Whenever you ask a DS9 fan where to start, the answer is rarely from the beginning. The first seasons of the show were good, sometimes great. The foundations were laid for a darker show than the flagship adventures of the Enterprise We had Federation turncoats in the Maquis; an uneasy peace between Bajor and their former oppressors in Cardassia; there was politics and religion crossing over on all fronts and from the end of season two we had the Dominion lurking on the far side of the wormhole teasing their incoming takeover of Federation Space.
It was a packed show with a lot of threads running. And then Paramount made a decision. They wanted more Klingons. They hired Michael Dorn to carry Worf over from the Enterprise to DS9. Decisions made above the producers heads forced them to change course, push their planned Dominion story to the back burner and focus on something new. But after a chaotic season that had many challenges behind the scenes, no one got angry and threw a shoe. They saw an opportunity and they ran with it.
What was supposed to be the season opener became a (very good!) mid-season episode and Ira Behr and Robert Wolfe sat down and wrote something new. Without knowing it at the time, that something new would be the episode that many considered to be the second beginning of Deep Space Nine.
Often called a second pilot, or new beginning, Way of the Warrior is the episode near everyone recommends a new fan to start from. As the first episode under Behr’s reign as the man in charge the fourth season built on several of the ideas and themes laid out within the third season. The framework of what DS9 was and what it can do had already been laid out, but it hadn’t quite met it’s potential yet. Even though it did utilise the shows history, and wasn’t an entirely clean start, Way of the Warrior would set a new template for the red headed step child of the Trek franchise and as all eyes were on the launch of Voyager Star Trek’s new flagship exploration show DS9 found itself in a new groove.
As Sisko prepares his station and his crew for the inevitable Dominion attack, we’re introduced to General Martok as he requests his fleet his ENTIRE fleet stop by for some R&R. Knowing the Klingons are up to something as they scowl around the station intimidating Quark and beating up the local tailor, Garak, Sisko knows that they won’t spill their secrets with any outsiders and not even Odo can crack their wall of silence. He needs a Klingon to help figure it out, and lucky for him… Starfleet has one in their ranks.
Since the destruction of the Enterprise, Worf has been considering his future. On the edge of retiring from the fleet, he’s ordered to Deep Space Nine to help Sisko crack the ranks of the Empire. And he does, finding an old friend of the family who’ll fill him in on the plan. They believe Cardassia’s been taken over by the form-assuming Founders; that the whole government has been infiltrated and they intend to take matters into their own hands.
Caught in the middle, Sisko doesn’t believe Cardassia’s been taken and he can’t defy the Klingons without risking their long standing alliance. Leaking information to Garak, who in turn leaks it to Cardassia, Sisko risks the peace to save Gul Dukat and the Cardassian government from their slaughter; resulting in the station being caught in the crossfire as the Klingons declare war.
After securing the council and returning to Deep Space Nine, the Klingons invade the station; resulting in massive ground and space warfare as Sisko and the Defiant hold off until reinforcements arrive to scare off their attackers. But saving the station isn’t enough; Gowron has the war he wanted. Not just with the Dominion, but in dissolving the near hundred year alliance with the Federation, the Klingons end up reigniting their long standing conflict with the Federation too.
There are a lot of new elements highlighted in the Way of the Warrior. The most obvious being Worf and the Klingons. This isn’t the first time DS9 broke in a new eleent to the show, hauling in an established character or faction to inject something familiar the format. The season 2/3 bridge two parter introduced the Defiant and the Romulans. Obviously the Defiant stayed. The Romulans, not so much despite efforts there and in The Die Is Cast. Where the Klingons could have been another element that was introduced and quickly forgotten, Way of the Warrior ensured their threat wouldn’t be a one off. They’d become woven into the shows ever expanding tapestry. That would mostly come through Worf.
A familiar face to audiences, Worf had spent seven seasons and at that point one feature film with The Next Generation; a wholly different show from DS9. Yet Worf fit the show like a glove. He was a complex character with a troublesome past. An honourable and decorated officer, but one that had reached the limit of what he could do in the Next Gen world and was destined to be Chekoved into being support staff until retirement.
