10 Most Rewatchable Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episodes
9. "Improbable Cause"/"The Die Is Cast"
This third season two-part episode featuring a secret plan to destroy the Dominion hatched by the Cardassian Obsidian Order and Romulan Tal Shiar demonstrated the massive scale Deep Space Nine was capable of achieving and represented a key turning point in the show's overall story. From this moment forward, the Federation and the Dominion were engaged in a tense standoff that would ultimately culminate in all out war. Get your popcorn ready.
The episode opens with an explosion at Garak's shop that initially appears to have been orchestrated by Enabran Tain, former leader of the Obsidian Order. Tain is eliminating his former associates and making a fresh bid for power.
Garak and Odo learn that Tain is working with the Tal Shiar to destroy the Founders' homeworld and remove the Dominion threat to the Alpha Quadrant. Despite Tain's failed attempt on his life, Garak willingly joins his old mentor, much to the dismay of Odo.
To earn Tain's trust, Garak is charged with interrogating Odo to learn more information about the Founders and their homeworld. Garak tortures Odo by inhibiting his ability to shapeshift until he reveals that he secretly wishes to return to his people through the Great Link. These scenes are hard to watch.
The attack on the Founders' homeworld fails when the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar fleet is ambushed by a horde of Jem'Hadar fighters lying in wait. While making their escape, Garak and Odo encounter Colonel Lovok, a Tal Shiar officer who exposes himself as a changeling. Lovok's presence in the Tal Shiar signals how deeply the Dominion has already infiltrated the Alpha Quadrant's key players. Well, that sucks.
Paired together, "Improbable Cause" and "The Die Is Cast" is a thrilling ride that satisfies time and again. The episode teased the epic starship battles of the Dominion War to come while further exploring Garak's character and backstory. Although largely a source of mystery and amusement to this point, we learn in his willingness to torture a friend that Garak remains a dangerous figure with suspicious motives. No breakfast with Odo can fix that.