SDS9 – S4E17: "Accession" (Patreon)

This episode was recorded on July 11, 2024.

Sam and Scott discuss "Accession," in which Sisko is given an opportunity to relinquish the title of Emissary but soon regrets it.

SDS9 seasons 1, 2, and 3 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 4 is only available to paid subscribers.

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Transcript

[Note: Transcripts are autogenerated and may contain errors.]

We are back with Southpaw Deep Space Nine Season 4. If you don't know what SDS9 is, it's Southpaw's completest SDS9 watch-along show where we watch every episode, recap it, and analyze it. We are your hosts, Scott and Sam. Today, we are discussing ascension. It's ascension, right?

Accession, not ascension. That is a different episode, pal. Accession. We're live, pal.

Accession, okay. The attainment or acquisition of a position of rank or power. Typically that of a monarch or president, okay? Makes sense.

Scott, can you recap this episode? Sam, there's nothing I'd rather do. You see, Miles and Bashir come back from playing war on the holosuite that they've been doing for a long time, but now they are dismantling Miles' man cave because Keiko is returning after a year off Deep Space Nine doing science. with Molly, their child.

Miles waits for Keiko, and she arrives with Molly. And we find out that Keiko is with child during one of the times where they hung out. They made a baby. And what I like is that in this scene, there is palpable heat and love. Kira awaits Vedic Porta,

who is with a newly married Bajoran couple who hope to be blessed by Ben as the emissary of the prophets, you know, the celestial beings that the Bajoran faith is based on. We realize that as the emissary, Ben is often asked to do these sort of things.

You know, think about, think like appearances at quinceaneras or bar mitzvahs. whatever faith will do Ben Ben is starting to do it and Jedzia notes that Ben has been doing a lot of this stuff and Ben just can't get used to it Kira informs the squad of an object coming through the wormhole and

It is a 300, likely 300-year-old Bajoran light ship, which is a type of Bajoran ship from the past. We've revisited this type of ship in previous episodes. There's only one passenger on the ship, and he is beamed to the infirmary. When we get to the infirmary, the man says, I'm the emissary.

The man explains that while he was traveling in this light ship, he was injured and thought that he would probably perish. But he stumbled upon the wormhole and was healed by the prophets. And he does not realize it's been 300 years. Since then he's become a famous renowned poet, a quorum.

He's like on the level of like a Shakespeare kind of dude and when he sees Kira, he is a little confused because when he was alive, Djaras, which were the Bajoran caste system, was very much part of the culture, which was destroyed during the Cardassian occupation, which is only half a century ago in this timeline.

So Okorum, he's like, flummoxed by this and he was just like bro when we were being killed and destroyed we realized that the only cast is no cast and we cast it aside for the betterment of our people and he's just like very confused at the occupation and everything but he's still steadfast that he is the emissary

And Ben is starting to worry, wonder like, oh, if this guy is here claiming to be the prophet, maybe I can stop being the prophet and I can just step aside and not do this. He's sort of feeling this sort of idea. And then Bashir and Miles have a talk. See,

Miles is a little overwhelmed by everything that is happening and all the change and having a baby and being a father again and Worf saying that he won't be around for the birth and all this stuff because he's visiting his family in nine months. And we see Odo and Kira talking about change and faith.

Okorum, as the new supposed emissary, says basically that they need to make Bajor great again. And how are they going to do that? By going back to an easier time. A gentler time. A time for casts. Dejaras. They're coming back. He's going to bring Dejaras back. Kira is visibly upset. Everybody is visibly confused.

In a meeting between Akorum and Vedic Porta, Ben warns that to reinstate a caste will disqualify Bajor from being a member of the Federation. The Federation is not into legal caste systems. And Akorum considers that this is necessary, and to no one's surprise, Kai Wen agrees as well. A quorum reassures Ben that changes won't happen overnight.

Certain Jara won't have to resign immediately, winking at a Vedic who, in the time of Dejara, would never be a Vedic. Won't have to resign immediately, but in time, things will go back to desire for caste-based life. And Ben is really trying to change a quorum's mind. about giving up Federation membership, but a quorum is not changing.

