10 Most Chilling Star Trek Moments

10. Goodbye Ichar

Hard Time is a stand-out episode in the 'O'Brien Must Suffer' arc, one which runs from Emissary right through until What You Leave Behind. This episode took things a little further than usual, leaving everyone's favourite Chief with a crippling trauma - one that threatens to stay with him until the very end.

Throughout the episode, the audience sees him sink further and further into despair, unable to handle the memories that have been beamed into his head. While that's bad enough, it's the visions of his fabricated friend, Ichar, that truly haunt him.

The closing scene in the cargo bay was the closest that O'Brien ever truly came to death, and the fact that it was by his own hand was even more disturbing than anything else. At this moment, he was beaten, and broken. He was seconds away from pressing the trigger and ending everything.

Bashir's intervention, along with Ichar's own words of encouragement, brings him back from the edge. It's a close one - one that deserved further exploration as the show went on.