The Emissary and the wormhole

[welfconfed 2]

Ben Sisko was literally born to be the Emissary, but what would have happened had his fate been disrupted, say he had died on board the Sarotoga during the battle of wolf 359.

Would the worm hole still be discovered? Would someone else (whichever SF officer replaced Sisko as CO of DS9)become the Emissary? Would the Prophets direct the birth of another, future Emissary?

[gdog243 0]

The prophets would not have allowed him to die, and he would continue to do what he did. I know it's stretching it, but that is sometimes what faith is.

[welfconfed 2]

Yes, I understand that it was his fate, but for the sake of argument, if someone (say a Q with nothing better to do) had stopped him from fulfilling his role...

[gdog243 0]

Yes, I understand that it was his fate, but for the sake of argument, if someone (say a Q with nothing better to do) had stopped him from fulfilling his role...

266675[/snapback]

 

Than bajor would be in ruins.

[welfconfed 2]

Care to elaborate? From the Cardassians? Civil war?

Edited September 26, 2004 by welfconfed

[gdog243 0]

Care to elaborate? From the Cardassians? Civil war?

266678[/snapback]

 

A bit of both. The wormhole would never be discovered (Opaka did say she can't unite her people until the prophets had been warned) the emissary would not come to be, and they would be is such disarray from the aftermath of the occupation that they probably wouldn't be able to funtion. Also, thier main culture is thier belief, and without it, they are kind of useless.

[welfconfed 2]

If Opaka realized that the Emissary was not there, would she not still act in the best interest of her people, helping to unite and stabilize the planet and trust that an Emissary would arrive at a later time, as it is the will of the Prophets?

[gdog243 0]

She might have. Unfortunatly, the situation was so out of control, the provisional government was in shambles, and they were cut off from thier gods. I think the damage was way beyond repair. As for waiting for the emissary, things would only get worse.

[welfconfed 2]

...and what of the Federation, they have excepted the invitation of the BPG, at what point do they throw up their hands and go home? Do they stand by and watch as millions die of war, sickness, and starvation?

 

Also, no wormhole, no Dominion contact, thus no massacre of the Omarrian Nebula of Romulan and Cardassian forces, no Cardassian/Dominion alliance, no Dominion war.

[gdog243 0]

...and what of the Federation, they have excepted the invitation of the BPG, at what point do they throw up their hands and go home? Do they stand by and watch as millions die of war, sickness, and starvation?

 

Also, no wormhole, no Dominion contact, thus no massacre of the Omarrian Nebula of Romulan and Cardassian forces, no Cardassian/Dominion alliance, no Dominion war.

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You see why Sisko was a very important figure and why the federation weren't comfortable with him has emissary and captain.

[welfconfed 2]

Sisko was, quite frankly, the trigger for practically every major event in the alpha, beta, and gamma quadrants over the last ten years.

[mj 7]

Sisko was, quite frankly, the trigger for practically every major event in the alpha, beta, and gamma quadrants over the last ten years.

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One aspect of the whole DS9 saga that is difficult to grasp is that the prophets exist outside of the constraints of linear time. To them there is no distinction of past, present or future.

 

How they intervened at a particular instant to bring about Sisko's birth, and 'wait' for his eventual arrival in the Bajoran theater seems to be a bit inconsistent with the idea that they are not bound by linear time.

 

It also seems that at times Sisko's decisions are contrary to the Prophets expectations ( his getting married again, for instance).

 

I have not quite put together this confusing aspect of the whole DS9 saga. I would be even more confused trying to speculate on what might have happened had Sisko somehow been killed on the sartoga at Wolf 359, thwarting the plans of the prophets.

[Cramase 0]

There never being a Sisko doesn't nessecarily mean everything would fall apart, it also doesnt mean the dominion war would never happen. Say another Captain was sent to DS9. The wormhole would still likely been detected eiether by us or by them. Either way it gets re-discovered and the federation bump into the dominion. As for the state of Bajor. It would probably require a lot more time to try and recover but they are a defiant people and would almost certain recover over time.

[gul_nodrog 2]

Do you think that Sisko was the only one the Prophets had waiting in the wings for this particular moment in time? Maybe there were others also in place to be the Emissary just in case Sisko died. Or maybe they would have just started over with another plan.

 

I don't know. I think the Prophets would have just engineered another "birth" of an Emissary if Sisko had been killed at any point prior to his arrival at DS9. It's not like they are in any hurry, being all non-linear like they are.

 

The wormhole would eventually have been discovered. And with that the Dominion. Just maybe not so soon.

[welfconfed 2]

The wormhole would eventually have been discovered.  And with that the Dominion.  Just maybe not so soon.

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Yes, but such a delay would have radically changed all subsequent events from 2369 (1st season of DS9) onward.

[Wishfire 2]

The way I see it, Sisko was to the Bajorans what Jesus was to the early Christians. Many differences, but basically the same. Jesus was the son of God as Sisko was the son of the Prophets. Of course, no one but the Prophets knew that, but the Bajorans still saw Sisko as thier link to their gods.

 

With so many life-forms across so many galaxies in the universe, I don't see how any Q would decide to go after Sisko. There have already been 7 Qs in this galaxy, which I find extraordinary. Those 7 are the Q made well-known in TNG, the other one that Q was looking for in TNG (second season?), the girl who's parents were Q but chose to live on Earth as human making her human, but at the same time Q, her parents, the Q who was confined to a comet in Voyager, and the original Q's fiancee. I can't recall if there were others, but this many Q in this part of the galaxy, and none decided to fool around with Sisko's past.

 

But then again, maybe they did. The Q that was confined to the comet showed a picture of William Riker's great-great-great (I forget how many greats) grand-father, in which the Q himself was present in. Maybe he had something to do with the outcome of the Civil War? Maybe if it wasn't for him, the South would've won, meaning that Sisko's ancestors could have remained in bondage or even died, which could have prevented Sisko from ever existing in the first place.

 

Sorry for rambling so much. :blush 2:

[welfconfed 2]

I'm not suggesting that the Q interfered with Sisko's life, I was only using them as a example of a way Sisko's fate could have gotten derailed.

 

Though your idea about Q (Quinn) not only saving "Old Iron Boots" Riker, but also helping to secure a union victory quite interesting.

Edited October 11, 2004 by welfconfed