Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Defiant #21!

After 26 years, former Enterprise colleague Miles O’Brien. Later in Worf’s tenure, during the height of the Dominion War, he and O’Brien made a puzzling bet, especially considering O’Brien’s heritage. Now, years later, the matter has been settled, as seen in Star Trek: Defiant #21.

Star Trek: Defiant #21, written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Angel Unzueta, is the final part of the “Stars of Home” storyline, which saw Worf and his crew turn back an entire Romulan invasion. They had a little help from O’Brien and another Deep Space Nine stalwart: Julian Bashir. After the dust settles, Worf presents O’Brien with a bottle of scotch, referencing a bet they made years prior. When Bashir notes that O’Brien is Irish, not Scottish, he brushes the concerns off, saying “we live on a unified Earth.”

Six s of Worf, Bashir and O'Brien talking

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As O’Brien is Irish, this may seem like an odd request, given the rivalry between Scotland and Ireland over who has the best whiskey.

The bet Worf and O’Brien allude to happened during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s sixth season. In the episode “Change of Heart,” Worf bets a bottle of Klingon bloodwine against a bottle of whiskey. O’Brien wins, and tells Worf he wants his whiskey from the Scotch Highlands. As O’Brien is Irish, this may seem like an odd request, given the rivalry between Scotland and Ireland over who has the best whiskey. Fans have been debating O’Brien’s decision since the episode aired in 1998, with some viewing it as a serious affront to his Irish heritage.

Worf in front of the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation
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In Star Trek: Defiant #21, Doctor Bashir becomes a stand-in for these fans. Bashir is incredulous O’Brien took whiskey from Scotland, but he will not hear it. Chief O’Brien is correct: Earth is now united. There is no more strife between nations and ethnicities, with war being a thing of the past. Any rivalries that still exist are purely good-natured, such as the debate over who makes the better whiskey. Even though he hails from Ireland, O’Brien is not nationalistic in his thinking, and can embrace whiskey from Scotland or all over the galaxy.

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Fans have flocked to Star Trek for years over its positive vision of humanity, and it is on display in Star Trek: Defiant #21. O’Brien and Worf’s Deep Space Nine bet is a humorous and wholesome way of driving home one of Star Trek’s central tenets: that humanity will move beyond petty differences and come together as a species. The franchise shows this in a number of ways, such as fully-integrated crews aboard starships or an Earth free from war, crime, poverty and pollution. Now, it is using whiskey, a common alcoholic drink, to show the unity of humanity.

Star Trek: Defiant #21 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!