star trek war crimes

How Deep Space Nine's Dominion War Nearly Wrecked Star Trek's Utopia

How deep space nine 's dominion war nearly wrecked star trek 's utopia, over five years of hot and cold conflict, deep space nine charted the deadliest war in star trek 's history—one that pushed the federation to its limit..

Star Trek likes to imagine itself as a franchise that is largely above conflict , but it is defined by it : and how its most idealized heroes in Starfleet and the Federation react to, and become shaped by it. While Trek ’s history is littered with devastating battles , few conflicts hold a mirror to Star Trek quite like the bloodiest of them all— Deep Space Nine ’s Dominion War .

As one of the most legendary moments in the conflict celebrated its anniversary earlier this week—marking the airing of “In the Pale Moonlight” , where Captain Sisko sells his soul to bring the Romulan Star Empire into the war on the Federation’s side—we’re taking a look back at the longest game a Star Trek show ever played in setting up what would become one of its most memorable arcs, and a story that would forever shape its legacy .

Although Federation-aligned and independent powers of the Alpha Quadrant had begun colonizing Gamma Quadrant holdings and engaging in trade with the region’s myriad beings almost as soon as the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole in 2369—the first stable wormhole discovered in the Milky Way Galaxy—it was not Starfleet, the Klingon Empire, the Cardassian Union, or the Romulan Star Empire, nor any of the major military powers of the Alpha Quadrant, that first received intelligence about the Dominion’s existence, but the Ferengi Alliance.

Operating in intelligence secured by the Grand Nagus Zek, the Ferengi successfully entered a trade agreement with a major mercantile faction of the Dominion in the Karemma, in an attempt to secure the Ferengi as a major economic power on the other side of the wormhole. But while their alliance with the Karemma was established, solid intel or interaction with the wider Dominion remained out of reach for the Alpha Quadrant powers beyond intelligence reports from trading Gamma Quadrant species: the Dominion was solidifying its own borders, securing new worlds, and conquering species while lying in wait.

First Contact

Starfleet’s first formal contact with the Dominion set the stage for the scope of the war to come—but open conflict with the Dominion was still several years away. In 2370, after encountering the military arm of the Dominion in the Jem’Hadar, Commander Sisko, Deep Space Nine’s chief Starfleet administrator, and Quark were held hostage as Jem’Hadar forces destroyed multiple Alpha Quadrant colonies as a warning that the Gamma Quadrant was their territory. In an attempt to make a show of force of its own, Starfleet dispatched the Galaxy-Class starship Odyssey as well as several runabout shuttles on an expedition to recover Sisko.

Although Sisko was rescued, the show of force didn’t work. Immediately engaging with Starfleet, the Jem’Hadar’s technology proved more than a match for the Federation’s, with the Odyssey unable to damage the Dominion attack ships. They were no match for the Jem’Hadar’s ruthless tactics either, when the Odyssey was destroyed in a suicide run during the engagement. Sisko and the survivors were left to return to the Alpha Quadrant with a warning: the Federation had no idea what hell it had just unleashed.

A Cold War Begins

The destruction of the Odyssey did not mark the beginning of open conflict, but sparked realizations on both sides of the wormhole— a Dominion invasion of the Alpha Quadrant was not a hypothetical, but an inevitability. The Dominion began establishing simulations for how the various Alpha Quadrant powers would react to a potential Dominion encroachment beyond the Gamma Quadrant. Meanwhile, Starfleet entered production on the first explicitly designed warship in its fleets, the Defiant -class escort, stationing the first of its kind at Deep Space Nine, right at the wormhole’s entrance.

Deep Space Nine itself became the center of Starfleet’s plans for an early military footing. The Federation’s presence on the station was increasingly militarized even beyond the Defiant ’s stationing there, fortifying the station with increased defenses, and the establishment of a series of relays and listening posts on the other side of the wormhole as an advanced warning system. However, beyond the military might of its Jem’Hadar forces, the Dominion had another trick up its sleeve: a quasi-intelligence branch of changeling agents, preparing to infiltrate branches of each Alpha Quadrant power.

The Fall of the Obsidian Order

The Alpha Quadrant’s own intelligence agencies attempted to combat changeling subterfuge with increased security sweeps and detection, but the Dominion pivoted its earliest infiltrations at two intelligence targets in particular: the Romulan Tal Shiar, and the Cardassian Obsidian Order. Spurred by the discovery of a plan by Cardassian intelligence to assault the changeling homeworld, Dominion operatives lured the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar into a joint operation in the Omarion Nebula in 2371—where a massive force of Jem’Hadar ships decimated the Cardassian-Romulan task force.

With the Tal Shiar badly damaged, Romulan planning to the war pivoted to neutrality, staying away from engaging with the other Alpha Quadrant powers. But the destruction of the Obsidian Order crippled Cardassia’s power structure: without the threat of the Order policing dissidence, Cardassia itself was facing a power vacuum prime for the Dominion to capitalize on.

Emboldened by the success at the Battle of the Omarion Nebula, the Dominion moved further into destabilizing the Alpha Quadrant. Infiltrating the upper echelons of Klingon Command under the guise of General Martok, a changeling operative influenced Chancellor Gowron into making public moves to seize Cardassian territories while the Union was distracted by internal conflicts. Drawing condemnation from the Federation, Gowron reacted by shattering a tentative peace between the Empire and the Federation that had lasted for nearly a century by formally pulling out of the Khitomer Accords that had established the Klingon-Federation Alliance.

Given free reign to effectively continue a war of attrition against the Cardassian Union, Gowron’s warmongering provided two advantages to the Dominion: the Klingons badly, badly damaged the Cardassian Union, itself already weakened by the civilian government’s overthrowing of the Cardassian military command’s rule over the world. But the Federation’s distraction by the Klingon powers also gave Dominion agents an opportunity to repeat their successes within Starfleet Command. After a changeling agent bombed a conference in Antwerp, dissident voices in Starfleet Command attempted to stage a coup d’etat—however, it failed after being exposed.

The Dominion’s influence in the Klingon Empire, however, allowed it to attack the Federation even without infiltration from within. The Martok agent convinced Gowron, emboldened by successes against the Cardassians, to begin staking claim on existent Federation territories in late 2372, formally beginning a new Klingon-Federation war.

Invasion and Union

Although a cease-fire in the conflict between the Federation and Klingons was secured relatively quickly after the exposure of the Martok agent, the ensuing chaos—as well as an attempted Borg assault that vastly damaged Starfleet’s military strength in Sector 001—had primed the Alpha Quadrant for the Dominion. Half a year later in 2373, the Dominion reaped the seeds it had sown in years of infiltration and subterfuge. With Cardassia drastically weakened through internal and external strife, a beleaguered Gul Dukat entered negotiations with the Dominion to formally develop an alliance, allowing the Cardassians to stage key territory retrievals on the Klingon front with Dominion backing. Plans by Starfleet to seal the Bajoran wormhole and cut off any threat of a Dominion invasion were thwarted by an agent posing as Dr. Julian Bashir, DS9's Starfleet medical chief, who successfully managed to stablize the wormhole’s integrity even further—allowing the Dominion to regularly transport a steady stream of supplies and military power to Cardassian space.

Growing tensions and small border conflicts on the fringes of what was now Dominion-Cardassian territory saw the Federation and Klingons bury the hatchet formally, with the Empire re-entering the Khitomer Accords. But even with one wound patched up, war was now inevitable, and Starfleet launched a plan to mine the space around Deep Space Nine and the Bajoran wormhole, effectively delaying further transport of Dominion materiel into the Alpha Quadrant. A field of self-replicating mines pushed the Dominion into action, sending a message to Captain Sisko and Starfleet at the station: disable the mines, or the Dominion and Cardassians would take Deep Space Nine and do it themselves.

Starfleet made its first humbling gambit: just days later, an overwhelming Cardassian-Dominion force assaulted Deep Space Nine, but not before the mine field was armed—and not before Starfleet withdrew from the station entirely, leaving the Bajoran security forces staged there to welcome Dominion control. In exchange, the distraction caused by the Dominion pressing so much of its Alpha Quadrant forces into action a Deep Space Nine allowed a joint Starfleet-Klingon allied force to invade Cardassian space, destroying a key Dominion shipyard and hampering initial production efforts of Alpha Quadrant-made weaponry.

