10 Moments Of Star Trek Foreshadowing You Never Noticed

In Deep Space Nine, the Dominion grew to become the Federation's biggest threat, perhaps aside only from the Borg. The Dominion War devastated the Alpha Quadrant and was one of the darkest times in the history of Star Trek.

Although the Dominion was not encountered until the episode The Jem'Hadar, near the end of season two, it's interesting to note that they were mentioned in Rules Of Acquisition, several episodes prior. Near the end of the episode, a visitor from the Gamma Quadrant offered to put Quark in touch with the Karemma, who they said were an important power in the Dominion. Confused, Quark responded, "The Dominion? What's That?" And the aliens told him, "Let's just say if you want to do business in the Gamma Quadrant, you have to do business with the Dominion."

This small scene foreshadowed the control of the Dominion over the Gamma Quadrant, and set them up as a terrifying and powerful force to be respected, before any Starfleet ship had even officially made contact with them.