As much as DS9 had to adapt to him, he adapted to Deep Space Nine and one of the biggest successes of the show was bringing this familiar character and presenting him with a new cast of characters to integrate with; characters that were less polite and in many ways more of a challenge. In one conversation with Odo you could see Worf was thrown in the deep end. No one was going to react to his moody by putting the kettle on. He had to take a scolding, make a decision and live life the DS9 way. And it worked.
In the same vein, so did the Klingons. Life in the Bajor sector was already complicated. Sisko was challenged on all sides. But the Klingons joining in dind’t just delay the Dominion story, it helped emphasise just how much damage they would and had done to the status quo. People were scared. The Klingons were scared. They just drew blades where the Federation sat on hopes and rainbows; camping out in Quarks and hoping it all blows over.
Adding to the depth of DS9 would be something that played out over many seasons, resulting in the Klingons being so integrated by the end that you can’t imagine the final episode without Martok by Sisko’s side. In this one episode though it balanced out that depth rather nicely in re-introducing you to the show.
Written with the deal of new viewers in mind, everything seemed to be reintrodued with a certain subtlety. Without the teasing, we knew instantly the Dominion were a threat to come and that Odo was conflicted with and disconnected from his people because of it. Without the history we new Dukat was a sneaky political player with an interesting relationship with similarly sneaky Garak with the episode actually giving them some rare time together as well as one of their best scenes. Sisko’s family life was thrown in straight away before making sure we all knew he was a morality focused bad ass who’s not one for backing down in the face of danger. And Worf… we all knew Worf. But even he had the catch up treatment as Gowron jumped in to remind us of their political struggled together and letting us know Worf’s impression of his own honour would mean more to him than being accepted by his people.
The whole crew got their defining features pasted in for a new audience; Bashir got his moment as the bold doctor as he prepared the wounded, O’Brien was the friendly fixer; Kira’s childhood and rise to soldier was dropped in as they gave Dax a spotlight on her former life as an ambassador while raising her playfulness in one scene…. where such things can feel very forced, this episode felt slick. Everything was calm, natural and written in a way where all that background and detail wasn’t overwhelming, but showing a depth the Next Generation being an episodic show compared to the more arc-like DS9 – didn’t have. And the feature length of the episode helped ensure there was time to fit in all those character moments without taking away from the main story.
That story of course was all about the Klingons lust for war. But it doesn’t jump straight into the action. It takes it’s time in exploring the station, it’s people and how they react to the suspiciously large amount of Klingons. All the character moments are based around the reaction; from Sisko racing out in the Defiant to stop Klingons searching his future wife Kassidy’s ship for Dominion spies to Garak being a punching bag for some trigger happy warriors. Worf coming aboard doesn’t even act as a catalyst; he comes aboard and adds to a drawn out tension, helping to raise the tension levels until the first shot is fired an hour into the two-parter.
When the action finally happens, it’s something different. Something Star Trek hadn’t seen before. Combat in space at this stage had mostly been a chess game. Khan and Kirk’s legendary battle was all about outmanoeuvring one another; a theme The Next Generation picked up on. The most bloody battles all happened off screen for dramatic effect (or budget) with the biggest Wolf 359 only being briefly shown in DS9’s pilot episode.
When the Defiant rushed in to save the Cardassians from the Klingons, the fight became chaotic. Phasers firing everywhere, blood, shouting, screaming. Eventually Klingons boarding DS9 and stabbing everyone they could. The fight scenes aren’t incredibly choreographed; they do have the issue of seeing Klingons in the background waiting for their cue especially when they raid Ops. But there was a sense of chaos unlike any other; morose in space when we got to see a storm of Klingon ships trying to tear apart the station, sweeping in and out of it’s pylons and rings in one of the best and biggest visual feasts at the time.
The Way of The Warrior had a bit of everything. All of the shows characters had matured and grown from their cardboard cut out form of the actual pilot episode. The show’s history had formed a strong, but not too overwhelming, The action was by far the best that Star Trek had seen at the time and instead of jumping straight to it, the drawn out build made it all the more satisfying. And of course, the introduction of Worf and Avery Brooks sudden comfort in the role felt like the show had found a piece that was missing.
The Way Of The Warrior Retro Review was first published in the Discover More edition of Comms in January 2019. You can read the original format, as well as other Retro Reviews & More in the Comms archive.