But he says he understands why Kai Opaka saw Ben as the great emissary and why Kai Wynn feared him, which is interesting to be said out loud. At the replimat, Kira looks for a seat, and as she does, a Bajoran woman gives her the seat as Kira's Djarah outranks hers.

Nearby, Ben observes that this is sort of happening all over, and him and Kira are troubled. But Kira explains it's not her place to question the emissary. That's what you do. Ben is skeptical about Bajor's drastic changes and is sort of realizing the cultural capital he didn't understand and not really understanding totally the

Bajoran's devotions to the emissaries. Kira explains, like, if he had asked anything, they likely would have done it. The emissary is absolute. because they're believed to be the voice, the prophet, the emissary of the prophets, the perfect celestial beings. The faith is unwavering. Ben is having trouble sleeping. He wanders the ship, the station at night,

and has a vision of our beloved passed away Cayo Paca, who asks him who he is. Who are you? Ben gets confused and says that she should know who he is, but she explains that she cannot know someone who does not know himself. Mysterious. And he wakes up. Ben goes to ask Bashir about his vision.

Bashir describes it as an orb shadow, a residual religious after effect that Bajorans believe that it occurs when someone that isn't following the will of the prophet, as shown in the orbs, they experience this. And despite the possible religious effect explanation. Bashir also says that it could be caused by an overabundance of neuropeptides,

some sort of natural science reason, and then accepts the medication to stop the visions. Then we see Kira hilariously trying to follow her dajara, that of an artist, which means that she would have to resign from the Bajoran militia to just, you know, just make an artist. She's making all this clay stuff.

She's not very good at it. She's making all these flightless birds and honestly is questioning her artistic acumen. And Kira tries to explain this to Vedic Porta, but Porta remains firm that the Dajaras are correct, the way is the way, and prophets have chosen for Kira to be an artist, thus she must be an artist.

It is a false life, according to the emissary, and she must drop the path and succumb to their fate, their dharma, they will be happy, but Kira is dubious. The O'Briens are enjoying time together at home. Miles plays with Molly. Keiko finds the fur coat that Miles wears to the hollow suite to LARP with Bashir

and sort of notices that he's been spending a lot of time with Bashir. Miles tries to shrug it off and kisses Keiko passionately, but Keiko just goes to work. Miles goes back to play with Molly, but she would rather hang out by herself.

And Miles is left to his own devices and just starts looking at his LARP armor. Sad. Ben and Kira have their regular meeting where they go over station business. Ben is increasingly troubled over the changes. Ben has received a letter, well, a message from Starfleet Command responding to the Bajoran situation and the reports,

and they are likely unhappy, and Ben feels guilt of flubbing the mission to ensure Bajor's entry into the Federation, which is sort of the whole plot of the show. Irony. He never wanted to be emissary, but now is not emissary. His goal of Bajoran thriving may be amiss.

And Kira explains that she's going to resign to go be an artist as designed by her Dajara. And... She's willing to give it up once Ben finds someone to take her post and to go to the Dakar province and make art.

And Ben's like, I can find anybody, but it's really hard to find someone that could replace you. In fact, you're irreplaceable. Miles and Bashir run into each other at Quark's and realize that they no longer have time for each other. Now when they are called to play LARP and do the battle, they can't.

Quark is like, hey, it's time for you guys to do your thing. And Maz and Bashir lament. It can't be done right now. They're like, see you on the flip side, bro. Ben gets a call from Odo to come to the promenade. A Vedic has been killed. Vedic Amuda says,

has been pushed off of a great height and died. Odo's getting ready to do the investigation when Vedic Porta comes forward and calmly admits to the murder. He claims that since this Vedic was unclean, he was from an unclean Dajara and was unwilling to give up his post as Vedic

to follow the unclean Jara that he had to die. Ben is very mad. Ben summons a quorum for an urgent meeting, making it clear that these sort of things is just the beginning of a scary precedent. But again, a quorum is steadfast to not change his position and says this is what it must be.

And Ben is starting to regret giving up his role as emissary. and challenges Okorum's claim to the title. And Okorum's like, how can you do that? And Ben's like, we're going to enter the wormhole. We're going to ask the prophets to choose. Let's get on our runabout and fly into the wormhole. And Okorum's like, okay.