On stardate 50975.2, the Dominion War turned hot.

A Sacrifice of Angels

Although the sacrifice of Deep Space Nine in exchange for mining the Bajoran wormhole was a key early victory for the Federation-Klingon alliance, it was pretty much the only one in the opening months of the war. Klingon and Starfleet forces were regularly pushed into retreat on all fronts, overwhelmed by the Dominion’s sheer numbers and their superior technology. Morale began to plummet—especially after a devastating battle in the Tyra system all but destroyed Starfleet’s Seventh Fleet, losing nearly a hundred ships and thousands of officers in a single engagement.

But while large scale conflict was going badly for the alliance, small-scale operations and individual skirmishes played to its military strengths. Small task forces managed to infiltrate Dominion space and successfully destroy significant amounts of the Dominion’s supply of Ketracel-White, the drug that sustained the Jem’Hadar as an effective fighting force, creating a supply crisis, while others sabotaged major sensor arrays to stem the flow of Dominion intelligence.

The War Digs In

The Dominion kept pushing, encroaching closer and closer to core Federation worlds like Vulcan and Bolarus. And as efforts back in the Bajoran system to disable the minefield around Deep Space Nine began to bear fruit, Sisko realized the Federation needed a win to steady morale and to avoid what was increasingly looking like a devastatingly swift loss to the Dominion: take back the station where the war had first begun in the first place.

Despite initial resistance from both the Empire and Starfleet Command, Operation Return was put into action in late 2374, securing an overwhelming victory for alliance forces. Although the mine field was ultimately destroyed, Deep Space Nine was retaken, and nearly 3,000 Dominion warships traversing the wormhole were mysteriously vanished away by the entities—believed by the Bajoran people to be their spiritual pantheon, the Prophets—that called it home. Having withdrawn ships from various fronts to defend DS9, Dominion advances on Federation and Klingon space were stalled throughout the Quadrant, and Gul Dukat, broken by the death of his daughter during the attack on DS9, was captured by the alliance, leading to new leadership in the Cardassian wing of the Dominion under Damar.

A Pale Moonlight

The third major battle for Deep Space Nine lead to a slowdown in the overall arc of the Dominion War, as both sides consolidated forces and territories. Formal peace talks even began between the two sides, but eventually stalled out. With direct access to the Gamma Quadrant now barred by the wormhole’s inhabitants, the Dominion ramped up direct production in its Alpha Quadrant holdings, stemming the Ketracel White shortage crisis through a trade agreement for a version of the drug developed by the Son’a. Its strength restored, the Dominion launched a surprise assault that put the Federation on the precipice: distracting alliance forces, an invasion fleet from the Kalandra sector managed to occupy Betazed, the homeworld of a major Federation member, in just 10 hours, successfully repulsing multiple Starfleet attempts to retake the world.

Through Betazed, the Dominion was on the doorstep of the heart of the Federation—attacks on Vulcan, Bolarus, Andor, Tellar, Alpha Centauri, and even Earth were now on the table. Once again on the back foot and with the war ramping up again, the alliance needed a win. As presented in one of the finest hours of all seven seasons of Deep Space Nine , “In the Pale Moonlight,” Captain Sisko, working with the Cardassian tailor Elim Garak, successfully managed to stage a deception for the Romulan Star Empire, assassinating a Senator carrying forged evidence of a Dominion plan to invade Romulan space. The Romulans took the bait, formally entering the war on the side of the Alliance—and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer.

Turning Tides

The opening of the Romulan front gave the Federation opportunity and space to reach out and secure diplomatic ties with smaller besieged powers in the Alpha Quadrant, to gain access to further staging grounds and material support. Bolstered by the significant military power Romulus brought to the table, a clear pathway to the end of the Dominion War was laid out by alliance command: a direct invasion of Cardassia, the heart of the Dominion’s stronghold in the quadrant.

As 2374 came to a close, the Alliance began striking its first major offensives into Cardassian space, taking the highly contested Chin’toka system as well as Kalandra—which would eventually lead to the liberation of Betazed months later. Consolidating the new flashpoints on their fronts, the Klingons successfully managed to launch several deep-strike raids into Cardassian territory, destabilizing military infrastructure even further. Section 31, the secret intelligence wing of Starfleet, also successfully developed and laced the changeling homeworld’s great link with a morphogenic virus, greatly destabilizing their security and ability to conduct sabotage and intelligence gathering operations.

The Dominion, however didn’t go down without a fight. As the Alliance encroached further, Dominion command entered an alliance with the Breen Confederacy—something it had kept secret from its Cardassian allies, promising the Breen several Cardassian systems in exchange for their loyalty. As the Dominion ignored the Cardassian’s requests for support against the Federation and Klingons, fractures began to grow between the two entities. But the Breen’s surprise entry into the war in 2375—by launching an unprecedented shock bombardment on Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, the first hostile assault on Earth in centuries—as well as the use of powerful new weaponry that allowed them and the Dominion to almost completely eradicate Alliance forces holding Chin’toka to put the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans on the defensive.

A Revolutionary End

Another lull in the war’s grander momentum after the second battle of Chin’toka allowed the Alliance to recover its lost military power and develop a counter to Breen weaponry—but it also gave the increasingly disenfranchised Cardassians a chance to undermine the Dominion from within. Left ignored after the Dominion’s pact with the Breen, Damar staged a rebellion against their former allies—one that, while swiftly put down, managed to put the Dominion and Breen on the back foot, withdrawing from much of their holdings to consolidate power directly around Cardassia.

Although Cardassian dissidence had been largely quelled, however, it wasn’t eradicated—with the Alliance sending operatives to help Damar respark a popular revolution on the world, distracting the Dominion long enough for the Alliance to gather its forces into one final effort, the plan that had been its dream the year prior: the invasion of Cardassia Prime.

The Final Battle

With the local uprising successfully putting Cardassian under a power blackout, Alliance forces entered Cardassian space in late 2375, engaging Dominion, Cardassian, and Breen forces. A Jem’Hadar attempt to quell rebellion on Cardassia, killing millions of civilians in targeted bombings, saw the Cardassian fleet break away from the Dominion and Breen, fracturing their tentative defensive lines and giving the Alliance direct access to the planet.

Forced to accept terms of surrender—in exchange for a cure for the morphogenic virus now ravaging the changelings and their homeworld—the Dominion stepped down, and several days later, its leadership signed the Treaty of Bajor on Deep Space Nine, formally bringing an end to the Dominion War. The remaining Dominion forces retreated back into the Gamma Quadrant, and Deep Space Nine’s Bajoran security forces officer, the changeling Odo, returned with them to deliver the morphogenic cure directly to his people’s homeworld.

The Legacy of the Dominion War

Meanwhile, while most perfunctory borders of space occupied by the Alpha Quadrant powers prior to the Dominion’s invasion in 2373 were restored by the Treaty of Bajor, the quadrant had undergone a significant rebalancing of power that would impact interstellar events for decades to come. The near-total destruction of the Cardassian Union created a power vacuum in its former territories, while the Breen, albeit humbled by the Dominion’s retreat, had established its expansionary goals as well as its significant military threat. The aftermath of both its initial war with Cardassia and then as part of the Alliance diminished the Klingon Empire’s own status as a major power in the quadrant for the next decade, as it looked internally to reconsolidate and rebuild—leaving the Romulan Star Empire and the Federation as the defining players in the Alpha Quadrant.

Although the Dominion War had brought with it a sense of uneasy diplomacy that was unprecedented in either faction’s history for centuries, tensions between Romulus and the Federation would renew shortly after—amplified first after the Reman commander Shinzon staged a military coup in 2379, attempting to attack Earth in the process, and then six years later, when a secret sect of the Tal Shiar dedicated to the destruction of synthetic life staged a terrorist attack on the Utopia Planitia shipyards at Mars, largely destroying a Federation taskforce intended to aid with evacuation efforts intended to save the populations of Romulus and Remus before their system’s star went supernova. After the attack the Federation decided to formally halt attempts to help the Romulans and Remans, leading to the near extinction of both sibling species when the Romulan star went supernova in 2387.