About the author
A Fistful of Spooky Encounters
Since it's inception Star Trek hasn't just been a sci fi show, but a show that used it's science fiction setting to tell a variety of stories from a large pool of themes and styles. And since we're officially in 'Spooky Season' on the countdown to Halloween, why not take a look at some of Star Trek's best dives into darkness? EMPOK NOR DEEP SPACE NINE, SEASON 5 Deep Space Nine is falling apart and thanks to the war, O'Brien can't exactly ask the Cardassians for spare parts. But he has a plan. Along with Nog and Garak, O'Brien leads an engineering crew to another abandoned Cardassian station to salvage what they can. Only problem is... there's a reason it was abandoned... Possibly the most straight forward horror story in the series, Empok Nor was host to an experiment gone […]
Delta Quarter Promotions & Citations: September 2026
Throughout it’s entire existence SFC has grown, evolved and thrived due to the commitment and passion of our officers and crew. Keen members can make a huge difference within their unit or the fleet as a whole, and we like to ensure members are rewarded and recognised for all they bring to the organisation. Starting this year, we're opening every new period within the fleet celebrating those who have made an impact and engaged in being a positive influence in their unit or in Q2 overall. And while we're getting in a little bit earlier, we'd like to introduce our Delta Quarter awards. While promotion is one of the most visible awards available to members, one of the most vital are our commendations. Commendations are a formal recognition awarded to members of Quadrant 2 who have shown commendable service and […]
Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey: ‘Tomorrows Enterprise’, Strange New Worlds S4E10
Focusing on two timelines, Tomorrows Enterprise leads with Uhura of the present linked to her future as the two work together, manipulating the timeline to their advantage to solve the mystery of an undecipherable alien message, and a certain Scottish engineer who seems to have vanished from the timeline in the future... Writers: Henry Alonso Myers & Robbie Thompson. Director: Chris Fisher. In the present, there's some weirdness for Pike's Enterprise as they investigate a White Hole thats giving off some weird signals and an energy pulse that causes a temporal shift that directly effects Uhura after she hears strange sounds over comms. As she begins to hear things, such as Scotty screaming for help, her future self is going through some oddities of her own. A year in the future, the Enterprise is on the other side of […]
What If…. the Whales Were Never Extinct?
Fondly remembered as the lightest, more comedic entries in Star Trek's film offerings, The Voyage Home is the story of an alien probe coming to Earth to talk to it's whale pen pal, a little bit miffed that they've not had a letter in a while. In the 21st century, those pen pals – Humpback Whales – had been hunted to extinction. Meanwhile, Kirk and his disgraced crew were on the way home to stand trial and through some time warp shenanigans, take a stolen Bird of Prey back to the 20th century, kidnap some whales, and take them to the 23rd century to save the day. The charges against Kirk were a fairly big deal. Previously Kirk had stolen a soon to be retired Enterprise, went against orders and along with support from his long standing command crew barged […]
It’s a Kind of Magic: ‘Once La’an A Time’, Strange New Worlds S4E09
Developed by an alien tapping into the mind of M'Benga's daughter, turning reality into her favourite book, the Elysium Kingdom is now more reality than fantasy. Having morphed from a surreal experience to a flat-Earth like planet replica floating through space, the Elysium Kingdom lives on with it's evil queen continuing dream up new schemes. But the Kingdom's purpose has shifted with it arriving to unsubtly help one of the Enterprise crew... Writers: Onitra JohnsonDirector: Sydney Freeland Not quite by chance, the Enterprise runs into the 'unknown flat planet', a disc-shaped world moving through space with it's own power, air and life. Beaming down, Pike, Spock, Pelia and La'an find themselves in a fairy tale world. Complete with real fairies. And a fairy castle. After running into King Ridley, the part played by M'Benga in the season one episode, they […]
[Retro Review] The Doomsday Machine
Responding to a distress call from the USS Constellation, the Enterprise race to the rescue but they arrive too late to save the day. Coming under fire from an alien entity, the Constellation has been heavily damaged and with only one survivor within it's charred shell; Commodore Matt Decker... Still in shock from the attack, Decker isn't able to say if it was an alien ship, or a creature that tore his ship apart. It doesn't take long to track the aliens flight path. It's not from around these parts, entering the Galaxy and on course towards populated areas that would undoubtedly be next in it's devastating path. Beaming on board with an away team, Kirk aims to try and get whats left of the ship back up and running while getting Decker to safety. But during the transit, the […]
