“Battle Lines” 30th-anniversary reflections
A joy ride to the Gamma Quadrant turns deadly for Kai Opaka. At least until she springs back to life. Along with Sisko, Kira, and Bashir, the spiritual leader of Bajor finds herself marooned on some sort of prison colony where it is impossible to die and warring factions fight in an endless cycle of conflict. Die once on this moon and, well, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. But for Kai Opaka, that’s okay, because she has found a new calling, a new charge from the Prophets.
In this episode of The Orb, hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing continue our 30th-anniversary retrospective that will take you through all of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, one episode at a time. In this installment, we discuss “Battle Lines,” how Opaka’s new calling changes not only her life but also Kira’s, why it was necessary to remove Opaka from her role on Bajor, what the story says about conflict, punishment, and redemption, and more.
Chapters
Intro (00:00:00)
Opaka’s Influence (00:03:07)
A Necessary Transition (00:13:14)
The Futility of Conflict (00:16:31)
Fear Leads to Suffering (00:20:37)
Reasonable Punishment (00:24:41)
Ambiguous Redemption (00:28:41)
Final Thoughts and Ratings (00:32:39)
Closing (00:37:38)
Hosts
C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing
Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer)
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The Orb 23: The Finer Points of Morality
The Orb 22: I Like You In Your Dress Uniform
The Orb 21: The Ice Cream Trucks of the Galaxy
The Orb 20: A Dark and Stormy Night
The Orb 19: Ridiculous Turned Up to Eleven
The Orb 18: Quick, Nimble, and Armed to the Teeth
The Orb 17: Ezri In a Cocktail Dress
The Orb 16: Gods or Aliens?
The Orb 15: Some Sort of Weird Cage
The Orb 14: A Beautiful Mystery
The Orb 13: One Bat'leth to Rule Them All
The Orb 12: Ten Strips of Latinum
The Orb 11: It's All True... Especially the Lies
The Orb 10: A Matter of Interpretation
The Orb 9: Atlas With a Smile
The Orb 8: Trust In Self and Faith
The Orb 7: How Dax Got Its Groove Back
The Orb 6: Mostly Harmless
The Orb 5: Torn Between Two Worlds
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