Although major conflict on the scale of the Dominion War would not return to the Alpha Quadrant for many years to come, its scars lingered for decades, especially as the Federation and Klingon Empires became the de facto remaining powers by the turn of the 25th century. For now, it remains what we know to be the bloodiest conflict in Star Trek ’s history—one that challenged the very ideals of its entire utopian dream to their very core.

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published May 29, 2023

Captains Sisko and Pike Reflect on the Conscience of Conflict

Two of Starfleet's best faced difficult challenges during wartime.

StarTrek.com

As two of Starfleet’s most accomplished officers, Captain Benjamin Sisko and Captain Christopher Pike performed numerous acts of heroism in their service to the Federation . Despite their dedication to diplomacy and exploration, each captain tragically carried an emotional burden related to the horrors of war.

Your First Look at the Newest Short Trek

Mounting casualties in the Dominion War prompted Sisko to undertake a deceptive plot to lure the Romulans into the conflict, an action that was highlighted in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “ In The Pale Moonlight .” On the other hand, Pike remained haunted by his exclusion from the Klingon War and his inability to stand beside his Starfleet comrades, an inner turmoil that crescendoed in Star Trek: Discovery ’s “ Light and Shadows .”

Let’s dive in and examine the parallel paths that Sisko and Pike trekked during their storied careers.

The Heart of the Issue

Separated by a century of progress, the circumstances surrounding the two captains’ situations bore several similarities. By the time Sisko chose to manipulate the Romulans , the Federation and Klingon Empire had faced off with the Dominion for almost an entire year. Although Deep Space 9 ’s commanding officer led a successful operation to retake his space station, Starfleet was plagued by endless casualty reports, a manpower shortage, severely damaged shipyards, and an occupied Betazed that placed the Dominion within striking distance of Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, and Alpha Centauri.

In comparison, the Klingon War began with significant Federation losses at the Battle at the Binary Stars and continued on for over 15 grueling months. Under General Kol’s leadership, the Klingons harnessed T’Kuvma’s cloaking technology to wreak havoc on Starfleet. The bloodshed continued long after Kol’s death, as individual Klingon houses delivered crippling strikes that resulted in the destruction of one-third of the fleet, the obliteration of numerous outposts, the capture of Starbase 1, and an assault on Earth that was abandoned at the very last minute. On the brink of defeat, Starfleet ordered the U.S.S. Enterprise to stay out of the fray and act as an instrument of last resort.

The desperate times mirrored one another in many ways, but they influenced the captains in very distinct fashions. A prominent leader on the front lines, Sisko felt that the obligation to turn the tide against the Dominion rested upon his own shoulders. For Pike, his absence from the battlefield during a period that threatened the Federation’s very survival weighed upon his conscience long after hostilities had ceased. Nevertheless, the anguish that shadowed Sisko and Pike manifested from the officers’ dedication to their duty.

Betraying Their Values

Honorable intentions aside, Sisko’s moral compass was tested as he plummeted down a winding abyss of questionable calls. After initially hoping to find genuine evidence that the Dominion planned to attack the Romulans, Sisko reluctantly heeded Garak’s advice and sought to manufacture the proof in order to fool the Federation’s would-be allies. The dangerous trail ate away at the captain’s values piece-by-piece, as Sisko freed a criminal who ended up stabbing Quark, bribed Quark to make the charges go away, provided dangerous biomimetic gel to an unknown individual, and ultimately attempted to trick Senator Vreenak with a forged data rod. Following the ruse’s failure, Sisko learned that Garak’s real plan entailed framing the Dominion for Vreenak’s murder. The revelation enraged the captain, yet he never sought to correct the record or prevent the Romulans from joining the fight.

Pike also thought he had failed his own beliefs, but his betrayal struck at the very core of his being. In Discovery ’s “Brother,” the captain emphatically declared that he would not leave behind any potential survivors from the U.S.S. Hiawatha . Similarly, “ Saints of Imperfection ” saw the captain passionately outline his views regarding the loyalty that Starfleet officers owed to their colleagues prior to undertaking a mission to rescue Ensign Tilly. “Starfleet... is a promise,” began Pike, “I give my life for you, you give your life for me... and nobody gets left behind.” While not addressing the Klingon War directly, this statement conveyed the ideals that the captain perceived he had forsaken by holding the Enterprise back from the front. In Pike’s mind, his actions simply did not align with his ethics.

Coming to Terms

Although their situations paralleled one another, the two senior officers wrestled with their emotions in vastly different ways. Given the top secret nature of his assignment, Sisko could not even open up to his dear friend Jadzia Dax. Seeking an outlet, Sisko elected to work through his turmoil in a personal log. The recording followed the incident with Senator Vreenak by roughly two weeks. Sisko narrated the tale from his perspective and supplied the reasoning behind his controversial moves.

As difficult as this task proved to be, the cathartic gesture seemed to relieve much of Sisko’s stress. “So... I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all, I think I can live with it,” declared the captain as he neared the end of the log entry, “And if I had to do it all over again, I would.” Considering how soon these words were spoken after the events he described, it appeared as if Sisko came to terms with his deeds in a relatively brief window. Of course, the war still raged around him, so perhaps the desire to defeat the Dominion served to distract Sisko from his guilt.

Conversely, Pike had the unfortunate luxury of living with his stress during peacetime. The captain’s angst surely began when the Enterprise was first ordered to keep out of the fight, and the tension gradually tore at Pike’s conscience throughout the first half of Discovery ’s second season. The 23rd Century officer did have one advantage over his 24th Century counterpart, as he was able to openly discuss his views with colleagues. In “Brother,” Pike confessed to Burnham that watching the Klingon War from afar took a toll on his crew, and his disdain for his orders to continue Enterprise ’s five-year mission boiled over when he verbally sparred with Admiral Cornwell in front of Discovery ’s Bridge crew in “ Project Daedalus .”

Ash Tyler recognized the captain’s trauma and charged Pike with purposely putting himself in harm’s way as some sort of self-inflicted penance for his inaction. The strife between the captain and Tyler came to a head in “Light and Shadows,” when Pike disregarded Saru’s objections and volunteered to pilot a shuttle during a perilous operation over Kaminar. The captain claimed his dislike for Tyler stemmed from Voq’s murder of Dr. Culber, but Tyler concluded that his inner Klingon reminded Pike of the war. The former torchbearer accused the captain of endangering their lives in order to demonstrate his bravery, an allegation that Pike eventually conceded to be true.

Sanctioned by Starfleet

Ironically, the gut-wrenching decisions made by Sisko and Pike all received Starfleet Command’s approval. Unfortunately for the captains, this fact did little to assuage their discomfort. Sisko sought solace in Starfleet’s blessing, but he admitted to himself that the responsibility to put his deceptive plan into action fell on his shoulders. Pike’s willingness to snap at Cornwell as Discovery approached Section 31’s headquarters indicated that he fostered some level of resentment toward his superiors for their role in sidelining the Enterprise .

The Repercussions

Once Sisko completed his personal log, he promptly deleted the entry after declaring that a guilty conscience was a small price to pay for the Alpha Quadrant’s safety. The convoluted scheme succeeded in bringing the Romulans into the war and turning the tide in favor of the Federation Alliance. Sisko never revisited these emotions after “In The Pale Moonlight,” and he received the appropriately-titled Christopher Pike Medal of Valor later that year. It genuinely seemed as if Sisko managed to put the situation behind him the moment he erased his log.

The Federation’s victory over the Klingons rendered the Enterprise ’s lack of involvement irrelevant, but Pike’s guilt lingered much longer than Sisko’s self-doubt. Even after achieving a moment of denouement with Tyler in “Light and Shadows,” Pike’s sensitivity about the war immediately resurfaced during his quarrel with Cornwell in the very next episode. However, Cornwell’s assertion that Starfleet Command viewed Pike’s survival as a means to preserve the Federation’s values evidently put the bulk of the captain’s concerns to rest.

