Deep Space Nine was the third spin-off of the original Star Trek series, and it was highly controversial. Many fans initially balked at a Star Trek show where the crew remained mostly stationary.
Some people compared the show to Route '66 — since they were near a highly trafficked wormhole, the universe would just come to them.
The show had a rough start, but as it progressed it gained more and more fans, with some Trekkers that still maintain it is the best of all the televised Star Trek shows.
It is markedly different than it's immediate predecessor, Star Trek: The Next Generation. Whereas Star Trek: The Next Generation was mostly optimistic, full of perfect officers who would tow the Federation line, and a captain more likely to quote Shakespeare than launch photon torpedoes, Deep Space Nine was considerably darker.
It explores the tough decisions and gritty alliances behind the scenes of the supposedly perfect Federation and exposes the tarnish, corruption, and political intrigue that is just under the surface.
The crew of Deep Space Nine was by no means made of bad guys, but they were forced into many decisions that would leave most Starfleet purists clutching their chests.
As Deep Space Nine evolved into a critical and fan-favorite show, over the years fans have developed many of their own theories regarding the events of the seven-season run.
With that said, here are the 20 Crazy Fan Theories About Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (That Make Too Much Sense).
Q Never Returned To DS9 Because Sisko Hit Him
In the first season of Deep Space Nine, the old trickster Q decided to pay a visit to Sisko and immediately gave him the same sort of treatment that he used to give to Picard.
Namely, he would put Sisko in a number of fantastical situations and obstacles just to see how he would react.
In one such scenario, Q manifested a late 1800s boxing match where he and Sisko would face off. As Q spouted insults at Sisko, Sisko laid him out with a series of quick punches.
Q was flabbergasted that a Starfleet officer would actually hit him. "Picard never hit me," he protested. Sisko shot back, "I'm not Picard!"
Many fans think Sisko's intestinal fortitude intimidated Q and that the punch hurt his feelings, so Q decided that Sisko wasn't fun to play with anymore.
This is why he never returned.
Garak Works For Section 31
Section 31 is sort of the secret service of the Federation. It has complete autonomy and often uses dubious methods to accomplish its ends.
So what does the Cardassian Garak have to do with Section 31? As far as Cardassians go, he's nowhere near as hostile as many of the other Cardassians introduced on the show.
He's a tailor who works on the ship and is friendly to almost everyone.
However, it is revealed in the later seasons that he used to be a spy for the Cardassian government.
Some fans believe that he was recruited long ago by Section 31 to actually spy on the Cardassians, effectively making him a double-agent.
Given his past, and that his current occupation exposes him to gossip from the whole crew, this would make him a perfectly placed intelligence agent.
The Federation Started The Dominion War
While most fans would say that the Dominion are definitely the bad guys, some say that it was actually the Federation that forced their hand into war. (This is depicted in fan art above.)
The Bajoran wormhole near Deep Space Nine enabled instantaneous travel to the Gamma Quadrant, a part of the galaxy that ordinarily would take 67 years to reach.
As a result, Deep Space Nine and the Federation became exposed to brand new cultures they had never encountered before.
Some say it was the Federation's reckless colonization of parts of Gamma quadrant that started the war.
In season two's "Jem’hadar", the Dominion destroys Federation footholds in Gamma Quadrant and warns them not to further explore Gamma Quadrant nor enter the wormhole.
The Federation responds that they will continue. Theorists say this is the moment that the Federation became the invaders.
Sisko Was Stationed At DS9 For His Experience In Dealing With Alien Cultures
Many fans thought Sisko being stationed at Deep Space Nine was the equivalent of being stationed in Antarctica — a post so remote that it must have been a punishment.
However, others think this move was much more deliberate than it appeared.
Proponents of this theory say that Sisko was chosen for his expertise in dealing fairly with alien cultures.
For example, he served as XO under a Vulcan while on The Saratoga, was mentored by a Trill, and had a good friend in the Academy who was a Benzenite.
He also never served in the Cardassian and Bajoran war, so he would be neutral on a station where Cardassians and Bajorans had to co-exist.
His fair treatment of the Ferengi and other cultures he encounters, including The Prophets, s the theory that Sisko's true talents are in extra-terrestrial diplomacy.
