10 Reasons Why What You Leave Behind Is The Best Star Trek Finale

Star Trek Deep Space Nine, during its initial run, did not receive the love that it badly deserved. Though it was never cancelled, it seemed to fly somewhat under the radar, never quite as popular as the Next Generation before it.

Thankfully, the years have been kind to it and it has undergone a reevaluation in the eyes of the fandom. Now recognised as one of the best versions of Star Trek, its themes of family, hope, drama and spiritualism developed over seven years has delivered a more nuanced, deeper Star Trek than much of what had come before.

Ending this series was never going to be easy, particularly as the show had been plunged into war for its final two seasons. Not only did the war have to end, but it had to resolve the various character arcs that lasted up to the final hour.

Thankfully, and amazingly, it managed to do it all, pulling off what is potentially the greatest finale in Star Trek history, delivering on the promise that the various relationships and situations had offered up during its run.

Here is a breakdown of ten of the best moments from the finale, all combining to make What You Leave Behind one of the best episodes in all of Star Trek.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine was the first Trek series to include an interstellar war, one that came about in stages. In the beginning, it was planned as a very short arc, then lengthened to six episodes - these six episodes would go on to form the basis of the opening chapter of the sixth season.

However, it was decided that the war was too rich a subject to simply confine it and it sprawled out across the final two seasons of the show, culminating in What You Leave Behind. The show opens with the certainty that the Federation Alliance is going to defeat the Dominion, though experience has taught that the Dominion will make them pay for every inch of territory they concede.

While the finale relied heavily on reused footage from the course of the show, there was enough new footage to lend scale to the final battles. The biggest cheering moment comes as the Cardassians finally decide that enough is enough and turn on their former allies.

Deep Space Nine was always a show that had a weight and a cost behind it. We had already lost the main ship, the Defiant, several episodes earlier and so no ship was truly safe. This was not the Enterprise, which could be battered and bruised but would always continue to fly on.

The show was dark and it was triumphant. The fleets surrounding Cardassia truly feel like a Mexican stand-off, with every chance of annihlating each other.