The wars with the Dominion and Klingon Empire taxed the Federation’s resolve and placed strains on two of Starfleet’s most celebrated captains. The Dominion’s imposing might prevented Sisko’s thoughts from gnawing at his conscience for an extended period, while Pike’s intense sentiments simmered long after peace with the Klingons had been achieved. Perhaps the key lesson that can be learned from the captains’ parallel treks is that war takes a great toll on its participants and noncombatants alike.

This article was originally published on September 16, 2020.

Get Updates By Email

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer, author, and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Learn more about Jay by visiting JayStobie.com or finding him on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms at @StobiesGalaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• View history

A war crime is a criminal offense committed during the course of an armed conflict that violate the norms and procedures of a battle or laws of war of a particular state.

On Earth , the following offenses were among those named as war crimes by the Geneva Conventions : Willful killing, inflicting serious injuries on a person, torture, unlawful wanton destruction, forcing a prisoner of war to serve in the forces of a hostile power, depriving a prisoner of war a fair trial, using civilian shields, directing attacks against civilians, taking hostages, and summary executions. Genocide is sometimes considered to be a war crime, but is more often handled as a crime against humanity. The Dominion and its allies committed a number of such acts during the war, as did the Federation - specifically Section 31 . ( DS9 episode : " When It Rains... " et al.)

Following the surrender of the Dominion forces after the Battle of Cardassia , the Female Changeling was taken into Starfleet custody, and was imprisoned for committing war crimes. ( DS9 episode : " What You Leave Behind ")

Connections [ ]

• War crime article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• War Crime article at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia.

Star Trek: Voyager: Is Captain Janeway a War Criminal?

Voyager's otherwise compassionate Captain Janeway engaged in torture and broke international law when she sentenced Tom Paris to solitary confinement.

For seven seasons, Star Trek: Voyager followed the adventures of the Federation Starship Voyager and her crew as they tried to make their way home after a being called the Caretaker stranded them in the far off Delta Quadrant. Over the course of this long voyage, the crew grew and bonded together despite initial distrust, Borg attacks, time travel and people turning into salamander-like creatures. Throughout all of these ups and downs, it was the wise and compassionate leadership of Captain Kathryn Janeway that held everyone together and eventually brought Voyager home.

However, seven years alone, without the support of Starfleet is a long time, even for the greatest of captains. Upholding the ideals of the Federation is a much taller order when there are no other ships to call for backup. Perhaps it was this pressure that led the otherwise fair-minded Captain Janeway to employ a means of discipline that the United Nations currently classifies as torture.

RELATED: Star Trek Celebrates 'Genesis Trilogy' With New Anniversary Edition Novel (Exclusive Excerpt)

In Star Trek: Voyager , Season 5, Episode 9, "Thirty Days," Janeway demotes helmsman Tom Paris from lieutenant to ensign and sentences him to a full thirty days in the brig for disobeying orders. At first glance, this seems reasonable. Paris stole the Delta Flyer and fired a torpedo at a piece of alien machinery in an attempt to render aid to a planet that had expressly refused it. Voyager was able to destroy the torpedo before impact, so Paris's actions caused no damage. Still, he tried to violate the Prime Directive. Disciplinary action was inevitable. The form of this punishment, however, is draconian.

A major stipulation in Paris's 30-day brig sentence is that he isn't allowed to have visitors. In essence, Captain Janeway has placed him in solitary confinement for an entire month. For context, that's twice the amount of time the United Nations will legally permit . Experts classify solitary confinement as an act of torture, and decades' worth of studies show that it can cause lasting, or even permanent, psychological damage to previously healthy individuals.

From a story standpoint, Paris's stay in the brig serves as a framing device. The story of how he came to be incarcerated unfolds over the course of the 30-day period as he slowly composes a letter to his father. In all likelihood, the writers of Star Trek: Voyager didn't fully think through the long-term implications of this narrative choice. Unfortunately, given the prominent place Paris's imprisonment has in the episode, those implications are hard to ignore.

RELATED: George Takei Reacts to Fox News Headline Stating Star Trek Was Never Political

By the late 1990s, when the episode first aired, knowledge of solitary confinement's harmful effects was fairly widespread. By the 24th Century, it should be common knowledge. Yes, Tom Paris disobeyed a direct order and attempted to violate Starfleet's sacred rule of non-interference, the Prime Directive. However, his plan failed and caused no damage. For Janeway to commit what is potentially a war crime as a means of discipline is a gross overreaction.

Lost in the Delta Quadrant without external support is an unenviable position for any captain . Yet, time and again, Janeway handled this circumstance with kindness and strength. For nearly all the episodes before and after this one, one of Janeway's guiding principles is compassion, both for her crew and the myriad species they meet along the way. By no measure is she a cruel person throughout the rest of the series. It is because of all of this that her seemingly remorseless act of torture feels so confounding. A bit of thoughtless writing for the sake of narrative convenience left a stain on the otherwise spotless record of one of Starfleet's all-time best captains. Janeway and Paris both deserved better.

All seasons of Star Trek: Voyager are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Is Captain Kathryn Janeway a War Criminal?

She got her crew safely home in the end, but does the famous Starfleet captain have a dark secret?

A striking title such as this was sure to get Star Trek fans' attention, especially considering that the very essence of Star Trek is supposed to be about peace, compassion, and honor. To have decorated Starfleet personnel commit atrocities is not too uncommon within the Federation, with a handful of spies, traitors, and downright nasty characters hiding within the utopian corporation. But to say someone so revered as Captain Kathryn Janeway is a war criminal? That's a different story.

Firstly, it's important to note the context of said villainous activity. It’s also important to say that to call her a villain is a step too far. Rather, in her plight to get home, Janeway made a few tactical and weighted decisions — but that it just so happens that one of these technically classifies as violating international and intergalactic rules of war (that’s an abridged, existing definition suitable for a culture of space entrepreneurs). Janeway has gained a reputation with many Star Trek fans as a bit useless — some of her blunders include getting herself and the Maquis crew stranded unnecessarily (when she simply could have set timed photon torpedoes to blow up the Caretakers Array after returning to the alpha quadrant); leaving the Kazon factions to fend for themselves against the Trabe when she could have teleported them away; and blatantly disregarding the sovereignty of Kremin territory. However, none of these measure up to giving the cybernetic mega villain Borg a biological weapon in order to commit genocide.

RELATED: Star Trek: Are The Ferengi An Anti-Semitic Stereotype?

That’s right, Janeway indirectly commits genocide against an entire species, but let’s rewind. In the episode “Scorpion,” a two-parter spanning the Season 3 finale and Season 4 premiere, Voyager enters Borg space. This is something that they, as well as resident rehabilitated Borg human Seven of Nine , had been dreading for multiple episodes. The area is so large they are forced to travel through it, but upon arrival, they discover the Borg are at war with another race named Species 8472 — this was their Borg designation as no other official name was discovered. These are a powerful race of notably non-humanoid lifeforms who were native to another dimension of existence called fluidic state, which could only be accessed through quantum singularities. These beings were considered apex predators by the Borg, who regarded them as the pinnacle of biological evolution, and thus of course they were desperate to assimilate them to add their biology and technology into the hive-mind. The only problem was they were immune to assimilation, and once provoked relentlessly fought back, slowly but surely wiping the Borg out.

In comes Voyager, and poor Harry Kim, repeated punching bag for all strange alien infections, becomes contaminated by skin tissue from Species 8472. While slowly dying, the holographic Doctor aboard the ship works tirelessly until he discovers a cure — something that could, coincidentally, incapacitate and eventually kill 8472. So what does Janeway do with this biological weapon, something capable of committing genocide on an obscenely large scale? She gives it to the Borg in exchange for safe travel through their space.

