12 Darkest Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Moments

What happens when a good man is forced to make genuinely horrible decisions? What happens when there just isn't a "right" way to resolve a conflict? What happens when that good man learns just how good he ISN'T after all? All of these questions are front and center in the darkest moment of Deep Space Nine, In The Pale Moonlight.

The entire episode could make it onto this list, but Sisko's personal logs as he explains and attempts to justify his plan to instigate a conflict between the Romulans and the Dominion stands out in particular. Despite everything the Dominion is doing, and how important it is that they ARE stopped, we see Sisko break every personal code he has, compromise his every moral, and again and again he tries to explain to "us" as well as himself that it was all necessary.

This is by far the best performance by Avery Brooks in this show, as you can see the conflict in his eyes, feel it in his voice. This is a man who knows what this is turning him into, but is utterly powerless to stop it. Or even worse yet, maybe he's totally okay with what he's turning into.

This episode isn't just dark, it's dark in a way every other Star Trek show has been too chicken to be. Sisko isn't being assimilated into the Borg, he isn't being mind controlled, none of that cop out stuff. This is just a good man being exposed to war, and buckling under the moral strain. What else could top a list like this?