Mini Review #130: Star Trek DS9 4x8/4x9 "The Sword of Kahless" and "Our Man Bashir" (Patreon)

Two more fantastic episodes of DS9 today! Season 4 is a rollercoaster and it just wont stop. The Sword of Kahless, as I guessed before watching, was a Klingon episode focusing on Worf. He meets an old hero of his Kor who sets him and Dax up to go on a quest to fetch the Sword of Kahless, a mythical sword that is said to unite the Klingon Empire when found. A really interesting premise that starts out feeling like Indian Jones as they go searching in a tomb to find the sword. All I could think about during this episode though was how the sword was basically the Ring of Power from LOTR. Like hear me out. The sword is a powerful weapon not just physically, but in symbolism and identity as well. It forces two characters who respected and admired each other to fall out, distrust each other, and eventually try to kill each other. It manipulated their minds with thoughts of power so much so that they were willing to kill to get what they want. Yes, the sword does not contain the soul of a dark lord inside of it, but there is a fight between Kor and Worf that is eerily similar to Frodo and Gollum in Mount Doom. Anyways that aside, I really like the slow pacing of Worf and Kor becoming more and more distrusting of each other. At first you hate Kor because he is being unreasonable but soon after, you start to realize they are both being unreasonable and that the sword may not be the best thing for the Klingon Empire after all. Dax was pretty epic in this episode as well and felt like a mother watching over her two annoying children at times! Really fun and intense episode at times with a bittersweet ending.

Now for Our Man Bashir. This was an episode that I was anticipating immensely and WOW IT DELIVERED. Not only was it an episode with my man Bashir as the main character (my favourite character mind you), but it was also a satire and parody of JAMES BOND?? Like who would have ever guessed that Star Trek would make an pretty much James Bond spoof but here we are and it was so much fun! The episode itself didn't contain much character development besides Bashir earning Garak's respect even more but what it did contain was entertainment. It was crazy seeing the main crew memebers like Sisko and Dax be stuck in teleportation limbo at the start but when I saw Kira appear in the holosuit as a Russian KGB officer I knew I was in for a treat. Of course, everyone was fantastic as their James Bond characters but Sisko really stood out as the maniacal evil villain with an absurd and over the top evil plan. I mean come on, he wanted to laser beam the surface of the Earth which would then shrink the planet and cover the entire surface in water expect for his little island. So James Bond. I also really enjoyed seeing crew members who don't usually take the spotlight have to deal with something that the main cast would usually deal with. Seeing Odo, Quark, Rom, and Eddington have to work together in roles that usually Dax, O'Brien, Kira, and Sisko would fill was a treat and they managed to make it work. Overall a top tier episode that feels endlessly re-watchable. Make Bashir the actual James Bond ASAP!!