Section 31 Was Controlled By An Emergent AI
As much as we know about Section 31, its origins are still mysterious. Even if agents revealed exactly how it started, how could we trust them?
This is an organization that runs on deception and strategems — there's no way to guarantee they wouldn't be lying to us.
Some fans think that the Federation's computers and experimental AI's actually reached the singularity — that fabled point where the computers became superior and sentient.
There's some backup evidence here in the series of Star Trek novels based on Section 31, which claim that the organization was created and run by an AI called "Uraei."
The idea was that in case of a serious threat, a super-intelligent AI could most efficiently allocate resources, gather information, and adjust strategies in real time.
This begs the question: who's really giving the orders in Starfleet?
A Theoretical Season 8 Exists And Its Outline Will Be Introduced In A DS9 Documentary
Deep Space Nine still has a dedicated fan base that would love to know what happened to the characters after the scripted adventures ended.
Luckily, a crowd-funded documentary is being completed entitled What We Left Behind that is headed by former DS9 showrunner Ira Steven Behr.
Behr and fellow writers Hans Beimler, Ronald D. Moore, and Rene Echevarria have already written a hypothetical storyline for a new episode (possibly leading to a new season) that they want to feature as part of the documentary.
The story would address what happened to Sisko after he ed the Prophets, and what the other characters have been up to all these years.
As of last year, it looked like the project would probably get its funding, and as far as we know, Leonard Nimoy's son Adam Nimoy is still set to direct.
The Federation Didn’t Take DS9 Seriously So It Staffed It With Inexperienced & Green Officers
This theory explains that the Federation didn't really take the outpost seriously, and staffed it with officers they felt were more or less expendable.
On paper, you could see why this would seem like a less than desirable assignment. The "ship" doesn't go anywhere, the alien technology is super buggy and is in constant need of fixing or renovation.
On top of this, there are a host of aliens not normally stationed together, including two species that just ended a war against each other.
Aside from Sisko and Major Kira, almost everyone else is a junior officer or barely out of the academy.
Worf would be considered the most experienced, but he doesn't the crew until much later.
This s the idea that had the Federation thought it more important, they would have initially crewed it differently.
The Founders Created The Jem'Hadar As A Slave Race
Yes, the Jem'Hadar are already technically a slave race, raised artificially for the purposes of warfare. They are the military division of the Dominion.
The Jem'Hadar are birthed artificially and reach adulthood after only three days of being "born."
The entire soldier-race is male and completely subservient to the Dominion.
However, some fans believe that it wasn't always this way, and that a long time ago, it was the Founders (also known as the Changelings) that commandeered and enslaved their race.
The theory maintains that it was the Jem'Hadar that was the first major resistance the Founders encountered, and when they eventually won their conflict, they enslaved their opponents as punishment for ri against them.
Sisko Faked Being The Emissary In The Episode “Accession”
Sisko had been named "The Emissary of the Prophets" by the mysterious "Prophets" that live in the wormhole.
However, he faces competition when Akorem, a famous Bajoran from 300 years ago, emerges from the wormhole and claims that he is actually the Emissary.
Akorem's suggestions for Bajoran society include returning to the caste system, though, which threatens Bajor's eligibility into the Federation.
Sisko accompanies Akorem into the wormhole where the Prophets explain that Sisko is still the Emissary, and they return Akorem to his own time.
However, this fan theory believes that everything that happened inside the wormhole was a fabrication.
Starfleet needed Sisko to remain Emissary to get Bajor to the Federation, so theorists say Sisko just put Akorem back into the wormhole and devised the story about the Prophets' "confirmation."
The Prophets Are Actually The Advanced Descendants Of The Bajorans
The Prophets are mysterious beings living inside the wormhole that often communicate with Captain Sisko by appearing as close friends or family.
They are believed to be advanced extra-dimensional beings, perhaps indistinguishable from gods to most lifeforms.
The Bajorans see them as divine beings, and the Prophets' history is woven into their own religion.
The Prophets explain that they are "of Bajor." Some interpret this to mean that they are actually descended from Bajorans, evolving into an energy-based higher lifeform.
This would mean that the Prophets are actually from the future, and they are visiting their Bajoran ancestors in the past, perhaps as a way to protect their own species.
The show doesn't explain enough about the Prophets to confirm or negate this theory, so it is an intriguing possibility.