The decision here is, in a way, understandable. Janeway was just trying to get her crew home, something that had almost become a religious motto for her by this point. Yet, it's impossible to deny that this tactic was extremely unethical. What’s worse, nobody at the time had concerns in the ethical sense; instead, the crew is more concerned with the Borg double-crossing them than the potential extinction of an entire species. This has a lot to do with the way 8472 are presented. They are ruthless, aggressive beings — but then again, so are the Cardassians and the historically warmongering Klingons . What sets them apart was entirely their non-humanoid appearance. Species 8472 were depicted as too different from humans and thus were “monsters,” going against everything Star Trek stood for regarding differences and acceptance .

This could have been swept under the rug. When looking at 8472 as a race of animal-like, thoughtless monsters who only wish to destroy, this act might not really count as a war crime — more like a heartless execution of all the country foxes plaguing the chicken coops. However, the writers shot themselves in the foot, or more accurately stabbed Janeway in the back, when they reintroduced 8472 in the Season 5 episode “In The Flesh.” This episode reveals that there is a greater intelligence to Species 8472, and that, instead of mere animals, they are capable of rational thought and can even be negotiated with. They are brutal, xenophobic, and nasty, but they are self-aware. Somehow, despite Janeway's actions, the episode ends with peace being made between Voyager and 8472, but it leaves a sour taste in the mouth knowing what Janeway had done, vicariously causing the deaths of thousands of sentient lifeforms.

This flip-flop episode showed 8472 in a whole new light, and when examining what exactly happened, it was hard not to empathize with them. Fundamentally, ignoring their xenophobia and universe dominating agenda, they were simply defending themselves after being attacked by the Borg, and are not quite the monsters they were misunderstood to be. This makes Janeway's actions inexcusable, though granted, hindsight is 20/20. But what’s most troubling is that her genocidal actions don't seem to bother her that much, and Starfleet even promotes her to Admiral, glossing over her ever so slight war crimes. In light of her decisions here, and her own reflections on them, she's not really great captain material after all.

MORE: Star Trek: What Is Q?

• Very rare assignments
• Starfleet assignments

Assignment: Substantiate Allegations of War Crimes

• VisualEditor
• View history

• Any officer x 2
• Critical Success : 5%
• Success : 54%
• Failure : 38%
• Disaster : 3%

Summary [ | ]

<confirm> allegations of war crimes on <world>

Variations [ | ]

• Confirm ... Una
• Confirm ... Cernan
• Confirm ... Tazi
• Confirm ... Vor
• Verify ... Risa
• Substantiate ... Kern III
• Substantiate ... Dace
• Substantiate ... Kalferi II
• Authenticate ... Zibal
• Authenticate ... Maro
• Corroborate ... Bomari
• Corroborate ... Lackey
• Corroborate ... Hana

Possible locations [ | ]

Requires [ | ].

• Success : Counselor , Refugee , Security Officer

Notes [ | ]

• Assignment accepts civilians too such as Entertainer, Trader, Advisor...
• Critical reward bonus 250%.
• On Critical rewards: 1290 dilithium and 1290 DCXP
• 2 Playable starship
• 3 List of canon starships

Screen Rant

Quark’s 10 worst crimes in star trek: ds9, ranked.

DS9's Quark is one of Star Trek's most prolific criminal minds, but which of the Ferengi's misdemeanors is the worst? And why was he never jailed?

• Quark committed multiple crimes throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, from conning Ensign Harry Kim to selling weapons to a war criminal.
• Despite his criminal activities, Quark often found a way to redeem himself, either by fixing the situations he created or by bringing criminals to justice.
• While Quark's motivations may provide insight into his questionable ethics, they don't justify his reprehensible acts, though he always managed to avoid crossing the line into truly villainous behavior.

Quark (Armin Shimerman) committed multiple felonies across seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and beyond, but some of these crimes were worse than others. A regular thorn in the side of Constable Odo (René Auberjonois), DS9 's favorite Ferengi cheated, stole, and even risked lives from behind Quark's Bar. Despite Quark's many crimes during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , he often found a way to redeem himself, either through fixing the situation he created, or by bringing larger criminal elements into the orbit of DS9's Chief of Security. It's because of this that Quark became a fan-favorite Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character , who would later appear elsewhere in the wider franchise.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Quark is guilty of multiple crimes, from questionable employment contracts all the way to potential war crimes. The fact that the audience can often see what motivated Quark's actions is proof of DS9 's nuanced scripts and more complex morality. While the motivations don't justify some of the more reprehensible criminal acts, it does at least give audiences some insight into Quark's questionable code of ethics. However, despite all of Quark's crimes across multiple Star Trek shows , he always managed to narrowly avoid tipping into truly villainous acts.

Quark Actor Says Q Comparing Star Trek: TNG To DS9 Was "Insulting"

10 conning ensign harry kim, star trek: voyager season 1, episode 1, "caretaker".

Quark makes a cameo in the Star Trek: Voyager pilot, "Caretaker" , in which he tries to con Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) out of his credits. It's a small crime for Quark, not least because he's foiled by Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill). However, it was proof that Quark always had an eye for a gullible mark in his never-ending pursuit of profit. Harry Kim was a green young ensign who didn't pay attention to his Starfleet Academy lectures about untrustworthy Ferengi. With that in mind, nobody could blame Quark for trying to score a few credits off the Eternal Ensign.

9 Building a Business Empire From Stolen Karemma Technology

Star trek: lower decks season 3, episode 6, "hear all, trust nothing".

Plagiarism is quite low down on the list of Quark's Star Trek crimes, but it got the Ferengi in hot water with the Karemma. In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episodes 6, "Hear All, Trust Nothing", the USS Cerritos was tasked with handling trade negotiations with the Gamma Quadrant in the wake of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Dominion War . Unfortunately, the negotiations were almost scuppered when it was revealed that Quark had stolen their advanced replicator technology to build an intergalactic business empire . As punishment, Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) ordered Quark to share his profits with the Karemma.

8 Cheating The Wadi And Forcing DS9's Crew To Play The Chula Game

Star trek: ds9 season 1, episode 10, "move along home".

Ultimately, Quark cheating the Wadi led to minor irritation for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine crew , rather than life-threatening danger. In DS9 season 1, episode 10, "Move Along Home", the first official visit by delegates from the Gamma Quadrant is derailed by Quark, who cheats the Wadi delegation out of their winnings at the Dabo table. To alleviate tensions with the Wadi, he agrees to play the Chula game, which turns DS9 's senior staff into game pieces. The stress that Quark endures when playing with the lives of Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and the others is deemed punishment enough for cheating the Wadi.

7 Attempted To Profit From The Evacuation Of Deep Space Nine

Star trek: ds9 season 2, episode 3, "the siege".

When Deep Space Nine was evacuated during the military coup on Bajor, Quark predictably saw a way to profit from the chaos. Adopting a Ferengi transport policy that is also beloved of budget airlines, Quark oversold spaces on the shuttles that were evacuating the station . Sisko was furious with Quark for trying to profit from people in fear of their lives, and ensured that the Ferengi bartender was left behind on the station. As a result, Quark was an unwilling participant in Sisko's Starfleet insurrection , lugging his suitcase full of latinum as the DS9 crew fought back against the Bajoran militia.

All 5 Star Trek Roles Played By Armin Shimerman (Including DS9’s Quark)

6 used major kira's likeness without consent, star trek: ds9 season 3, episode 8, "meridian".

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 8, "Meridian", Quark was asked to create an erotic holonovel featuring the likeness of Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). Quark then followed his subject around the station with a holographic imager, but Deep Space Nine's Major Kira turned the tables on him. When the Ferengi's client Tiron (Jeffrey Combs) entered the holosuite, he discovered a sexualized Quark/Kira hybrid waiting for him on the bed. Quark's creepiest crime was a comedy subplot in a larger DS9 episode, but the use of people's likenesses without their consent has become a serious concern in the 2020s.

Tiron was the first of the 21 Star Trek characters that Jeffrey Combs has played to date.

5 Sexually Harrassing Dabo Girls

Star trek: ds9 season 1, episode 6, "captive pursuit".