They get transported to the prophet realm. Okorum insists that he must be the emissary because he met the prophets first. But you have to remember something, Sam. The prophets don't experience the time linearly. They don't care about first or after. Everything is happening, has happened, will happen, won't happen. You know, time is very so passe.

They explain that Ben and Akorim's linear nature does limit their comprehension of what's going on, but Ben just wants to understand. And the prophets are sort of like the desires are part of what you call the past. They aren't relevant now. And a quorum is confused why he was sent to the future.

And the prophets sort of say it was for the Cisco, that this was sort of a way to remind Ben of what he needs to do. It was a trick, a test, a challenge. And Okorum realizes that he's not the emissary and admits that he was wrong. And it's like, I should have just been left to die.

So the prophets offer to return him to his time, no longer injured, no longer having the memory of the trip. And Okorum is kind of relieved. He misses his family and his friends and is sent back. And the prophets remind Ben that just as they are of Bajor, Ben is of Bajor.

And Ben gets transported back to Deep Space Nine, sans a quorum. And back on Deep Space Nine, Keiko does a sort of manipulation to get Miles and Bashir to have a playdate. And Quark's Kira hilariously gives Ben some art that she made and talks about the speech that

we didn't see happening about the prophets not wanting the Bajorans to return to the Djaras and how everybody sort of received it very well. Ben, a little more aware of his role, starts reading The Call of the Prophets, and Kira is surprised because she remembers The Call of the Prophets by a quorum was unfinished,

but now all of a sudden, it is. But Ben notes, the prophets work in mysterious ways, and makes Kira smile. And as this happens, they are interrupted by a Bajoran man and his daughter who asks Ben to bless the girl at her upcoming birthday, coming of age sort of thing. The Atanu. Ben agrees.

He's the emissary, I guess.

He's growing up. Okay. Last to discuss. I'm going to talk about a diversity of theories, but tie it all together. The episode started with the reunion of Keiko and Miles. And seeing them again and Miles seeing his daughter again made me think about the complicated history of cross-racial relationships in U.S. media.

Where the default is cross-racial always involves a white person. It's rarely two non-white people. More often than not, it also involves a white man. It's easier to imagine aliens and aliens in cross-alien relationships than to imagine a cross-racial relationship that doesn't include a white person or a white man.

That's the power of white supremacy and white male patriarchy. I thought of this because Miles... Picking up his daughter reminded me of preschool pickup at elite preschools I know, where the only diversity is often mixed-race white and East Asian kids with almost always white dads. So that cross-racial relationship is becoming accepted in elite circles,

and it makes sense some of the criticism Asians receive for being white-adjacent. but I think it's important to analyze who, why, and on what terms. It gets more straightforward if you think about it as an American caste system with granular levels of hierarchy. And coincidentally, the caste system is a theme in this episode.

Even Keiko being Japanese from the American caste lens makes more sense. Outside of the US itself and Europe, Japan is the next most elevated country in US culture. And outside of the US and Europe, Japan is the only other country many of us learned about in school. And as far as media,

Japanese media is historically the most consumed outside of US media and possibly more than European media. And I mean that here in the US. It's so elevated that American anime is a thing. I've talked about this in decolonial spaces and in Asian online spaces, but it's worth mentioning here as well. It's not Japan by accident. The U.S.

settler colonial project will always center the colonizers. Americans think, well, we all colonize because the only non-Western culture they learn about is Japan. Colonial cultures see themselves in other colonial cultures. They have this love of unbroken history, and that's something else colonial cultures share and love about each other.

So white man and Japanese woman is still high on the American caste system. But also consider the ending and how Keiko defers to Miles. The terms. And when I talk about unbroken history, Japan, Europe, these cultures can have 10,000 year histories or whatever long histories that's unbroken because they were the colonizers.

As a Korean person, I wish I could say that too, but we were colonized. A lot of us wish we had these unbroken histories and cultures and artifacts that were super old, but we don't have those things because other people colonized us. So those histories, they're not interested in.

