationship with the Command since the end of the Occupation of Bajor. Dukat then offers to help Sisko stop the smuggling if he helps to stop the Maquis, and he agrees, believing for the moment that Dukat didn't know about the Command's plan. He invites Dukat to their next staff meeting.

DrofoAwa — The Xepolite captain, who becomes much more cooperative when Dukat threatens to destroy his ship

The next day in the Ops, Odo has obtained an extensive list of weapons Sakonna bought from Quark, but he has been unable to find out more from Sakonna herself. The crew focus on the weapons smuggling instead for the time being. With Dukat's help, they find a Xepolite Free Trader, impervious to scanners and with a faster engine than the runabout. After initially not responding to hails, O'Brien fires off its bow, and trader named Drofo Awa explains with a phony story. After Sisko tries to convince him to let them search the ship, Dukat interjects, using his authority and forcefulness to talk the man down. He lowers his shields and allows them to detain a shipment of weapons from him, finally obtaining proof of the conspiracy. Dukat sits back down, pleased to gain a small amount of trust from the group.

Act Four Edit

Back on the station, Quark and Sakonna are sharing a holding cell. He calls her position with the Maquis illogical; she scoffs at the idea that a Ferengi can display superior logic to a Vulcan, but Quark quotes the Third Rule of Acquisition to her, "never spend more for an acquisition than you have to." The Maquis, and Sakonna, want to "acquire" peace in the Demilitarized Zone, and now that the Central Command's plan has been exposed, the two sides - the Maquis and the Cardassian settlers - are in stalemate, and "peace can be bought at a bargain price." But if the Maquis escalate the conflict, then peace with the Cardassians will become that much more "expensive". Quark challenges her to fault the logic in his argument. To her (muted) astonishment, she cannot.

Meanwhile, Sisko explains that the Maquis are going to attack what they believe to be a weapons depot hidden in a civilian center on one of the colonies, though Sakonna doesn't know which one. Sisko believes her, as Vulcans don't lie as a rule. Dukat challenges that, but takes it for granted for the moment. He ensures the Cardassian Central Command is not aware of this, and takes it on to find out where the depot is located himself.

In the meantime, Sisko visits Cal Hudson one final time, interrupting a council meeting. He bluntly says if they attack the depot, they endanger the treaty, and therefore become enemies of the Federation. He will stop the Maquis if they approach the depot. He tells Hudson they stopped the weapons smuggling, and that there's no need for the Maquis, but Hudson ignores it, saying they're in a war, and he intends to win even if he has to fight Sisko. Sisko brings along Hudson's uniform, which Hudson vaporizes with a phaser before he leaves.

Act Five Edit

Dukat says he believes the depot is on the Bryma Colony. They'll have to intercept outside its sensor range, so the colony doesn't call for reinforcements. O'Brien says they'll need to establish sensor probes in the system's Oort cloud to detect them, since they don't know what route they will take.

The crew is waiting in runabouts Rio Grande, USS Mekong and USS Orinoco when the Maquis arrive at the depot. As neither Hudson nor Sisko wants to hurt the other, the resulting dogfight is relatively slow paced and targets are only auxiliary systems. Soon, the Mekong, Orinoco and one of the fighters are out of the fight. Sisko's runabout and Hudson's fighter are alone, and each try to disable the other. Hudson manages to knock out Sisko's engines, but his own phasers are disabled. Despite Sisko's plea, Hudson flees and, over, Dukat's strong objections, Sisko allows him to escape, saying he has indeed stopped the Maquis and doesn't need to kill the man.

Ultimately, Sisko wonders if he has prevented a war or delayed the inevitable. In his office, he confides in Kira after reading his congratulatory message from Starfleet. Kira says he deserves the credit, but she is silent on the future.

Memorable quotesEdit

"On Earth, there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window of Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise. Well, it's easy to be a Saint in paradise, but the Maquis do not live in paradise. Out there in the Demilitarized Zone, all the problems haven't been solved yet. Out there, there are no saints — just people. Angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive, whether it meets with Federation approval or not!"

- Sisko, on Nechayev's suggestion that he "establish a dialogue" with the Maquis

"Commander, you know there's no reason to go after Dukat. I mean, you heard Legate Parn; they don't want him back."
"Are you suggesting we leave him to the Maquis?"
"Why risk our lives over someone who's caused so many deaths? The way I see it, he's getting exactly what he deserves."
"The Central Command wants him dead. That's reason enough for us to want him alive."

- Major Kira and Sisko, about rescuing Gul Dukat from the Maquis

"The Maquis are a bunch of irresponsible hotheads!"

- Alynna Nechayev

"Look, I know the Cardassians can't be trusted. I know the Central Command would like nothing better than to wipe out all the Federation colonies in the Demilitarized Zone."
"Then you agree with our position."
"Not for a second. Because your position is illogical."
"Do you propose to lecture me on logic?"
"I don't want to, but you leave me no choice."

- Quark and Sakonna

"They have weapons, you have weapons – everyone has weapons, but right now, no one has a clear advantage! So the price of peace is at an all-time low. This is the perfect time to sit down and hammer out an agreement. Don't you get it? Attacking the Cardassians now will only make peace more expensive in the long run! Now, I ask you, is that logical?"