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 6, "Captive Pursuit" it's revealed that Quark included sexual favors in the contracts of his Dabo girls . This allowed him to sexually harass his employees because it was stipulated in their contracts under " page 21, subsection D, paragraph 12, up to and beyond oo-mox ". When Commander Sisko learned of this stipulation, he assured Sarda (Kelly Curtis) that such contract stipulations would be outlawed on DS9 under Federation law. However, Quark would continue to be very hands-on with his employees, suggesting that he didn't completely bow to Sisko's demands.

4 Unfair Labor Practices At Quark's Bar

Star trek: ds9 season 4, episode 16, "bar association".

Quark treated his own brother Rom (Max Grodénchik) like a slave, so the other employees at Quark's Bar stood no chance of being treated fairly. Alongside the contractual sexual favors for Dabo girls, Quark also stipulated that anything that went wrong in the bar was squarely the fault of Rom. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4, episode 16, "Bar Association", Rom and the staff of Quark's Bar finally fight back when their wages are slashed. Leading a revolt against the exhausting working conditions at Quark's Bar, Rom became a " union man " and finally held his brother to account for his actions.

3 Joining Rao Vantika's Deuridium Heist

Star trek: ds9, season 1, episode 9, "the passenger".

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 9, "The Passenger", Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) is possessed by Kobliad criminal Rao Vantika. The convicted murderer and notorious criminal seeks Quark's aid in hijacking a shipment of deuridium ore. Quark sourced some trigger-happy mercenaries to conduct the heist, which led to the deaths of the freighter's bridge crew. While Quark never fired a shot, he was still complicit in the actions of Rao Vantika and his mercenaries, but he never faced punishment for his role in the fatal deuridium heist.

Quark Actor Armin Shimerman's Favorite DS9 Episode Has Nothing To Do With Star Trek's Ferengi

2 enabled verad to steal the dax symbiont, star trek: ds9, season 2, episode 4, "invasive procedures".

The Dax heist in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 4, "Invasive Procedures" is one of Quark's most unforgivable crimes because it nearly killed Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell). Quark sabotaged DS9's security grid to allow a group of criminals to access the station as part of a business deal . In Quark's defense, he was misled by the group's leader, Yeto (Steve Rankin). Quark did feel remorse for his role in facilitating the theft of the Dax symbiont and redeemed himself by helping Dr. Bashir to disarm Yeto and free Odo, stopping Verad Dax (John Glover) from leaving DS9 and saving Jadzia's life.

1 Selling Weapons To A War Criminal

Star trek: ds9, season 5, episode 18, "business as usual".

The worst of Quark's crimes was when he became an arms dealer to the tyrannical Regent of Palmar in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 18, "Business as Usual". By working with his cousin Gaila (Josh Pais) and Hagath (Steven Berkoff), Quark solved his money woes but alienated his friends on Deep Space Nine. Predictably, Quark got in over his head when he became part of a deal to sell biogenic weapons capable of murdering 28 million people . Quark had a crisis of conscience and a nightmarish vision of his former friends convinced him to do the right thing.

Quark sabotaged the weapons deal by inviting a rival party, triggering a firefight in one of Deep Space Nine's cargo bays. While Quark was responsible for the death of the Regent, he saved the lives of 28 million people . Happy that Quark had finally done the right thing, Captain Sisko dropped the criminal charges against the Ferengi and instead presented him with an extensive bill to fix the damage to the cargo bay. "Business as Usual" was the closest that Quark came to breaking bad in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but instead he proved that, despite being a criminal, he had a strong moral and ethical code.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are streaming now on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

A Famous Star Trek Hero Committed Michael Burnham's Crime With a Twist

• Michael Burnham's mutiny in Star Trek: Discovery mirrors Spock's rebellious acts in previous series, showing they both act against orders for the greater good.
• Burnham's journey to captaincy in the series broke the mold by focusing on a first officer's arc rather than the traditional captain's leadership role.
• While some fans criticized Burnham's mutiny, it exemplifies her commitment to Starfleet ideals, similar to other iconic Star Trek heroes like Spock.

When Star Trek: Discovery first debuted in 2017, it ended a 12-year drought for Gene Roddenberry's franchise on television. Fans hoping to see a modern take on the hopeful, aspirational world of the second-wave Star Trek series were disappointed at first. Discovery protagonist Michael Burnham committed a massive crime against Starfleet, but what she did to protect her ship and captain is what another popular Star Trek hero would've done if he was human.

There were many ways that Discovery was different from previous Star Trek installments, but Michael Burnham broke a franchise mold . Until her series, the Star Trek shows typically set up the ship's captain as the series' lead character. Burnham, however, started out as the first officer of the USS Shenzhou under the command of Captain Philippa Georgiou. Her path to the captain's chair was the overall arc of the series. Yet, when she committed mutiny in the pilot episode, some stringent fans felt this was an unforgivable sin. However, what she did was something Spock had done in the past, just with a very human twist.

How Star Trek: Discovery Stood Apart From Previous Series

Star trek: discovery's callum keith rennie shows a new side of starfleet.

When Gene Roddenberry was tapped by Paramount to create a new series in the Star Trek universe, he took an approach mirrored by Discovery . Simply put, Roddenberry wanted The Next Generation to be as different from The Original Series as possible. While it was visually distinct, the new series mirrored the previous one in a number of ways. However, Captain Picard didn't break Starfleet rules as often as Captain Kirk did, even though the USS Enterprise leader was always right to do so. In fact, when any of the series' lead captains disobeys Starfleet orders, it almost always ends up working out.

Discovery avoided Star Trek staples in design and other areas, providing viewers with an almost too distinct looking world. From ship nacelles to the uniforms worn by the central characters, it didn't look like the Starfleet of the past it was supposed to be. The biggest point of contention with fans when it came to design was the new look of the Klingons. While they spoke the language created by Marc Okrand for the 1980s films with extreme accuracy, the new look was a massive departure. Even their vessels, from the Birds of Prey to the massive Sarcophagus Ship, were unfamiliar. Still, like any good Klingon, these characters were hungry for war.

The war between the Federation and Klingons, while canonical, darkened the tone of the series. Also, Discovery's Season 1 twist with Captain Lorca being from the Mirror Universe, also showed audiences a very different kind of Starfleet. This actually allowed Burnham to be a representative of Starfleet's ideals, up to and including ending the war in a more peaceful way than Starfleet intended. Still, because Michael Burnham committed mutiny, some uncharitable fans blame everything on her. But, it's just what Spock might have done.

Michael Burnham's Mutiny Was What Spock Would've Done If He Was Human

Star trek: discovery's alex kurtzman & michelle paradise talk final season.

The first episode of Star Trek: Discovery is called "The Vulcan Hello," and that title is important. The episode introduced Georgiou, Saru, Burnham and her relationship to Sarek and Spock. In fact, Burnham seems more Vulcan than human in those early episodes, which is a Star Trek commentary on nature versus nurture. While Spock has his Vulcan physiology to help him control his emotions, for the fully human Burnham she's simply suppressing her emotions . Thus, when faced with the Klingons lying in wait, she approached the problem while denying her fear and panic.

Right before the fateful act of mutiny, Burnham turned to the only father available to her: Sarek. He's the one who told her about Vulcans' early contact with Klingons. Despite being almost a captain herself by this point, Georgiou gets angry when Michael contradicts her on the bridge. Still, Burnham was, ostensibly, right; the Klingons saw Starfleet as weak. Her suggestion to open diplomatic relations by firing first on the ship would've at least undermined T'Kuvma's argument about Starfleet and their commitment to peace. When Georgiou, also rightly, calls Burnham out for being emotional, her Number One incapacitates her with a Vulcan nerve pinch .

While Burnham was correct about the approach towards the Klingons and that this was a trap to start a war, she did make one mistake. The plan to capture T'Kuvma and weaken his standing with the Great Houses failed because of her. After T'Kuvma killed Georgiou, Burnham killed him in anger. She was so used to suppressing her emotions that the rage she felt at that moment overcame her logical judgment. Yet, her mutiny and even killing T'Kuvma could not have prevented the war. Rather than an example of how she's a terrible Starfleet officer, this showed just how very similar she actually was to her foster-brother Spock

Spock Committed Mutiny In One of Star Trek: TOS's Most Famous Episodes

Star trek: discovery actors doug jones & david ajala prepare for their last adventure.