But instead of focusing on how they became unbroken histories, they just talk about unbroken histories. And what's tacitly being uplifted is colonialism, that colonialism preserves. So caste is not the only way to analyze U.S. society, but it is one useful way to analyze it.

and it helps us understand why combining all non-white people as people of color is problematic because they have different positions and experiences in that caste system. The Bajoran caste system is based on religion, and DS9 has many criticisms of religion. However, the American caste system is based on race, class, and status.

Frantz Fanon said, "'To be rich is to be white.'" I'd add that gaining status is gaining provisional white status. Porta, a Bajoran priest, murders someone for being religiously unclean. This made me think about how so many conservative, liberal, and so-called apolitical Americans will think this type of behavior is unjustifiable,

yet will justify America and the West's history of murder based on race, or how cops kill Black people, or how the U.S. military kills non-white people across the world. Caste, when called authority or law or law and order, or rules-based order is okay in the West. Here in this episode, we get another instance of wiping someone's memory,

a quorum, but this time it's consensual. See how that's different from the previous non-consensual version that happened to Worf's brother Kern? Consent makes all the difference. What is the difference between an assault and a pro boxing fight? Consent. It's not a minor thing. It's everything. As liberatory martial artists, our whole ethical model starts with consent.

I engage with and share critical and liberatory pedagogy a lot through Sao Pa and spreading the word on liberation martial arts. A big part of this analysis of pedagogy or how things ought to be taught is that pedagogy or the learning process ought to be nonlinear because that's how people learn. That's how kids learn.

Gentle parenting is an application of nonlinear pedagogy. And so is self-directed learning and play-based learning. Think about good therapy or being a good listener. You listen, and it does not matter if it's linear or not. So when the prophets say they are linear, it limits them. That is a scientific truth.

And trying to make people linear when they're not is oppressive and non-inclusive. It's about fitting people into a pre-existing model that's easier for you rather than fitting the approach to the person. It's about centering the approach rather than centering the person. If you're listening to this and you have a hard time learning something in a linear progression,

that's normal. In fact, nonlinear is the better way to learn. In thinking about learning, most of learning happens implicitly rather than explicitly. This is a big part of general parenting, a big part of self-directed and play-based learning, and of early childhood education. There's always things being implied.

And just because you're not aware of it, doesn't mean you didn't imply something. The implications are a natural byproduct of your worldview. If I'm a helicopter parent, always swooping in and rescuing you from facing your fears, I'm explicitly protecting you. I'm explicitly telling you you're safe. Okay. But despite what the US settler colonial system says,

that explicit speech is the most important value, that's not actually how the brain works. Behavior and the implicit are more important. But think about the U.S. settler colonial system. It's a system based on telling enslaved people, children, women, indigenous people, and the world what to do. So, of course, it cares about explicit speech the most.

It also says to pay attention to what I say, not what I do. But if I constantly rescue a child from facing their fears, what am I implying? that you have reason to be scared. Your fears are correct. The world is indeed a scary place. The parent could be like, well, I didn't mean to imply that,

but it doesn't matter because whether you mean it or not, that's your worldview. You do think the world is a scary place. Otherwise, you wouldn't be a helicopter parent. You wouldn't set so many rules. Again, this country and its love of speech tie that to its rules-based order. Without making speech the highest form of freedom,

how do you have a rules-based order or convince people their rules-based order or all their rules is freedom? So what did this episode imply? Well, the occupation was bad, but it ended up being for the greater good because now Bajorans are free of their oppressive caste system.

Whether the writers meant to imply that or it was accidental doesn't matter because that's how even progressive Democrats view things. Yeah, colonialism sucked, but it was for the greater good. So let's keep the settler colonial project and not decolonize. This is why critical analysis is so important, but also so true to analyze what something is really saying.

That's what SDS-9 is all about. So Scott, this episode seemed important for the mythology and for Cisco. Was it? And how do you rate it?

So I don't rate this episode that high. I don't think it's all that important. Really? Yeah. It's important in the fact that Ben realizes, like, he's going to wear the hat that's given him. But I don't like the idea that, like, oh, the occupation was a good thing because it wasn't.

And I guess I like the idea that cast systems are bad as an episode. But I thought it was so overt and so heavy-handed that it honestly is like a three episode, three star.

Okay. Can you tell us about the next episode?

Yeah, Worf is on trial for some shit.

Until then...