The Dogs of War

This Story: Season 7 Episode 24 (production code 574)
DS9 Overall: Episode 174
Trek Overall: Story 431, Episode 455
Airdate: 24 May 1999
Story: Peter Allan Fields
Teleplay: René Ecchevaria & Ronald D. Moore
Director: Avery Brooks

Notes

• The eighth of a ten episode arc that closes out the Dominion War and Deep Space Nine as a series. As far as I know it’s not intended to be a single story with ten parts to it, but it is very tightly wound together (ala Babylon 5), so watching these out of order would be near impossible.  On original broadcast, they were advertised as “The Final Chapter“.
• The episode’s title is taken from Shakespeare, and was also quoted by General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
• The final episode of nine episodes of DS9 directed by Avery Brooks.
• We get a replacement for the Defiant in this episode, the “USS Sao Paulo”, another Defiant class vessel.  The ship is renamed to Defiant right after Sisko takes command.
• The only time we see the Breen logo.
• Quark is initially named the new Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Empire, but it ends up being Rom.
• The only episode where both of Jeffrey Combs’ characters (Weyoun & Brunt) appear in the same episode, although they don’t have any scenes together.  It is also the final episode for both of the characters.
• To save money on special effects, footage from half a dozen other prior episodes was re-used to depict the destruction of various bases.
• Quark’s quoting of Picard’s “The line must be drawn here!” was intentional by Ronald D. Moore who wrote both segments.  Moore famously said “I take great glee at mocking my own work.”
• Sisko says “That’s what happens when you miss staff meetings” to Dax.  It is the same line that Kirk says to McCoy in the third TOS movie.  It’s unclear if it’s intended to be a direct lift or not (to me anyway).
• It is announced that Kassidy Yates is pregnant in this episode.  The fate of that child has never been established in proper canon.
• Enabrain Tain’s housekeeper Mila appears again after first being seen in “Improbable Cause“.
• The final appearances for several characters in the series: Rom, Leeta, Zee, Ishka, Maihar’Du, Brunt, Broik, & M’Pella.  It’s the only episode where the final two on that list speak as well.

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