While some fans lambast Michael Burnham for disobeying orders, it's a long-held Starfleet tradition, and it's not just the captains. On series like Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: Voyager , crew members disobey orders all the time. The only difference between them and Burnham, however, is it usually works out for the best. However, in one of the most famous episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series , Spock also commits mutiny and is far more successful than his sister . The first two-part episode, "The Menagerie" was a way for producers to reuse the failed first Star Trek pilot in the series. It introduced the injured Captain Pike and established that Spock was his loyal science officer and friend.

Spock created a false message to get the USS Enterprise to Pike's location. He then uses a Vulcan nerve pinch to incapacitate Chief Humbolt in order to ensure no one can stop the ship from reaching Talos IV. He takes command of the bridge and tells the crew that he's under secret orders to take the wheelchair-bound Captain Pike to the planet. Eventually Kirk and supposedly Commodore Mendez arrive at the ship, and Spock turns himself in just as Burnham does when Georgiou recovers. When Mendez is revealed to be a psychic projection from the Talosians, only Kirk is left to render a verdict. He lets Spock off-the-hook.

This wasn't the only time Spock disobeyed orders . He nerve-pinches a crewmate in Star Trek: The Motion Picture before his unauthorized mind-meld with V'Ger. In Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country , he repeatedly defies Starfleet orders in order to conduct his investigation and rescue Kirk. Yet, while he has the power of cool Vulcan logic on his side, Burnham was a mess of human emotions. She was desperate and acted rashly, assaulting Georgiou in a munity plan destined to fail. In fact, it's a lot like how Spock stole the Enterprise in Strange New Worlds' Season 2 premiere .

Michael Burnham's Mutiny Was Discovery's Way of Showing She's Just Like Spock

Star trek: discovery's sonequa martin-green embarks on one final voyage.

In Season 1, Michael Burnham carried herself like a Vulcan, which makes sense given how she was raised. Yet, she wasn't just like any Vulcan, but rather she was like Spock in a lot of ways. He was often depicted as a Vulcan who was resentful of his human half, slowly embracing it through his friendship with Kirk and McCoy. The first time he smiled, after all, was when he discovered he hadn't killed Kirk in "Amok Time." Burnham, on the other hand, almost denies her human side.

Both Burnham and Spock are incredibly smart and capable officers, and they know they are smarter than the others around them . This is why both characters will sometimes take action that may not be regulation or protocol. Spock and Burnham are deeply committed to Starfleet's larger ideals and know that sometimes doing something "wrong" is the right way to uphold them. Burnham disobeys orders again in the Season 1 finale, giving L'Rell control of the hydrobomb Starfleet wanted to deploy to destroy Qo'noS.

While some fans may think Michael Burnham's mutiny is unforgivable, it's precisely what Spock would've done, especially if he were fully human . Throughout Season 1 she is committed to Starfleet's ideals to preserve life, from Ripper the "Tardigrade" to her desire to help Saru protect the Pahvans from the war. While her mutiny and assault against Captain Georgiou was the wrong thing to do, like every Star Trek hero before her, she did it for the right reasons.

Star Trek: Discovery debuts new episodes of its final season Thursdays on Paramount+ .

Star Trek: Discovery

Release Date September 24, 2017

Cast Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman

Main Genre Sci-Fi

Genres Drama, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure

Rating TV-14

• View history

A crime was the act of breaking of a law . One who broke the law was generally called a criminal . A punishment was the act of resolving a crime.

A capital crime was a crime punishable by death . ( TNG : " Justice ", " Sins of The Father "; DS9 : " Dax "; VOY : " Meld ")

A perfect crime was one that left no trace nor evidence despite a thorough investigation . ( DS9 : " Dax ")

• 1.1 Angosians
• 1.2 Argrathi
• 1.3 Bajorans
• 1.4 Benkarans
• 1.5 Cardassians
• 1.6 Deneb V
• 1.7 Dominion
• 1.8 Dramians
• 1.10 Ennis / Nol-Ennis
• 1.11 Founders
• 1.12 Federation
• 1.13 Humans
• 1.14 J'naii
• 1.15 Klaestrons
• 1.16 Klingons
• 1.19 Rakhari
• 1.20 Ramurans
• 1.21 Romulans
• 1.22 Takret
• 1.23 Talaxians
• 1.25 Vulcans
• 2 List of crimes
• 3 External links

Crimes and their punishments [ ]

Angosians [ ].

The Angosians once created genetically-enhanced soldiers to fight in the Tarsian War for them. After the war, the soldiers were kept on the penal colony Lunar V , a moon , to protect them from criminal behavior, because the Angosians rejected criminal behavior and any form of crime. ( TNG : " The Hunted ")

Argrathi [ ]

According to the Argrathi Authority , the crime of espionage required a minimum of fifteen cycles of correction. In 2372 , Miles O'Brien was given twenty for being curious and subsequently asking too many questions about Argrathi technology . The Argrathi form of "correction" involved assigning memories of incarceration modeled to fit each offender's personality. These memories, in fact, resulted from interactive programs that created artificial psychic realities from planted memories of things that never actually happened. The Argrathi used this form of punishment because they found it more efficient and more effective than maintaining an extensive prison system. ( DS9 : " Hard Time ")

Bajorans [ ]

During the Cardassian occupation of Bajor , killing a Cardassian was not considered much of a crime. Odo referred to this after he told Commander Benjamin Sisko about the past activities of the Bajoran Ibudan during this time. Although Ibudan went to prison , he was released by the Bajoran Provisional Government . ( DS9 : " A Man Alone ")

According to Odo, unauthorized access to crew quarters was a crime. ( DS9 : " Babel ")

All Cardassians who worked on the Gallitep labor camp were considered war criminals. ( DS9 : " Duet ")

In Bajoran space, the punishment for assault with intent to kill was a long prison term. Most of the conspirators of the Lissepian Mother's Day Heist were all charged with that crime after trying to obtain the proceeds of the heist for themselves, on Deep Space 9 . ( DS9 : " Who Mourns for Morn? ")

In Bajoran space and also in Federation space, vole fighting is illegal. ( DS9 : " Through the Looking Glass ")

Intergalactic law states if a crew member or civilian is intoxicated they must be shown the brig to sleep it off. ( DS9 : " Duet ", " Blood Oath ")

In Bajoran space, littering is not allowed. ( DS9 : " Business as Usual ") ( DS9 : " Prodigal Daughter ")

Benkarans [ ]

The Benkarans lived within the territory controlled by the Nygeans , who viewed them as predisposed to criminal behavior. Although they only comprised ten percent of the overall population, Benkarans made up eighty percent of the population of Nygean jails. Benkarans were also ten times more likely to be executed for a crime. ( VOY : " Repentance ")

Cardassians [ ]

Under Cardassian law , guilt was confirmed prior to court proceedings – the trials themselves served only as a way to demonstrate the wrongdoing of the defendants and to illustrate the consequences of their alleged criminal behavior. Defendants were provided with legal counsel merely to help them "concede" the "wisdom" of the state's judicial process, as well as help them to admit guilt and express "proper" remorse. Cardassian judicial penalties were usually severe: in at least some cases, the courts had already scheduled the accused's execution before the trial began. ( DS9 : " Tribunal ")

The Cardassians used cranial implants as a sort of help for members of the Obsidian Order . These implants could malfunction and serve as a sort of punishment device. In 2370 the exiled Elim Garak faced the pain and function of this piece of biotechnology . ( DS9 : " The Wire ")

The Cardassians also punished members of their species with exile . Elim Garak was exiled and lived on Deep Space 9 . He himself called this a torture . ( DS9 : " The Wire ")

Deneb V [ ]

On Deneb V , fraud was punishable by the guilty party's choice of death penalties , including but not limited to death by electrocution , death by gas, death by phaser , and death by hanging . Harry Mudd , convicted of fraud for illegally reselling patents, was fleeing this punishment when he happened upon a planet later called Mudd . ( TOS : " I, Mudd ")

Dominion [ ]

The Dominion did not typically take prisoners, keeping only those that may later may have served a purpose to them. ( DS9 : " The Jem'Hadar ", " In Purgatory's Shadow ") If prisoners were held, they could be released following the end of hostilities between the Dominion and its enemies.

