10 Events That Changed Star Trek Forever

A father-son camping trip thousands of lightyears across the galaxy on a newly charted planet so that Jake can do his dream science project? What could possibly go wrong?! Oh, and Nog needs to come along too so he can stay in school, and Quark has his eyes on monetising the Station's monitors so will be crashing the party.

Evidently, once the campfire clownery is out of the way, Commander Sisko and Quark – along with a Vorta desperate to secure that EGOT – are captured by a mysterious new species, the Jem'Hadar.

It is important to note that the season two finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine we're talking about, The Jem'Hadar, was the first time (members of) the Dominion were seen on screen. The dictatorial, warmongering foe had been mentioned by name in previous episodes of DS9 season two (for the first time in Rules of Acquisition) and were introduced as "a sort of [...] anti-Federation," as writer/producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe put it in the DS9 season three DVD special features.

The present episode then sets the tone for what would become a, if not the, main focus of DS9. As the Galaxy-class USS Odyssey beats a hasty retreat, a Jem'Hadar ship rams and destroys it. As Sisko points out to O'Brien, "They're showing us how far they're willing to go".

We'd find out just how far when all-out war erupted between the Federation and the Dominion, one of the most destructive and bloody in Star Trek history, and the first time a war had been depicted on screen in the show in such a detailed and prolonged manner. Also as a direct result, in the opening season three two-parter The Search, the Defiant was brought out of mothballs and Odo learned the unfortunate truth about his origins.

Next time, maybe just let the katterpods grow!