Quodo in Every Episode discussion: "Way of the Warrior" parts 1 & 2

[chacusha]

This week we're discussing... episode 4x01/02 "Way of the Warrior" parts 1 & 2!

Episode synopsis: All is not well in the Klingon and Cardassian empires as a recent regime change on Cardassia is interpreted by the Klingons to be the result of Changeling infiltration and is used as a pretext for invasion. An action-packed two-parter that added Worf to the main DS9 cast!

What The Boys are up to in this episode: This episode is centered on Worf, so Quark and Odo are just in the background here, Quark mainly reacting with increasing fear to the building tension between the Klingons and Federation and Odo doing various security tasks and using his perspective as a Changeling to give people advice. They do have two brief scenes together (one in each part): first, a scene where Quark asks Odo to help him fix his betting pool and another when Quark discovers Rom stole his disruptor pistol.

One screencap from this episode:


Transcript: http://chakoteya.net/DS9/473.htm

Quodo fics tagged with this episode: None (https://archiveofourown.org/works?work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=Episode%3A+s04e01-02+The+Way+of+the+Warrior+Parts+1-2+%28Star+Trek%3A+Deep+Space+Nine%29&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&commit=Sort+and+Filter&tag_id=Star+Trek%3A+Deep+Space+Nine)

Tell us:
- What did you think about this episode?
- Have you written a fic set during/after this episode?
- Do you know of any other fics set in or that build off this episode that weren't linked above?
- What do you see as the Quodo potential for this episode?

Anonymous comments are on, so feel free to chime in even if you don't have a Dreamwidth account! If you prefer, we are also available on Discord:
https://discord.gg/VaCnMYvKu6 (18+ proship Quodo Discord - there is a dedicated channel for this event)
https://discord.gg/Htz4crCdCt (general Quodo Discord)

Comments

[chacusha]

Various thoughts:

- This episode starts off with a "fake-out" opening where you think there is an actual Changeling on board that the DS9 officers are trying to root out, but it turns out it's just Odo running drills for the station.

- Oh man, in addition to the Quodo moments, I forgot that there are some pretty heavy-duty KiraDax and Garashir scenes in this one! (Garak: "Ah, but I got off several cutting remarks which no doubt did serious damage to their egos." Bashir: "Garak, this isn't funny." Also, multiple(!) holosuite outings for Kira and Dax.)

- Quark also has an interesting scene toward the beginning where he correctly predicts that all is not right with the Klingons and the Federation, but is kind of brushed off as being paranoid.

- Oh dear, the Klingons are being such nightmare people in this episode. 😂

- I also didn't realize this is the episode with the famous Root Beer scene between Quark and Garak!

- In general, this episode has a lot of odd combinations of characters having pretty intense one-on-one talks -- e.g. Sisko and Worf, Odo and Garak, Quark and Garak, Odo and Worf, Odo and Bashir, Garak and Dukat, etc.

- There are also a LOT of action scenes in this episode -- lots of space battles and even hand-to-hand combat. Overall, I'm not sure what I think about this episode. It's certainly darker in tone and one of DS9's war- and conflict-heavy episodes, and the action scenes are kind of stressful to be honest. DX I do like the focus on Worf, although this episode isn't really anywhere near my favorite Worf episode. There are some pretty iconic scenes as well, but I think this one is kind of in the middle for me.

- Quark and Odo are so quippy in their interactions in this episode!

Quark: No, this is my disruptor pistol. The one I used to carry in the old days when I was serving on that Ferengi freighter.
Odo: (puzzled) I thought you were the ship's cook.
Quark: That's right, and every member of that crew thought he was a food critic.
[...]
Quark: I will kill him.
Odo: With what?

- Also, rare Quark backstory!

- Also, this episode makes it canon that Odo can fluently read Ferengi script. It's possible this is the effect of some universal translator technology, but I personally think Odo is just fluent in several languages due to his upbringing, Ferenginese(?) being one of the languages he speaks/reads.

Quodo potential:

- While I really love both of the Quodo scenes in this episode, I'm having trouble extrapolating that into any Quodo plotlines, unfortunately. I suppose Odo in the past has shown concern for Quark whenever he's in a dangerous situation, and everyone in the station is in a pretty stressful situation in this episode, including Odo who is fighting Klingons on the Promenade without using any weapons. So maybe something where either or both of them are worried about the other? Maybe with some "I wasn't worried; I knew you'd make it through" sort of fake-bravado afterward.

- Since this is maybe the only(?) episode where Quark's freighter cook job is mentioned, maybe there is fic potential in explaining how Odo found out about that fact? Maybe some kind of extended scene between these two?