Several Cardassian prisoners, a number of whom were survivors of the Battle of the Omarion Nebula , were released from Internment Camp 371 following Cardassia 's alliance with the Dominion. ( DS9 : " By Inferno's Light ")

During battle, the Dominion preferred to kill the survivors of destroyed or disabled starships , unless they wished to use them to serve a greater purpose.

In 2373 , the Jem'Hadar deliberately left survivors on the disabled IKS B'Moth because they wanted someone to try to rescue them, in an attempt to secure more kills. ( DS9 : " Soldiers of the Empire ")

In 2375 , following the Second Battle of Chin'toka , the Female Changeling wished to allow the otherwise vulnerable escape pod 's "frightened, demoralized troops " to return to the Federation "to spread fear throughout the Federation with tales of what happened" in their overwhelming defeat. ( DS9 : " The Changing Face of Evil ")

• See : Teplan blight

Dramians [ ]

The Dramens accused Doctor McCoy of causing the plague that eradicated the population of Dramia II before he was found innocent thanks to the help of the lone survivor Kol-Tai . ( TAS : " Albatross ")

The Edo had an unusual punishment system in which a crime might not be punished depending on where and when it was committed. The only punishment used in this system was death by lethal injection ( TNG : " Justice ").

• See : Punishment zone

Ennis / Nol-Ennis [ ]

Because of unresolvable conflicts between the Ennis and the Nol-Ennis they were banished onto a moon in the Gamma Quadrant which was used as a penal colony . It was orbited by a network of artificial satellites and its atmosphere was filled with artificial microbes which "cured" the death , following an eternal war between both factions. ( DS9 : " Battle Lines ")

Founders [ ]

The Founders believed that a Changeling harming another was a crime. Odo 's shapeshifting abilities were taken away and he was given Human form as his punishment for killing one of his own kind. ( DS9 : " Broken Link ")

Federation [ ]

Kevin Uxbridge , a Douwd in Human disguise, destroyed the Husnock species with a mere thought in fury of blind rage after the Husnock attacked Rana IV and killed his wife Rishon . Captain Jean-Luc Picard stated that the Federation has "no law to fit your crime," and let Kevin return to Rana IV. ( TNG : " The Survivors ")

In 2384 , a panel of Starfleet officers listed "stealing a Federation ship, impersonating officers, even illicitly inhabiting the mind of an esteemed admiral" among Federation crimes committed by Rok-Tahk , Dal R'El , Gwyndala , Jankom Pog , Zero , and Murf . Though Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway came to their defense, the justices noted "good intentions do not make up for Federation crimes." ( PRO : " Supernova, Part 2 ")

Without the intervention and influence of Q , Isaac Newton would have died forgotten in a Liverpool debtors' prison as a suspect in several prostitute murders . ( VOY : " Death Wish ")

Miles O'Brien commented to Alixus that her son Vinod was tied up because he "just fired a couple of arrows" at O'Brien and that in his community, that's a crime. ( DS9 : " Paradise ")

In 2153 it was a crime for Humans to teach Skagarans . But Bethany chose to teach them and was arrested by Deputy Sheriff Bennings ( ENT : " North Star ")

During a holodeck simulation of the town of Deadwood in Earth 's Ancient West , Worf , upon learning that he would play a sheriff and that his son Alexander Rozhenko would play his deputy, noted approvingly, "so we are in law enforcement." The simulation involved Worf having to apprehend notorious outlaw Eli Hollander and his gang. ( TNG : " A Fistful of Datas ")

• See : Punishment box

The J'naii believed that an individual who identified as male or female was committing the crime of perversion . Soren was found guilty of this crime and subjected to psychotectic therapy to obliterate the gender identity. ( TNG : " The Outcast ")

Klaestrons [ ]

Treason and murder were punishable by death for the Klaestrons . ( DS9 : " Dax ")

Klingons [ ]

Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy were arrested for the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon and sent to life imprisonment at Rura Penthe . This was considered a lesser punishment by a Klingon judge, but Commander Chekov referred to it as "the aliens' graveyard". ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Kortar , a figure in Klingon mythology , was punished for destroying the gods who created him. As punishment, he was condemned to ferry the souls of the dishonored to Gre'thor on the Barge of the Dead . ( VOY : " Barge of the Dead ")

The Mari believed any crime was caused by the person who originally had the violent thought and punished the person by removing the offending engrams from their mind. ( VOY : " Random Thoughts ")

The Q Continuum provided several unique forms of punishment.

For wishing to commit suicide , Q was imprisoned in a rogue comet for eternity. ( VOY : " Death Wish ")

Amanda Rogers ' father and mother were punished for their "incomprehensible" decision to remain on Earth during the 2340s . The Q ultimately executed them with an "unusually compact, yet extremely powerful" tornado that "spontaneously" appeared directly over their home, destroyed it, and then disappeared. ( TNG : " True Q ")

In 2366 , Q was punished by the Continuum because he had "spread too much chaos through the universe ". His punishment was having his powers stripped and being assigned the form of a mortal being. Although he had toyed with the idea of becoming a Markoffian sea lizard , or a Belzoidian flea , he ultimately requested to become Human. ( TNG : " Deja Q ")

Collaborating with the enemy was a crime punishable by death in the Continuum, a crime that Captain Kathryn Janeway and Q almost paid the price for. ( VOY : " The Q and the Grey ")

Rakhari [ ]

The Rakhari considered all crimes as serious but held no trials on their homeworld . Enemies of the government were punished by killing their family members. ( DS9 : " Vortex ")

Ramurans [ ]

The Ramurans considered leaving their own planet a crime, so they used a neurolytic emitter on these refugees to erase their memories of all encounters and experiences of the outside world before reintegrating them into Ramuran society. ( VOY : " Unforgettable ")

Romulans [ ]

The Romulans firmly believed in the use of labor camps. In 2362 , Quark and his accomplice Fallit Kot were indicted for hijacking a shipment of Romulan ale . Kot received eight years in a labor camp for the hijacking, whereas Quark, who claimed he had nothing to do with the hijacking itself, and was just a simple "middleman," was acquitted. However, it was not that simple; as trafficking in stolen goods was enough to receive imprisonment in a Romulan camp, it was determined that Quark was acquitted because he sold out Kot. ( DS9 : " Melora ")

A captain of the Takret Militia threatened Captain Jonathan Archer to punish him for conspiracy when arriving at his homeworld after he found the vessel of three deserteurs aboard Enterprise NX-01 . ( ENT : " The Catwalk ")

Talaxians [ ]

Under Talaxian law, avoiding or refusing service in the Talaxian Defense Forces during a time of war was a death penalty offense. Neelix managed to avoid this punishment while hiding from the Defense Forces during the Talaxian-Haakonian War . ( VOY : " Jetrel ")

The Voth Ministry of Elders viewed heresy as a crime. They charged Professor Forra Gegen with heresy for teaching Distant Origin Theory , a scientific theory that challenged Voth religious doctrine . Despite the evidence standing before them, Professor Gegen was still found guilty and sentenced to prison along with the Voyager crew, forcing him to retract his theory so they could leave. ( VOY : " Distant Origin ")

Vulcans [ ]

In the 22nd century , a mind meld was considered a crime, for which Soval appeared before the Vulcan High Command to answer for his mind meld. Soval was stripped his position as an ambassador. ( ENT : " The Forge ", " Awakening ")

Also in the 22nd century, treason was a crime which was punishable by execution. Administrator V'Las told this to Commander T'Pol . ( ENT : " Kir'Shara ")

List of crimes [ ]

• Aiding and abetting
• Counterfeiting
• Disorderly conduct
• Impersonating a Starfleet officer
• Public drunkenness
• Theft (including petty theft )
• Trafficking
• Vole fighting

External links [ ]

• Crime at Wikipedia
• Capital crime at Wikipedia
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)