Cheap Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 13: Battle Lines (Video) (Avery Brooks) (Victor Lobl, David Carson, Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert Legato, Robert Scheerer, Tony Dow, James L. Conway, Alexander Siddig, Avery Brooks) Price

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Customer Reviews of Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 13: Battle Lines

Sisko, Kira, Bashir and Kai Opaka (an important Bajoran religious leader) crash-land on a planet inhabited by two opposing factions. Naturally, they're engaged in a long and bloody conflict, made uninteresting by the fact that there only appear to be about half a dozen in each camp. In any case, this war has one interesting feature: no one involved in the conflict can ever be killed. Just when it looks like one side or the other (or both) has been wiped out, they all wake up and go back to their killing.

I didn't hate this episode, but I'd be hard-pressed to find much to recommend about it. While it doesn't seem to be a complete copy of anything, it does have the feel of something taken from the floor of the Star Trek: The Original Series editing room.

The sudden death and strange afterlife of Kai Opaka
Some major implications for the Deep Space Nine series come out of the "Battlelines" episode. Kai Opaka, the spiritual leader of the Bajoran people, insists on accompanying Sisko on a runabout that is exploring the Gamma Quadrant. Receiving a strange signal from a moon in one of the unexplored systems they investigate and discover a satellite system that suddenly attacks the runabout. In the crash, Kai Opaka is fatally injured. Sisko, Kira and Bashir explore their surroundings and discover that two warring factions, the Ennis and the Nol-Ennis, had been banished to the moon centuries earlier for refusing to give up their blood feud. At this point, Kai Opaka appears on the scene, apparently quite alive. It turns out that everybody on the planet has little tiny biomechanical devices that repair any physical damage done to people when they die. Of course, as a result of these marvelous little devices, the people are totally dependent on them and cannot lean the environment of the moon.

The fate of Kai Opaka has major implications for not only Sisko and Kira but also the entire relationship between the Federation and Bajor. In a word, this opens the door for Kai Winn, and we all know what fun she gets to be down the road. "Battlelines" is one of those science-fiction stories where the writers come up with a neat idea, in this case the medical nanites, and then ignore the practical implications of such technology because it would mess up their story. My best guess is that the idea was that if the Ennis and the Nol-Ennis found it was impossible to kill each other that they would give up their blood feud. After all, neither side is ever going to win since it is impossible to exterminate the other side. Then again, if these two sides have been trapped on this moon for centuries, how come no one in all that time has tested the limitations of the little robots? Just think of all the things you can do to someone that you would have to think would put a body beyond repair. Still, I must admit I like the idea of trying to make the two sides realize the futility of their efforts. With the aforementioned grain of salt, "Battlelines" is a slightly above average DS9 episode.

Kai Opaka's Call of the Prophets
When Kai Opaka comes to DS9 to take up Commander Sisko's offer for a station tour--things happen in this episode that have implications for the rest of the series.

Opaka seems to have some clue as to what is going to happen early on when she admits that she has been preoccupied with prophecy. With a very subtle hint, she gets Sisko to take her up in a runabout to see the wormhole/Celestial Temple. Her preoccupation becomes justified in this episode when the runabout Yangtze Kiang crashes on a moon in the Gamma Quadrant. While Sisko, Kira, and Bashir survive the crash--peril befalls the Kai. The crew finds that the moon is a penal colony and is introduced quickly to a deadly battle between the two factions. As people lay dead around them, a resurrected Opaka walks in! All the casualties of the battle are resurrected too!

This episode in interesting in that it portrays war in a different light. The moon's residents have been banished to perpetual war without the possibility of death--and they have only known fighting and survival for all their existence on the moon. In Opaka's words, "They have forgotten how to live..."

This is an episode that reveals some of Major Kira's character. It shows here softer more spiritual side in her reaction to Opaka's death. There is a very touching scene in which Kira has to admit that she is holding on to a lot of her aggression from the Cardassian Occupation. The irony is the Kira is a microcosm of what is occurring on the moon. The Kai tells Kira "I was brought here because it is time for these people to begin their healing process, just as you were brought her to begin yours." Opaka stays on the moon and sets the stage for a power/spiritual vacuum on Bajor--and more political intrigue for the rest of the series (this is a pre-Vedek Win episode).

The Kai's remaining on the moon is interesting. A spiritual leader in a place very far from religion, G-d, or the Bajorn Prophets presents a daunting task for Opaka. She definitely has her work cut out for her. It really sets Opaka in stark contrast to the next successor to the Kai-ship. It also shows how strong her faith is strong in the face of eternity in a violent, motivationally starved land. She doesn't feel doomed--but rather she is answering the call of the Prophets. It is opportunity rather than punishment. I wish that this situation could have been revisited later in the series and we could see if the Kai made a difference. Maybe will be as DS9 continues in book form (hint to authors...).