- Quark, to Sakonna

"I don't understand; you're a Cardassian!"
"I'm not just any Cardassian. I'm Gul Dukat, Commander of the Second Order."

- Drofo Awa and Dukat

"Legate Parn's ship just put in at Docking Bay Five. Maybe you'd like to give the same speech to him."

- Kira, to Sisko

"I don't know how many of you here actually belong to the Maquis. Those of you who don't probably have friends who do. So please make sure you pass along what I'm about to tell you. There is a treaty currently in place between Cardassia and the Federation. If you make yourself an enemy of Cardassia, you make yourself an enemy of the Federation."

- Benjamin Sisko, to the Maquis about the treaty between the Federation and Cardassia

Background informationEdit

Story and scriptEdit

Ira Steven Behr is extremely proud of this episode and considers it to be one of the most important early episodes in establishing the darker Star Trek ideology for which Deep Space Nine would become famous. In particular, he refers to Sisko's speech to Kira, and the line "it's easy to be a saint in paradise", as expressing a much less optimistic view of Humanity than had ever before been presented in Star Trek. Behr has said he always wanted to dig deeper into Starfleet, to see what Earth was really like, and to examine the paradise that Gene Roddenberry had envisioned. Indeed, he wanted to do this on The Next Generation but was never allowed; "I'd been waiting to say that line in Star Trek for a long time. We need to dig deeper and find out what, indeed, life is like in the twenty-fourth century. Is it this paradise, or are there, as Harold Pinter said, "Weasels under the coffee table." Sisko's speech in this episode was the beginning of our really starting to question some of the basic tenets of Star Trek philosophy. Because, yes, it's a paradise – but so what?" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented: "It's easy to be a saint in paradise, but this ain't paradise! It's easy to be a saint on the Enterprise, but it's a little bit harder to be a saint on DS9. Sisko is still kind of a saint, but he's a saint that just has to work a lot harder". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 100)
Ira Steven Behr intended to have Hudson die at the end of the episode, but Michael Piller opposed this at the time. When Piller watched the dailies, he commented to Behr that he was right. (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 43)
This theme of examining the most basic elements of Star Trek philosophy would return in Quark's speech about the Federation in the episode "The Jem'Hadar" as well as his speech about Humans in "The Siege of AR-558", in the third season "Past Tense, Part I"/"Past Tense, Part II" two-parter, in the fourth season "Homefront"/"Paradise Lost" two-parter, in Michael Eddington's comparison of the Federation to the Borg in the episode "For the Cause", in the character of Richard Bashir in the fifth season episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume", and would ultimately culminate in the creation of Section 31 for the sixth season episode "Inquisition".
A line cut from the episode stated that Hudson and Sisko had once played dom-jot on Pelios Station against two Zakdorn on the suggestion of Curzon Dax. The two Starfleet officers clearly lost and Curzon told them that he had placed a high bet on the Zakdorn. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
This is the first episode to introduce some ambiguity in relation to the character of Gul Dukat. Dukat had appeared five times prior to this episode (in "Emissary", "Duet", "The Homecoming", "Cardassians", and "Necessary Evil"), but had predominantly been depicted as a villain. In this episode, his character is fleshed out, particularly in the scene where he is speaking to the Xepolite hetman. After his conversation, Dukat notices that Kira is looking strangely at him and he smiles to himself. This ambiguity as to Kira's attitude toward Dukat would remain a recurring theme for the duration of the show, perhaps seen at its most ambiguous in the fourth season episode "Return to Grace". However, despite this ambiguity, Nana Visitor herself never wavered from maintaining that there could never be any kind of romantic relationship between Kira and Dukat: "To Kira, Dukat is Hitler. She's not ever going to get over that. She can never forgive him...she will always hate Dukat." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

TriviaEdit

Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #3 ("Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to")
Dukat's line that "on Cardassia, the verdict is always known before the trial begins" became the basis for the episode "Tribunal".
Sisko would discover in the fifth season episode "Blaze of Glory" that Cal Hudson has been killed by the Jem'Hadar. That episode would also see the last activity of the Maquis, which has been wiped out due to the increased military presence in the DMZ brought about by Cardassia joining the Dominion.
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
This was the final episode of Star Trek directed by Corey Allen.

Video and DVD releasesEdit

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 21, 5 September 1994
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection

Links and referencesEdit

External links Edit

"The Maquis, Part II" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
"The Maquis" at Wikipedia
"The Maquis, Part II" at StarTrek.com, the official Star Trek website

Previous episode:
"The Maquis, Part I"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Season 2

Next episode:
"The Wire"

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Summary Edit

Teaser Edit

Act One Edit

Act Two Edit

Act Three Edit

Act Four Edit

Act Five Edit

Memorable quotesEdit

Background informationEdit

Story and scriptEdit

TriviaEdit

Video and DVD releasesEdit

Links and referencesEdit

Main castEdit

Guest starsEdit

Special appearance byEdit

Co-starEdit

Uncredited co-starsEdit

Stunt doubles Edit

References Edit

External links Edit