Related
[Retro Review] Dagger Of The Mind
Dropping by a penal colony focused on rehabilitating the criminally insane, the Enterprise beams down some much needed supplies while one of the inmates sneaks on board to beg for asylum. But it's no regular stowaway. Dr Simon Van Gelder used to be part of the staff before he began to lose his mind and he's not just afraid of having dodgy meals and no windows, but reveals to Kirk that the facility runs through torture and abuse. Van Gelder arrived broken. His memories scattered, and any glimpse of those memories would trigger a painful and violent reaction. The colony's lead scientist and essentially warden, Dr Tristan Adams, waves it off claiming Van Gelder's techniques were tested on himself and that the rest of his story was delusional ramblings. Not entirely convinced, and given a heavy nudge by McCoy, Kirk […]
[Retro Review] The Doomsday Machine
Responding to a distress call from the USS Constellation, the Enterprise race to the rescue but they arrive too late to save the day. Coming under fire from an alien entity, the Constellation has been heavily damaged and with only one survivor within it's charred shell; Commodore Matt Decker... Still in shock from the attack, Decker isn't able to say if it was an alien ship, or a creature that tore his ship apart. It doesn't take long to track the aliens flight path. It's not from around these parts, entering the Galaxy and on course towards populated areas that would undoubtedly be next in it's devastating path. Beaming on board with an away team, Kirk aims to try and get whats left of the ship back up and running while getting Decker to safety. But during the transit, the […]
[Retro Review] Errand of Mercy
Relations between the Federation and the Klingons are in tatters and the prospect of an all out war casts a shadow over the region. To help prepare for the worst, Kirk and the Enterprise are sent to Organia, a planet populated by inherent pushovers right on the border between Federation and Klingon space. With the prospect of the Klingons getting a foothold that would help their war efforts, Kirk's job is to negotiate a protection order, getting the Organians on their side before the Klingons annexe the planet as a launching pad for conflict. Problem is, the Organians are hardcore pacifists and their native tech is limited. They don't want to be part of any war, and they don't want to change their values to resist. Which becomes a bit of a problem when the Klingons arrive ready to occupy the […]
[Retro Review] The Galileo Seven
Pulled in two directions, the Enterprise has to deliver critical medical supplies to avert a plague and conduct vital research at the same time. Unable to turn down the order, Kirk thinks on his feet by carrying forward to save the planet, while sending Spock to lead a research team on the Galileo shuttle to carry out their mission until the Enterprise has finished it's mission of mercy. It's a good idea. Until it isn't. Isolated form the Enterprise, the Galileo runs into a bit of bother. Thrown off course by plot, the shuttle crash lands on a primitive planet. Alone with a broken ship and a people who are as barbaric as they are terrified by the shuttles sudden arrival, Spock has to lead his own team through fear and frustration with cool and calming logic. On the first […]
[Retro Review] Space Seed
By chance, the Enterprise comes across an ancient Earth ship drifting through space. On board they find a whole bunch of people held in suspended animation, wake up the leader of the gang and accidentally unleash one of the most iconic villains of the franchise. Being coy with his identity at first, ship historian Marla McGivers becomes fascinated with a glimpse at the past while Kirk and the rest of the non-historians figure out that he just happens to be one of the most notorious war lords in Earths history... Star Trek, Season 1 , Episode 22 For all the action and adventure of deep space and the idea of using alien make up to mask more down to earth stories, Space Seed gives the first real glimpse of Star Trek's history. Khan is a relic of Earth from long […]
[Retro Review] Let This Be Your Last Battlefield
Often shown in highlight reels and quoted in discussions about Star Trek's more forward thinking messages, Let This Be Your Last Battlefield is at it's simplest, a story of the ridiculousness of segregation. En route to a vital mission of mercy, Kirk and his crew end up in the middle of a political minefield. Interrupted in the mission by a stolen Federation shuttle carrying an injured alien, Lokai from the planet Cheron, they're soon further interrupted by Commissioner Bele, an official representing Cheron who announces Lokai as a political traitor and demanding custody. One asylum request later, Kirk's stuck between the two trying to find the right course of action knowing he has orders to follow beyond the situation. The separation between Belle and Lokai is a simple context. And also a strangely charged one looking at it from a […]
